Back to Normal Life

Well a week post hospital discharge I had my first full night’s sleep. It is amazing how quickly we become institutionalised. For the last week I have been waking up every few hours, even though there was on one standing beside my bed waiting to do my observations. No squeeze of the blood pressure cuff or medication being offered, yet I still kept waking up. I have never been a breakfast person but each morning at 07:00 my stomach was telling me the breakfast trolley would soon arrive. After the first day, rookie mistake, of ordering toast (I still can’t figure out how you can make toast rubbery), I would be sitting up ready to ask for porridge and coffee. The coffee (unlike the rubbery toast) was very good. The next big event on the schedule was ordering lunch and dinner. I made a few choices that ended up in the “I don’t think I will have that again” category but soon learned what the safe choices were.

Other than meals arriving and obs being taken, the day was interspersed with the tea trolley, pre-lunch and pre-dinner soup offerings. There was the newspaper delivery (your choice of the Daily Mirror or the Financial Times), if you were lucky the book and magazine team would appear. I found myself looking forward to each and every event even if it was just say “yes please I would love a cup of tea” or “no thank you I would not like carrot soup or anything else carrot for hat matter)”. (Carrot cake being the only exception to the list of all things carrot).

What I haven’t mentioned were the daily rounds made by the medical team and the occasional visit from the cardio team. These particular events in the day were the most unpredictable so you couldn’t set your watch by them but they were always interesting. On day 4 I got a visit from one of the doctors that saw me when I was in A&E. He popped his head around and said “Hi, I’n not sure you remember me but I saw you on your first day.” I did indeed remember him because he brought 3 students with him that day. He went on to say, “I have a favour to ask, could I bring in a group of 4th year medical students to practice taking a patient history?” Eager for additional activity in my regimented schedule I agreed. I had quite a bit of fun with them and made them work to get my information. Then I provided input where I felt they should have asked more questions or dug for more details. This of made the doctor laugh as said “Since Donna has already taken care of my feedback section, we can move on.”

The “new normal” takes hold so quickly and in a way you don’t even notice. Once out of the hospital you think that settling back in to your “normal” life will happen seamlessly but it really doesn’t. You feel a bit at sea for several days and it can be disconcerting. I can’t imagine what it is like for people who have to spend weeks or months in hospital or any other institution. Hopefully this is my last prolonged hospital stay for a very long time.