As many of you know, a sense of direction has never been one of my mother’s strong points. So when dad text the two of us with just the simple words “I’m in 23-6” the dreaded thought of trying to navigate our way through the hospital overcame me. None-the-less we managed to traipse through long corridors and up and down elevators before arriving at ward 23; bed 6.
At first I was sure that our lack of directional skills had landed us in the wrong place. We weren’t in the oncology ward and the patients I could see in the room, looked rather… well old to tell the truth. But there he was, hanging out on bed 6, headphones in and eyes fixed to the TV screen. I was a little shocked to see his chest stained pink with two tubes poking out and another on his hand. Then again the past two weeks have been filled with a lot of shock, so the feeling passed as soon as he opened his mouth and started blabbing away like his normal self.
Over the next hour of chatting we discovered, well nothing. Dad seemed to have no real idea what was going on & apparently neither did his surgeon when they debated exactly what line they were putting into his body before the morning op. Tomorrow Dad’s oncologist will check up on him in the morning and hopefully shed some much needed light on exactly how long until he can come home, what type of lymphoma he has and what the treatment will be.
Hopefully there will also be a spare bed on the oncology ward for him so he can move out of what mum and I have renamed the “dementia ward” after hearing one of dads roomies ask what day it was three times in a short space! We also got a bit of a laugh when I played dead in the bed while dad went to pee in a jar.
After a couple of hours of causing mayhem we finally decided it was time to find our way out of the maze. Day one – over! Time for some sleep so we can wake up and do it all over again tomorrow!
Loveeee!
Hayley :) xx
Thinking of you all at this time, best wishes & we look forward to reading your blog updates!
ReplyDeleteLove Geoff, Robyn, Brooke & Troy Edwards
Hayley - I loved your post - laughter is the best medicine so keep it up! You and your family are so remarkably strong. We are thinking of you all and send you lots of love. And I hope you can all take comfort knowing that Kathryn has family near her in New York!
ReplyDeleteAlan, thank you for sharing this experience with us. I have been reading the posts and am sending good vibes your way. Lots of love, Mary
Well Done Hayley your Dad will be proud of you for that first Blog!
ReplyDeleteI trust you have left some markers on the walls to find your way back to him tomorrow!
Your taking after your Dad ! I remember him pulling wheelies in your grandma's wheel chair when she was in hospital and he was racing around the corridor in it! So if he starts moaning you can just say to him "its the sort of thing YOU do!"
I would like to say thankyou for doing this as its so hard beeing so far away from you all.
Our Love to you all
Paul Alicia & William xxxx
Oh sounds like fun, it reminds me of the time your dad and I went to see our mum in hospital after her stroke. Some old lady came wandering into her room in her night clothes and when the nurses tried to remove her she fought against them saying "I'm a doctor this person needs my help" Mum had lost her speech from the storke but her look said it all, you know that look that say "cuckoo". Life watching can be interesting!
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