Monday 10 January 2011

Stanmore Hospital Stay Part 2


This small room with the luxury of a small flat screen TV and a recliner chair for me to snooze in. For most of our first night we both froze and I tossed and turned in the very uncomfortable recliner in between looking after Hubby’s legs. Eventually it got too much for him and we finally broke down and asked for additional heating. The staff surprised us yet again and duly produced a portable heater for us and not the it’s not allowed Health & Safety rigmarole that such a request usually elicits.

07:00am the next morning a nurse popped her head around the door and told us we were expected in the “plaster” unit between 07:30 and 08:00. So with no breakfast and not even a hot drink we traipse down one of the drafty sloped external corridors to the unit to be moulded for a brace that will hopefully help to correct Hubby’s horrendous posture. A discussion ensued as to how they were going to get Hubby as straight as possible to get the best result. So in the end because of his terrible leg spasms we opted for balancing over the edge of the plinth with me securing his legs whilst three others wrapped him in some sort of cloth soaked resin. This sets a bit like plaster of Paris which then he was cut free from. From this the Orthotics department make a body brace. By the time we returned to our room we were late for our scheduled Physio so opted for a cup of tea and some late breakfast. Well officially for Hubby only as they do not feed any associated carers even if working 24/7. The Physio then turned up we at least met her and had an initial chat about what the plans were.

Wednesday afternoon we had another session with the OT where we talked about posture and Hubby’s hand function. She also told us that we would be moving into an adapted flat on site for the rest of our stay so that I could continue to look after Hubby. In the evening after dinner we got on with the 3-day interval chore of manually evacuating Hubby’s bowels. Something must have gone wrong during the process, well we think so as we had to call out the on call doc as Hubby had some bladder problems which were very painful.

In the morning while Hubby ate his breakfast we first noticed the birds outside, an amazing collection of Blue Tits, Long Tailed Tits, a Robin, and other once common English birds all outside our window enjoying the bird feeders that someone had provided. I have never seen so many wild birds in one place.

Thursday we attended a physio and another OT session and had the afternoon to ourselves to move into the Graham Hill Unit our home from home for the next few days. To get to the unit you head from the spinal unit ward down a very long corridor, past the rehab gym, along the gallery of the Aspire sports hall, down the lift out of the Aspire building entrance, then walk past the outside of the very impressive zero entry Aspire provided heated pool. Then you are faced with a very unfriendly narrow sloping unlit zigzag pathway down to the unit. Not a very accessible pathway to the disability adapted show flat that is the Graham Hill Unit. Hope it doesn’t snow!

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