Reality!!

I got up to a bit of a mess this morning as Totty had had an accident and instead of staying in one spot had managed to leave little parcels across the bedroom to the door. The first thing I had to do was put on my rubber gloves, clean it and then scrub the carpet!!! Back to chicken and rice today I think.

We did have some nice news from Heather. She has been able to sort out her holidays and can leave on 22 December and so will come over for Christmas. She can stay till 12 January which will be nice. Jon has been looking for flights for her but being Christmas they are more expensive, he will get the travel agent onto it and see if he can find any special deals.

Jon left for work and I had breakfast and got ready and then left to meet him at the hospital for his pre op assessment appointment at 10.00.

We were taken in on time and met firstly with the nurse who did some checks, height, weight, and bp. She told Jon he had the blood pressure of a teenager!! She went through the procedure for admission and what would happen after. He needs to be there at 7.00 am and I asked where he was on the list and she said he would probably be first as the big ops are usually done early. She checked the forms and told us he was down for a 300 minute operation!! Wow! five hours, that is a long time! What am I going to do with myself for five hours?

She explained he would have an epidural for pain relief and that would be left in for four days. He would have a catheter, a drip in his arm to keep him hydrated, drains in the wound, a drip to administer drugs, oxygen mask, the stoma bag and also a self medication pain relief button in his hand. Hearing all this was pretty shocking to Jon never having had a major operation in his life (his finger was amputated under local). I can understand why they have to tell you all of that as it would be a shock to wake up and find all those things attached to you. However, it made it all very real and I think we have up till today manged to push it to the back of our minds. I feel so sorry for him having to go through such a big operation and he is feeling and looking so well.

We were also given a tube of antiseptic body wash which he must use on Monday night and Tuesday morning to shower with. We don't need to take any pyjamas in or towels as they provide everything and he won't be doing much for a while although the physio will be seeing him after the op with some breathing exercises and a few other things so that he does not get a chest infection due to lying down.

Unfortunately, they say no iPad or MP3 player as they can't guarantee security so it will be back to library books again.

Jon will have to take bowel preparation again as he did for the colonoscopy when he had to drink 5ltr of this awful liquid which at the end of it made him quite ill. This time he has been given a different one and it can be mixed with lemonade or ginger beer and it is not so much to drink, he will need to take that on Monday and only have liquids to eat i.e. clear broth. So in actual fact his last meal will be on Sunday night - I had better make it a good one!!. As from Friday he will need to be on a low fibre diet and is not allowed anything red just in case it stains the colon. So, no red wine, red jelly or beetroot!! He is also not allowed any bread with seeds in it. I think it is just as well he put on some pounds when we were in the UK as he is going to lose some now as he probably won't feel like eating much after the operation so it could be three days before he eats. They expect he will be in for seven days.

We then saw Helen, the stoma nurse. She once again went through the procedure of the bag and told us Jon would be able to manage it before he went home and not to worry. The district nurses and stoma nurse will visit the day after discharge to make sure all is well. She then marked, with a big black cross in felt tip pen, where the bag should go. I mentioned that Jon is allergic to some plasters so they have put a sample on his arm and if it does not irritate by tomorrow we can then stick a big clear patch over the cross so it doesn't wash off.

We then saw the registrar who looked very young. She didn't look much older than Heather!! She once again went through things and asked about medication - none, allergies - none, past history - nothing much and she, too agreed he was healthy!! After another chest examination she was satisfied things could go ahead.

We then had a few minutes to wait to see the anaesthetist, also very young and kept giving Jon the thumbs up and saying 'great'. Another examination and more questions and a long explanation about the epidural and the self medication drip. Basically what Jon has to remember is that if he feels sick or has any pain he must tell them and they will sort it and not try and be a hero.

We were then free to go and we stopped at the hospital cafe for a coffee before Jon went back to work.

My head was all over the place so I went down to the Red Cross shop to have a chat with Sharon.

I got back home and gave Margaret, Sharon's mum, a call and then took Totty out for a walk and then had a bite to eat before going out to Bethlehem to the book rooms as the Lions had a working bee to sort books for the sale at the end of November.

I was kept busy there and showed them the album I have made of wedding photos which they all liked very much.

On my way home I popped in to see Alison to take her a card for her new granddaughter and we had a chat. She will be off to the UK to visit her daughter and baby, who was born on 25 August, in three weeks time and I hope her time does not fly over as fast as ours did!

I got some petrol on my way home. It was now 5.00 and Jon said he would be home early but he didn't get in till 6.15 and was very tired.

We had dinner and I lit the fire as it was a bit cooler. Jon fell asleep in the chair and finally went to bed at 10.00.

WEATHER
Cloudy with sunny spells 17 degrees