Day 19.

I had a better night, having not gone to bed until 11 pm, because I was helping a friend with her computer. I slept till 3.30 am, went back to a dozing sleep until 6 am and then I got up and made myself a cuppa.

With all the boat chores done and Mog and Dog happy, I walked to the hospital to find Keith in bed looking very sleepy.

Keith had a difficult night, with his bile bag leaking twice and soaking the bed and him. When I got there the bag was changed for another stoma bag with out a pipe and bag hanging off it, which means it should not over fill causing the stoma bag on his drain to fall off. But it does mean they will have to empty it more often. Will be interesting how many times they will have to empty it over night, because it keeps filling up and shows no sign of slowing down. Keith has been a bit dizzy and light headed today, but that maybe due to the fact he is not eating much. He did manage cereal for breakfast and a little bit of fish for lunch. In himself he is feeling much happier.

As for his new drain, which in his notes say's It must be flushed once a day, well I was not leaving today until they flushed his drain. I had to ask 3 times throughout the day, because the drain was not working, I kept being told the nurses are very busy at the moment grrrrrr.

At the moment the doctor has him down for coming home on the 5th February, but that could well change.

Day 18.

Keith had an uncomfortable night as the new drain was giving him jip. When I got there, they had just taken out his stomach drain which was not producing much and they took out his catheter, which proved to be easier said than done. It did not want to come out and left him completely washed out after the job was done and the pain eased away.The morning visit ended with him looking pale, he reckoned he was hot, but he felt cold and sweaty. He managed a few spoonful’s of hot pot for lunch, which is the first real food he has managed, I do not count soup as real food, which he has had before. His colour was also better. I noticed the new drain, which was put in yesterday was blocked with goo and therefore nothing was reaching the bag, so I asked one of the nurses to flush it. They are supposed to flush it once a day. The consultant told Keith this morning it would be another week, but who knows. We are making progress which is fantastic.

Staples out and new drain in.

Well Keith went down to have his CT scan and new drain put in on the left hand side, which is draining yellow fluid out of his abdomen. They were going to put it in the right and Keith said No it is supposed to be in the left, after questioning it twice they checked the latest scan and apologised to Keith saying he was correct it should be the left grrrrrrrrr. He is very sore and so they have given him some Morphine, so hopefully he will sleep. They have taken his staples out after 15 days, which I photographed because Keith cannot see them and wants to know what they are like. The hospital surgeon stopped his antibiotics, which the naval surgeon was not so keen on doing so soon, but we shall see. If his temp goes up again they will put them back on. The new drain has to be kept in for at least another 4 to 5 days, so he will not be home just yet. They weighed him this morning and he has lost at least 2 stone, which does not surprise me. In himself he is fine, so lets hope he now improves and he can come home soon. It is just as well I go in everyday, because I am keeping his care up to my standard. The nurses seem to forget he is there some of the time, like he came back from having his new drain put in and they had it crossing his body and hanging down the right side with his other ones, which means it is not draining properly because it has to go uphill over his stomach first, so I questioned it and so they agreed and moved it to the left where the drain has been put in, common sense I would have thought. The tube is so long it is was lying on the floor, so I sorted it out and hung it off the bed rail. In himself he is bright and chatty, now we just need to get him eating proper food and get the drains out, so he can come home. We will see how the next few days go xxxxx

Thank You.

I want to take this opportunity to Thank each and everyone of you who has been kind enough to post messages of support on the blog. I read each and everyone of them and you will have no idea how much they have helped over this difficult period.
I apologise that I have not answer them all, it would take so much time and I would never do them justice, because they have meant so much, so please accept this posting as a huge THANK YOU from both Keith and I. We have felt the love from you and hopefully he will be home xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Progress again.

Keith was in good spirit today, they moved him last night into another ward, which he was thankful for because the new patient next to him spent the past two nights on his laptop all night with the light on, having little regards for the other 5 people. The nurses did not say anything because they had all ready been verbally abused by him when he came in. Keith still has a temperature issue, BP low and resps high but they do not seem to be worried. He had his first cup of coffee today in two weeks. The naval doctor gave him some vitamin K through his IV because his blood is a little thin and with him having the drains put in tomorrow they do not want him bleeding to much. The most frequent cause of Vitamin K deficiency is the long term use of antibiotics, which would explain it or it could be due to the fact he has not been eating. Again the doctor was not concerned, they just want him right for tomorrow. They stopped his IV fluids, but they may go back on after tomorrow we will see. He is booked to go down at 1 pm, but of course he maybe later. He had cereal this morning and soup for lunch and has finally warmed up. it was so good to see Keith laughing and joking. Here's to tomorrow and getting the drains in and sorting Keith out once and for all.

Hooray, Hooray, Hooray.

Hooray, Hooray, Hooray. I have finally found someone who will tell what is going on and you can only imagine how happy that makes me. He is a Naval surgeon on secondment from the Navy for 6 months. He was with the surgeon this morning when they visited Keith and so was happy to talk me through what was going to be done and why and he has said I can chat to him anytime. Keith has two pools of fluid in the stomach cavity about 10 to 15 cm's in size, which need draining, they could be where they washed him out and the fluid was left over and pooled, or it could be bile from a leak or infection, they will not know until they put a drain in on Wednesday. I hear you say why Wednesday?

They cannot do it until then because they need to book the CT scanner and they need to make sure the right surgeon is on hand to do the job. Keith is in no danger because he is still on the antibiotics, so we have to wait now. I was so pleased to see Keith looking so much happier today and he was warmer than yesterday. He had feet and hands like blocks of ice yesterday. Keith had a better day in himself today, he was smiley and not so down. They have allowed him to eat something today, so for lunch he had some leek and potato soup and he really did enjoy it. Better still it stayed put. Progress was made today, even if it was only in finding out what is going on xxxxxxxx

Here is another day

There was I thinking I am going to get a decent nights sleep, because I felt shattered. I went to bed at 9.40 pm due to having a problem keeping my eyes open. I snuggled down beneath the duvet and was soon asleep. At 11.30 pm I was woken up with a start after the fan on the freezer was making a hideous noise. I shot out of bed to investigate, but the noise stopped. heart rate through the roof, I got back into my nice warm bed and tried to sleep again, but the dam fan went off again, this time it did not last long. I did manage to drift off until 3.45 am. I lay awake and then got up to make myself a cuppa. Marmite joined me back in bed and had a natter with me. If only I knew what she was talking about. Cuppa drunk, it was time to try and get at least another hour of sleep, otherwise I was going to be a zombie for the rest of the day. I managed to stay in bed till 5 am, then I decided enough was enough I would get up. I look forward to getting my body clock back to normal.

This morning at 5 am up the Arm.

Up at 5 am, I went to the laundry and put the new pyjama’s I bought for Keith yesterday (Saturday) in the wash, because they were a bit stiff and would not be at all comfortable. Whilst they and other items washed, back on the boat I relit the back cabin stove, which was stubborn to get going.  Eventually it kicked into life and the back cabin was soon warming up. After some breakfast I walked Paddy, fed him and Marmite and then myself.

Boat chores done, I rang for a taxi because it was lashing it down with rain as forecast. 10.45 am I was on my way to see Keith. 11 am I was allowed in and found him looking sickly and very cold. Keith had a temp of 38.4 and was tachycardic so the doctor was concerned enough to order the CT today rather than waiting to Monday etc. They took him off of one of his antibiotics to see if it is that causing his sickness. He went for his scan this afternoon at 3.13 pm and the doctor on duty says it shows a build up of something, so tomorrow the surgeon will decide what to do, they may drain it off, but the doctor could not give me anymore information than that, as he had not had a proper look at the scan. Keith cannula became blocked again, It took three people over a couple of hours to get a new cannula in, because Keith's veins have shut down. Finally they got one in using a hot water bath. Keith has been very emotional today bless him, so I stayed as long as I could. Fingers crossed for tomorrow and they finally sort him out.

An arm like Popeye.

Today's update.

Keith was sick in the night and in pain and the sickness continued through today. They want him to drink, because he is not passing enough urine, but when he drinks it makes him feel sick or his is sick. They are giving him something for the sickness, but he would rather just not feel that way in the first place. He was poorly this morning but perked up this afternoon, so I walked him to the bathroom and gave him his wash.

The doctor had to redo Keith's cannula before I left yesterday, because his other one was blocked, unfortunately the doctor did not put it into his vein it went into his tissue and during the night his arm filled up with fluid, so he looks like popeye on one arm. Thankfully one of the senior nurses on night duty noticed it and sorted it out. Next week Keith is supposed to be having CT scan or now they are saying they may put a camera into his stomach. So not sure what is going to happen now. He is feeling a little fed up and wants to come home. I just hope things are better tomorrow.