Handhold, in HDU with respiratory failure and terrified

[Seafour]

Just that, is anyone awake?

That's definitely a beautiful operation place! I wonder if surgeons take pictures of the ones they are particularly proud of?

Congratulations Gruber! I hope you managed some sleep.

Congratulations Gruber! Although with everyone wanting snuggles with him you do know you won't get a look in with him?

Morning Sea. I hope you slept well and have a good day today. I'll be in hospital most of the day for my chemo so I'll be thinking of you

Morning Seafour how about we get a lush spa added to the bus so we can all have treatments (necessary and luxurious) in style! I hope your pain levels are manageable, that is one hell of a wound. Wishing you very happy healing.

Aww a new baby on the bus! Congratulations Gruber! What a lovely name.

Hope your treatment is ok today too Purpleunicorns

My plan is trying to get some work done while I’m here at home with the baby so I’m ready for when marking hits in a week or so. My husband is not well unfortunately with fibromyalgia so I need to make sure I don’t ask for too much help in the holidays.

Just got back on the bus - I had to go out yesterday to visit my Mum who's just been placed on palliative care. So glad to be back with your wonderful company.

@Seafour, that's a very impressive wound, but a lovely bit of needlework - I hope you're getting the sleep you need.

@Gruber, congratulations!

@Purpleunicorns - hope your treatment goes smoothly.

Now, did somebody say something about tea and mince pies?

Congratulations @gruber. Newborn snuggles!

Hope ur treatment goes well today @purpleunicorns.

How are u feeling today @Seafour?

Xx

So sorry to read that @FuckBrussel

My goodness SeaFour, you really were unzipped! Its looking really neat and fairly happy though which is awesome :) Hopefully it wont scar but if it does, I think a corset cross-lacing style tattoo would look great with it, should you be considering such a thing in the future :)

Sorry to hear you had pharmacist grief to deal with on top of everything else, hopefully he is a little more humble now in the rest of his career.

That's a fabulous bit of embroidery there, Seafour!

I'll admire Rupert from lurgi corner so that I don't give him the plague. Congratulations to all!

Can someone stick the kettle on please? I'm parched!

@Justanother - thankyou, it's appreciated.

Our chickens don't seem to have read the chapter in the chicken manual about going off lay in the colder weather, so I've put loads in the on-board fridge, if anyone fancies a fresh egg? When I say fresh, I mean one of them was still warm when I collected it this morning...

Hopping on board for a poached egg, there's nothing quite like it when they are so fresh.

Hope you had a better light last night seafour, that's an impressive wound.

Welcome to baby Rupert.

A momentous occasion here, new carpet is being fitted as I type and we are almost done building flat pack furniture. My current draws are past it, to the point I have to screw the front back on my underwear draw several time a week. DH and I have finally agreed on wallpaper and carpet so our Christmas presents to each other this year have been decorating our bedroom. It's only taken us 9 years .

Hello lovely people. Hello Sea, hero among women. Welcome Rupert! Healing to all suffering in big and small ways physically.

Have to admit I had to wait for sufficient posters to get way beyond the lovely neat scar picture. I'm a tad squeamish, and rather fat, so did not want to cause a commotion on the bus whilst I fell down in a dead faint. Pathetic, I know.

I will have an egg, poached sounds delightful, thank you. May I have some well browned toast with that? Slathered with butter, for the healing power of course.

Drizzly day here. Spent way too long primping my frizzy mop, all to no avail. Ah well. They don't pay me to look good, thank all the fates.

Sea is there any word on how long they shall keep you in HDU? They do sound mostly competent but I do worry. At the first sign of slacking just holler. We shall descend from the bus en masse and get them refocussed, never fear.

Oh I can smell the fountain of youth from little Rupert all the way to the back of the bus. How lucky we are ❤️

Seafour, that was wound looks impressive, do tell your surgeon that it has been much admired.

I went shopping today and saw Bob, he's a squirrel with only a little stump for a tail and I hadn't seen him for a while. He brightened up my day.

Take care and sleep.

Thankyou Crown, Fuckbrussel and Greycloud. Chemo went well until the cannula popped out and I ended up with chemo going into my skin rather than a vein I have to use a hot water bottle on it 4 times a day to stop it swelling up

Ooh poached eggs? Plenty of toast with lurpack and a big cup of strong sweet tea please. I have a feeling I'm not going to be able to fit out of the bus doors at this rate

Greycloud I hope you have support to help you during the holidays, it's awful when someone you love isn't well and there's not much you can do to help

Fuckbrussel the palliative nurses are some of the most amazing people on the planet so I'm sure your mum will be in the best of hands

Thinking of you Sea and I hope your lovely husband is getting plenty of rest too so he can look after you

Welcome to baby Rupert; how exciting to have had a bus birth!

An eventful day here, first of all to answer the question where do I go from HDU? After much procrastination it appears I will move to the respiratory HDU, if they will have me, before I go home some time hopefully this side of Christmas. Whenever I come in to hospital it's always to one of the HDUs because of the requirement to be ventilated.

The most exciting part of my day was sitting on the side of the bed for the first time post op, something that I will be repeating shortly; photo to follow.

Not eaten much due to indiscriminate bouts of nausea but the wonderful DH has brought me a flask of pea and ham soup which I will attempt to eat later.

Today I've had the post op equivalent of the baby blues, there have been tears. Lola has been missing me but apparently enjoyed listening to me on the phone yesterday so much that she proceeded to lick DH's mobile vigorously.

Great update @Seafour - good news that you’ll hopefully be home for Christmas and that you’ve been sitting up and almost out. Pea and ham soup sounds good too!

I’m quite sure the post-op blues are only to be expected - just think of the huge adrenaline buildup and then the pharmaceutical episode.

You are the star at the top of the Christmas tree!

@Greyclouds - my daughter in law has fibro. It's really tough when she's having a bad day to know there's nothing much we can do to make it better. Healing thoughts to you and your DH.

@purple, we met Mum's hospice nurse as we arrived, and if she's typical of all palliative care staff, then Mum is going to be kept very comfortable and looked after well. She was amazing.

@Seafour, that's amazing that you've been sitting up already - I am in awe! It would be wonderful if you could be home for Christmas - I am crossing everything here (a tad uncomfortable, but worth it). Your DH sounds a bit of a star.

I'm pleased everyone is enjoying the eggs - they are lovely when they're that fresh, aren't they?

I'm not really an egg person, but I can make some good cakes out of them!

That scar is really beautiful Sea, you should be proud of it! Mine have healed really nicely so I'm sure yours will too. It's going to be a long road, but you can do it.

Welcome, baby Rupert!

Ah bless you, I also had the day of crying after recent surgery. It affects everything doesn’t it!
Are they giving you anti sickness meds?

Is the respiratory HDU the one where you’ve been before and feel safer?

I hope the soup was lovely and bloody well done for sitting in the chair! You are doing so, so well!

So sorry to hear about your dear Mum FuckBrussel. How are you feeling? And that sounds very ouchy purpleunicorns are you going to be purple with bruising tomorrow? I hope not. Thank you both so much for the good thoughts. Fibro's such a weird illness and most people don't really understand that although it is not life-threatening it is certainly life-changing and it was very kind of you to think of me.

Sea it's lovely to hear from you. It must be very emotional, I can't imagine the stress of even worrying about the daily care let alone the operation itself. Be kind to yourself and thinking of you.

Hope my seat is still free? I'm bringing aboard tonight, it's been one of those days!!

Lovely to hear how you are doing seafour, beautiful scar - a real battle wound if ever I saw one!

I have several large and prominent scars - they all have a story and I regard them as a map of my life. From the 2 c-sections to the major bowel surgery followed by the fight I had with melanoma. I'm here to tell the tale and have an affection for the imperfections and how I came to bear them.

I hope you have a peaceful night and that your pain is being managed.

Pops back on the bus with slightly warm chocolate fudge cookies.

Wow that's an amazingly neat scar. You are doing amazingly well to be sitting up on the side of the bed already.

I couldn't get to sleep last night had had a proper and thorough read of all your older posts and I am, along with the other ladies, completely in awe of you. My goodness you've gone through so much. I hope recovery continues on track and you're home to be spoiled at Christmas.

Freshly poached egg on a slice of white toast for me please and I might manage a nibble on one of those delicious cookies later. I'm really struggling to eat anything right now, even lovely home made stuff dh is bringing me. All of my internal organs are in a different place because my shape has changed so much so I'm constantly nauseous, it's just like pregnancy sickness, it hits in sudden waves and totally without warning. I do have industrial strength anti sickness medication going through my central line when I need them but it's not enough.

I love you ladies and gents loads.

Thankyou, @Greyclouds. I don't really know how I feel - I thought I would just feel sad, but there are so many other conflicting emotions churning around as well.

@Seafour, I've saved the larger of these two eggs for you - it might even be a double yolker. I don't know which of our girls laid it yet, I'll have to look out for the one walking funny...

Hope the nausea settles down soon. Feeling sick is miserable.

for one of the most amazing people I've ever had the privilege to speak with. Your strength blows my mind.

All of my internal organs are in a different place because my shape has changed so much so I'm constantly nauseous,

Oooooh, you have my deepest sympathy! I had major abdominal surgery years ago that did the same thing (the op was seriously botched but that's another matter) and the side effects are horrible at first - mine wasn't due to a change in body shape, but it still moved everything around relative to each other.

I hope you have a good night's sleep.

p.s. the cookies have ginger in, great for nausea