Hospital stay…. and stay a bit longer

So John is still in hospital.

Once John had arrived at Heartlands on Monday, it took them until midnight to the following day to transfer him to a ward. Meanwhile, the medics were reviewing the situation….

“The MRI scan shows that there’s a tumour on the vertebra, L3,” explained the apparently 16-year-old doctor to John. “It’s causing the disc to bulge and press into the spinal cord. This is why you’ve got pain and you’re going off your legs.” Ah…….what could be done? we wondered. The neurosurgeons said surgery was not possible. “We’re waiting for the oncology team to let us know whether radiotherapy is an option,” she continued.

So we waited all day yesterday and by the time I left the hospital at tea-time, we had heard nothing. However, about seven in the evening, John phoned me up to tell me that an ambulance would be trundling him across to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital and they’d do a spot of radiotherapy today.

Regrettably, I wasn’t on hand to visit and hold John’s hand. Before he’d gone into hospital on Monday, I had arranged for Paul to come across and keep John company from 8 until 6 while I had a spa day with Anita. Pete and Dawn had bought me a voucher for my 70th birthday last year and it was coming up to its expiry date. I’d asked Anita some months ago if she’d come with me and we’d provisionally agreed a date, and then finally settled on today.

“I’ll need you tomorrow,” said John, “to be with me at the QE.” Ah…… for a minute, I thought I’d be cancelling my trip out. However, when I asked the ol’ man if he wanted me to cancel the spa day, a very firm “No!” came back. “You go and relax,” he said.

So I went to the spa with Anita and we had a marvellous time, thank you very much. Paul was golden and went across to catch up with his Dad as he got back from the QE about 4 o’clock, and stayed until just after seven, which helped John no end.

Apparently the radiotherapy went OK, although it made John feel a bit sick. He’d also had some pain on the way back in the ambulance because it was a bumpy ride and the morphine wasn’t quite up to scratch. He was very tired when I was chatting to him on the phone this evening.

Initially, when John was languishing in A & E, it looked like he might be discharged on Wednesday. Hahaha…..On Tuesday night, just as he got to the ward, John fell. Hmmmm…. just onto his knees, but nevertheless, the porter reported the incident to the nursing staff and a black mark was put against his name.

On Wednesday morning, John decided to take a shower – only to find that his legs wouldn’t hold him up and he had another tumble. Another black mark….which led to the comment by one of the staff (or was it the doctor?) that John would need a hospital bed at home. “We’ll keep him here for a few more days,” she said, as she sped off to another patient.

So that’s where we are – awaiting developments and contemplating mortality.

Take care everyone. God bless.