Thursday 10 May 2012

Had a good nights sleep, only woke up once and that wasn't until near 05:00...

Done a walk this morning, nearly made it as far as the doctors, it's a start...

Chest still hurting when I cough and sneeze but not as bad as it has been...

Bumped into our Steve (cousin) on the walk, was good to see him...

Nodded off after dinner for a little while then did the second walk, nearly managed to get half mile done, speed, distance and time increased but not by a big margin...

Recovery appears to be going well..

Keep getting a dull ache in the harvest site on my leg but don't think it's anything to worry about...

Wednesday 09 May 2012

Great to wake up in my own bed but had a very fitful disturbed sleep...

Had a great morning...

After dinner I went on my first walk, made it as far as Mark Jarvis bookies on Lordens Hill (about 900 yards there and back)...

Then Phil picked me up and took me up to mums...

Was good to see our Spadge (great-niece) up at Mum's, she kept looking at the scar on my arm (she's only five!) and then poking it gently, but not enough to hurt me...

When Phil dropped me off I did a second walk and this time went up Leopold St to the Spar and back (about same distance as earlier)...

Took it steady on the way up and back...

Good to get two walks in after all that time spent in hospital...

Tuesday 08 May 2012

Doctors have been round this morning and said that, pending the result of a blood test, I may be allowed home later today.  Just need someone to come and take my blood now. The quicker they take it then the quicker it can be processed and the quicker I can get home...

The cold that I caught isn't doing my chest any favours at all.  Every time I sneeze it hurts but it is getting better...

Really need to be home so I can get the ticker working again.  Doctor also said he'd prefer if I had an MRI but that wont be happening soon so it might be a camera down my throat and possible surgery to remove my gall bladder...

They will recall me in a few weeks. The heart is the priority at the moment...

Dinnertime has been and gone and no one has been for my blood yet.  Karen (staff nurse) said that she was going to chase it up and see what's happening...

Came and took my blood at quarter past one - fingers crossed that the results come in quicker and everything is still improving...

Been told I can go home today as soon as my meds come from the pharmacy.  But got to come back in a few few weeks for a follow-up and possible gall bladder removal...

Philip came and picked and brought me home - hopefully get a good nights sleep...

Monday 07 May 2012

Not a bad night, woke about 3:00 and it took a while to get back to sleep, but that's about normal for me...

Had another cooked breakfast, this time it was bacon, beans and toast...

Doctor has been and again again mentioned that they might want to take my gall bladder out.  He also said that if my liver functions are ok then I might be able to go home tomorrow...

Dave and Karina came to visit me this evening - apparently it took Dave a half hour to find the ward.!!!! It was good to see them both, and an enjoyable visit...

Still hoping to be going home tomorrow, fingers are crossed....

Need to start walking again so I can get to some sort of fitness level...

Sunday 06 May 2012

Had a good nights sleep for a change, didn't wake up until nearly Eight! And a cooked breakfast to boot, first time I've ever had sausages, beans, mushroom and toast in a hospital for brekkers - not complaining though, really enjoyed it...

Been pain free in the back since since Friday morning and both my urine and stools are back to a normal colour, which is good...

Only problem now is that I have a bloody cold and it kills when I cough, and the pain in my chest is ridiculous when I sneeze.  Still, it's only a temporary setback and nothing to worry about after the other things I've been through...

Been a long day today, didn't have any visitors at all. So did a lot of reading, back to Pratchett and one from the Death series...

Saturday 05 May 2012

Haven't had any back pain since yesterday morning, which is good, and I've noticed that my stools are flecked with normal colour as well as being extremely pale...

Still on the drip, I have named it "Vera". Well, why ever not..?? lol

Again the doctor said they are keeping me in and monitoring me through blood tests.  He also said that they might have to take out my gall bladder if that's causing the problem...

Urine seems to be getting lighter every time I go and have still had no back pain since yesterday morning...

Friday 04 May 2012

Woke up to the back pain, again the two paracetamol and two tramadol didn't take the edge off it, ended up having to have another injection of morphine to help relieve it...

Buggeration!!! They've put me on a drip now, it's only saline with the odd drip of Vitamin K.  The saline is to help flush the bilirubin out of my system.  Here's hoping it works...

Doctor has been and expressed his disappointment at not being able to have an MRI but has said they will keep me in for observation and monitor me through blood tests and measuring the amount of fluids that I drink and expel...

Thursday 03 May 2012

01:40 Had blood samples taken and am waiting for results of same...

03:35 Still in A&E, two out of the four blood results they wanted have come back, still waiting for the other two.  Rebecca is very fed up at the moment, I can't blame her, we've been here since last night...

05:40 All the blood sample results are in and am waiting for the doctor to return and give me 'the verdict', as it were...

06:50 Have been re-admitted to the Northern General Hospital.  Need to find out what is causing the jaundice.  Currently in the Surgical Assessment Centre...

The on-call surgeon said they might have to send a camera down my throat if the problem is related to gallstones, which she seems to think it is...

Can't eat or drink as they are sending me for an ultrasound to see if they can find any gallstones...

Been admitted to Firth 9 ward, nothing came of the ultrasound, no gallstones were found...

And now the backache is back and can't be shifted even after two strong paracetamol and two tramadol but have been given an injection of morphine and that has eased the pain a lot...

Been told that they are sending me for an MRI to see if they can find the cause of the jaundice, seeing as it isn't gallstones....

Great!! Got down to the MRI suite and they refused to do it because of the CABG.  Suppose the last thing I want is a whacking great magnet tugging on the wires in my chest...

Wednesday 02 May 2012

Had another crap nights sleep but at least no back pain... Tyna came round earlier and noticed that my eyes have started to turn yellow...

Been a pain free day.  Even managed to get up to Mums for a shower and a change of my TED stockings...

Our Phil dropped me off at home, I grabbed some tea and then the backache came back again, came back with a vengeance...

Mum phoned the docs and got to wait for a Doctor to phone back, he doesn't think it's a water infection, sounds like it could be trying to pass a gallstone. Bugger..!

The on-call Doctor is sending a bloody ambulance to me to take me back to The Northern General Hospital, only as a precaution though. So, nothing to worry about, at the moment at any rate...

Ambulance came and took me to the NGH A&E.  A nurse came and took my obs as well as a urine sample, it's very dark, waiting to be seen by a doctor...

Tuesday 01 May 2012

Had an alright night after the pain went away...

A fairly good morning but unable to get out to do a walk due to the weather...

Heard nothing from District Nurse about moving these two drain stitches...

Around dinnertime the back pain came back, with an absolute vengeance. Far worse than last night.  Nothing will get rid of it, not the paracetamol nor the dihydrocodeine...

The pain is agonising and I've noticed that my urine is a deep yellow colour.  Asked Rebecca to phone the doctor just as the District Nurse turned up...

Was describing the symptoms to her before she took the stitches out and she phoned the doctor.  It appears I now have a water infection and need antibiotics...

Fortunately the doctor has prepared a prescription for me. Rob went to get it while the Nurse took my stitches out...

Within half hour of taking the antibiotics the pain become bearable. So pleased to be able to manage it...

Monday 30 April 2012

First night at home, finally managed to get some sleep at last.  The dreams were strange, they were all about life but in a Wikipedia article style..!!! Yeah, odd, but then again is this normal for me!

Had a good morning and after dinners did the first of today walks.  2.5 mins each way, got me as far as Bernards house (about 600 yards round trip)...

I appear to have caught a tickly cough, this isn't doing me any good at all...

And now, an hour after my second walk I have some bad backache - waiting for the painkillers to kick in - hope they hurry up...

Philip (brother) has been to see me today, for ten minutes. Was good to see him, especially when he told me he'd have come to see me at the hospital if I was in the morgue but he couldn't make it while I was on the ward!!!!

Hey! it's the way he is! He knew everything was ok, he kept asking Mum...

The back pain finally went away around 2 am...

Sunday 29 April 2012

Weighed again this morning and down to 91kgs looking almost back to normal, well apart from the scars! lol 

Nurses decided I might be going today so made my bed and threatened me not to lay on it!!! :) So I sat in my chair and when the doctors came round they walked straight past me because I'I m usually laid on my bed! lol

They said they needed to make sure my kidney functions were ok so we're waiting for that...

Had a shower and a shave and a walk round the corridor then after diner the nurses came and took some more blood to check for kidney function...   AAAggghhh! Still waiting to hear if I'm going home or not...

Yay!! I am going home, they have upgraded my bisoprolol so it's only a matter of time before that arrives from the pharmacy and then we're off..!

Can't believe that Mum has brought my clothes from home but forgot a coat and shoes and it's been raining all day (and still is!)...

Got dressed and said my goodbyes to Ronnie and David and the nurses in the PCU, then picked up my sick note from my nurse, got a hug and a "you'd better come call in in six weeks!", I will (my follow-up is in in six weeks)...

Walked downstairs to Marie's car, got in, got comfortable and set off home...

Couldn't believe I was going home, and then, the tears started flowing, and wouldn't stop...

Got home and got all emotional and teary again...

Mum made a cuppa and I went to phone Tyna to tell her I was home...

Still having bouts of emotion and tears but I'm told this is only natural...

Saturday 28 April 2012

Woke after another crap night and was told to get weighed before anything, knew I'd lost some weight as I was no longer swollen and bloated as I had been.  Jumped on the scales 95.6kgs!!! Sweet, helluva lot of trips to the lav yesterday to get down that much...

Doctor came round and told me I could be able to go home Sunday if I pass the stairs test.  Jenny not in today but her colleague Debbie called earlier to say she was going to do the stairs test later...

Appetite is back and weight is going down so it's all looking good so far.  Such a far cry from Wednesday/Thursday when it felt like there was no hope...

Dinner came round and all of it was eaten - then off to do "the stairs test". So off we go, one flight of steps up, and one flight down (to ensure you can get up and down stairs at home). Easy!

Debbie said I'd passed and was one of the fastest she'd seen do it.  The she proceeded to take my obs - oops! Heartbeat a little too high.  May not be going home tomorrow after all - buggeration!

Anyway, Debbie was telling me the options and it involves a physio in the Dinnington area - then tells me about having to push some people and hold others back and she's figured out which one I am!!!

Looks like I'm in for another night... :(

Jon is going home though and Ronnie is booked in for Monday for surgery so some good news...

Was so looking forward to getting home and seeing people again!

No visitors today, so it made for a very long day...

Had another restless night - no idea why and in the parts where I was asleep I had some very lucid dreams...

Friday 27 April 2012

Got up after the restless night and was weighed WTF!!! 104.4 kgs!! Knew I was fat and swollen but come on!!!  Had breakfast, ate one slice of toast, half a cuppa and an orange juice...

Sat in my chair reading my book when BAM!! I shit myself - Bugger! Why couldn't the numerous laxatives have waited until I was in the lav... No warning came...  Gently stood up and went to the lav, what a mess I'm in, all over my trousers, sat on the toilet and it came again and wouldn't stop...

It came for ages or at least seemed like it. Tried to clean as much out of my PJ bottoms as possible then began the herculean task of cleaning myself. Not easy with a tight wound in the middle of your chest and a tight wound on your arm.

Did as best a job as I could and told Katherine (nurse) that I'd had a bowel movement but needed clean PJ bottoms and my chair cleaning. She sorted it for me, with minimal fuss. Five mins later I was sat on the throne once again getting rid of another torrent...

Decided against a shower and went for a strip wash, was still feeling off, bloated and swollen.  Maggie (nurse) came to do it.  She started by taking the dressings off my wounds, first time I'd seen them without the dressings. LONG!!  She started to wash and dry me...

When it came to the "middle bit" I washed the front and she washed the back. Apparently it was still a mess. Once dried and teeth brushed with clean PJ's on I was off to the toilet again - like that was a surprise with the amount of laxative I'd taken the last day or so...

Every hour, on the hour I was sat down on the lav and every hour on the half hour I was there stood up..!  So, had a bit more to eat for dinner and got it all down, then I was up again and off to the lav...

Had been told I needed to do more walking so in between the numerous trips to the throne I was walking up and down the corridors...

Settled down on the bed after dinner and noticed my belly wasn't as swollen as it had been, and nor were my hands!

Then Jenny turns up and off we go for a long walk (ok, only to Chesterman 3 and the Ward front door), she was impressed considering how little we'd walked on Wednesday, she said she might do the "Stairs Test" tomorrow - can't go home without passing the "Stairs Test"...

On the bed, pick up my book, then off the bed again.  Yup toilet time again...

Jon, opposite my bed, chuckling, he KNEW what was going to happen when the laxatives kicked in!!! He'd already been through that stage!

And that was my Friday, walking and constant trips to the toilet!!

Thursday 26 April 2012

Was rapidly taking short breaths when Mr Forlani did his rounds, he asked me why and I told him about the pain in my back and how even the morphine and extra painkillers weren't getting rid of it...

He checked the fluids in the drains and said both they and the catheter could come out and I could be transferred to the ward...

So Sarah began the process of taking the drains out - these are clear plastic tubes about 1cm in diameter.  One goes up the front (the right as I look at it) and one goes up the back (both inside)...

The left back is the one giving me the most pain...

The stitches had to be unpicked and then three rapid deep breaths and hold (easier said than done..!) while Sarah pulled it out, so we went for it - after topping up on morphine of course...

The next one was going to be the worst, it was the longest, the hardest to take out and the one we thought was causing the pain...We practised the three deep breaths together but mine were woefully shorter than they should have been...

So we tried again and they were a touch deeper but not deep enough - even with the morphine.  Sarah decided to go for it so with a blast of morphine I did three as-deep-as-I-could breaths and she pulled it out...

WOW!! it was long and wow!! no pain in my back - it went - just as quickly as the drain came out... Sarah said she'd leave the catheter for a while until I'd recovered from the drains removal...

At this point I noticed Richard - he was in the bed opposite me - he looked ill - he told me it had not gone well...

Sarah came back and took the catheter out, as well as the canula in my shoulder, the neck ones were staying in for the glucose drip I was on...

Dinner was served, was still bloated and swollen and again ate little...

Had been laid down for three days now, so attempted to sit up and pop my feet on the floor (yeah, I know, I shouldn't have done it without the nurse helping me)...

Oh! Oh! BIG MISTAKE... Jenny, my physio, had seen me sit up - next thing she'd got an oxygen bottle and we were off (walking) - only five yards but it enough to start the rehabilitation.  I was returned to my bed and then transferred to the ward...

I was put in E1, David and Ronnie were still there, and now Jon (retired) from Dore was in my old bay of E4...

Still boated and swollen I had been told that the ward nurses (Faye and Sharon) had to measure my urine when it came... Bottle time again, when it was ready...  Tablets changed too - now had to take a laxative or two "to kick start your bowels"...

The time came (to empty my bladder) so I buzzed for the bottle - both Faye and Sharon came - and closed the bed curtains, helped me to stand up  and then stood holding me, one on each side while I held the bottle and, well you know what else I was holding..! lol

It wouldn't come!! Bugger!! "We'll not look" said Faye - "makes no difference" I replied "it wants to come but it won't"... I told them to carry on and I'd sit back down and wait... So I did...

Twenty minutes later it wanted to come again so I stood up, got the bottle ready, and it came!!! Bloody hell! it wouldn't stop - quarter bottle, half bottle - finished up just under 730ml... Bloody hell that's nearly two pints!!!  After that I was allowed to go to the toilet, and I did, frequently...  Was also on water tablets as well as the laxatives...

Still bloated and swollen, said I wanted no tea - was told I had to have some.  Jenny came again and we did a long walk, well, up to the day room and back.  I'm doing well, apparently...

Had another restless night, not had a good nights kip since before the op really...

Wednesday 25 April 2012

Very fitful nights sleep. Tried some toast for breakfast, took three bites - had enough, tried to drink some tea, couldn't get much of it...

Was told that the drains were doing their bit but not a good enough job from bladder as I'm not drinking enough fluids...

My stomach looks massive and my hands are as swollen as I have ever seen them. The surgeon is not overly concerned about the pain in my back even though it is stopping me breathing properly at times...  Prescribed more painkillers, in addition to the morphine I am in control of...

As the day wears on the pain in my back gets worse, forgot what dinner was, tried it, ate a bit. Hands and stomach are really swollen now...

Tea was a similar affair, in fact the only thing I could stomach was water...

As day ran into night I was in absolute agony with my back - the nurses did all they could to ease it, sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn't...

Wednesday was the worst nights sleep I've had in forever.  I didn't really want Mum and Rebecca to come and see me like this but they did...

I really couldn't see a way forward. The pain was too much...

Tuesday 24 April 2012

We were woken at 07:00 and wheeled up to the recovery room, Richard and I were at opposite ends but wished each other luck as we were wheeled through to our anaesthetic rooms, where Dr Parnell informed me what she was doing and when...

Then I was told that they were changing my mask (I'd been given oxygen) for a similar but softer one and said "Deep breaths Mr Milner, that's it, just like that, deep breaths"...

And then I was being woken up in the recovery room - no idea of how long I had been in theatre but was told everything went well...

I was there until I was fully recovered and told about the morphine pain relief that I was in control of...

I tried to look at my chest but could only see a honey-combed shape bandage - and could only see the bandage...

I was wheeled into the Progressive Care Unit (PGU) at about half five in the evening where I was greeted by my nurse, Sarah, and her student, Chantelle....

They also told me about the drains in the bottom of my chest and the various bits hanging off my RH side and my LH shoulder. Also mentioned was the catheter...

I was then given a bed bath to wash off as much Chlorhexidine as possible...

Tea came, I really wasn't in the mood to eat, or drink tea for that matter. So I sipped water - didn't get much sleep...

Started to get a sharp ache in my back - went with a blast of morphine though...

Monday 23 April 2012

Arrived at Northern General Hospital with Marie - thanks Sis - Booked in at 14:05 and got to have bloods taken downstairs. Bed not available for me yet - will be ready about 17:30...

Taken upstairs to Chesterman Ward where I met the anaesthetist - a very nice lady called Dr Parnell - she explained the procedure and told me I was to be first in theatre on Tuesday...

After that I met my new consultant (my original consultant is off work poorly) Mr Forlani - he explained the procedure in detail and the associated risks. I signed the consent forms and then went back to the Day Room and Marie, who had waited with me...

Along came Kate, a student doctor who asked me a lot of questions about my heart attacks. After this I said Marie may as well go home rather than sit there bored... Half five came and went, still no bed, visiting time came and Mum and Rebecca arrived, we sat in the Day Room, then two old fellows walked in from "The Open Heart Club", they had been looking for me!!

They told me all about their procedures and that it really wasn't anything to worry about - they even showed me their scars! Then my bed became available so I went to get in it while Mum and Rebecca waited. The two blokes from "The Open Heart Club" really helped me relax and it was a nice touch...

My bed was E4 in a bay of four. After visiting I got to know the other three occupants - David (E3) an 84 year old who had some complications from his surgery - Ronnie (E2) a 70 year old who was in for a CABG but had no idea when and opposite me was Richard (E1) a 33 year old Australian who was first on the list for heart valve surgery on Tuesday too in Theatre 2...

Anyway, bedtime came and I opted for two sleeping tablets - needed a good nights sleep... Will write the rest after the op!!!