Waiting

Here is the photo of me on surgery day, waiting in the hospital. I was pretty hungry by this stage, because I hadn’t eaten since breakfast, it had been a busy day, and I didn’t go into theatre until around 4:30 (about half an hour after this photo was taken). I think I’m looking quite cheerful, all things considered, although the hospital gown and compression stockings are not quite the fashion statement I would want to make.

I can remember a little about going into surgery, have some vague memories of being in recovery afterwards, and then, when I came back down to my ward,  I think I was making intelligible conversation but my sister Catherine and the nursing staff noticed my blood pressure dropping, and so I had a rather unexpected return to theatre around 10:30pm to seal off a sneaky leaky blood vessel. I finally returned to the ward sometime around 1am. I then had another two nights in hospital as I continued to recover without any further dramas (and very little pain).

The last time I stayed overnight in hospital was when I was 17 after knee surgery. It will be a good thing if I have to wait as long again for the next visit.

During my time in hospital, I have to admit I was continuing to wonder what all this was going to mean for what I would be able to do and when. I knew I wouldn’t be able to drive for at least a week, and one of my big questions was “Will I be able to make it the annual Scout regatta?” … which was starting exactly a week after my surgery date.