Peter’s Hospital Diary

Another misty start to the day again – and today is t+14 – incredible how quickly time has gone by, but now it’s official – I’ve had enough! However it looks as if I may have to stay until Monday. (But on the bright side, I’ll see Kim the Aromatherapist again!)

The day has been standard so far – Obs, bloods and the morning drugs, including the chalky chews (they’ll never catch on in the sweet shops). Breakfast came and went and I am just waiting for the morning infusion of Itraconazole to complete.

I felt very tired yesterday afternoon, and spent a lot of it dozing – I do feel very slothful in here. My only visitors were from the medical staff (Salah,the Transplant Registrar, and Sheeba, the SHO) closely followed by Rachel, the dietician.

Rachel has been a regular visitor from the date of my admission where she suggested a feeding tube (declined!) and then on a regular basis to ensure that my nutrition is OK. (Don’t you just have to love someone who tells you to eat all the ‘bad’ things – chocolate, puddings, calorie dense stuff!). Of course our conversations have revolved around hospital food (which is actually prepared at St Thomas’s and chilled for its journey here, where it is reheated and distributed). She saw my comments on it (here) and has taken a copy to add to evidence she is collecting to try to change the system. Good luck Rachel, the whole ward will be behind you!

On the subject of food, it wasn’t until 7 o’clock arrived that I realised that dinner hadn’t. I made myself some chicken soup – which stayed down for about 5 minutes. In my earlier talk with Rachel, she had said that my stomach would be very acid. The effect of the soup on my stomach was like dropping an Alka Seltzer in water! That is probably way too much information, so I’ll close the subject.

Oh yes, the light bulb that Katie bought three weeks ago failed yesterday afternoon. A search of the ward has so far failed to find one… any one got a light?

(P.S. – A light bulb has just arrived – let there be light!)