The Fourth Day

I saw Richard in hospital around 1pm where he was again sitting in his chair. They'd already had him up walking and had to insist that he couldn't go up the stairs! (I haven't seen the process of 'walking' myself but I think its a bit of a to do...like a courtly procession, with all the machines being dragged around behind him and people making sure he's not snagging any tubes!) I sat opposite him and rubbed his stockinged legs until the new lady patient next to him said, "When you're through with him you can start on me!" Nice to be appreciated. I was told that they'd started him on antibiotics to head off the little infection in his chest. Two visitors kindly came in very briefly to say hi just before 2pm.

Around 4:30 I returned to find Richard soundly asleep so went into the reception to give him some time. When I returned around 5pm there were several nurses huddled around his bed and I rushed over. He was shivering violently and said he'd just awakened from the worst nightmare he'd ever had. His temperature rose to 38c and they gave him some paracetamol intravenously. In about five minutes he was fairly well settled again. He told me he'd had two more lovely visitors since he'd last seen me.

The evening progressed with another visitor coming in and cheering Richard up wonderfully. We all, with the fantastic nurses, rather comically stood/sat around and practiced our coughing techniques as it's important that Richard eventually can cough up the phlegm in his chest.

Dr Patel came in and looked over Richards charts and heard about his shivering episode and didn't seem too worried. He asked that a new type of moistening oxygen mask be put on. At the 8pm shift change Professor Hanna came in and looked over all Richards charts, spoke to all the nurses and introduced us to one his sweet young daughters who was making the rounds with him. He said that the infection in Richard's lung was being treated and he fully expected it to clear up. The reason that Richard was having trouble coughing was that the nerve which controls the valve around the larynx was bruised and therefore impeding the process. It would take a few more days to recover. He said that Sunday he wanted for Richard to have his leak test, which if he passes, will allow him to take some small quantities of water and slowly build up to soft solid foods. He also said the neck iv port would be removed and replaced by an arm one and a couple of the drains would be removed. A few less wires, tubes and piercings. Yipee!

Richard was shooing me away at 8:30 to have dinner with good friends, David and Ian, in Earls Court but I told him to call me if he wanted me back as I could tell he was a bit on edge after his shivering episode. Sure enough, at around 11pm Freddy, his nurse called to say Richard wanted me back in...the duty doctor was talking about putting him back on a ventilator as his congestion was a bit worse. Ian, himself a renowned surgeon who was on call with his hospital,  selflessly drove me back to the hospital and came in to talk with the staff and see Richard. It appears that, whatever Richard understood the duty doctor to have said left him extremely frightened that unless he stayed up all night and cleared his lungs every 20 minutes, he would die!!! So, no wonder Richard was agitated and wanted me there. Because of this Richard had also asked that a physio come in to see him immediately. And, in fact, the lovely Eve appeared in no time and helped Richard in a wonderfully quiet, reassuring way to try and cough up what he needed to and assisted with a vacuum tube down his nose. Ian felt Richard was in good hands and saw all his vital signs were good so went home. I sat around until about 12:30 am when Maria, the duty nurse kindly found a room upstairs for me to sleep in, just in case Richard wanted me during the night. I slept til about 7:45 then went down to be there during the shift change. Richard told me he had slept some and had gotten some phlegm up during the night. All his signs were good. He's still having to have constant oxygen til the lung that was collapsed for the surgery regains it's full capacity. And sadly, his new mask, while providing warm, moist air which is giving him oxygen plus helping to break up the fluids in his lungs, is a bit less comfortable than the other ones. I left him around 9am looking forward to a dressing change, then getting to his chair and hopefully the leak test, though his nurse Manga said she thought those were only done on weekdays. Poor guy, he's been through the wars! It will be such a good step change when he's into a private room where I know he will sleep as I did last night. With luck, that should be Monday or Tuesday. It's 11:28 as I sit here back in the flat and post this update. Onwards and upwards!!