Missing Hospital Blogs

I am most disappointed to find that none of the mobile blogs I sent from hospital have appeared here. Luckily I have them on my mobile phone so I'll post them now in the order I sent them.

June 11, 8.07am

I'm at the Ambulance Station, ready to go.

June 11, 11.37am

Going Up

I'm at the Alfred Centre about to go up to the 2nd floor where I will check in. It's all waiting from then on.

June 12, 10.04am

The Other Side

Here I am on the other side of the operation. All went well, I think. I have to wait for the pathology results.


My leg is in a full length soft brace so I can't tell how big the hole is. The doctor this morning said the melanoma was very deep. I'll have to wait for the full report.


I'm a bit tired, and my eyes seem to jerk around courtesy of the anesthetic, but otherwise, I'm not feeling too bad.

I'd kill for a cappuccino!




June 12, 2.21pm


Feeling Better


This afternoon, I'm feeling a bit better. I've been allowed up on crutches to go to the toilet. Yay! No more bed pans.


The skin graft donor site is still bleeding a bit, but so far so good. At least my vision has settled back to normal.


June 13, 7.28am


Day Two


Blimey! If you thought I had strange dreams at home, you should see these hospital induced ones!


Day Two - Sunday. I look like I should be shoved under a shower and given a good scrub. How I wish I could do that. A nice hot shower and a nice coffee - the stuff dreams are made of. Dreams. Let's not go there.

I'm waiting for breakfast, feeling kind of over the whole hospital thing. Last time it took about four days to get to this point. Thank goodness for television and all the puzzle books I bought along. It doesn't take much to amuse me. I'm happy drawing pictures and doing crosswords. And, there's always interesting people to talk to. That's by far the best thing about being in here. The people.


OK, I'd better go bang my cup against the rails so they'll feed me. Nah... just joking... kind of...




June 15, 11.21am


Pain


Had one of my dressings changed. Jeez! Can't wait till they take the lot off tomorrow. Can't wait till the staples come out of the main operation site. I can still feel it from last time. That's the worst thing about having gone through this before. I know what's coming.


I should get the pathology results tomorrow. Then I should know if I'll be going home on Thursday.


June 15, 10.54pm


I Want


I want, I want, I want. I want to be told in the morning that they got all the cancer. I want to be told I can go home Thursday. I want it to not hurt when they take my dressings off even though I know it will. It's even worse when you know what to expect. I know I must get through it, and I know I will endure it. But right now, I wish I didn't have to.


It's late. I'm tired. I want to go home. I want to be me and not be a patient any more.

June 16, 2.04pm

Staples and Dressings

The dressing was taken off the main op site. That is one big, nasty hole. I can see right down to the muscle. Interesting. The graft has taken and all looks to be healing very well. Most of the staples were taken out. It was as bad as I'd imagined - thankfully. It hardly hurt at all.


The donor site is now not to be disturbed for 10 days. They will let it heal before disturbing it. Whew! That suits me.


I still have to wear the leg brace, but I won't be going home tomorrow. I'll be going home Friday instead in an ambulance.


June 18, 10.29am


On My Couch


The trip home yesterday was uneventful and pleasant. It felt so good to be out of hospital. I'm now sitting on my couch at home looking out across the paddocks. It's so nice to be home.


June 23, 9.54pm


Home Again


Had my first check up back in Melbourne today. I had to go down and back via ambulance because I still can't bend my leg enough to sit in a car.


I was delighted to see two of my ward-mates also having their check ups. It was nice to see them again and say a final goodbye. We looked different all made up and dressed. So unlike our alter egos of a week ago. Such beautiful spirits those ladies had. It was a privilege to have gotten to know them.


June 26, 10.37am


Chilling Out


I was hoping to have the leg brace off, but because the skin graft is sitting on top of the muscle, it moves every time the muscle moves. I can't risk tearing the graft, so my leg is still in the brace for a few more weeks until the graft strengthens.


I had a phone call yesterday from the Alfred Hosp. They've decided that because this was my second secondary melanoma from the same original site of 11 years ago, I'm going to have radiation treatment on that leg. 


At least I can have that done in Albury, which is only 45mins away, instead of Melbourne which is 3 1/2 hours away.


There's no schedule for the treatment yet. The wound has to be healed completely first. 


So it seems that my journey is not quite over yet. I feel it will be. The radiation feels like it will be the completion.

In some way, I've come full circle. I have learned all I needed to learn from this and will carry the blessings and knowledge with me for ever.