General

ouch!

March 16, 2006 / 54 Comments

im back home in pain, a huge bandage, soreness of my muscles.

the hospital stay was not at all pleasant. in fact, i was quite pissed off. i checked myself in at 2.30pm and being lead to a ward where i lay and watched tv for almost 3 hours. and the nurses are quite blur. surely, they have records of what i was there for, but at least 3 nurses came and asked why i was there for.

and then, i was asked to change into a robe. i changed. waited a while more and another nurse realised its the wrong robe. Grr.. change again.

and at 6pm, i was being wheeled to a waiting area where some checks were done. and darn, turns out the nurse forgot to give me something else to wear. so more waiting. finally after everything was settled, i was wheeled into the operating theatre area only to realised that all the operating theatres were full. so i was dumped somewhere outside, in the middle of nowhere while waiting for one to vacate.

ok, that part was quite alright cos i was feeling nervous and inquisitive. so i sat up and peered into the operating theatres and looking at the operations in progress. not that i can see anything clearly anyway.

after much waiting, they decided to not wait and go to another theatre. all i remembered was that there were 2 quite young guys on duty, a very nice and friendly female doctor who put me to sleep, and my orthopedic doc.

watching the lights above, and hearing the talking between the doctors and assistants.. it was quite funny. stickers were stuck all over me to monitor my heartbeat. the last i heard was, “ok, there’s a little pain in ur hand cos im inserting the drug”

a small stab of pain. another small stab of pain. the lights above started to multiply and another stab of pain, i think i have effectively konked out.

– – – – –

i dont remember what happened. i felt this really sharp pain in my right leg. i was screaming, hot tears streaming down my eyes. tissue papers on my face. choking on my breath. the throat’s so dry that all there was was a croak. the mouth piece was preventing me in getting my breath. i felt like i was dying. i remembered i shouted “PAIN” after many attempts. 3-4 nurses surround me. i was groggy. i couldnt get up. the nurses were holding me down. one shouted call the doc, call the doc.

i stopped struggling. too tired to fight off the many hands holding me down. wailing loudly and disoriented. i distinctively remember asking a nurse for the time. what time it was. 8.30pm. am in so much pain, they had to give me morphine to ease it.

and all these while, i was thinking that the nurse will wake me up after the GA, and i will rouse from sleep like a sleeping beauty. i was so damn wrong.

when they moved me to the ward, when i opened my eyes. the first person i saw was wei. awww.. i feel so much more at ease. still i was wailing and refused to let the nurses move me off the canvas sheet they used to carry me.

then tulips. i saw a bouquet of tulips. still groggy. face wet with tears. wei was trying to pacify me.

45 mins later, i was feeling much better. still in much pain, but could talk proper, not so dizzy anymore. mum + bro wanted to head home, and wei decided to send them home. i shooed him off cos he hadnt had dinner.

alone in the ward wasnt a pleasant thing. i tried calling mich. no answer. raf called me from the satellite phone on board the ship all the way from dubai. managed to talk to mich after many attempts of calling. talked to wei, and then ant.

the nurses were super inattentive lor. i kept pressing the button but they took a while to come. first i dropped my phone. then i was really hot and wanted the canvas to be taken away. then they were so rough that hurt me so much. i wanted to vomit. took a while for them to get me a bag. i felt like vomiting again, and the other bag took a while to come too.

a miserable night if u asked me. being waken up every hr by the nurse to take temperature and blood pressure. the indian patient beside me was making it worse. she’s loud, noisy and not letting me rest in peace. kept shouting, “missy missy!”

Grrr.. feel like throwing my slippers at her.

5am in the morning. the entire ward’s lights were switched on. that woke me. the next thing i know, the nurse handed me a toothbrush and asked me to brush my teeth. then i was given a bedpan and forced to urinate. and she stuck the bedpan so roughly, my leg hurts big time. told her to take it away cos its painful but she insisted it had to be there.

ello?!?! i thought the nurses were supposed to ease the patient’s pain and give them comfort whenever possible?!?! why am i feeling like im being tortured and deprived from a more comfortable stay and rest?

went back to sleep. 7am, woke me up again to eat breakfast. took me a while to swallow the breakfast. feeling nausea and i had to have a bag on standby in case i puked.

10am. physiotherapist came while i was sleeping. physiotherapy started. wah. painful experience. started walking with crutches. quite tiring i tell ya. i asked the physiotherapist if i am to be discharged after that, she say NO. she didnt get any instructions from the doc.

11.30am. mum and bro came. brought my favourite stuff from the chong pang market. yums, but no appetite. chomp a little here and there.

12.00 noon. lunch was served. and all these while, i kept hearing the nurses say that i can be discharged after lunch. while i was having my lunch, the MRI scan sheets were returned to me. a receipt given to me and they say i can be discharged. so, my mum and bro went to pay for everything, while i smsed wei to come.

and that’s it. ended my stay. i think the hospital communication is not very good. why the physiotherapist said 1 thing and the nurses say another. and i dont even know what were the instructions from the doc cos he didnt wake me when he came! Grrr

and so, i got back home in pain and slept the afternoon away. here’s some pictures of the stay.

Hi there! Thanks for popping by. I'm Cherie, a ftwm (full-time working mum) to 3 lovely kids (2 boys & a princess) and my motto in life is to BE HAPPY. Sure, life isn't all that smooth but it's the mentality that counts, no? This blog documents my life. Or rather, snippets of my life that has passed me by. I love capturing life memories in the blog and being able to read back and laugh at myself (or anyone). I love to eat (A LOT), travel and paint my own nails so the blog is mostly about that. Is that considered lifestyle? Of cos, the family is also very much an integral part of me so there would be loads of memories about the husband and my kids - Jerry (9yo), Jerome (7yo) and Leia (2.5yo) and everyone else that's close to me. I like documenting the kids' milestones, their growing up years, their achievements (and sometimes, mine), and my struggles and battles with motherhood. It sure ain't easy. I love seeking out good food and travelling, is trigger-happy, love new gadgets, love exploring new places and strives to live life to the fullest. I aspire to travel the world as much as I can, to soak in the different sights across the various continents and visit all the Disneylands in the world (almost there!). Have fun reading and do drop me a comment to say hi! Love, Cherie Lim Find me on Instagram.

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