Patient 1035A – Part 2

I left off at the end of Day Two after I woke up from general anesthesia – my first ever experience in my life – and uploaded the blog to keep its length reasonably readable, which attracted more than 60 likes in two hours, and by now, over 130 and still counting, as compared to the handful I sometimes got when I did not upload photo of Su or food. I came to the obvious conclusion that you guys really cared and I am touched. I thank all of you for your concern and good wishes which I would treasure for a long time. It only remains for me to chronicle my remaining days in Union Hospital and what followed.

It was about 3 am when I noticed that a nurse was taking readings on my life signs and left a new urinal bottle on my bed railing. The staff was apparently satisfied with the readings. Another nurse came in around 7 am to do the same and finding that I was more awake offered to order me breakfast, but it was too early – the canteen would only take orders from 7:30 am. She was in between shifts, but assured me that she would get the order through somehow – what positive attitude and service, if only the rest of the world would be like that. I began to text with Su who told me that she was very busy, having to take care of everything by herself now that she was deprived of the principal helper in the house – Me – and having to prepare food and plan the logistics for the rest of the week if not longer. Back in the ward, I was put on Game Ready while the right leg was still wrapped round by the pressure gauge. Breakfast soon arrived and I tried my best to finish as much as I could, notwithstanding that it was not much to write home about. I did take a generous portion of the brought-from-home TCM stuff which always helped to sooth the throat, which must have been irritated during GA, a phenomenon that I had been alerted to beforehand, from Juni who had gone through the same three weeks before. It helped. Nursing staff were milling around, leaving me pills etc., and I was told that a physiotherapist would come at 2:40 pm. They also administered antibiotics through the cannula on my left lower arm. There wasn’t much left that I could do and around 9:30 am I began to message friends and relatives, who were aware of my hospitalization, to update my progress thus far. A young brother Keith immediately responded that he would visit me at 5:30 pm in the afternoon. I reminded him not to bring a crowd, for the house rules were strict.

Su arrived around 1 pm with a trove of goodies, including chicken soup, braised pork, dumplings, cheese and salad, but no caviar, champagne or whiskey. She also brought me my favourite SCMP and reading glasses. Su attended to my meal and assisted me to discard the OT garb that I had worn for more than 24 hours. I changed instead into a smart T-shirt and shorts and waited for the arrival of the physiotherapist, who eventually turned up at 3 pm. Presently, he asked me to straighten my left leg to 180° or as close to that as possible and bend me leg until it hurt or almost, which proved effortless, for I had felt no pain so far, thank God. He then asked me to leave the bed under his direction and to stand straight with a walking frame, which I managed rather well, and with which I began to walk, slowly but surely. I walked straight towards the toilet and stood there to urinate for the first time in more than 30 hours. My next challenge was to perform a voluntary defecation, which I decided to execute after the physiotherapist left. He did, after teaching me how to get on and off the bed with ease and grace and unassisted. I then walked to the toilet with the frame and the raised toilet seat that Griffin had given me some time back and which Su had brought along. The nurses saw what we were trying to do and brought along their own devices on which I tried, but without much success, and at which point the doctor arrived.

The doctor was generally satisfied with the progress I had made after watching me walking with the frame. He then taught me how to press my left thigh using the body weight to achieve the objective of getting the leg to 180° or as close to that as possible. He also advised on the bathing routines and urged us to acquire a 4-legged clutch also known as a quadripod stick which was readily available in the market. He noted my BP readings and my complaint on bowel movements and assured me that he would take care of those in the medicine he next prescribed. He left, apparently happily, after nearly an hour, chatting over his training for the incoming half-marathon he had signed up.

Keith showed up at 5:30 pm sharp with pastries, rather thoughtful of him, for he was flying off to Australia the following day. Su got a wheelchair and we were about to go down to the 2/F for coffee when a nurse came to measure my BP, which had unexplainably shot up to a level that started the staff worrying. They let us go for coffee anyhow, after cautioning us to take care. Keith left around 7 pm and Su and I had dinner in the room. I had chicken soup, chicken meat, cheese, salad and whatever Su had brought. I also read the papers before Su packed up and left, at around 7:20 pm.

Almost instantly, a nurse came along to measure my BP and was clearly worried by the results. I offered an explanation that the high readings could be due to the exertion over the prolonged use of the walking frame or to anxieties over the toilet sessions, but the staff were nonplussed. They put me on Game Ready which might regularize the BP through cooling the inflammation. Later, an orderly brought in medicine prescribed by the doctor, as I began to rest for the night. But it wasn’t a quiet night. The two patients across the aisle were separately making a lot of noises, one discussing his conditions first with his mother and later with his doctor over the MRI he had just taken, while the other apparently had a peculiar condition which necessitated in a nurse coming in frequently to assist him taking food at intervals, eventually taking him for an operation and returning at around 2 am, turning on lights and making more noises. End of Day Three.

I waked up at the usual hours and ordered a light breakfast. I later took the pills delivered to me and some supplements of my own. YK turned up around 9 am, after having a light breakfast in the canteen. He stayed for about 40 minutes during which we chatted over a range of subjects, including recent happenings in the Rotary District. My doctor turned up at 11 am and stayed for 15 minutes during which he urged me to work hard on the prescribed exercises. He was apparently satisfied with my progress but was concerned at my fluctuating BP. Around noon, I was taken down to the Physiotherapy Department (PD) on the 2/F for some exercises and workouts, ending with a 15-minute session on Game Ready. The staff also taught me how to use the 4-legged clutch or quad stick which would provide more maneuverability. Su had told me that she would buy one from Mei Foo, which she did. The session ended at 1:30 pm. I returned to my room to find Su chatting with Griffin and Doris who had just arrived. Griffin is my godson.

A nurse came in shortly for my BP reading which was still too high for comfort. I was then put on another session of Game Ready as Su and the visiting couple went down to the Green café. After the session, the staff took more readings and asked me to take a pill that would lower my BP before allowing me to be wheeled down to the Green Café by the visiting couple. At the Café and before the couple left, my Masonic brethren dropped in separately, having been advised by Su to go to the Café instead of the ward, in the following order: Julian who came by car, Data and Steph by taxi from Tai Wai after missing the hospital shuttle, Bosco and Albert, and Alex who had taken a wrong minibus and thereby taking a bit of more time to arrive. The usual cross-chatting went on. My godson couple left after 3 pm and surreptitiously paid the bill. The chatting went on and shortly before 4 pm I asked Data and Steph to wheel me back to the ward. I was tired out. Alex then turned up with his story and shortly after that I asked Data and Steph to take him to the Café as I tried to catch some sleep. I must have slept for an hour or so before Su turned up with my phone that I left in the Café. The brethren had all left. We didn’t think we needed more food other than nibbling what Su had brought as I read the SCMP that she had brought. Su then assisted me to have the first bath after the operation, after asking an orderly to bring a chair and to dislodge the folded step inside the bathroom. I felt great. Su packed up and left with a few bags around 7:30 pm.

At around 8 pm, the staff came around to give me a few pills, mainly for easing the BP and the bowel movements, before I retired. End of Day Four.

I slept reasonably well and waked up at 7:15 am. A nurse came to give me more medicine, including doubling a BP bill and some antibiotics.  I ordered breakfast so that I could take the medicine. The PD staff came at 7:45 am for the first session of Game Ready for the day – there would be three more. After breakfast, I went to the toilet and had a successful evacuation of the bowels, followed by brush and shine, before going through the exercise routines. At 11:45 am I had the second session of Game Ready as a nurse came around for BP readings which looked much better by then. The PD session followed. I was taught to use the quad stick to go up and down steps. I was also asked to go through the routines taught the day before.

My doctor arrived at 1 pm and said he was satisfied with my situation, except that he was concerned that my BP was somewhat unstable. He strongly urged that I continued to take the reinforced dosage of BP pills. He left with an indication that I could likely be allowed to leave the next day, but assured me that he would come again on Saturday.

Su arrived after 2 pm with some food as I had more sessions of Game Ready. Later on, she went to the Nurse Station to inquire arrangements for family members staying overnight with patients and returned with the hospital bill for the first two days. While she was checking the bill downstairs, my niece Joan called her and said she was coming to the hospital in her car. She arrived around 5:30 pm with egg tarts and took photos of me seemingly walking unassisted which shocked a few friends when they saw them on Facebook. We went to the Green Café one last time and stayed till 6:45 pm. I asked Su to pack as much of the stuff left and have Joan took them back to Mei Foo so as to obviate the need to make a second trip the next day. She did. The girls left shortly after 7 pm as I began to ponder mindfully what transpired in the past few days. A nurse came around to measure my BP at 7:38 pm. The readings were still on the high side. I tried to get some sleep. End of Day Five.

I didn’t exactly sleep well Friday night. My adjacent cubicle had a new occupant who would undergo some surgery on his intestine in the evening. He appeared to be a regular patient and had been consulting the Families Clinic, suggesting that he was a Government pensioner or a dependent. I overheard that his left ear was not working well, and he repeatedly called the Nurse Station complaining about the calling device not working.  After he was wheeled back, which created a commotion, he was under drip and the machine beeped while I was trying to sleep. The nurses then found out that his heartbeat was irregular and called his doctor who came and asked him whether he had his prescribed heart pills with him. As he was supposed to be bedridden, the doctor had to retrieved the pills from his luggage in the closet, which created more conditions. This happened a few times until I was too tired and fell asleep in the small hours of the day. At 11 am I was wheeled down to the PD floor and had a session of exercises and workout, probably for the last time. My doctor then came and confirmed that I could be discharged, with a note that his clinic nurse would instruct me when to visit him next. He then left for his clinic in the Hospital on the 8/F. Su came after 2 pm and we decided to have a meal at Green Café for one more time. We ordered Hai Nam Chicken with Rice, which was a signature item of the Café that often ran out. It was packing up time, but not before I had the last Game Ready session during which Su went downstairs to settle the final hospital bill. We then went down to the 8/F to pay our doctor a visit before we took a taxi home, thus concluding my sojourn in the Hospital.

Su had given a lot of thoughts to the logistics of extraction which could be fraud with problems. She had earlier worked out a plan with Data being the strong man to carry the heavy luggage and what was left in the hospital, she having had brought over a lot of stuff during the week. By Thursday night, however, she reckoned that she could relieve Data of the job; she having taken home on Wednesday some bulky items; by making two trips between the Hospital and Mei Foo on Saturday, but my niece’s unannounced visit turned out to be a boon so that what was left became manageable in one trip. Yet, getting a taxi outside the Hospital took some organizing, but she managed. We had a friend visiting us at Mei Foo that evening, but that would be another story.