Invisible me

I'm You’ll be pleased to know that I was discharged from hospital on Tuesday 25th July and not before time! A&E were super efficient in responding to the infection. 

Unfortunately I didn’t experience the NHS at it’s finest on  the ward. I didn’t mind in the least that I had to wait 12 hours in a treatment room for a bed, though this sure bothered my loved ones. I am also pleased that the infection was successfully treated and grateful for that, however it was the lack of attention to my holistic care needs that had me climbing the walls and leaving the ward on discharge in a complete huff! 

Several times my pain relief had been forgotten and was as good as ‘told off’ by the cleaner for not having my breakfast earlier, when this 'said' breakfast had also been  forgotten, because this caused a delay in her cleaning routine. 

 I was in a side room on a demanding  ward, staffed predominantly by agency personnel and I picked up staffing and resource  difficulties and challenges in the overall care that  I received. There were of course some excellent nurses and HCA’s that saw me as a human entity, however this seemed an exception to the rule. As I was becoming  more alert , and my feistiness levels as well as my neutrofils levels were increasing,  the  lack of the human  component in my care was becoming more obvious . 

The Saturday night  sticks well and truly in mind when I was abruptly woken with kurt words at 2am and bright lights being turned on without warning for my IV antibiotics treatment.  The Nurse very efficiently administered the treatment and left the room with a clatter bang as she threw her apron and gloves in the steel bin without a single word.  

By the time I was discharged, I was feeling more and more like ’Mr cellophane’  (Chicago musical)  and my tolerance levels were waining, so  when my discharge note omitted significant information I finally launched into a dignified protest, that saw staff  bounce me  from colleague to colleague all keen on avoiding any additional work! 

People don't go into nursing to do a bad job and saw this all as a reflection on a systemic failure within the ward not on any particular individual. 

 I was almost SORRY that I was causing a 'nuisance', ANGRY that I was experiencing this at my most vulnerable time, CONCERNED for patients by age or infirmity that are less robust than I am and I truly HOPE that the feedback that I have left is helpful in terms of  improving their care of patients. 

That all being said,I remain the NHS's biggest fan,though 'if' there is a next time I shall,  with out a doubt, be going to Northampton General Hospital  where there is a specialist ward best equipped to deal with cancer patients. 

The day after my discharge I attended a treatment review at NGH and I was told that I will be given the g-csf injections after every chemo from now on, to reduce the likelihood of further  infections.  With huge relief I also learnt that round #2 of my chemo was not being delayed and as long as my blood tests came back ok chemo would proceed as planned on the 31st July 2017. 

This relief however was  short lived after hearing of problems with my liver function test within hours of having my bloods taken on 28th July ! This means my liver will need a little longer to recover from the damage caused by the chemo and/or infection, so treatment has been delayed  for a week after all!  

This pesky cell is clearly not going down without a fight, but neither am I, and whilst feeling weary, I shall bear recent events as misfortunes of the war that I have unleashed on it.