I can finally post as I have good news.
Nigel was gone for a while but is back and it has been a heck of a week. Those of you of a squeamish disposition I would just scroll down to the pretty pictures at the bottom.
Nigel struggled after his prostate op and was still in discomfort - not pain just discomfort - three weeks after the event and still had blood in his urine. Then last Friday it cleared and he felt so much better. We believed we were through the worst and he was finally recovered. Funny how things trick you isn't it.
On Tuesday I received a call at lunchtime to ask me to come straight home as he was in great distress. Typical it was a day that I didn’t have my car but had travelled with Jakki. She dropped everything and sped me home. I spoke to Nigel on route and we were not sure whether to call an ambulance or not. Thankfully, as it turned out, we didn’t. He had been fine in the morning and had then passed some considerable scabs. They always say this will happen but it is meant to happen 10 – 14 days and he was on day 26. However he was not unduly concerned and began to drink as directed to keep it flushed out. He then passed a very red wee and then carried on drinking, having about 1.5 litres of water and then disaster struck. He passed a little pure blood and then was blocked with clots and couldn’t go at all. He had tried for an hour and was in agony. My Nigel is the calmest man in the world. Nothing ever phases him. He doesn’t get upset, he doesn’t do panic. And he doesn’t really do pain. He has to be really really unwell to even take a paracetamol. He is very stoic and unflappable. So when I came home and found him almost crying from pain I knew we were in trouble. He had phoned the urology ward at Bournemouth (They don’t ‘do’ urology at Poole) and they said go to A and E.
We debated the ambulance as he was in great distress but decided I could get him there faster and indeed I did and there was less wait that way. At first the staff were cross as they said we should have gone to Bournemouth where urology was based but did finally accept he wouldn’t have made it there. He knew he needed a catheter and irrigation to disperse the clots and empty his bladder but they tried gravity first, having him on a bed at a 30 degree angle for ten minutes. He was in so much distress and pain and in the end they did what he knew he needed which was use a catheter. The relief was almost instant – but sadly short lived.
The bleeding was considerable and he was passing almost neat blood. And clots – so many clots each of which caused agony and eventually the catheter could no longer cope and was fully blocked too. More agony. I cannot describe what it was like to see the man I love so much writhing in pain, unable to get relief even from the copious morphine whilst we waited for an ambulance to transfer him to Bournemouth. I think those 6 hours were six of the worst of our lives.
When he finally arrived in Bournemouth, almost senseless from the pain, they didn’t have any beds. And that’s where our Angel came in. Nigel had been cared for by a wonderful male nurse called Angel, a Greek guy, who was fabulous. He saw Nigel screaming and saying he didn’t care but would they please give him a bladder wash which he knew was the only thing that could relieve the pain and he didn’t care if they did it there in the open in the corridor. The ward sister said no there was no place to do it and Angel put his gloves on and meant business. They drew the curtains round all the beds in the ward and then completed the procedure right in the middle and he got some relief. We were indeed looked after by Angels that night.
It was horrible leaving him late at night and not knowing what was happening and what was causing it.
The next two days passed in a bit of a haze. They couldn’t stop the bleeding and the clotting and were ready to give him a transfusion. They thought it might have been caused by an infection rather than the scabs coming off. They tried really hard but in the end even their skill wasn’t enough to stop all catheters stop working and so he had to go back for more surgery. The three hours he was in theatre and recovery were some of the longest in my life as they had no idea what they might find and thank god for my neighbour Lynne and for Jakki who sat with me and kept me going.
Finally out of theatre they believed they had cleared all clots and cauterised any bleeds and praise God it worked.
After a further day of monitoring and recovering and 4 nights in hospital he is finally back home. He needs rest and to take it easy but he is pain free and I am so grateful to everyone for caring for him.
It made us both realise how we cannot do without each other, as if we were in any doubt, and also both appreciate the skill and dedication of everyone in our NHS. We are truly blessed to have such a service in this country. We have used it way too much this year in one way and another and we are both praying with grateful thanks for all we have come through and that 2016 will see NO hospital visits.
Hence the very business like blog posts of late.
I have another page to share today and it is of Jakki's beautiful daughter Alice and it uses a brand new collection called Poetic Nature by Mel Designs
Today I am thankful for
- NIGEL - home and safe and well
- Friends who have given us so much support and encouragement
- Prayers that were answered and faith strengthened
- The NHS - God love them all
