Hba-cva j

[thegurio]

Well I thought as I sit here bored out of my brain I will do a TR on my current experience I’m going through! Now this is a hospital so I will explain the following...

CVA = Calvary Hospital

FA = Nurse
Check in = Admission
J = Lie Flat beds

WP = Top tier health insurance
Safety Demonstration = Dr. Came in and told me what was happening
Pre-flight checks = being treated like a pin cushion for ½ hr as they took blood etc.

So I arrived on time for our check-in, went fairly smoothly with all papers signed and filled out correctly for customs/quarantine. After waiting for about 15 minutes, the steward showed me to my suite. Bit slow IMO but probably just being picky and anxious. Not very happy with my seat allocation as during my OLCI I was told I would have a suite to myself but I found out upon check-in that indeed I had 2 other bed mates. You would’ve thought that being a WP that I would’ve been given my preferred allocation! Not terribly happy about it but let’s hope after the op I get my own.
After being given the safety demonstration I was shown my seat. The usual pre-flight checks were carried out. So far facilities have been as you would expect. IFE taken care of through my laptop and of course connection to the outside world a breeze with my 3G card. And best of all I get to be put to sleep with the lovely melodies of people coughing their lungs up and snoring all at the same time. A beautiful view out the window at night is to be had as well. For dinner I had the Pork with Apple Sauce for dinner but forgot to get the menu as well as a piccie of it but I will endeavour to get piccies of everything else that comes across my tray table.
I have been told that there is no more dinner service after midnight and I am only allowed to have clear fluids and black coffee (thank goodness!) I’m not really sure how that is going to go but I guess it’s a cross I have to bear.
Well, I shall leave you, the more enlightened reader, to enjoy the rest of your night and get back to you when there is more to be reported on...

 

[ejb]

thegurio,

Whatever it is you are doing (or having done) in hospital I hope all goes well.

At least you know they will answer the call button quickly.

ejb

 

[docjames]

Oooh, i'm looking forward to this TR. :shock: and for good measure

 

[drron]

Oooh, i'm looking forward to this TR. :shock: and for good measure

Me too,as well even!

 

[thegurio]

thegurio,

Whatever it is you are doing (or having done) in hospital I hope all goes well.

At least you know they will answer the call button quickly.

ejb

Its a L5/S1 Discectomy. Nothing nasty - just going to be a lot less painful they reckon.

 

[docjames]

Ouch.

Best wishes for a rapid recovery.

 

[Hvr]

Love the TR so far and hope it all goes well, back pain is the absolute worst to cope with. Look forward to photos. We have a Calvary hospital here in CBR and they are very good, I reckon they are run by the same mob.

Am so glad it isn't a colonoscopy with resultant photos. Now that would kill the urination thread in a second.

 

[Flashback]

Interesting TR! :shock:

As per the OTT, my op is a simple submucous resection; that's right, a nose job of sorts

Benefits? Will be able to breathe through my nose for once, and snore less:!::!:

 

[thegurio]

Pilot = surgeon
Co-pilot = assistant surgeon
Purser = Anaesthetist



So the pilot comes in and lets me know the procedures for today’s flight. He assures me it won’t be terribly bumpy but with these flights nothing is guaranteed. The co-pilot comes in and runs me through the flight again just to make me sure that I know what is going on. It’s at this point, to a degree I wish I was left in the dark a little but it’s nice to see their concern. We have had a few changes to FA’s over the last 18 hrs but all in all they have been very good and unobtrusive. Unfortunately it seems today’s flight was not loaded with enough Krug so I have to miss out on that. They are hoping tomorrow there might be some wine but no-one is quite sure what there will be .

I have had my second antiseptic shower which is very weird smelling alcohol type stuff and is supposedly used to make you sterile – I hope they only mean the outside of me. I am now sitting here waiting for the Purser to come and take me to my special suite so that we can start the descent into HBA. They reckon it will be about 4-5 days before we land but every case is different.
There unfortunately hasn’t been the chance to take any more photos as there has been no food consumed since dinner. To say I’m hungry is an understatement but still the purser says its better that way.
Back now from the first tour of CVA which involved a visit to the Operating theatre. All went quite well, I was able to eat pretty much straight after so that was good. Oxygen masks dropped from the ceiling and I have had to use them since the end of the op. I also have these very weird airbag things on to stop DVT, not to mention also being given injections, having to wear lovely stockings and exercise – I think they’re pretty hot on that sort of a thing here. All in all a success as there is no pain anywhere in my leg, only where they've physically cut me. The nuero-surgeon informs me that he has removed 30% of the disc which is twice the average for an op like this and my age... Comforting stuff really!
Obviously some high maintenance pax were in last night as I had to wait over 5 hrs for my Milo which coincidentally was also when I was falling asleep at 2am this morning. All in all the FA’s have been very good and my only whinge now is the shared suite.
Today’s plan of attack, according to the purser, is to go back down to normal programming through oral meds etc. Not sure how I’ll go through that one but let’s hope it won’t be too bad.

NEXT: physio and the road to recovery.

 

[thegurio]

The final story

Well well well... A lot happens in 2 days! I am writing this from home and my oh my it feels good!

Day 3 was interesting. Day 2 didn’t end up too finishing too early as I couldn’t really sleep all that well with all the cacophony of coughing, snoring and goodness know what else was going on! So after going to sleep late and waking up about 7am I wasn’t feeling very enthused to do much but unfortunately the Physio had other ideas. So she had shown me a few exercises to do and then we went for a walk. Well, I guess I don’t need to tell you that the day after you get up after surgery one isn’t terribly steady on their feet and I was no different. Went for a little 20 – 30m walk and was very relieved that it didn’t feel like I had a stick up my bottom when I walked and once again was pain free. Like a red rag to a bull I then showed the Physio exactly what I could do – needless to say she wasn’t impressed with what I was trying but I was stoked I could do it once again. So after she left I decided to treat myself to a few walks and the only difficult thing was getting up off the bed.

After a while they took all the good stuff off of me and left to me my own devices pain wise and the FA’s were all very impressed by the progress I have made (mind you considering my other bed mates had had 2 of the same operations over the past 9 days and the other dude was 74 and having a brain scan on Saturday so it’s not a real level playing field!) About 2:30 the Purser gave me a sniff that I could be out by tomorrow if I wanted but me being me, I decided that possibly tonight might have been a better option. She said that if the Pilot and Co-pilot agreed then it wouldn’t be a problem. Thankfully the Pilot is an absolute legend and he said that if I thought that I could get better at home then it was a place to be. So I said thank you very much and went home at about 8pm.

Today was a fascinating day – for the first time in 4 days I’ve slept over 3hrs straight with the total tallying double figures by the time I properly got out of bed. Its nice being home and being waited on hand and foot by the Mother-In-law I must admit, a nice change of life! Mind you it is frustrating waiting on other people as it’s not what I am like at all. So today I have mostly been on the couch but walking up and down and standing wherever possible. Still a long road to recovery but all in all a good success rate so far. It’s now up to me to make sure that the surgeons work was well spent. I still get a bit of numbness in my foot but apparently that is going to happen over the next 2 weeks as everything gets used to working properly.

Sorry about the lack of shots, to be honest I was always that hungry when the food or anything came out that shots were the last on my mind.

Thanks for reading this and I hope you have been enlightened by my misfortune!

Till next time, but hopefully on an actual plane!!!

 

[straitman]

thegurio (& flashware),

On a personal note I had trouble reading your report and comments as it was a reminder of my own trip to hospital, 8 week ago, for prostate cancer.

Fortunately everyone's outcomes appear to be positive.

 

[Flashback]

thegurio (& flashware),

On a personal note I had trouble reading your report and comments as it was a reminder of my own trip to hospital, 8 week ago, for prostate cancer.

Fortunately everyone's outcomes appear to be positive.

Glad to hear you've recovered nicely straitman:!: On a related note, I've just exhausted the last of my painkillers and pondering what the chemist has that might work

 

[thegurio]

Sorry Straitman - i tried to make it as entertaining as possible!

Flashware - the strongest OTC meds are Panadiene ultra, theyre in a blue packet. Expect to go through the Spanish Inquisition but they're worth it.

Good news - went for a walk today to the end of the block and all was good... Not too sore and starting to space out the meds more and more.

 

[serfty]

Nice report and a good read - I enjoyed the slant on this.

... Sorry about the lack of shots, to be honest I was always that hungry when the food or anything came out that shots were the last on my mind. ...

Are you sure you didn't actually eat the camera?

 

[Flashback]

Sorry Straitman - i tried to make it as entertaining as possible!

Flashware - the strongest OTC meds are Panadiene ultra, theyre in a blue packet. Expect to go through the Spanish Inquisition but they're worth it.

Good news - went for a walk today to the end of the block and all was good... Not too sore and starting to space out the meds more and more.

Yep, that's what I got. Not doing much for me at the moment, I seem to have a high tolerance to pain killers :-|

 

[straitman]

Sorry Straitman - i tried to make it as entertaining as possible!

No worries.

So long as everyone is recovering well.

 

[Flashback]

No worries.

So long as everyone is recovering well.

I was, or so I thought :evil: Had some dressings removed which were supposed to help me breathe a bit easier, have less pain etc.

Keep waking every 2 hours tonight, and in quite an uncomfortable manner. Starting to stress me out now :evil:

 

[straitman]

I was, or so I thought :evil: Had some dressings removed which were supposed to help me breathe a bit easier, have less pain etc.

Keep waking every 2 hours tonight, and in quite an uncomfortable manner. Starting to stress me out now :evil:

Flashware,

We are thinking of you and look forward to your speedy recovery.

 

[Flashback]

Flashware,

We are thinking of you and look forward to your speedy recovery.

Thanks straitman. I think I'll just stay awake now and hope I last it through the day at work...:!: :shock:

 

[straitman]

Thanks straitman. I think I'll just stay awake now and hope I last it through the day at work...:!: :shock:

Just keep reminding yourself that it will all be worth it in the end.