 |
| Pain: X-ray image of a hip, with top of femur broken Wikipedia |
 |
| One for sorrow: barbed wire that did for the magpie Wikipedia |
Well, as I write this post on Saturday, July 14 at 2.30 in the morning, I am tempted to disagree. That's because my wife is now in post-op care following an emergency operation to repair a broken hip. I am waiting to find out how she is, if the operation went OK. It's an anxious time.
Yesterday started out well, as we joked about 13 being an unlucky number and Friday supposedly being an unlucky day. Staying in bed instead of risking all that the 13th could throw at us wasn't really an option, though. We have work to do, animals to care for and a mother-in-law who needs attention so the day unfolded without too much thought about the date. That is until I took the dogs for a walk.
Then I came across a Magpie in distress. It had landed on a barbed wire fence and the wire had gone right through one of its feet. When I approached to try to help, it tried to fly off, but was unable to because it was basically trapped by the wire. I don't know how long it had been there but it looked tired yet, unusually for a Magpie, it was silent. I backed away and it stopped flapping its wings madly, so I took the dogs straight back home and immediately called the RSPCA who promised to send out one of their officers.
They were true to their word. Two hours later, I received a call from the well-meaning officer who said the bird had died. The bird's body was on the ground, it's foot still on the barbed wire.
"I'm very sorry, sir. There was nothing I could do," he assured me. "It was dead when I arrived. These things happen, I'm afraid. But thank you so much for telling us. You did the right thing."I'll admit that I felt physically sick, but I can't commend the RSPCA highly enough for their response and their care. What a brilliant charity. donations.rspca.org.uk/247
So the day wasn't going too well after all, and I'll admit that the dreaded date did cross my mind. As I was mulling over these dark thoughts, I heard a crash and a cry from outside the back door. As I rushed out I could see my wife trying to climb to her feet, in terrible pain. She had stepped on to wet decking and slipped without being able to break her fall and landed on her hip. She is only a slip of a lass, weighing way under nine stone, but the impact was such that she fractured her bone. She was in so much pain.
I managed to get her on to a chair, not knowing at that stage that she had a fracture. But it soon became apparent that she needed medical help so we called the hospital and they suggested we take her to accident and emergency [A&E]. My wife wanted to change, but that proved extremely difficult and we couldn't leave mum-in-law at home on her own, either. Indeed, she took some cajoling to get ready to go out with us. I gave the animals their tea early and locked them all away for an early night before addressing the problem of trying to get my wife into my car.
The pain was such than it was nigh on impossible, so we called the hospital who suggested we ring emergency services. I duly dialled 999 and was given assurances that help was on its way. More than an hour passed, without any help arriving and I called 999 again, only to be told the case was not considered life-threatening. However, he changed his attitude when I informed him about the excruciating hip and leg pain and I was then told it would now be treated as an emergency and an ambulance would be on its way. I asked how long that would be, he couldn't say. In desperation I told him we would make our own way so he "stood down" the said ambulance.
By this time, my brave lady had somehow managed to get both legs onto the rear seat and seemed more concerned about the neighbours hearing her distress than her own plight.
I drove very slowly for 20 miles across the bumpy Fen roads as my wife tried gamely to stop crying out in pain [see Road Rage post] while my mum-in-law kept scratching her head and asking repeatedly where we were going and why was her daughter in so much pain, despite being given an answer on each occasion.
Fortunately, the staff were absolutely brilliant as soon as we arrived at Hinchingbrooke Hospital, and after a difficult exit from the car, my wife was whisked away to A&E. Several hours later, after numerous tests and then X-rays, she was told by impressive surgeon Paul Thornton-Bott - it helps to have a classy name if you're good - she had broken her hip and needed an emergency operation within 12 hours. Speed was of the essence to give the healing process a fighting chance. She needed her fracture pinning rather than have a hip replacement because she is too young to go down the latter route.
I waited with my wife until she was about to go in to the operating theatre and I have since brought a distressed mum-in-law back home. We made a little detour to an all-night supermarket on the outskirts of Huntingdon to get a few essentials in case my wife is hospitalised for a few days, but mum-in-law has now been fed, has had a couple of drinks of tea and has toddled off to bed. She will quickly forget what happened and will soon drift off to sleep in the land of nowhere particular, a place frequently visited by suffers of Alzheimer's. http://alzheimers.org.uk
The dogs, who were fed before we left, went beserk when we returned but they, too, have settled down to sleep so I am going to make that call to find out how my other half is faring. Fingers crossed. Touch wood [not in the American way, you understand].
Superstitious? Me?
UPDATE: My wife was admitted to her hospital ward at 3am and the operation went well. She requested a spinal injection rather than general anaesthetic and was sipping tea not so long ago. More news soon. I'll keep you posted ... whoever you are.
No comments:
Post a Comment