Stay strong, beloved <3

So, I finally got the husband into hospital.  His breathing has been getting worse and worse through the summer.  At first, we put it down to how stuffy it was this year but now the weather's cooling and the air's clearing, and he was just the same.  Then his legs swelled up.  I checked the NHS website and that said, 'Call 999'.  Of COURSE, he had to watch the Champions League match first...  But Wednesday morning, I rang for an ambulance.

At first we were told it could be up to 7.5 hours but then the paramedic service rang us back and he told them about a rash that had developed in the last few days.  They asked if it faded when pressed and I suddenly realised it could have been meningitis!  But it did fade, and he hasn't been ill otherwise, so I'm not feeling too guilty about it.  But they were still really interested in it and an ambulance arrived within the hour.

They checked his heart rate and blood pressure - both high - and off we went to A&E.  In the ambulance, one of the paramedics told us that the headaches he gets behind his eyes and general tiredness are both signs of high blood pressure, so I learned something new.  He's always had bad headaches, though, so they didn't strike us as unusual, and he's been sleeping so badly for years, now, that we expect him to be tired.

Then we sat around in A&E for a total of 9 hours.  There was a male nurse with the same first name as my husband.  It's not a name we come across very often, so to meet another one, especially a younger one, was a nice surprise.  Anyway, he explained things to us, what the numbers on the monitor meant, how much oxygen he was giving, that sort of thing.  When he finally got a bed (just a temporary one until they moved him to a ward), the doctor there had had a dog with the same first name, so kept making jokes about being a good boy :D

I left at that point and just collapsed.  How is it that sitting around all day doing NOTHING is the most tiring thing in the world?

I rang the hospital the next morning and kept being put through to another number that just rang and rang until it rang off.  So, I rang back and was given the 'direct line' to the one that had just rung off.  This happened two or three times (I was losing the will at this point) but the last time I was advised to leave it a bit as 'they're really busy down there'.  Our daughter took over at that point and got through and found he'd been sent to Acute Medical.  Hospital visiting hours are 1-6pm, so I went down with our son at about 2pm.

Main reception said, 'He's still in A...' and I thought she said A&E.  So, back we go to A&E.  'Haven't seen him all day - are you sure they didn't say "AMU"?  Go through those double doors.'  Through the double doors.  'He's JUST gone up to Ward..."  It felt like we were chasing him round the hospital!  Then we wandered around aimlessly trying to find the right set of lifts to take us up the right ward.  There are signs everywhere, but none saying LIFTS --> *facepalm*

So, we finally tracked him down.  Daughter and I had some miscommunication over the ward - I just sent her the number but not the department, so she went to AMU, which was the last place she knew he was :D  But she brought fiance and grandson and we got shouted at for having too many people around the bed.

He's on diuretics to bring the swelling down so, obviously, needs to pee a lot and we almost had a stand up row with a sister about getting him a commode - he kept missing the papier mache bottles.  Yesterday, the nurse put some bed pans and bottles in the toilet for him to use, so I'm hoping he's feeling a bit better about that.  He just needs someone to hook him up to the portable oxygen rather than the thing in the wall.

So, he's in the right place.  They've done tests and confirmed there's nothing wrong with his pituitary gland and there's a slight shadow on his heart but nothing to worry about.  The rash is just a rash and will go down.  But they haven't got to what the real problem is, yet.

The best thing is, he hasn't had a cigarette since Wednesday morning and hasn't wanted one.  The problem will be when he DOES come home and he's bored.  He needs to find a new hobby...

I'm going to spend the whole afternoon there today and tomorrow.  He might be home tomorrow, but his legs were still pretty swollen last night, so I don't know.

Son is at work this morning, so I have the house to myself for the first time in I don't know how long.  And I can't enjoy it because I have cleaning to do before setting out to the hospital :D