Learning to Walk
A fairly simple day which taught me how to walk with crutches for the first time since my operation!
Learning about allergies
After finding out that I had an allergy to one of the painkillers, the nausea I was experiencing stopped almost instantly once decided to stop taking all pain medication. I was rather fortunate that I hadn't had to deal with much pain at all. Many of the nurses were shocked that I decided not to take any painkillers, but to me it didn't seem worth it unless I was seriously struggling.
An Unexpected Discovery Amongst the Nurses
I spend the majority of the weekend binge watching Love Island as it had began roughly 10 days before my operation and I hadn't started watching it yet. I mean I had nothing better to do other than dream that I was in a hot country instead of hospital. I found out quite quickly that a lot of the nurses were also watching it and so we spent a lot of our time gossiping about who we liked and disliked. It really was rather amusing as some of the night-shift nurses would hate coming into my room when it was on the TV as they didn't want any spoilers.
Feeling Fresh
Overall the weekend was pretty boring, mum had bought me the most beautiful petunias that made the whole room smell like this fresh garden outdoorsy kind of smell. One thing that I really did enjoy was being able to get around my room more. Brushing my teeth in bed and spitting into a plastic bowl just didn't quite cut it for me. So when I was able to go to the bathroom and do things like that and wash my face it made my stay there more enjoyable.
On that note i'm pretty sure I also had my first post-surgery poo over the weekend. I had finally given in on friday evening and started to take the laxative shots they had been providing me which really helped. I was told I had to tell the nurse once I had gone, how much there was and all the gory details that I will not get into. It's something that they take very seriously and apparently discuss during their hand overs. I found it quite funny how one of my evening nurses came in with the biggest smile on her face once she found out that I managed to go as she was the nurse that was with me during my seizure.
Lots and Lots of Walking
Moving away from my bowel movements... I had many physio sessions over the two days, unfortunately not in the pool due to it being closed on weekends. I had finally graduated off of my frame and onto my crutches which was a terrifying experience. However the staff there are so incredible and motivating that you quickly forget how scared you are and become determined to do anything (obviously within reason). They showed me how to stand up off of the bed whilst using them and also how to properly walk focussing on rolling all the way through from my heel to toe. We even progressed onto stairs. There's a really clever knack to them and a phrase that they use throughout the hospital to help you remember "Up to Heaven and Down to Hell". Which basically meant that when you're going upstairs you lead with you strong leg and downstairs you lead with your operated.
I pushed myself during that session and managed to do a full set of stairs I believe it was around 20-25 going both up and down. I was so excited that I was up and walking that I showed my parents the same routine, however I completely forgot that I had yet another physio session later that afternoon. She made me do a circuit: walking along the corridor, down the stairs to level 5 then walking along that corridor and then onto the stairs that lead me backup to my floor and into my room. By that point I was completely shattered but beaming from what I had just managed to do. However, it didn't take me long before I started a new episode of Love Island!
