Freedom,

This week, I have mostly been 'being annoyed with my drain'.


Let me explain.


I was discharged on Saturday morning, not a moment too soon after a very disrupted night in Maistone Short Stay Unit. I can't fault the care, but when the night staff do your morning obs at 6.30am and offer you digestive biscuits for breakfast because they don't usually have overnight guests......you start to wish you had actually gone home the night before.


My neighbour opposite was an older lady who had huffed and puffed and effed and jeffed at every opportunity after her procedure on Friday afternoon. I'd had the privilege of being first down on Friday morning and as a result had been back up on the ward by 11.30am. Anyway, this dear soul opposite me, once she had found her bearings, muttered away to herself for most of the afternoon. I was fortunate enough to have had a couple of visitors come and entertain me until about 7pm so I didn't notice her much until they'd gone. It seemed then that I was fair game.


She managed to catch my eye, I was polite and smiled over to her. Big mistake! I am now a theoretical expert in how to crochet a granny square, how to turn that into a blanket, how to knit a striped scarf and all about her husbands diabetes. All the details, missing toes, pacemakers and her fertility problems and when they lost their house because it was a tied cottage........... Another lady opposite me gestured to me to put my earphones in at this point, which worked like a charm!


So, apart from feeling quite uncomfortable and the ward being noisy I didn't sleep much and my neighbour was still muttering away to herself at 11.30pm.


Once I was home I retreated to my own bed, all smooth sheets, hot water bottle and snuggly duvet. Utter bliss!


And now to my drain, as I'd had a level 3 axillary clearance....sounds like some military security thing, I had to return home with a wound drain in place. On the whole this was ok. Apart from it looking like some sort of urine catheter bag, bulb thing. Going to bed every night with it was a challenge, trying to not get too tangled up, trying not to let it dangle out of the bed, hoping it wont spring a leak!


I had to measure the fluid every day. I have been draining around 70ml of lymph fluid every 24 hours.  Consistently.


(I wont mention the long strings of pink jelly.....think Colin the caterpillar from M&S)


When I went to the surgery to see the nurse to have it removed they didn't want to as it was still actively draining. Even though I was on my 5th day, the day it was supposed to come out.


So I come back home and have to ring the Breast Nurse at the hospital. She confirms it must come out, so back I went this morning to have it removed. Now, a friend..........the one who eggs me on to write this, decided not to tell me that it might hurt. To be fair, I had thought it might pull a bit, when they snip the stitch but it didn't.......although, as she was pulling the tube out it did feel like there was about a mile of it under my ribs!


I was beginning to get a bit stir crazy, yes even after only 5 days. So I asked Suzy if she would take me out on Thursday morning. Just to Beals for breakfast. It was perfect! Put it this way, I didn't have to beg and as she's such a regular there our coffees were on our table pretty much as soon as we'd sat down! It was exactly what I needed!




So, I'm patched up, and released from my tubing which had felt like a useless third arm, I feel like a new person.


Still mostly numb, the odd shooting pain but my range of movement is improving every day. Plus people telling me how well I look helps, I do feel well.


Still feeling the love!!


C xx