Summer must really be here. Tim said it was too hot to ride today. Oh you want to know what happened at the hospital?

Ok well it’s a long boring story and I don’t want to tell everyone bits of it lots of times so I’ll write it here once and then anyone who is interested can read it here. If you have any questions put them as comments and then I can answer them for everyone to see.

Let’s start at the beginning. I was on the way home from work on Monday 9th May, and I pulled out from behind a parked car without looking and was hit by and oncoming car at about 25 miles per hour. The car took my legs out and my shoulder hit the windscreen smashing it. I flipped over in the air and skidded across the floor. The bike was fine. Then I got up and a lady with no shoes on made me go into her house and offered me tea and fags. I declined. They rang the police and got an incident number but they didn’t attend the scene because no one was hurt. I then walked back to my bike, rode bac kto my car and drove home. I was in some pain but not that bad.

The next day it was go to work or go to hospital, so I chose the later. In A&E they told me I had fractured the top of my tibia – the tibia spine, so they put me in plaster and sent me away with crutches for 2 weeks.

I went back on Tuesday this week, they took the cast off and poked me around a bit. They weren’t sure what was up with my knee and wanted to do an MRI scan, but there was a long waiting list so they decided that the best way to get me a scan would be to admitt me to the hospital.

They wanted to get me a bad that day, so I hung around for 4 hours waiting for one, and sent my mum, who had given me a lift, home. Then they decided to send me home and told me to ring in for my bed the next day, so Tim came to get me. The plan was to get me a bed the next day, give me a scan, and an operation if I need it.

The next day Becky gave me a lift to the hopsital on her way to work. I got there at 8 and went to see the admissions department. They said they were trying to get me a bed, and told me to go and wait in the waiting room and they’d come and get me. 2 hours later I was getting bored so I went to see if they had a bed. They didn’t have any news and told me to keep waiting. I hadn’t eaten since breakfast becasue I had been told to starve myself in case I was having an operation that day. That means no food or drink at all. About 2 hours after that they came and told me they had a bed but I had to wait for the patient to vacate it. I continued to wait and starve myself for a few more hours.

At 4 o’clock, 8 hours since I got to the hospital and 9 hours since breakfast, I was sent to my bed. A little while later the doctors came. They couldn’t believe that I had been left waiting for so long. They said it was too late to have a scan or an operation that day, so I could eat and drink again and I had to stay over night so I could have my scan and operation the next day.

The next day I had a hospital breakfast but then I had to starve myself of food and drink again becasue I might be having an operation later. I was told to put a gown on ready for my scan, which was due at half eleven. At 12 I was taken down to the MRI room to have my scan. There was a prisoner down there too. I had to lay there totally still, and not move my knee at all while they scanned it for 20 minutes. This is harder than it sounds. It feels like it twitches all by itself. Anyway 20 minutes feels longer like that.

After the scan was done I went back to the ward, still starving myself. I was on the look out for doctors to find out what they wanted to do, if I needed an operation or anything. I eventually found them at about 4. That’s right I found them, they didn’t come to me. They asked if I’d had the scan – they didn’t know – and told me to eat becasue surgery had finished for the day. So that’s another 8 hours starving myself.

The next day (today) I wasn’t allowed breakfast becasue of my surgery – I didn’t know if I needed it and neither did the nurses. Then the nurses told me to put a gown on for my surgery, and the anesthetist came to see for about my surgery. I still didn’t know if I needed surgery.

At about 10 the doctors came to see me. They had looked at the MRI scan, and were holding it in an envelope, but wouldn’t let me look at it for some reason. They said that they wanted to put me to sleep so they could me the leg into a good postion and put a cast on. If they couldn’t get a good position then they would have to put a screw in the knee. I asked if they needed to put me to sleep and they said that it would be painful. I told them that my leg didn’t hurt to move it, and let them try in the ward. They said they would try and do it without anasthetic. I asked when the surgery would be and they said 11.30 at the latest.

At 1.30 I was picked up and taken to theatre. They took me in there. bent my leg and moved it around while they took some x-rays. Then they put a cast on and did some more x-rays and I was out of there. Going back in four weeks apparently. The doctor said my ligaments were very loose, but the bit of bone which was fractured was still attached and was in place. I can put weight on it and I have to excersise it as best as I can. Then I had lunch.

I don’t want to pass too much judgement on the hospital – you can make your own mind up, but it’s clear that there are major problems with communication and efficiency. Why was I in a bed? I didn’t need to be. Why couldn’t I look at the MRI scan? Why was I starved for 3 days? Why did they want to give me an anasthetic when it was completely unnecessary?

Hmm, bored now. Maybe more to come…