(To read my cancer story from the beginning start here – April / May 2018 – You Have Cancer)
The Infections and that Damned Heat
If you have read my previous posts you will know it’s my third day in hospital after my operation for jaw cancer.
I was already in the hospital routine, wide awake at 6 in the morning waiting for vitals checks, waiting for the final dregs of feed to go through my tubes and waiting for the morning head and neck team visit when I noticed how warm it already was.
Our air conditioner had been taken to another ward and as I was furthest from the window knew I had a warm day ahead of me.
I had basically the same as the day before; physio, speech & language, nutritionist, the dreaded trachy cleaning, etc.
With all that out the way I decided to arrange my area more to my liking, put my clothes in to the bedside cabinet and my cards, letters etc on the top.
I also got my mobile phone out for the 1st time since being in there and found I had a reasonably good WiFi connection to the hospitals WiFi service (a real godsend)
By the afternoon it was sweltering but I wasn’t just warm because of the weather my temperature was sky high, I was feeling really groggy, I felt freezing cold my teeth were chattering, I had the shivers but I was actually burning up.
A nurse bought be one of those big Dyson cooling fans (another godsend) which I kept next to by bed that night.
I had my fan positioned so I could reach it just by leaning over slightly and had a pretty restless night again.
The next morning I had a couple of drainage bottles removed which meant I was more mobile but was still feeling lousy, Mr Walton and his team came to see me again and I could tell he was a bit concerned, my neck and face were still really swollen and very hot, they put me on a course of antibiotics and said they would keep an eye on me.
It was equally as warm that day and despite being on the antibiotics and paracetamol I was still burning up and feeling lousy which I didn’t really like as I knew my mum and Elizabeth were visiting that evening and I didn’t want them worrying
It was nice to see them but I wasn’t really up to it and was virtually half asleep all the time they were there.
I was no better the next day, the heatwave had risen another notch and my fan had gone walkabouts, I spent all day just on my bed not wanting to move or do anything.
Mr Walton saw me again, was worried I had an infection and said they would open me up again to see what was going on and clear it up.
I wasn’t worried at all in fact I think I was at the stage I didn’t care what they would do to me and I was just sick of the damned heat
Story continues here – 3rd operation of the week
Recent Posts
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- Nothing to Worry About
- Just Muscle and Fat
- A New Lump to the Collection
- 3 Years After Operation for Jaw Cancer
- 3 Years After Being Told I had Jaw Cancer
- Still Wobbling On
- 2 Years on from Hearing I Had Cancer
- Early 2020
- The Last Months of 2019
- The Summer of 2019
- Be Careful with the Suntan Lotion
- Getting Ill When Recovering from Cancer
- How Stupid is the Tax Credit System Cancer Sufferers
- 12 Months on From Being Told I Have Cancer – A Brief Summary
- Can a 16 Plus Stone Man Become Anorexic
- Cancer Free and no more PEG
- Lymphatic treatment and having my PEG out
- Beginning My Return to Normality (Almost)
- Will I be Home for Christmas 2018
- Swelling, Lumps and Puffiness The Cancer is Back
- No More Radiotherapy
- Last Couple of Weeks of Radiotherapy
- The Bad Radiotherapy and Chemotherapy Weeks and Back in Hospital
- Early Stages of Radiotherapy
- Radiotherapy – What’s all the fuss about?
- My 1st Radiotherapy and Chemotherapy Sessions
- Back at home, the calm before the storm
- Having a Radiotherapy Mask Made
- Drips, overnight feeds and blood transfusions
- Back in Hospital
- 2 days at home then a near trip in the Air Ambulance
- Removing the elastics and going home
- Stitches out, Temperatures and Infections
- Time to try solid foods
- It’s Not Me You Want to Thank
- 3rd operation of the week
- The Infections and that Damned Heat
- Back on the Ward
- I Never Liked Lifts
- My 2nd Operation in a Week
- My 1st night after my operation
- The Day of the Operation
- My 1st Night in Hospital
- Pre Op Arrangements
- Having a Feeding Tube Fitted – Percutaneous Endoscopic Gastrostomy (PEG)
- Telling Your Family You Have Cancer
- Coventry Warwick Coventry
- April / May 2018 – You Have Cancer