Today Anita had some plastic surgery on her face. It has involved several incisions in places that will be hidden, by her ear, inside and outside her mouth. The operation has helped her have a more balanced face and her speech has improved markedly.
I found Anita in a room amongst the maze of surgical wards at Stoke Mandaville. She had just come round from an operation to put screws and plates in her leg. She had sustained a break in the neck of the femur. Unfortunately I didn’t get to see a doctor to get the full details.
She was probably still affected by lots of drugs, she ranted and raved the whole time I was there. She was very angry because when she sustained the injury she was being transferred to the commode with help from nurse. The nurse couldn’t support her and she fell. She’s blaming the nurses for this major setback to her fight for gaining some independence. Even now it’s clear that the individuals working on Anita are not fully up to speed on her history.
It seems this morning she was left lying in pain for a couple of hours, and she ended up screaming at them. The frustration of her sitation must be sky high. It was like old times again tonight. Anita in pain, waiting for nurses so she can toilet, wires everywhere blood all over the bed. A needle from a tube had come out of her arm and cut her hand.
I think the next few days are going to be very challenging. She is on a busy ward with lots of physical and mental pain and the frustration is building up. It was hard to see her wincing in pain and I left the hospital in my own cocoon. She was getting lots of painkillers but I got the feeling they would never be enough.
No one can ever know what its like to have seen the constant barbaric battering her body has taken over the years.
Sometimes hospitals can be very funny places. I guess that’s why there are so many good comedies based on them, anyone who has seen ‘The Green Wing’ recently will testify. Not that we had much to laugh about because Anita was in Stoke Mandeville to have plastic surgery on her eye to tighten the lid. She has had too many infections and if she wishes to keep her sight then she needs to easily blink the right eye.
As we sat in the waiting room we had to fill out the usual consent forms that I have got used to. As Anita signed her name (yes she can do that) I looked around the room at the other victims. I had to suppress a laugh because all of them including Anita had a large arrow drawn on their forehead. I suppose the NHS is making sure that no one operates on another part of the body! The Operation was OK although we don’t know the effect on how her eye will look until the swelling has gone down.
ˆTopˆ