'Pleb-otomist'

Another morning and still I find myself waking up to chaos, only this time a phlebotomist (which I pronounced 'pleb-otomist' - If anything, at least I knew how to say that word properly now) and she was after 'some' blood, although her definition of some and mine were totally opposites. I was expecting 1 or 2, maybe 3 vials max needing filling.

ERROR, by about the 10th one, I just sobbed my heart out - I was extremely comfortable and hate needles at the best of times which didn't help I'm sure. She was clearly frustrated with me by this point. 'There's just another 3 to go, just please keep your arm still', this frustrated me a bit because she was asking me to hold my flaccid arm straight, the exact arm that had no mobility in it which was incredibly awkward to do so with my other right hand bearing in mind the angle I was expected to do it. What a numpty, I told myself (she is probably really nice, but in that moment she was the big bad wolf to me) . Staff nurse Tracey came to my rescue though and seeing me in distress told the phlebotomist to come back another time because she'd taken a lot already.

After that mini episode, I had the biggest pain in my head - thankfully I was given some painkillers and the pain soon eased, definitely helped that I was able to doze off too. However, I woke from my sleep to find a nurse and a doctor at my bed side with injections in tow. 'Why do you need that?' I asked. They informed me they'd come to get the bloods that the phlebotomist couldn't get and that they also needed a blood sample for my INR, so with a dejected sigh I just let them do what they needed to do. The head nurse on the ward Tracey was a fantastic support unit for me in there, she held my arm in place and was wiping the tears from face and providing me with some of her witty humour that it managed to distract me from the prodding and pricking that was going on. Once that was over, she passed my phone off the charge point and gave me a sweet and said in a jesterly manner 'now stop causing trouble you, it's dinner time', she managed to get a blushing smile out of me, knowing I was the biggest fuss pot when it came to food. ha!

Gav came to visit :))) but, it was also physio time. 'She needs to do physio, so please let her go' sensing that I was already a bit of a grumpy girl and that physio would put me in a better mood and he wasn't wrong. This physio session, we focussed on improving my balance for me to be able to sit independently. By the end of that session, I was able to sit up independently with little assistance. I was so ecstatic, finally I was able to do a normal thing and sit instead of being lay down in bed like I had been for the past 8 days or so. Gav must've been off the ward at this point, so when I got back they helped me into my armchair beside my bed and propped me up with pillows to support my left side. Gav walked in to see me sat up, with a block underneath my feet and pillows to support my slouching left side, but I didn't care, I was elated and to see Gav's delight was just the best response I could ever ask for. 'Babe, I'm impressed, check you out in your chair. You're doing really well, I'm so proud of you.' Quite possibly one of the best days I had :)