A Post-Procedure Stress Attack!

A Post-Procedure Stress Attack!

Getting home after what had, after all, been a successful - if stressful - day, I thought it would be all plain sailing from then on; I hadn't realised how much the worry, fear and actual pain and discomfort would affect me.

We had a great run home; I was happy, with the words of "Steel Rails" echoing in my head, and the good wishes of everyone at the hospital still ringing in my ears. Once in, I went and checked my e-mails, looked at the post, and generally felt I was back, safe and sound. I certainly felt tired, but after a while I was up for tea and something light to eat; I remembered I'd had only half an omelette at lunchtime and, whilst that had been very nice, it was a very long time ago, and the situation I had found myself in at that time was seriously uncomfortable.

It came as a bit of a shock when later in the evening, I started to feel awfully sick and tearful, and very shaky. 

Ginger is supposed to be a pretty good remedy against feeling sick, so I had a mug of tea and a couple of ginger biscuits, and got out medicine my GP had prescribed for me a few days earlier, as a precautionary measure against nausea. I read the leaflet first, to check the precautions and contra indications, and to my dismay, I realised it was probably not a good idea to take it when I was also being prescribed Bisoprolol. 

Maybe it was the thought that I had no recourse to a medicine to stop me feeling sick, or maybe just a build-up of what I'd been through, but I felt really awful: tearful, in pain - and helpless! 

Then I thought, "Just do something. Ring the late-night pharmacist and ask for advice." 

And that was, at last, the best thing I could have done. The pharmacist listened to my sorry tale of woe - all about the insertion of the drain, followed by enduring nearly 5 hours of discomfort, and now - although the drain was out, and I was back home, I still felt so sick and distressed, and I didn't know if I could even take the medicine my GP had prescribed for me to stop the nausea... It was a rather long cry for help and advice! but the pharmacist was patience personified and started off by reassuring me.

He said, if I really needed to take a dose of the anti-nausea medicine, I could. He was just so sympathetic, and so practical, and whilst I was turning this way and that, feeling rotten, he was offering me a way out of all that: simple rest, and give my body a chance to heal and recover. More importantly, he felt it would not take long. He felt I was tired, exhausted and upset, and had been through such a lot today, I was suffering from an overload of stress, so the best thing would be a complete rest and I would probably feel very much better in the morning.

Just hearing common sense advice like that put me back on an even keel. In the end, I didn't risk the anti-nausea medicine; I splashed my face and brushed my teeth, and went to bed. I had no idea how much sleep I would get, but the wonderful thing was, without all that fluid to keep me awake during the night, I slept well. 

And the pharmacist was right; come the morning, I felt much better, although it took a few more days to really get back to normal. I also had to cancel the second vaccination dose I had been booked in for on 15 April - I still felt too unwell to travel into London for that! - and I was also on a course of antibiotics, and had to finish that first. 

I e-mailed my Consultant to tell him I'd had 1.5 litres of fluid drained off, and I received an almost immediate reply, to say that that was great! and that I would begin to feel very much better; and he was right. 

Having been deprived of a decent night's sleep for some time, it was wonderful to sleep well, and then wake up, feeling refreshed.