Merope is in hiding out with very kind
friends in Panormo, the reasons for this later. Today is our wedding
anniversary, but it is probably best not to dwell on it too much.
There was a hiccough with all the medical arrangements leading up to
the prostate operation because we turned up to the Hospital with our
son in tow for what we thought were blood tests on Friday 13th
(!!!) but once we heard the the op had been booked for Monday 16th
, K's blood pressure went up very suddenly and the Doctors
doing the tests wouldn't allow him home. They thought it would be
better to keep him in to make sure that his blood pressure went down.
As we were totally unprepared for this, all his pjs, tootbrush and
medication for epilepsy was all still at home, so Leo and I had to
keep driving backwards and forwards over the weekend. A round trip
of about 60 miles to the Hospital and back around the mountains is
not easy. At least I will never worry about finding the hospital
again, because I have done the journey so often. However, although K
got his epilepsy pills on Friday night on the ward, he did not get
any medication until late on Saturday morning when we got there and
sadly had his first epileptic seizure in seven years on the hospital
ward.
The staff of the University Hospital in
Heraklion were amazing. I would mark it out as a flagship hospital –
impeccably clean, with well organised and professional, dedicated
staff. They have been unfailingly kind and patient and given Kimon
the most excellent care, but this took us all by surprise.
However, he came through it OK and the
op went according to schedule on Monday 16 Sept. It was such a long
wait from 7.30 a.m. until 2.20 p.m., and just as we were beginning to
panic, he eventually got back to the ward and all seemed to be going
well. K's sister, Anna and I took turns in looking after him. Thus
encouraged, Leo set off to the airport from the hospital with a light
heart on Tuesday since all the difficulties seemed to have been
solved. Leo found us the most splendid room to rent near the
hospital so that Anna and I could take it in turns to be with K and
grab some sleep when we were off duty.
However, 36 hours later K began to have
fits again and had to be taken down to Intensive Care to be
completely sedated. This happened on Thursday night and he is still
there five days later.
In spite of everyone's efforts and
kindness, nobody can describe the feeling of isolation and impotence
being in a foreign environment and having to try and work out how the
system works. Even Greeks must find it difficult and without Anna
and her grasp of the lingo, I would have been completely adrift. It
seems that Intensive Care is basically a closed ward for obvious
reasons, so the relatives of people there have to gather outside at
3.00 p.m. every afternoon until a Doctor emerges from behind closed
doors with a sheet of paper. All the groups take turns to go into
the Doctor's office and get the latest report and they may (or may
not) be able to visit their loved one with the necessary precautions
of aprons, and special hand washing arrangements. They explained to
me that the policy of the department is to wake the patient every
morning to check for progress but in K's case each morning, the
seizures returned, so he was sedated again. They have every modern
device in there with wires everywhere and I know he is in the best
possible hands, but still ….
Our latest news is that the dosage for
sedation has been reduced but K is not yet awake and they are taking
it day by day. Since we could not really do any good and were miles
from home in a rented room, Anna and I drove back home at the
weekend to throw washing in the machine and check on our post, bills
and homes. Of course the villagers are very curious and concerned,
but for once, I had few words to satisfy their curiosity or give
reassurance and needed a bit of space from their enquiries. My Greek
is not up to saying that there is no change or, well, any of the
above really. I put three short sentences through Google Translate
and showed them to Angelliki. Also our immediate neighbours have now
got a small dog which is tied up in the back yard howling most of the
day and barking at night. Dropping round with some home bakes and
realising the problems, our lovely friends, the Brods took pity on
me.
If I were on holiday, I would be over
the moon to be staying at this sea front home which has a constant
view of the ocean in all its moods and within walking distance of the
village but still off the beaten track. I have tried very hard to
preserve Carolyn's special batch of sausage rolls for K in hospital
until he is better, but as the same news carried on I just had to eat
them (they fell into my mouth!)
If anyone feels the least bit
prayerful, we would be grateful for your positive vibes and best
efforts. x
No comments:
Post a Comment