Well - being next to the nurses station is a mixed blessing. I was really tired by about 10pm & thought sleep was just a blink away. Not so. The nurses loud, inconsequential, chatter & laughter was just continuous. There was also a machine periodically - shredding all the paperwork? Maybe it isn't obvious that patients need quiet & sleep to recover.
In the end I pressed the button to call a nurse to take me to the loo. Afterwards I asked, in the nicest possible way, whether the lights would be turned down & it would be quieter soon.
So I did manage to drop off afterwards despite the oxygen & compression boots.
I was woken @ about 2.30 am by a bright screen in the opposite bay & someone tapping continuously on a computer keyboard. So I rang for the nurse again to go to the loo - They let me go alone. When I got back I asked, loudly enough to be heard, what the machine was in the opposite bay - I knew it was the occupant on a computer - must have been admitted since I went to sleep. Fortunately the noise stopped or I might have done physical harm. I later discovered that it was an American student at the university - didn't seem to be ill, waiting for a procedure which was interfering with her life, as I might have done had she not developed some consideration for other patients.
I was then too awake & couldn't sleep because of a loud ticking clock - It must be possible to have quiet clocks on wards.
I dozed again & was woken @ 4.30 by another admission to the ward who was bein treated. It sounded quite urgent. I felt very sorry for her. All the machines that medics use all have a distinctive sound - all very tuneful except if you are trying to sleep. I wondered why they need to make any sound at all - isn't it obvious if they aren't working?
At 6am the day begins. Obviously they don't realise that I'm not a morning person - especially when there has been too much night & not enough sleep. The checks reveal that I am still alive. It is good to make it to the loo unaided, but painful to pee.
Breakfast is a welcome cup of tea, (my mouth is very dry & tastes awful), & an overflowing bowl of bran flakes. I give up about a quarter of the way through.
A welcome shower & tooth brushing - Who would have thought that could completely transform how I felt about the world. Came back to fresh sheets & a proprtly made bed - Blissful!
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