Wednesday, 11th August 2010 – Much comfort in a catheter and hospital food
18 Aug 2010 Leave a Comment
in Words Tags: catheter, mental health, nurse, pelvic fracture
There is much comfort in a catheter and hospital food
Having a pelvic fracture placed me in the orthopaedic ward along with some grannies (apparently pelvic fractures are common with the aged) and an Oppi Koppi car accident casualty.
We all had one thing on common, the relief of a catheter. My ambulance ride two days before had ended in a very painful cry – not for meds, but for a bedpan STAT! I didn’t care who was there to hold my pelvis together while I was displayed over a potty, the bursting bladder was almost as sore as the 3cm long and deep gash over my eye.
An ordinary thing like being in a hospital ward turned out to be an extraordinary experience for me. Firstly a nurse is an angel with invisible wings and secondly hospital food is good! A nurse’s endless task of dealing with the sick and broken deserves more recognition. The old lady in my ward who refused to eat, kept asking for her husband who never came (I’m not sure he even exists) and who kept obstructing her life line drip only ever received kind words and reassurance from the nurses. I named her Mrs Bones because that’s all she was and her nonsensical babbling made me appreciate my mental health, cognitive skills and nurses.

