My family was in the waiting room. Two members of another family waited outside the door not wanting to disturb us. It was nice to see everyone and my boyfriend finally got to meet everyone that we hadn't seen on our trip the week before. It was his first time meeting a lot of them and it can't have been easy under the circumstances.
We were told that a nurse would come to get us as soon as mom was ready for visitors; that never happened. Every so often we would ring the buzzer to the ward and ask if we could see her. 'Not at the moment' was the reply every time.
Finally we were allowed to see her. My boyfriend and I made our way through the doors to the ward. We were greeted by a nurse who asked who we were here to see and what relation we were to the patient. They took me to a bed with an unfamiliar person lying in it. I thought there had been a mistake and gave my mom's name again. 'Yes this is Lesley' the nurse replied. I felt sick to my stomach, this was not my mom. I would never have been able to identify this woman as my mother. Half of her head was shaved and swollen, a bandage that had NO BONE emblazoned across it covered the shaved side. She was on a life support machine and was connected to more than a dozen tubes. She was on a couple of drips and 5 large syringes of painkillers and sedatives were being pumped into her. Her normally olive-toned skin was now paler than my ivory tone and she had a slightly yellow tinge to her. Her breathing, only possible with the aid of the machine, seemed too forced and unnatural. I dissolved into tears in Biggi's arms.
I sat by her bed for a while, talking to her and hoping that she could hear me. I constantly checked for signs of life, or any response that let me know that she was okay but there were none. I wanted to hold her hand but there were so many tubes in her that it was impossible. I stroked the part of her arm that had the least tubes connected and she was cold to the touch. It felt very surreal, she was barely warm enough to feel human.
For the next few hours we all took it in turns to sit with mom in pairs until visiting hours were over. Members from other families came in and out of the waiting room and we all exchanged stories of why we were there. These conversations and daily updates from each other would keep us all going for the next couple of agonising weeks while we were all waiting for news...
I'm trying to raise money to frequently visit my mom during her long recovery, I would really appreciate any donations and please share the crowdfunder if you can.
Loppy x
You can donate here...
Read part one here...
Read part three here...
Read part four here...
We were told that a nurse would come to get us as soon as mom was ready for visitors; that never happened. Every so often we would ring the buzzer to the ward and ask if we could see her. 'Not at the moment' was the reply every time.
Finally we were allowed to see her. My boyfriend and I made our way through the doors to the ward. We were greeted by a nurse who asked who we were here to see and what relation we were to the patient. They took me to a bed with an unfamiliar person lying in it. I thought there had been a mistake and gave my mom's name again. 'Yes this is Lesley' the nurse replied. I felt sick to my stomach, this was not my mom. I would never have been able to identify this woman as my mother. Half of her head was shaved and swollen, a bandage that had NO BONE emblazoned across it covered the shaved side. She was on a life support machine and was connected to more than a dozen tubes. She was on a couple of drips and 5 large syringes of painkillers and sedatives were being pumped into her. Her normally olive-toned skin was now paler than my ivory tone and she had a slightly yellow tinge to her. Her breathing, only possible with the aid of the machine, seemed too forced and unnatural. I dissolved into tears in Biggi's arms.
I sat by her bed for a while, talking to her and hoping that she could hear me. I constantly checked for signs of life, or any response that let me know that she was okay but there were none. I wanted to hold her hand but there were so many tubes in her that it was impossible. I stroked the part of her arm that had the least tubes connected and she was cold to the touch. It felt very surreal, she was barely warm enough to feel human.
For the next few hours we all took it in turns to sit with mom in pairs until visiting hours were over. Members from other families came in and out of the waiting room and we all exchanged stories of why we were there. These conversations and daily updates from each other would keep us all going for the next couple of agonising weeks while we were all waiting for news...
 |
| Family selfie, mom on the far right smiling as always |
Loppy x
You can donate here...
Read part one here...
Read part three here...
Read part four here...
No comments: