The Link

It all began as another normal day on the ward, with the morning wake-up routine and medication handout passing by as usual. The only thing different this morning was that one of the guys was to go home. He'd been cleared to go yesterday and had been given all his prescriptions and so on (which, we've been given to understand, can often be a serious cause of discharge delay while the pharmacy people get their acts together), and was all hyped up to leave us bright and early. He got a bit of a setback when the day nurse told him he'd still have to wait to be seen by the doctor before he could be formally released. As it happened, he didn't have too long to wait, and had waved his farewells shortly after 10.00

The big bombshell came at 11.30. The nurse came over to me with brilliant news: the Mater Hospital had been in touch to say they were ready to take me in for my bypass procedure. The nurse said I needn't pack until after lunch, which I did without delay. Next-door neighbour Susan's son Declan and his wife came in to visit (which now means that all the children, including John, who just happened to be over from England) have been to see me), and stayed with me until Ita, my escort, came to collect me. A taxi was laid on to bring me from Beaumont to the Mater, Ita looked after my very heavy bag, and I was settled into my new surroundings by 6.00 pm. The Mater can't hold a candle to Beaumont in terms of facilities, but that isn't what's important.

The nursing staff did their admission thing, and then the surgeon's junior did her things and told me I'd have my bypass done on Friday, which cheered me up big time. With that good news under my belt, I went for my first Mater wander. Oh dear, but it's much, much worse than Beaumont. No nice grassy area to grab a breath of fresh air in; no pleasant stopping-off to sit and rest in; a toilet across the corridor rather than in the ward -- all in all, a big setback in terms of facilities. I found my way back to the main entrance via the link corridor I'd come to know so well two years ago when I broke my wrist, and generally got my bearings and got the measure of my new surroundings. Already, I was wishing that I was back where I'd been, but the prospect of having the job done sooner than originally indicated was enough compensation to make up for all that several times over.

I set up my MacBook and music-loaded external drive and settled back to relax and pass the time until evening meds came round and I asked for a sleeping tablet. There was some delay organising that because the Mater people wanted to give me the same one I'd had in Beaumont, but all was sorted eventually and I settled down for the night.