Bank holiday Monday

Thank you very much for your kind words about Gavin yesterday. I am sorry I don't have time to reply to journals, most of the day is spent at the hospital and I am just trying to keep it all together.

Gavin was only moved from the chair to a bed in a little room off the emergency ward very late last night but had no sleep due to the tests being done all through the night.

Today has gone from bad to worse. When I got to the hospital today Gavin had been for a CT scan on his abdomen. This morning another doctor noticed that his abdomen was swollen and distended and the CT scan has indicated a mass in the abdomen which has now overtaken the brain bleed in terms of priority. Because of this he had an emergency ambulance transfer to St Heliers Hospital where they have the appropriate surgeons to deal with this. When we got to the hospital he was sitting on a chair and despite it being an emergency transfer he waited 2.5 hours for the surgeon to see him. A plan is in place for tomorrow involving MRIs and a possible biopsy. However, there is no bed available so he has to sit in that chair all night and they cannot say when a bed will be available. The conditions are appalling.

Earlier I told Luke it was fine for him to go back to work tomorrow but he has emailed his manager requesting compassionate leave to stay with me, and it has been granted.

St Heliers Hospital is absolutely awful, it’s so overcrowded you can barely walk down the corridors in the emergency department due to frail old people lying helplessly on gurneys. Patients are on chairs or gurneys, the staff are trying their best but I think it is extra busy due to the four day bank holiday weekend. You sit waiting in chairs with no privacy so everyone can hear your medical history when talking to a doctor. To have such third world hospitals in a first world country is a disgrace. The emergency ward is filthy, overcrowded and the most depressing place I have ever seen. I would not want to leave a stray dog in such conditions let alone my husband. 

We walked Xena this morning and I noticed these fallen trees in the woods. Poor Xena is being ignored, we are spending most of the day at the hospital and we are getting home late at night.

I just hope tomorrow is a better day.