Day 2

Thursday dawned bright and sunny and still with the plan to operate that evening, always subject of course to the potassium levels getting to where they should be. Midday was "nil by mouth" cut off but that meant I had what could only be described as a fantastic breakfast which was probably better than many hotels would serve|: cereals, full cooked, tea, toast marmalade. Brilliant!

Jen arrived about 10.30 and we sat enjoying each others company as we always do, just chatting, to the background whirring of the potassium pump! Still the levels weren't high enough and the medical staff were undecided. However there was no point in changing the timetable so the afternoon rolled along. Welcome visits too from friends and relatives, which helped a few hours go by, but as the deadline grew closer we still waited for a definite "yes", and 4pm, 5 pm came and went and even then the anaesthetist was not sure: the nursing staff were still saying they didn't know, they hadn't had the call to take me down to theatre, and still that pump kept whirring away. Finally, and bearing in mind that the planned time for the op was 6.30pm, we got the call at 6.10! Sue, the staff nurse who was brilliant all day  got me ready, and escorted me down to theatre. She was as relieved as I was I think as their efforts all day had been to get me there as much as I wanted to be there. She duly handed me over to the theatre staff and wished me luck. Again I cant say enough about how professional everyone was, and i reckon that at exactly 6.30 the anaesthetist said " in a moment you'll start to feel sleepy, and will wake up after the operation" and "pow" I was gone.

The consultant had originally said that the pinning would take about an hour, and Jen had left as i was taken to theatre. Turns out that the procedure was quote "a little more fiddly than we originally thought" which stretched the hour to over four! Jen of course is on the phone to the ward after one hour, and then no doubt many times after that as one became two became three and so on! Panic inevitably sets in and I guess credit here goes to Caroline, the night staff nurse who was taking those calls from her. Finally she called her back when i came up from recovery at some time after eleven.

My first recollection was at about midnight, but all things considered I felt ok, and was pretty alert, busting for a pee, and starving hungry. Caroline helped me out of bed, walked me the few steps to the toilet, and back, got me sat in the chair and stuck a cup of tea and a sandwich in front of me which I ate and then dozed in the chair, called Jen on the phone and dozed again, on and off over the next few hours. Caroline's attention and care overnight was brilliant, and I finally fell into a deeper and more relaxed sleep as it started to get light.