Monday 6 February 2012

A Night In A & E



When the phone rings at one in the morning it's never good news. So, when we were roused from a deep sleep at just after one on Sunday, it was a nervous Marion who answered the phone to be told that her mum Flo had been taken to Southport Hospital. Flo's carers were worried about her breathing, called an ambulance and the crew thought things sufficiently bad to justify taking her in. 


The road and the car were both thick with ice so we called a taxi and, still a bit groggy from the rude awakening, by one thirty we were sitting in A & E. It was a busy night in the hospital and most of the cubicles were taken. Curtains separated late night revellers with broken bones from the frail, elderly and demented. The staff were, without exception, compassionate, efficient and hard working - a night observing them should be compulsory for everybody who moans about their job. 


Most of the party people were patched up and sent home but Flo was kept in overnight for observation. We stayed with her until seven when she was allocated a bed in an emergency admissions ward. Later in the day she was moved and today she has undergone a series of tests with more scheduled for tomorrow. It's likely that she will be in hospital for at least a few more days as there are several possible causes of her breathlessness and there are concerns about her heart. But, on a positive note, the medication appears to be doing her good and she was far more settled at both visiting sessions today. She hasn't had the happiest of times recently - let's hope that she gets a bit of a break and makes a speedy recovery.


  

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