What a day

The day started off as usual with ringing and UNO. It was a bad week for me and Ian as we only won one game each.

Then we headed out to lunch but Dad didn’t want to come as his neck was painful. When we got back he was feeling very sorry for himself and could hardly lift or move his head so I rang 111. They did the usual checks and so at 2pm they said they would send an ambulance. I finished off this book and square whilst waiting.

A little later a Dr from 111 said they were really busy so would do a video consult instead. So I had the Dr on speakerphone to help Dad hear and answer her questions whilst Ian was video sharing on his phone so she could do various visual checks.

After those checks she decided no ambulance was needed but instead would get the on call Devon Drs to visit or call for a more thorough check and would also start the ball rolling for a physio appointment instead.

A few hours later the on call Dr phoned and decided actually an ambulance was needed so they would see him in A&E. Then much later at 9pm they rang to say an ambulance would be a few hours away still and could we get Dad to hospital.

That was a bit of an undertaking as he was having real problems walking as well as being in pain anytime he moved his head but thankfully we managed it without disaster.

We got to the hospital about 9:30pm and got through Triage very quickly but then it was 4am before we made it into the Emergency Department. After various checks and x-rays I finally left the hospital at 7am. Dad was there for a few more hours as he needed an MRI and other tests. I managed to read one and a half books in all that waiting time!

I had a new colleague starting so did a quick nip home to shower and change and get back to work to get the induction underway. I had a coffee the minute I got started in the hope that would make up for no sleep!

Dad was ready to be discharged around 1pm so I had an early finish and was able to rejig the rest of the induction.

Dad has to be seen in spinal clinic as it seems some vertebrae may be misaligned and there may also be a trapped nerve. I am not exactly clear on that as the person discharging him didn’t have all the details and said all had been explained to Dad. He didn’t really take it all on board so couldn’t give us chapter and verse! She promised a letter was on its way to we should have a better idea then.

So after all that it was a well earned early night on Monday.