Dr Frankenstein I presume?

Days come and go, the nurse ask the same questions as the doctor, "still leaking?". I say yes, regardless of how much came out. What can I same it's true. If I say its getting less it gets more, when I say it stopped it restarts, it's as if there was someone with a remote control, turturing me. So I just it's leaking.

Several days later Dr/Mr Cheang makes a visit. He says will if the leak don't stop they'll have to make a vp shunt. A vice president shunt? Later I check on the internet that it is a ventriculo peritoneal shunt ie a vent to the peritoneal (stomach). This is a vent at the back of the head to drain the CSF ie surgery. This make the lumbar drain look more attractive seeing as it's not permanent. I thought the vp shunt was temporary and will require surgery to remove it. But no, it's to stay, a very long time. I don't like the idea of this tube to the stomach and very long time in one sentence. So I say no handstands, thinking it may go from the stomach back into the brain. He says it has a pressure valve , so only at a certain pressure does it drain and the valve prevents the fluid from going back into the brain. But the risk is that there may be infection. Great more things that can go wrong. I ask about the lumbar drain. He says that that was not going to happen.

A possible bad case is if the flesh covering the hole in my skull base breaks in which case I will get another major surgery. This time a piece of my stomach is removed, my nose cracked open and the flesh from the stomach shoved into the hole, once and for all. A 20 hour surgery!

I think he should've placed a torch under his chin and shone it upwards and rubbed his hands at the same time.

Man it's getting bad to worst.

bigbrother

The 3rd day Dr Shan comes in to see me. Finally I get to be told what's happening. He asks if it is still leaking. I say you betcha. He says you will be here under observation for 10 days and be given antibiotics. Great. This will mean at least 3 IV changes. Bad. But at least I know what's happening. Will I get the lumbar drain?

up your nose with a rubber hose

The next day, day 2 I was told to see the ENT doctor. Sure why not. So I was called into the office. I noticed something different. The hussle and bussle was gone. Previously his office was like rush hour and the doctor will die of stress before I die of cancer. Everyone was after his attention. But this time it was nice and serene. He even managed a hello, how are you. Well what can you say when one is leaking brain fluid? He says "come, sit". So I do and he squirts his happy juice into my nose. What to do it was anaesthetic. I needed to wait a moment for it to work. As usual I look around, looking for interesting medical tidbits. Then I notice the label on the anaesthetic. C-o-c-a-i-n-e. Huh?. Happy juice? You gots to be kidding, cocaine! Man I needed to see this doctor more often. Can't let him have all the fun. No wonder it's always empty.

So up went the scope (a camera at the end of a stick). I see this white thing, some hardened booger on it and thats about it. But he can see more, he mentioned throbbing then he says, yes it was leaking CSF. I have no idea what he was looking at (maybe he took too much happy juice). I thought the white thing was some kind of gel to hold against the removed growth to prevent bleeding. He tried to remove the booger using a sucker. He was trying to get at it while at the same time it was like he was trying to remove my nose like Mr Potato. It was not going to come off, man it hurts. Hello, it hurts. But then he gave up his attempt to suck that stubborn booger. Man my nostril ached bad. He said he didn't want to disturb it. Better leave it alone for now, else it would bleed. Good idea. I will see you in a week. Ok.

Disclaimer: This entry is all in jest only. The cocaine is real but the implications are just for fun. No-one is inappropriately taking the juice, as far as I know anyways.

no escape

A new day a new worry. Yesterday I survived but I don't think I will have the same luck today. Sure enough a nurse came with the stainless steel tray. In it was my nemesis, rocephine two whoopass syringes worth. Big syringes. This was the second day of my IV line so it should not be that painful. So in it went. It did have the tinglings of pain. Not sure If I can have too many today. Then I find out that it's going to be a once a day event. So this was a relief but 2 shots at once was not going to make it better.

Rocephine is an antibiotic. Administered only via needles, no pills. It's supposed to be effective. This used to scare me every 6:30am for my morning shots. What a way to wake up.

So the next day arrives. 11:30 am, medicine time. Now I'm anxious. The nurse comes with a drip (chamber they call it). I ask what's this? She says rocephine. Great! The drip is nice and slow. Yes it was good, it was painless. Thank god.

The 5th or so day later a nurse came with the stainless steel tray. I knew this was not the drip but the double barrel. I ask where's the drip? She basically replied, bah humbug. Since she was the more senior nurses I was not going to get away with being cute. So I just have to lump it. It started to hurt. It got more and more, just tried to ignore it then I felt the pain reached a point where it popped. I hope nothing 'popped' in there. Damn it was hurting, when I looked it was only half way through the first syringe! Then the first syringe reached the end. I can't remember saying anything but she then left without giving the other shot. I wasn't sad but I was disappointed in missing a dose.

Using the drip the IV line (the pipe/tap) lasted almost 9 days. The 9nth day the drip just wouldn't flow and the nurse said it had to go. I hated that, it would mean...my other hand was going to get it. The left hand felt less sensitive but the right felt more sensitive.

A trainee nurse came with one syringe. I cowed away and said where's it evil twin brother? She said the staff nurse wanted to give 1g shots. I said I wanted the drip. "Staff nurse". The staff nurse came, I said I want the drip. She asks why, I said it hurts like hell that thing. She looks at the IV line and said maybe it's time to tap a new line. I think to myself yeah sure, easy for you to say, I hate that thing. Maybe she should get some of the same medicine :). She said the drip (chamber) is only for 2g or more doses. I said okay why not gimme 1g in drip then topup? She said no way. Then I asked for the 2g doses. Better the once a day painless drip than the slow death of 2 shots per day via syringe.

Today a doctor came with a tray. Hmm seems I wasn't due for my shots. No this was a blood sample. I said sure, I have a multi purpose pipe just here. She said no no no, thats contaminated by medicine and the blood may have clots. It will have to come from a fresh source. Man I hate needles. I've had blood taken before, it felt like your arm is sucked up like being sucked by a vacuum. She jabs that thing in, took some blood and it was over. It wasn't that bad.

The right hand only lasted 4 days. The nurse said it was swollen, I said give it a go the other hand lasted 8 days. She still said nope it had to go. Oh man. I know it hurts less than putting up with the existing line but what can I do. I wanted it to last because I didn't know how long I was going to be here and how many veins do I have? If it's gonna last 4 days and I stay 2 or 3 weeks I will need 5 changes. No way!

The doctor came. She strapped my hand with a rubber glove to help the veins pop up. Many uses these gloves. Can even be used to hold ice and placed on necessary areas of the body. Anyways she starts tapping the bottom of the left hand above my pinky to help it swell. I look at it. The veins there are small and not very straight. She is brave to try this. I close my eyes. I felt it go in. Don't know what's going on then she made the tsk sound. This can't be good and I felt the tap go out. I know it did not succeed and I was going to get another attempt. Man. I opened my eyes and see an ant hill on the back of my left hand. She tried to inject some fluid (sodium chloride I think ie salt water) but did not go through the vein but accumulated where it went in. Well now I know what happens when an attempt fails. She's pressing on it to make it dissipate. What a shocker but not as bad as what she was going to do next. She started tapping the area behind the thumb. I look at it and ask if you could see it, is there anything there. She said yeah. I close my eyes again. This time it hurts because the skin is thicker there. Usually it's not this bad as the places I have had it on before was on thin skinned areas. This felt deep. She tested the line and I did feel it go in as with the other areas. Maybe she does know something, maybe it was a bigger vein. Who cares, it was over. I ask about removing the other line but the nurse said she will do it. The line is actually a small plastic tube the needle just help it to go into the skin.

Later I find that this line isn't bad. The installation was uncomfortable but the usage was good. It was quite painless. But I still felt that the nurses were playing games with me. Trying to torture me with the syringe or the drip. I always feel anxious at medicine time because of this.

reunited

So I go to the ward. I wanted a class 3 bed but they were all full so I settled in the class 2 bed. People recognized me and ask why I am back, so I say I'm leaking CSF.

I then get the standard issue green uniform. One size fits all, meaning for me the pants are huge as well as the top. What to do. Once warded I knew I will get the standard issue plumbing, the IV line. I hate that thing and still do and will do till the day I die which hopefully will not be for a long time. I do admit that the pain is less than the pain of getting juice through the IV line after it has been buried in there for a few days.

You also get a complimentary name tag so you don't forget who you are.

Then the a doctor came with the stainless steel bowl/tray. I knew what that meant. It's usually something involving needles. But I already knew that it's gonna be the plumbing. So it was that I got the needle stuck behind my hand. I closed my eyes because it actually hurts less.

I got admitted at 3pm. I fear that it might be enough time to meet my old nemesis rocephine. The day wears on and no sight of rocephine. Woohoo I survive a day.

what goes around...

I got home. Sweet. All I wanted to do was lay on the sofa and watch TV. Something I had not been able to do for over a week. A day later I started to get a headache and I was sweating hot and cold. Just my luck I got the flu. So i think nothing of it and just wait it out. The usual paracetamol should do the trick.

A week later it tailed out but I started getting a runny nose. Especially in my left nostril. I also managed to pull out a big booger. This biggest probably in the world, a world record, but it was a blood clot. It was an ugly thing, image jabba the hutt but black. I should've preserved it but I lost it. A few days later a genuine big booger. But something strange was happening. The right nostril was leaking more than the left and in most days the left nostril was dry. This was not good. eventually the left nostril was dry but the right leaked something that was not mucus but rather, liquid. I had a bad feeling this was brain fluid.

Regardless of what I did it still dripped. I was hoping that it would go away but it was constant. I had a follow up appointment on Monday so I was just hoping it would go away. But it didn't. On the day of the appointment it still dripped. It had a mind of its own. Enticing me to think it was ok but whenever I felt it was ok it leaked. Whenever I thought it was reduced, it increased. It driving me nuts. If I was a sim some higher being must have been really torturing me good.

I saw the doctor and she asked whether there was any leakage. I said yep. She asked whether it was a lot, on a decrease, increase? I said decrease, sort of. But at that moment a drop leaked out. So she asked the boss Mr Cheang. She says well, it's back to the ward I go. What! Now now? Sure was. She filled the form and off to admission I go. I couldn't believe it. What twist of horrible fate this was. I had a feeling I was going back to hospital but not now as in now. I didn't bring anything, I wasn't prepared for it. Man I couldn't believe it.

So I go to admit myself in disbelief. I ask for third class thinking I would only need a bed, nothing unusual no operation (so I thought) anyways by this time my finances was rock bottom. I couldn't afford second class, there wasn't much difference anyways (thanks to the british for introducing this class crap, funny how they don't apply it to themselves anymore, now they just call it economy class and business class).

And off to the ward I go.

exit stage left

A day or two later Mr cheang visits and ask if I am leaking. I said no, so it was time to leave. After 8 days I get my freedom. I say goodbye to rocephine, the sadist, the IV line the food, everything. I ain't gonna come back! Or so I thought.

I do go with some souvenirs.
Stitches.A bruised neck from when my scalp was cut and the blood flow blocked. Or was that the other IV line that was piped via my neck.
Bruised wrists. don't know why this happened. Maybe it happened when I was in the operation room. Must've been something 'good'.
The tiny blue dot on the middle is where the needle went in to suck my brain dry. The irritation marks you cannot believe how itchy it was. Plus some pimples due to the steroids.

I also had sensitive veins in my ankles from where they put IV lines. Didn't have bruises there though.