Sleep needed

So things have been slightly crazy around recently...but I can tell that you're not surprised by that...lol.... I'm still not sleeping very well at night, and so Sunday was spent lazing in bed, dozing and listening to the football on the radio......and texting my friend C, who had suddenly developed a resemblance to the elephant man due to a vicious abscess in her jaw... She, poor girl, spent most of Sunday trailing from the emergency dentist to the Royal Berks Hospital and then up to John Radcliffe...where she was stabbed with needles and put on a drip which contained lots of lovely drugs.... As soon as it was clear that she was in real trouble, and would have to have an operation I made arrangements to go and be with her (would like to say a huge thank you to my parents for helping make that happen, you guys rock).. She was on her own, and (as I would have been) scared about having an op... So instead of meeting up for lunch with friends on Monday, and working on my dissertation chapter plan, I was instead getting the train to Oxford. And promptly getting lost once I arrived..Memo to Oxford tourist office, your map is, how can I put this, USELESS!! Seriously, it was like reading spaghetti when you've taken hallucinogenic drugs, (not that I've ever done that)... As you can imagine, I was pretty stressed out but I'm pleased to say that I coped, I didn't lose it and I did find my way to the correct bus stop eventually (after a pit stop in Maccy D's - hey I was hungry ok, not that it was worth £3...ah well)....

John Radcliffe hospital (for those of you who haven't been there, which I hadn't prior to Monday), is HUGE....and like a rabbit warren...and the lifts have a nasty habit of bypassing whichever floor has the most people waiting for the lift to stop...lol... yeah, finding my way to C's ward was interesting...but I made it.. And I have to say that the building, signposts and lifts are rubbish but the staff, at least on ward 6f, were amazing. C's nurse was called Katie and she was so lovely....to me as well as to C... I got there in time to walk down with C when she was taken to surgery, and then I spent the next 2 and 1/2 hours worrying...part of it on my own, part of it with C's dad...it took longer than we'd both thought it would and it was horrible. C is a sister to me, we've been friends for over 20 years (so makes me feel old saying that), we are god-mum to each others children, and we plan on being mad old cat ladies together when we grow up....even tho I knew that this op wasn't a big, serious one, it was still hard during that wait.

Mind you, her dad and I managed to entertain, or maybe shock the 3 other ladies on the ward, when we had a discussion about my MA dissertation topic...I tried to keep my voice down, C's dad, not so much.. and given that my topic covers the contagious diseases acts of the 19th century, this meant that they were treated to comments about prostitutes, VD, and whether or not the Victorians truly understood the difference between gonorrhea and syphilis....oh yeah...did make me giggle.... C eventually came back, groggy and in pain but with noticeably less swelling....I was so relieved, altho when they had to put her on oxygen (a fairly high amount as well) I was scared again...

By this point Katie (C's nurse) was 12 hours into a 13 hour shift!!!!! And she was still smiling, still cheerful, still happy to talk to each and every one of the patients including the elderly lady with dementia who was repetitive and upset...Katie was so compassionate and showed absolutely no desire to throw me out of the window when I started making silly jokes to cover up how upset I was about C.... Me, after that many hours, I'd be knackered, in pain and fed up....so Katie (and her colleagues) are amazing in my eyes.... She ended up doing nearly 14 hours before she left, because she was so intent on making certain all the patients she was caring for were happy, knew who was taking over from her and had had everything done that she'd promised, even if it was simply finding a menu sheet.... I have to admit I felt a bit ashamed of myself as I watched her, because I couldn't do her job, let alone do it with the cheer and good will which she showed, and even less so at the end of a 13 hour day..... In my, not so, humble opinion the nurses are under-appreciated and under-paid.... Yesterday they helped make things easier, not just for C, but for her dad and for me. They let me stay past the end of visiting hours, they kept us informed, they were kind and caring to everyone, not just the patients... Now if only they could removed the hideous bright pink curtains (the men's ward had blue ones - gender stereotyping anyone?) which were, sadly, everywhere and rather headache inducing...

Talking headaches brings me to my journey home...first of all a fight for a taxi - apparently the automated system doesn't work so well when there are three separate requests for a cab from the same place..oops - then an eye-watering fare (£9!!!)....having said that the actual train journey wasn't too bad...well the first one wasn't, but the train from Guildford to Portsmouth had originated in London and was thus full of drunk people; drunk people who had, and I apologise to those of you with delicate constitutions, lost their ability to use the toilet properly....thus when I went in it was, not to put to fine a point on it, disgusting....no more details but suffice it to say that I washed my trainers when I got home, and had pushed my jeans up to my knees when I went in.... Seriously wonder what goes through people's minds sometimes..it's not rocket science and even if the train moves it's not tricky to use a loo....unless you're a drunken moron of course....

Finally arriving home at gone midnight, I was greeted by 4 cats, all doing a great impression of a starving animal who has forgotten what food looks like....I wasn't fooled, I'd fed them this morning and they had dried food left - nevertheless, and to stop them meowing, I fed them more dried food which they fell on as tho they'd not eaten for a week (again, trust me, they have)...why do they do that? Weird creatures....

Today has been spent trying to do some Uni work in between collapsing with sheer exhaustion..I'm pleased to say that I've managed to (at the last minute) do my chapter plan for my first dissertation chapter - just in time for my meeting with supervisor tomorrow morning...last minute work - it's the future...lol....

So that's been me, folks.... I've coped with what would normally be a very stressful situation, but I've also been worried sick about my friend...so it appears that the way to get through stressful situations, such as getting lost, is to be worried about someone else....hmmm...not sure that will catch on to be honest... But in all seriousness, yesterday was a mix of the good (getting to see C) and the bad (worrying about her)... I wouldn't have been anywhere else, there was no chance I was leaving her in hospital on her own, and I'm so glad I went up...I'd have been more worried if I'd stayed at home...but it brought home to me just how much I've relied on her (along with my parents) to keep me going....she understands, and even if it's just via text, she can help me to feel better....I'm spending Christmas with her family, who are like a second family to me...the comfort that gives me is huge...I have somewhere, which is a safe place for me, where I can go and enjoy Christmas...it's not that I'd be alone if I didn't have C, but I love being with her daughters and I get to enjoy Christmas through the kids, even tho A will be with his dad... So yesterday was scary, because she was really sick, and although I'm sure there was no real danger, I was scared.... It's easy to hide that behind jokes, but when I left it did hit me and I didn't really want to go home.... I'm glad to say that she's ok, and was discharged today.... which is a huge relief - to her as well I'm sure ;)

Right, I have to go to bed now...tomorrow brings a day of having a humiliating medical procedure, followed by a meeting with my dissertation supervisor...although only the first one really bothers me....and then I get to have lunch with J, so it could be worse.... More to the point I need sleep... *yawn* Night all....