You meet so many different people within the 4 bed bay of the hospital ward. Like real life you don't always like them all, and quite frankly some are horrid (or their family certainly is!) But you also meet some lovely ladies too.
Like the lady that was opposite a few days ago that knits dolls clothes (complete with leg warmers!) and gave me some for Big Girl.
The 2 other ladies in the bay at the moment are fab. Last night was such a fun night; it was like being on a girly sleepover, except we were all in hospital.
We talked and talked and laughed until our wounds hurt. It's so nice to be able to chat with other people going through similar things and not having to explain yourself because they just get it.
Last night we covered topics ranging from stomas and poo (of course), babies, cats, crafts, work, the future, the past... All sorts really.
When we were talking about work we all said how we went into work when we were ill and probably shouldn't have. Partly because you feel guilty that you're off sick again but also because it stops you becoming defined by your illness. Giving up work makes you feel like the illness has won.
I was telling them about one time when my colitis had flared really badly and I would work from the toilet in my office. I put an extension cable onto my laptop charger and would take my laptop and phone into the loo and work from there, even having discussions with my team through the toilet door!
The lady next to me talked about being at work when very ill and having to stop a meeting to admit "I'm sorry. I have overdosed on codeine and now I can't feel my tongue!" This cracked us all up- maybe you had to be there but we found it so funny that we would try to work and get ourselves into these states!
We all agreed that the stress of work definitely didn't help us get any better and possibly made us worse (got to be careful what I say here otherwise I will end up with a strongly worded letter from work about 'bringing the company into disrepute!')
The other lady had ended up in St Marks after having a 3rd degree tear from childbirth. It was so bad she ended up with a colostomy temporarily while they try to repair the internal and external damage down below. She was a GP from Devon so it just goes to show that people from all walks of life, from all ends of the country come to St Marks to be fixed by the experts.
I'm feeling a bit sad though as these 2 ladies are going home tonight, leaving me with just another lady on the bay who is very, very poorly and sleeps most of the time. I'm sure the beds will fill up but you never know who you're going to get.
We have exchanged numbers and I'm pretty sure we will keep in touch. There are people that I've met in hospital that I've been in touch with for a couple of years, albeit just the odd text or email, but it's nice to know how people are getting on out there in the real world.
So fingers crossed they won't be admiting any crazy ladies onto the bay later, or snorers, or people that have 15 visitors round their bed all at once or someone that shouts and screams or tries to get into bed with you in the middle of the night (all of these things I have experienced first hand, honestly!) I will let you know next time.
NB x
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