Sundays are my favourite day of the week. Hubby brings the kids to visit me at the hospital and I look forward to it so much. The minute I hear their voices and feet clattering down the ward corridor I'm sat up and smiling.
When they arrive the first thing they do is kick off their shoes and jump onto my bed. And the first words out of their mouths are 'I'm hungry Mum'. They know that there are usually crisps and lemon cakes that I've ordered off the menu and not eaten and so I save them for them.
But as it was so sunny today I wanted to go out, have some fresh air and get off the ward. I discovered the hospital garden a few days ago with Kitty so I asked Hubby to bring a wheelchair up to the ward incase I had one of my dizzy spells while we were out.
I went through my cupboards and fridge and found crisps, rich tea biscuits, muller rice, cheese and crackers and an egg sandwich. We went down to the hospital restaurant to pick up further supplies and Big Girl had her favourite toastie from Costa.
We went out into the gardens, found a picnic bench and laid out our wares. We used the lovely hamper that a friend had sent in for me earlier in the week to carry everything- I think that hamper will get a lot of use this summer so thank you again.
If you ignored the fact that I was in my pjs and that the hospital surrounded the garden, we could have been just a normal family, out on a Sunday having a picnic and enjoying the sunshine.
The kids played and ran about, using the wheelchair as a skateboard and whizzing down the paths at a speed that made me close my eyes and pray there would be no casualties! Although we were in the right place if there was an accident.
Big Girl asked me to teach her how to make daisy chains and soon Big Fella came over to see what we were doing. They ran off to collect daisies bringing them back to me to put the holes in with my nails and then they sat threading them. They soon learnt to get the tall, thick stemmed ones and I felt as if I had passed on one of life's lessons to them today.
We must have sat for nearly an hour making the daisy chains with Hubby rubbing my back where I've been getting a pain in my chest the last day or so. It was really a perfect afternoon and the sunshine certainly lifted my mood.
But all good things must come to an end and it was nearly time for them to go home. The kids still had homework to finish and they needed a bath, plus I was getting tired and needed a lie down.
We headed back to the ward and they got ready to leave. In the hamper was a set of playing cards and Big Fella asked if we could have a game of snap before they left. I knew it was delaying tactics but I didn't care so we walked up to the dayroom via D bay.
The kids went to see Sue in D bay as her hubby had been and delivered 8lb of pick and mix yesterday! The kids got a polystyrene cup and filled it up. (This is how Sue got the nickname of pick n mix sue!)
We played snap in the dayroom and Big Girl was not happy to be the first one out and Big Fella loved the fact that he had won! "Mum, you will walk to the lifts with us to say goodbye?" he asked me as I packed the cards away. Exhausted and needing to lie down my answer should have been no but how could I refuse the request given that I have only a few precious hours with them each week.
Before we walked to the lift the kids wanted to do their trick on Charge Nurse, the charge nurse on the ward. They knew him as he was on Fredrick Salmon ward when I had my operations and he had always made a fuss of them.
"What's your name?" they asked
And he answered.
"How do you spell it"
And so he spelled out his name.
"Wrong. How do you spell it? I,T! We tricked you" they chorused, laughing.
"Let me show you some magic then" the Charge Nurse said getting a 10p from another nurse. He put it in one hand, got the kids to shout abracadabra (must to the annoyance of grumpy K lady in the side room nearest us) and he blew his hands and then it was gone.
It really was time to go now so we walked towards the lift. "Maltby sandwich goodbye please" I said and we all squashed in together, having a big family hug.
I kissed and cuddled the kids, breathing in their smell knowing that this would have to last me another week. "It was only supposed to be 14 days Mum" Big Girl said accusingly. "I know but I'm still not quite fixed and I need special medicine so I have to stay here until I'm better. I'm sorry." I told her knowing that she wouldn't really accept my apology and was still angry at having to go home without me.
"Watch me go down the stairs" Big Fella said. The kids take the stairs while Hubby takes the lift and they have a race. The stairs have huge glass windows so I can watch them go down to the next level and Big Fella stopped and signed 'I love you'. I did it back and then walked towards the ward with tears pricking my eyes and my heart a little bit broken for another week.
NB x
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