Pre - Discharge

Date of Discharge Agreed: 21st Aug

Two tests that I also had were:

Heart Echo Scan - this was taken on the Ward by a mobile scanner.

An X-Ray of my Right leg as it had begun to swell up after 3/4 weeks, but it was found to be ok and so I had to sit with my right leg up and supported by a foot stool.

Around ten days before discharge the Pharmacist visited and explained about my medication. I was asked if I was confident enough to take control. I was issued with a laminated sheet of my prescription drugs and the times at which they were taken. OK, when the nurses came with the "sweetie trolley" I had now to tell them what I wanted.
So far so good, I was then issued with a "weekly" tablet box which meant that I had to learn how to use it and load the drugs in the boxes at the correct times. Success!

I was taken on a home visit by the Physio and Occupational Therapist. On a sunny afternoon I was taken by taxi - how peculiar it all seemed - being in a wheelchair and pushed up a ramp!
The house looked bright and very clean. My husband had taken up the kitchen mat and I smelt the polish that he had cleaned the leather suite with. Suddenly, the house looked challenging.

I was asked to make a cup of tea for us and we discussed the layout of the kitchen. I also had to walk up and down the stairs, something which I had been shown how to do by the Physio's in hospital.

Showering was discussed and at that time the only shower that I could manage was in the loft! So we agreed that I would breakfast upstairs and the go up to the loft for my daily shower. This would be the "most economical and efficient" way for me to manage.


We then discussed what aids I would need. I seem to remember giving the response, "As little as possible as I don't want to be an invalid".

Before I was discharged they had arranged for hand rails on the stairs, a stool to sit on in the shower, a perching stool for bathroom/kitchen use, a two tier trolley to move items around and a wheelchair.

My how things had changed for all of us.