Thursday 24th October 2019

Arterial Line and a Traumatic Start

This morning myself and husband were at Northwick Park Hospital at 8.30am bright and early ready for my wait for a free theatre slot. I had been informed the day before to come first thing in the morning instead of in the afternoon so that I could definitely secure my place. One of the Haematology doctors came to see me and informed me of the schedule for the next 2 days. He took a sample of my blood for cross match and told me that my exchange transfusion would happen by 9am the next morning and that I would be home after it was completed and my blood results were checked.

The wait was long but eventually around 2.30pm they were ready for me. I was scared and told the anesthetist that in the past I needed sedation as the artery in my groin had been overused so much. There was a lot of scar tissue around it which made the procedure painfully unbearable in the past.

The anesthetist decided to dismiss what I was saying and told me that I would only need local anesthetic. He could not have realised how wrong he was as I screamed down the theatre room and wept like a baby. I cannot remember the rest of the trauma as he administered a small amount of sedative. The horror was over my arterial line was in place and I was taken to the recovery ward to wait until a bed became available on Carolle ward. This would be where my exchange transfusion would take place in the morning.

The staff on the recovery ward were lovely, they made me feel so special and cared for me in such a special way. I was over the recent trauma and now began to relax. It was not too long before a bed became available on Carolle ward and I realised that my stay in hospital would be easier than I thought because of the amazing staff.

Laurel

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Read the next part of My Hip Replacement Journey Continues here: www.sicklecellsociety.org/hip3/