Blenheim Head & Neck ward

 20th June 2025

I arrive on the ward and am actually coherent and feel a bit more relaxed. Although I am not really sure what day or time it is, but I'm thinking it's not really a problem at the moment. 

At the moment I have 4 drains, one in my leg and three in my neck, a catheter (which is removed later today).

They also performed a tracheostomy which if your not sure what it is its a surgical procedure that creates an opening in the neck to access the trachea (windpipe) for breathing assistance. This opening, called a stoma, allows a tube to be inserted, enabling breathing when the normal airway is obstructed or when long-term mechanical ventilation is needed. I need to ease the stress on my mouth and upper throat so it has some time to heal

It also allows for clearing that can build up in your throat after such an operation and of course I have loads of this shit! which also causes a lot of coughing and to my detriment I find this very uncomfortable over night when trying to sleep - more on that later

I am probably there for a few hours and the physio turns up and tells me we need to get up and moving, I'm like ok, still feeling a bit out of it so hell why not. out comes the zimmer frame (never saw me needing one of these but hey), I am able to sit up and my legs don't feel to bad even though I have at least a 12 inch  incision down the front of my left thigh - a battle wound for the future😊😜

And of we go, there is a technical way to use one of these things, which I hadn't realised, but fairly easy, anyway walk one wobble up the ward and back, I'm told not a bad start and that over the weekend I should move as much as possible.

Some good news is Carol and Orlanda turn up and it is so good to see them, I have a little wipe board so I can write down stuff and tell them about my first walk and we go off for a little one again.

The other big problem is the heat, the hospital is so hot along with the temperature outside its almost unbearable, fortunately I find the day room (with TV) and an open door onto a balcony which generates a nice breeze, so the coolest room on the ward

And this is me post-op (before swelling) first day on the ward, so a cut down from my lip to my lower neck a smaller cut to the left side of my neck and then a longer cut up the side of my jaw on the right to where the flap (as they call it) is inserted for my tongue and is exposed from my neck. Apparently this is one of the tricky parts and it makes the plastic guys and the nursing team nervous because of the complexity in ensuring it has stayed live with blood flow, so they have a little tester where you can hear the blood flow, which they are testing hourly initially.

After a while you realise how your life in hospital will be, the routine, the checks, the drugs and the feeding through my PEG (tube into my stomach). But it's fairly free, you can wander up to the day room whenever, your'e not encouraged to be bed ridden which is good.

Over the coming days/weeks I'll combine the posts so they are not monotonous