Everybody Hurts

Ordinarily when I write blogs for Thank and Praise I do so from a place of detachment: I use studies and data and conversations to help craft what I write. As a result, I write in the third person as I am professionally detached from my subject.

This blog is coming from a very different, very personal place however as a recent experience has given me a very powerful insight into how we interact with medicine in some of our darkest times.

Last Tuesday I was admitted to hospital for a laminotomy and nerve decompression. These are common but very serious operations, and my neurosurgeon is well practiced at both ops.

The operations seemed to be a success and the resulting pain, while considerable, was well managed with medication and bed rest. The only minor concern was that the pain seemed to be getting gradually worse over the days following the operation although not to an extent that worried me or my healthcare workers particularly.

Then after breakfast on Friday it was clear that something was very wrong. My pain was unmanageable, uncontrollable and completely unbearable. I shouted for help to a passing orderly who was collecting finished breakfasts. Within moments she had called for a room full of doctors, nurses and goodness knows who else.

Between them they managed to sedate me, calm me down and inject me with enough painkillers that I no longer felt that my life was in imminent danger.

I was then taken for an MRI to make sure that the surgery had been as successful as at first believed. Thankfully it had. The doctors and nurses then decided on a new regime of medicines and methods of delivery which kept my pain under control.

Subsequently I have been released from hospital and seem to be getting better every day with my pain well controlled.

Due to Covid restrictions there were the inevitable delays in me being signed out, so I got chatting with the receptionist responsible for booking me out. I told her the story of my Friday meltdown and how much I would like to be able to thank everyone involved from the orderly that found me to the doctors and nurses that provided me with emergency care. Unfortunately, there is no clear way to do this.

I have suggested to the hospital that we set up a free Thanking Wall, all our Thanking Walls are free, for them. This will provide a medium for me and for the thousands of patients that follow me to show the depth of our gratitude. TAP is discussing this and I hope the hospital takes us up on the offer as it mean a great deal to me to be able to show my gratitude to them.

If you would like us to set up a Thanking Wall for your organisation please either email us at info@thankandpraise.com.au or call us on +61 451 591 236.