Happy Birthday Your Majesty! It was her Birthday. They do not celebrate it
till June. (weird)
Today is the day. The toe is coming off. I was really calm actually,
It, had to come off. I was awoken that morning to a team of Nurses making
their morning rounds. “This is Mr. Mayfield, He is on holiday from the
states, he was bitten by something in Ireland, and it has gotten worse and
he has sepsis, and his toe will be removed today. All other surgeries have
been postponed. he debrided it in Paris on Friday with hydrogen peroxide!”
at this point in the dialogue a nurse from the back in a thick Cockney accent
screams “With Toilet Cleaner!!??” I would ask later what she meant by that.
I loved from the get go though that they discussed the plan and said that I
may need to extend my travel arrangements and that they needed to treat
me with kindness and that I also suffered from Klinefelter’s. Here we go, I
am going to have to explain what that is to every nurse and doctor I talk
to!
As they prepped me for surgery they told me the plan was to
Amputate Anne Toelyn and then put a vacuum pump on my foot and then
let me rest.They drew a diagram of how much they thought they would take
and then told me to count backwards.
I woke up a day later hungry and groggy and in no pain, oddly.
One of my Drs came to see me, He was one of the ones in Theatre as they call it.It sounds so much more formal. Anyway, He was discussing what was done and what they
needed to do and that the ward doctor would come by later in the day and
not to pay a lot of attention to him because he was there just to try and get
people up and out. Then he said I just want you to know that your blood
sugar is really high but don’t freak out MOST Klinefelter patients run a little
higher than the average person and that while I just had major surgery it is
going to be in the high 600’s! They are well aware of people with
Klinefelter’s Syndrome and that the Brits have done some of the most
extensive research on this subject.
Imagine me sitting slack jaw in my bed.
He then said “You look surprised!” I responded with ‘Well, American
Doctors treat the symptoms and not the general issues at hand and they do
not have a lot of knowledge on KS”. To this he replied “We know. They are
probably going to tell you you are diabetic, but you have had high BS for
your whole life. If they try and get you down to a normal level that could
cause major problems for you. You may also already know that the spider
bites, the teeth and jaw issues it’s all connected to Klinefelter’s Syndrome. ”
At this exact moment I wanted to move to London. He then told me to
get some rest and we would look at the foot in two days time. He was really
sweet. I didn’t see him again. Maybe he was an angel? After he visited, I
only got to see the ward Doctor whom I lovingly referred to as Dr. Turtle,
Dr. Turtle was slow, it took him all day to get from the nurses desk to the
end of Aldham. He also looked oddly like a Turtle. He was of Indian decent
and I found him to be quite stubborn. He was short and liked to assert his
dominance within the ward. He fought hard over the next two weeks to get
me to fly home early. I said Nope, I want to be completely free of infection.
The Nurses are the ones who really take care of you in Aldham! If it were
not for the nursing staff I would still be there today.
The process in which they handle the ward is amazing. Each morning the
crossover begins, or shift change if you will. The night nurse comes in and
checks your vitals. Then the other night nurse comes in and checks your
pain and offers up some pain pills and meds and Oral Morphine (It taste
like Grape Juice and I took it whenever I could lol). After that is done the
day shift comes by talking about the plan of recovery , any ups or downs
and some daily anecdotes. Once they leave , The breakfast cart rolls in. The
kind attendant wants to know if you would like any Toast or Tea, Porridge
or Cold Cereal. Sometimes I expected to see forest animals grazing in the
corners of the ward. I am sure that was the drugs. She left and a slew of
young nurses in training came in to handle getting the infirm up and
dressed , bed linens changed. They didn’t give you a choice, if you wanted to
stay in bed they would in the most proper , polite way get you Up and going.
I would stall but only because it was very Mary Poppins ish and I was
enjoying toying with the young staff in their Dentist Starfleet Command
uniforms. Mac was a Murse (Male Nurse). That is what I call all male
Nurses. I had another one I named Shere Kahn after the devious Tiger in
the Jungle Book. I thought he was shady and a little mean. He probably was
nice, but for all intents and purposes I will refer to him as Kahn. When Mac
had come in that morning , I asked about the Toilet Cleaner remark and he
said “yeah, we all want to know why you thought Toilet Cleaner was the
right thing to use on your body?” “Hydrogen Peroxide over here is used for
cleaning toilets!” AH….Well in America people use it as an Oral rinse and
on cuts and wounds! I guess we Americans have Potty Mouths LOL.
Later that Day, I saw my foot for the first time. to use a British slang I was
simply GOBSMACKED! They took more than just the Toe. Anne was Gone,
but then so was most of the surface and bone. They said I had a lot of
Gangrenous tissue that had to be removed. I was assured that it would heal
over time. When asked if I had any questions ,my first one was…..wait for
it……Will I ever be able to wear Flip Flops or Opened toed shoes again??
I’m bad with priorities, I’ll admit it! The plan at this point was to watch it,
keep it super clean, change the dressing every 2 to 3 days and in a few days
start physiotherapy.
I think it is funny that when we go through a trauma we begin to see
loved ones and friends in strangers as a way to feel solitude. My
Physiotherapist was a girl. She looked JUST like my Sister In Law, so I
nicknamed her Jenn. I had a male physio that looked like the guy Princess
Di had an affair with and everyone assumed fathered Harry… I don’t believe
that rumor…anyway he smelled really good, but was snobby…so I always
preferred Jenn.