So, after a not so great night’s sleep, this was pretty much my day on Saturday.

There was a guy next to me on the ward. Another guy was brought in opposite me that night. I could hear the guy next to me a bit distressed during the night. I think he seemed confused about where he was and kept trying to get up a few times. There was also a lady diagonally opposite me.

Around 8am, the next shift started and I met the staff who would be looking after me for the day. They were all nice and friendly.

I had continued obs, my temperature was high and I think my blood pressure may have been high.

I remember someone opening the curtain and I could see the sunrise and the Town Hall in silhouette in front of a red, pink and orange sky. When I mentioned it to the staff they mentioned the unfortunate colour of the windows – they were a little dirty!

I could have liquid food that day. I still had a slight facial droop. The food wasn’t too bad. I ate but I didn’t have much of an appetite so didn’t have much. I was drinking a lot of water.

The consultant came round about 9am-ish, might have been a bit later. He had other doctors with him. They did some assessments, asking me to lift my arms up again (I think my left arm stayed up for a little longer when I closed my eyes). I think they asked me to lift my left leg and then my right leg. They tested my vision, which had improved – good news! 👀

I went for a CT scan, which I think was that morning.

I wasn’t allowed out of bed so at some point, they gave me these compression things for my legs which inflate and vibrate – very strange feeling. Yet another thing I was hooked up and plugged in to.

It was visiting time 1pm-3pm. My partner, parents & sister came 😊. It was the first time I’d seen my sister. We both cried a bit. Everyone hugged me. I could only have 2 people at a time so they took it in turns. I spoke a bit to them but I also slept while they were there. The doctor asked if it was okay to speak to my parents to give them an update.

I felt small, tired, restless. I couldn’t move much. I had a cannula in my left arm, a catheter, I was hooked up to an ECG and had a blood pressure cuff on my right arm. If you did move too much the machine would start beeping because something had come unattached.

The senior nurse who had been with me the day before came in the afternoon. I remember feeling happy when I saw him. I think this was in the afternoon. He was sitting on the window ledge and asked if anyone had explained what had happened the day before. I said no not really.

I think he explained but I don’t think I took much of it in.

My parents, sister and Rob came back at visiting time in the evening. My sister brought me the LUFC bunny soft toy you can see in the pics 🐰😊

Everyone left when visiting time was over. I needed to try and sleep again. Luckily (I thought), they were only doing my obs every 4 hrs.

There were only 3 of us on the ward at that time as the guy opposite me had already gone home. Another man was brought in during the night. His family stayed a little while, he seemed distressed. He kept trying to get up and being told he must stay in bed.

The night was long. I remember asking a nurse what time it was every time I saw them … 11pm, 1am, 3am, 5am, every time I woke up I think I wondered whether it was all real … at around 7am I think I stayed awake. One thing you get in hospital is routine so I knew the next shift would be starting and breakfast wouldn’t be long.