Back to my story today, Sunday!

I can’t say that without singing the next line, “talk this way” 🤣

Sunday I was still very tired. Sometime in the morning, I think after breakfast, I asked the nurses if I could go to the bathroom. If you’ve ever been in hospital, you’ll know what I mean when I say I really wanted to try.

The nurses asked me to wait a few minutes as they were busy. When they came back, to my surprise one of them said, “right Caroline, we’re going to try and get you on your feet.” 😱

This was only 36-48 hrs after surgery. I’m not sure whether the thought crossed my mind that I may not have been able to. I knew I’d moved my legs a little, but I didn’t know what to expect.

They started un-hooking me. ECG, blood pressure cuff, the compression things on my legs (which had been going all night).

Next, they put the railing down on the side of my bed and then I managed to get my legs over the edge of the bed to sit up. I stayed there a few moments and then the nurses helped me up onto my feet. They were holding onto my arms and I was holding them.

I had about 20 feet to take to get to the bathroom (there was one in our room). Slowly, taking my time, I walked!

I was unsteady and felt a bit like bambi but I did it. 😊😊😊😊😊😊 I was proud of myself!

I remember that this was the first time I’d looked at myself in a mirror for 2 days … I don’t think I really recognised myself. My face looked puffy and I didn’t look quite like me.

When I got back to the bed, I actually sat in the chair for a bit. I had a wash and brushed my teeth. I got back in bed and was hooked up to everything again. I was still hooked up to the compression things as my movement was still limited.

My cannula and catheter were taken out today. I got up another 3 times, but the rest of the day I was wheeled round to another toilet. The nurses were laughing every time my buzzer went off for assistance. I drink a lot of water, I think the nurses had to come every 1.5-2 hrs!

I remember one time I had been up and the woman on the ward diagonally across from me saw me, smiled and said “look at you”. A little later, she had a chat with me. She asked me what had happened, asked if I’d had stroke and that I was so young. I did get a little teary when I talked to her. It might have been the first time I’d said I’d had a stroke out loud or at least admitted I had. She reassured me it was completely understandable and normal to be upset. She explained she’d had a mild stroke and had been in hospital for 2 weeks, she was going home that day. She could walk, have a shower (something I was jealous of and really wanted) and looked okay.

At some point in the morning, a speech therapist came to see me. He chatted to me, said my speech sounded fine. He also did another swallow test with a biscuit… after a day of liquid food it tasted fab! They check whether you can swallow it without coughing etc. I could – best news, I could have a normal diet now – yay!

I know the doctors came to assess me again.

I think the last time I saw the senior nurse, who had been with me in re-ssuss & had come to see me after surgery and on the Saturday, was Saturday evening. He said that all he wanted from me was to see me stick my finger up at him (on my weak side). I don’t think I did that but I did manage a thumbs up. 👍

I saw my parents, sister and Rob at both visiting times. We chatted a bit and they took it in turns to sit with me.

I think I saw my consultant for the last time that day and he said he’d be seeing me at my outpatient appointment and I joked I’d see him in the gym again (at some point in the future).

I know he had explained that there was a little piece of tissue still in my brain. This had shown up on my CT scan on Saturday. He didn’t seem too concerned about this as it was in a tiny blood vessel.

My temperature had started to come down and I had been told that I would probably be transferred back to Harrogate on the Monday.

I was back to 2 hourly obs that night.

The men on my ward seemed more relaxed that evening. There was a lady who was brought in. I don’t think she knew what was happening. She was asking who people were all the time, she was shouting a bit at the staff and when I was brought back from the bathroom during the night she’d managed to get her leg stuck in the railing on the side of the bed. It made me feel lucky that I knew what was happening around me!