My first full day in Harrogate was a good day.

I had breakfast around 8.30am and met some more staff.

One of the physios came to see me. She did some assessments with my left arm and hand and walked round the ward with me. She was happy with me but said to still have someone near me.

I met one of the Occupational Therapists, who I saw regularly each day after today. She was really nice, pleased with how I was getting on.

I had a shower and the OT came with me. I could undress myself and was managing to balance a bit on each leg. I sat again and tried to shampoo and condition my hair myself, which was an improvement from the day before. My left hand tried, I wasn’t annoyed with myself given that it was weak. I guess maybe I knew that if I kept trying, it would help.

Whoever is assisting you is ready to help, but I remember I kept saying “let me try” and had help if needed.

I had the shower around 10am. The OT asked if I’d been given a sheet with hand exercises which I hadn’t yet so she was going to bring one.

I had been taking medication after surgery. Around mid-morning someone came to give me my meds. I was on 4 medications at this time. Clopidogrel, which is a blood thinner, Aspirin, a Statin and another medication for my stomach because the Aspirin can aggravate it.

Lunch every day was around 12.30pm and dinner was at 5.30pm.

Other than that I slept a bit, it was tiring just having a shower, being up and about more and also just talking to staff and visitors. It was so good to be in my own clothes and feel fresh from a shower every day. I was walking round my room a little more. I had a nice view from my room of The Stray, only small but it was nice to see outside and be able to open the window.

Visiting hrs were 2-4pm and 6-8pm. My parents and and boyfriend came in the aft and evening and my sister joined them in the evening.

I got a few cards delivered and my mum’s friend dropped in with some flowers which was nice.

A few people knew what had happened, friends and family mainly. At work, other than Heads of Department, we’d asked them not to mention to members/other staff exactly what had happened yet.

Not sure if I’ve mentioned this yet, but I didn’t have my phone. My boyfriend and my parents were letting people know if they needed to what had happened. It was better for me and my recovery if I didn’t have it. Rob could switch it on and he replied to a few messages if people had gotten in touch, otherwise he left them. He also had a few group messages going so it was easier to update people. It was quite nice not watching tv and having my phone! A good detox!

My obs were all pretty normal now which was good.

It’s funny how the day can go so quickly, yet you feel like nothing has happened and you’ve not done a lot. At this point what I was doing was a fair bit considering.

I think I managed to get some more sleep overnight. I’ve made some notes in my diary but had to back date a bit so there are parts which are probably missing.

I was probably getting 2/3 hrs sleep at a time. I was definitely clock watching on a night. I could here the bustle of the night staff and saw them if I needed the loo during the night.