I got a little fever.
Friday night, I got sick, and the symptoms of left side paralysis got really bad. As recommended by the surgeon, we went to emerg at the Hull hospital at 8am on a Saturday - best time, I guess. We were seen in less than 5 minutes, and the nurse had my info and had me hooked up to vitals in no time. I had a pretty high fever so that was it. She was on the phone to get me a room. Staff were amazing.
Saturday: Tests.
Within 30 minutes I was in a private examination room off the hallway in emerg, in the gown and hooked up to saline. They drew blood to look for an infection and took my vitals. At this point they didn't know how long I would stay.
I saw the doctor on duty and she looked at my file and sent me up for a head scan to see what the meningioma was up to. While I was there the tech saw that I had a chest scan ordered up by my cardiologist so she did that too, so that's out of the way.
A couple of hours later the doctor came back and said there would be a duty neurologist to see me on Sunday to talk about the results, which seemed fine. They kept me overnight and did not move me to a ward, so private room for me! They started me on Decadron intravenously and my physical symptoms went down considerably. Staff were amazing.
Sunday: more tests.
I met the duty neurologist, actually a colleague of my surgeon, and he wanted to keep me another night to know more about the fever, because Decadron can mask virus test results. I had received Tylenol twice on Saturday and the fever was gone by nightfall.
I met the anesthesiologist who cleared me for op, removing the need to see them on Monday as had been planned.
My surgeon was on duty on Monday so it made sense to keep me overnight again. Staff were amazing. Shout out to Victor who found me a pillow.
Monday: talked to the surgeon.
When he came in, I started by apologizing for being a jerk and he said it was all good. He had hoped they would not have given me Decadron because he would have preferred to see if my symptoms went down with the fever. The dose was high and once started, you can't really stop so I'm on it until the operation, which seems very likely April 7, or April 12-14. Decadron is powerful stuff, and lowers the immune system, so I'm going to stay aloof from people until the op.
So it's all good.
Got home by 11am on Monday. Gave Mei a big kiss, which she loved, and here we are.
Did I mention how good the staff were?
Some were chatty, some reserved, always cheerful, and very diverse (but mostly young). Some wanted to hear everything about my condition from the beginning, others were all business. They were always helpful but also always willing to let me do my own thing. 10/10 would recommend the Hull hospital.
Did I mention how good my close friends and family have been?
Shout out to Joanne, my mom and Leo, Catherine and Eros, Myriam and Isabelle, and my close friends. People from my old work reaching out means a lot as well, the incredible understanding from many wedding and convention clients for this year - all of it. It's humbling.
