Sorry for this random rant. I have now been kept awake for three nights by the same little old lady. I know she can't help it but she never even stops to take a breath. I also didn't realise that someone so small and frail could have so much volume and stamina. I AM GOING NUTS!!!!!
Doctors tell you to rest. They have clearly never tried to do this on a ward!!!
Any amusing little tales of temporary insanity caused by lack of sleep or general strangeness experienced by others in hospital would be greatly appreciated. I need to know that I am not the only one that has ever reached cracking point during a period in hospital.
Many thanks in advance people.
Erasmus
32 Replies
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Wow,really sympathise with you. I have been spending an ever increasing amount of time in hospital over the past few years and find it virtually impossible to sleep. Usually end up on high dep respiratory bay in which case all so sick that we take it in turns to need round the clock care. Therefore always feel bad as at first I am to blame for others not sleeping. Then once I stabilise kept awake by others. Plus,if well enough for a standard bed there are always old dears that like a good night time wander!
In addition on recent admission they went slightly overboard with the amino infusion and pred and so I turned into one of those wanderers- apparently in the early hours I pulled out my lines and tried to leave the hospital.obviously didn't get very far before lungs totally kicked off and I collapsed and generally caused a major scene,whoops.
Also despite daily requests they will never give me sleeping tablets as they don't want to suppress my respiratory drive. Apparently they would rather I was awake and breathing- I don't think they have tried being awake more or less continously for over a week though! Although I know they do work pretty long hours...
I now take in clipper sleep easy tea, an eye mask, and good ear plugs. Helps me get some rest. Good luck, and hope you escape soon.
Sarah
Hi erasmus09080,
Never get to sleep when im in hosp.
constant pitter patters of nurses and snoring people.
Lights and early wake ups if you can sleep.
I always end up with my head where my my feet go ,dont
know why but never settle.
Always take music to listen to with plugs when carnt sleep.
not been in hosp since last August so hope this keeps up 80)
Hope it improves!Last time I was in there was a little old lady crying for her son all night. I'm deaf but can hear low pitch. Could hear her makin a din all night, my friend in the next bed told me what she said. Also in the day she would make us fetch and carry stuff all day,kept calling us all day when supposed to be resting, she was a bloody nightmare. When the nurses realised what she was doing they moved her. I was knackered, the only thing that helped was the morphine but that just made me have weird dreams. I got chased by a giant blue brush!Wouldn't take any more after that. someone else on morphine had a dream about being chased by a giant custard cream.
Maybe tell the staff about noisy old dear, they may move her and put all the noisy old dears together. There are rather a lot of them or they just always end up on my ward!
Take care
Kate
Hi
You are totally not alone, the worst one I had was with a little old lady with dementia opposite me who wasn't very happy and was aggressive towards the nurses, the worst thing she did was pull out her catheter and throw it at us (she missed!) the nurses were good about it and by then when it was getting too much for me they ended up moving me into the day room as it was night time, as they could use it as an overflow room.
Oh and a funny good one, for post surgery recovery, not asthma related, it was the finals for big brother and the staff had wanted to find out who won / got voted out etc, so they had me in one of the side rooms keeping track of things for them and came in and watched it on their breaks (if they got one, ward was so busy!) that was fun and they kept my mind successfully off everything.
One time was in hosp and in a few days then home and back in again a week later on the
same ward.
I got up in the night to go the Loo and came back took dressing gown off half a sleep and nearly
jumped on the bed on some one else in the bed.
I had gone back to the same bed in same bay as previous week hahahaha was funny
nurses had a laugh as should have been in next bay in same bed position.
The Poor lady didnt know what was going on as she was foriegn and not spoke English.
Wow Glynis!
That must have been really embarassing. I agree that when you are in and out of hospital regularly (especially if you have a couple of visits really close together) things can blend into one and get a little weird to say the least.
I have never got into bed with another patient but I have had another patient try to join me in bed. She was quite an old lady with fairly advanced senile dementia.
Although I moan about these mishaps, they do provide a certain amount of light hearted ammusement if you are not feeling too poorly to appreciate the funny side.
Eras
Sarah R
What was it like on the other side??
How exciting to become one of the wanderers as opposed to the wanderer watcher!!!
I might give it a go myself tonight. The ward seems to have filled up with multiple dotty old dears. Could make for quite a lively night. I can't say that I am particularly looking forward to it as I am absolutely knackered!!!
Still if you can't beat them join them!!!
Erasmus
When I was in having my first hip op, I was put on this stupid medication one day made me hallucinate, i'd spent most of the day in bed cause of pain and fell asleep about 7 ish without realsing and woke up about 10 adament it was morning and I had to get up and dressed, not clever when your only meant to put one foot on the floor...lol...Then after being persuaded to go back to sleep, I woke up again at midnight and proceeded to serenade the ward with random songs thinking that I was at choir, thankfull there was only four of us in there, one was deaf and blind, one was foreign with no idea what I was doing and the other was only and just as doped up as I was. lol...
So it can be amusing when you get ur own back...made up for the old woman ringing her buzzer every 15 mins all night. lol.
Thanks for the replies guys,
It has provided a little light relief from the never ending days on the ward. I always seem to get the bed next to the clock and I always end up gazing at it and getting frustrated as it seems like it never moves!
I think a hospital stay would be much easier if you could close your eyes and sleep until it was time to be discharged.
Any funny hospital stories will be much appreciated at this moment in time. I am sooooo bored!!!!
maybe take a look around and see who you fancy accidentally jumping into bed with! probably no talent, usually just old men with no teeth. Surely there is someone gorgeous out there who is also struggling with their asthma or it's a sad world!Happy hunting may lighten the mood, or maybe make you laugh at the not if hell freezes over ones.
x
Naughty Rattles!!!!
If I were not married this would indeed be great advice. The only other problem on the ward that I am on is that it is a completely female ward. The men get sent to a different ward at the other end of the hospital!!!
erasmus,
good advise rattles,
spot the dishy doctor or nurse.
When in hospital having my son there was a
lovely young dishy doctor so we all played tricks on him.
we kept an eye out for him and got our brests out to
feed our babies.
He said feeding time again? never hahaha. naughty us!!!!
It was just a thought,Our hospital has mixed wards but males and females in different side rooms.They ran out of room in the main hospital last time so I ended up in the womens hospital with crabby smelly old ladies. The room stank of urine.Feel sick just remebering it. Hope you feel better soon.
Had mixed wards but seperate bays, but doesn't stop confused blokes with no PJ bottoms on wandering by.....
Try finding all the weird chanels on Patient line..... either sends you to sleep or totally boggles the mind!
Kate
x
PS why can old ladies yell really loud that they can't breathe when all you can manage is a gnat's breath and a squeek!
Hi Kate Moss,
I have puzzled over the little old lady question on a frequent basis. I also find it strange that many female patients over the age of 70 seem to lose the ability to carry out any tasks for themselves when they are in hospital. One worse than that is when they think you should be turning their tv over and fluffling their pillows because you are young therefore you are not ill. This one always gets my goat as they are often healthier than I am and certainly are more mobile!!!
Sarah
Hi Kate Moss,
I have puzzled over the little old lady question on a frequent basis. I also find it strange that many female patients over the age of 70 seem to lose the ability to carry out any tasks for themselves when they are in hospital. One worse than that is when they think you should be turning their tv over and fluffling their pillows because you are young therefore you are not ill. This one always gets my goat as they are often healthier than I am and certainly are more mobile!!!
Sarah
when im in hosp and there are old ladies in my bay
I always help them when im well enough to do it.
I love old people and love their stories from when they
were young.
They hardly had any toys etc but still had a brill time.
could sit and listen all day.xxx
Well this post has become even more relevant as unexpectanctly back in! No sleep last night as too ill but imagine there may well be stories coming your way soon!
I love old people, just not when I'm ill.I'm grumpy and impatient, like they can be. They do come out with some funny things, I'm told every day that I can't be deaf as I'm too young or not as deaf as them!!since when did age make any difference.Also when I struggle to talk they tell me they have worse asthma than me and what inhalers they are on, whatever they win as I haven't got the breath or the will to argue. It's not a competition I wanna win!
I've seen some horrible things working with old people involving pooh, lets just put it this way, I will never eat maltesers again after witnessing one scene!Don't go near or step in anything chocolate coloured, you have been warned!
Hope you get some rest and the old dears settle down, trying to keep out of hospital at the mo, but might not win at that either!
Rattles,
I don't think i even dare question the Malteser incident in any depth!!!
I hope you avoid hospital. Do go if you not well though. It is sometimes only delaying the inevitable that lands you in for longer!!
Take care
xxx
Ooh, I forgot the time I was in having an appendectomy - in the days before asthma dominated my life - there was an elderly lady in the bed opposite me who had iv access in her foot and she totally lost it at one point and was convinced they had strapped a bomb to the foot. She was trying to rip it off and so the other old lady in the bay who was very unsteady on her feet was trying to help. I was too sick to attempt to get up so to frantically press call button as my bf tried to deal with them :). One of them also spent the whole time asking me where my baby was. Very awkward as only 17 and underweight so def didn't look pregnant and had only just started seeing bf so really didn't need her saying it when he or my parents were there....
Hi there
Hope you are starting to feel better. I know exactly where you are coming from when i was in for nearly 5 weeks i was next to a dear old lady who hated having curtains around her even when i was trying to go to toilet she would pull back the curtains and scream at me. at night i liked the curtains around me but as soon as they were drawn again the old dear would be pulling them back and shouting at me.
In the end i was so desperate to get some so called rest i asked to move but never really got any rest as we had a lady screaming out 24/7 so no u never really get rest but hang on in there if they did not think you needed to be there they wouldnt keep u in.
Last time I was in hospital, started off at big city teaching hospital. No problem getting to sleep as all in the same boat. All four of us getting along quite happily until we were all moved to different hospitals on account of explosion at factory and the expectation of casualties coming in.
Despite chilly wqeather, I was left alone in my wheelchair in my PJs and dressing gown just outside the door until patient transport arrived. By the time I reached the other hospital, I was blue with cold. Nurses and auxiliaries were amazing and piled me high with spare duvets before getting me a cuppa.
Very restful next few nights..until a wee lass of about thirty, joined me. Never knew exactly what was wrong with her but she kept asking the nurses if her knitting had been handed in for her as it kept her mind occupied. Add to this, the fact that her meds - which she kept insisting she needed now! - hadn't arrived either. Poor lass. Shift changes meant the nice staff had left by this time.
Her support worker came the next day and read the riot act re the importance of having those meds to prevent an episode. The lass had severe mental health problems - she knew concentrating on a task such as her knitting would keep her going until the meds came. Wee soul.
Apart from that, a restful time.
Wishing you all well and crossing fingers you have nice staff and no carnapcious old folk.
GM
I can't rest when in hospital. Infact I get more stressed when in hospital to the point where if my doctor can avoid sending me to the hospital he does. When I'm in hospital I panic about the kids and weither my hubbie is coping on his own with the 3 kids and all their medical issues. If he has remembered to make sure Ryan has his inhalers and does his peak-flow and if down to 160 remembers to double his inhalers until peak-flow is back to 200 for 5 days then go back to his normal dose, If he remembers to cream our daughter every 4 hours and bath her twice a day in her oilutem. If he remembers to give our son his anti-histomen tablet and our daughter 7.5mls instead of 5mls of her anti-histomen. Remembers to give our daughter her treats out of the red tub instead of the blue tub as the red tub is dairy free and finally that he has recorded every epileptic episode that he notices our baby boy having to help with the full diagnoses process. And then their is the bordem that hits in. Hospitals are so not resting friendly
I've had many experiences in a certain hospital near me....
one was when I was in.... In the single room I could hear the nurses shouting at a patient ""Just grit your teeth and push it out"" followed by a squelch and then this happened every ten minutes the whole night
Another time... a lady poor soul took off her used continence pants and put them on her head
Oh also.... the last time I was in a man sat down on my bed, took off my blanket, drank my water and tried to get in the bed. The nurse came running over but it was a shock....!
Hope you get some rest. I never am able to but I also have an irrational fear of hospitals too!
You know what it's like...
You manage to get to sleep but what happens:-
1. You get awoked 2-3.00 a.m for blood pressure test
2. Somebody in the bed next to you starts complaing.
3. After sleeping all night you get awoken in the morning by the breakfast trolley (I call hospital toast warm foam rubber).
Im usualy kept awake by people snoring haha,but my hubby
has told me since my Asthma started 2 years ago I snore loud
so its going be me next time keeping others awake.
One good thing in hospital wont get a dig in the ribs from my hubby.hahaha
love Glynis xxx
I tAke my mp4 player so I can switch off from the noise. One night I finaly fell asleep to wake up by another patient smoking in the toilet. Not a good idea when some of us was on oxgen.....
Oh not to forget Mary wie dementia who kept asking where she was, when told would become hysterical screaming she was dying, to be told she had a urine infection... This occurred all nite and all day
can u rest in hospital
I am wondering if you can rest in hospital. I like helping the old ladies and hearing their stories. But one night an 85year old lady went crazy after she fell out of bed one night. She would stripped of everthing and sing from 7pm until 7am. It was 3 nights of entertainment but i was exhausted and they wouldn't give me sleeping tablets or sedate her. My asthma got worse as each night passed, she began throwing things so i had to move my bed closer to the nurses station after consulting with the staff nurse. This upset the morning matron who moved the old lady. I was told she kept the staff awake foor 24hrs so they eventually sedated her. I dread going back in again.
Was like playing musical beds on tuesday,my bed got mooved 3 times in resus and went a little quieter at 11pm when lights got dimed.The doc who had seen me had gone home and had to get another to pop into me.xxx
Was like playing musical beds on tuesday,my bed got moved 3 times in resus and went a little quieter at 11pm when lights got dimed.The doc who had seen me had gone home and had to get another to pop into me.xxx
I was in hospital and needed my IV access moved to the other arm. I ended up with both arms straight as new IV in one elbow and old IV in other elbow. I was attached to heart monitor, on oxygen, drip, sats monitor and in bed on strict bed rest but was watching casualty with my dad (back in the days of one big TV for the bay). The old lady opposite got up walked over to my bed and told me to get up and turn the television down...passing the TV on the way.
Then there was the lady screaming every 20 minutes for the doctor who was with a patient opposite. She threw herself over her cot sides and cut her head on my drip stand, grabbed my oxygen, drip or any leads she could then pulled them. AND she decided to swear at the top of her lungs all the time calling the nurses some very flowery names while touching herself.
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