Light approaching...

I survived a night... it wasn't great, it must be said, but it could have been much worse. At least I am not on 2-hourly obs any more.
Eventually got my antibiotics via the PICC line (hurrah!) at just after 11pm. Everyone else was gently snoring by then. Decided that I wasn't that fascinated by John le Carre and needed to retire myself. The cacophany of the electrically pumped inflated mattresses, the snoring and the mysterious buzzing noise that I never did identify eventually all faded away - but as always as soon as I felt settled someone would cough, or splutter or something, and the nurses would come in to check - sometimes dragging the trolley with the monitors behind them. By 6.30 am when my next obs were taken I was pretty worn out but it was never going to be a great rest in a room with five other people, most of whom were sleeping on their backs propped up at 45degrees to the horizontal - and if there is a position when snoring is likely, then that is it.
My blood sample (from the PICC again, another hurrah!) went off about 7.30am, hopefully they will be back soon with a suitable white cell count and then I am out of here... I have been written up for oral antibiotics for the next three days so life can go back to some semblance of normality.

By 8am everyone was awake and enjoying their porridge... the truly awful coffee had been served and the demands for commodes had begun. By 9am I was sat in the corridor with the mobile phone bemoaning the foul atmosphere which now prevailed on the ward - the background aroma of wet incontinence pads had been completely lost in the miasma of different pooh smells. As far as I could tell, everyone in this bay (apart from me) was given a laxative yesterday evening - three out of the five can't (or won't) go to the bathroom, and trust me, none of them have any problem with effective evacuation of their digestive systems. I jolly well hope my immune system is up to par, because if it isn't I am wondering how long you can safely sit in somewhere that smells like a sewer much of the time.
The nice man from the hospital estates team arrived about 9.30 to "check my pc" - I now have a sticker valid for a year that says I can plug it into the power here, so hurrah for that!
There are curtains around the bed at the end, I didn't see a commode arrive but I am starting to detect that delightful aroma again... I think it's time for a shower!