October 25th, 2023

During the night, the nurse on duty made her rounds, checked my blood pressure, inspected the drain coming from my scar, then let me sleep. Just before 7 am, the activity in the corridor woke me, it was the morning team arriving. I was given breakfast, helped with my wash, and then connected to a new antibiotic drip (Cefuroxim Fresenius 1500 mg) as a precaution against post-op infections. I’m scheduled to receive three doses a day.

Shortly after, the surgical team who operated on me the day before arrived: the surgeon, his assistant, and a junior orthopaedic doctor. Their teamwork was impressive; you could really feel the harmony between them. They examined my scar, the position of my foot, and asked how it felt, everything was perfect. They recommended that I ask physiotherapy for a scooter, like the scooter I used before, to make getting around easier during my stay.

Once they’d left, I was taken to have a plaster cast fitted and to get an X-ray. The person applying the cast was the same lovely professional who had cared for me last Wednesday. By chance, our conversation drifted to health insurance, and without me mentioning my issues with KPT, she shared her own struggles with that insurer!

The X-ray confirmed everything was in order. Back in my room, lunch was served shortly afterwards. Although 11:30 am felt a bit early for me, hospital mealtimes are quite different from normal life. After eating, I watched the news on TV and was glad to see solidarity movements for the Palestinian people, victims of persecution for far too long, gaining momentum worldwide.

I received another dose of antibiotics, but the pain around the scar returned. They gave me a tablet of Oxynorm (an anti-inflammatory) which quickly eased the discomfort. Shortly after, the physiotherapist came to see me. She didn’t know I’d already been hospitalised here for the same issue, so we didn’t have to go over all the instructions again. She arranged for the scooter and said she’d return tomorrow. A few moments later, they brought the scooter to my room.

As usual, I dozed a little, the lack of sleep was catching up with me, and the medication made me tired.

For dinner, I chose something light: melon and cured ham. My mum called, and I updated her on my hospital stay. Zapping through the TV channels, I noticed that free-to-air stations offer quite poor quality, apart from the Swiss French channel, the rest were mostly American series and uninspiring game shows.

Unfortunately, by around 10 pm, the pain had returned. The first two medications helped only a little; it was only with the third that I finally managed to fall asleep.