Status: Work in progress, currently got writers block though :(
The Pain Within
Part 4
The doctor, with the assistance of the two nurses who had been on ‘dressing duty’, adjusted Lucy’s bed so that she was sitting upright and placed a bowl in her hands. They kept telling her not to resist the effects of the charcoal and that it was very important to get all of the pills out of her system.
She had to tell them again how many she had taken; “about 30 I think” and the doctor replied, “You’re in for a long session then. Let’s just hope they have not got too far into your system.”
He advised Julia to leave as it would be upsetting, to which Julia responded;” You must be joking, upsetting? How could this possibly be worse than anything else I have experienced since last night?” He also tried again to persuade Lucy to allow Vanessa or another family member in with her.
But Lucy had had enough, and she lost her temper; “Julia is practically family, she has done more for me recently than any of the people out there, so for the last time, they are not coming in here!” The doctor just sighed and poured the first cup of charcoal. There was time for one last hug between the two friends and then Lucy was handed the cup.
Lucy had never been so sick in her life, the charcoal was the worst thing she had ever tasted, and she couldn’t even swallow it without gagging! It had an instant effect though, and as the first wave of sickness hit, she could count 3 tablets. This carried on for a while, but with each wave Lucy grew paler and weaker. It was tearing Julia apart watching, all she could do was hold Lucy’s hair and rub her back as time and time again, she was violently ill. One of the more compassionate and caring nurses finally called a stop to the torture after Lucy had brought up 22 of the pills and could not take any more punishment. It was a good effort, it meant there were only 8 pills left in Lucy’s system and so the long-term risk was greatly reduced. However, there was no time to properly assess the situation, or for poor Lucy to recover from this ordeal, because she was prepared for theatre and rushed off almost instantly because by that point she had lost so much blood that she passed out again and was struggling to breathe. Before she passed out however, she asked Julia not to leave her and to call her friends to let them know what had happened.
The compassionate nurse stayed behind to comfort Julia as Lucy was rushed away, accompanied by what seemed to be half of the staff on duty. Julia was in tears once again and had never felt so awful in all of her life. She had to take her contact lenses out and put her glasses on because she was crying so much. The nurse explained that they would know more about how much damage the pain killers had done when Lucy came out of surgery, and Julia asked about the risks of the surgery.
“They will find out how much damage has been done by the wounds and do what they can to repair it. But I’m not going to lie to you, it will be very much touch and go for the next 24 hours. I hate to say this, but you need to harden yourself to the chance of losing her, I’m so sorry.” Of course this made Julia cry even more and her shakes had returned. The nurse said that she would show Julia to the operating room and that she could wait outside. She said the doctors would come and update her on Lucy’s condition during surgery. She also suggested getting some fresh air and a drink. Julia followed the nurse to the operating room and discovered an outside sheltered smoking area close by, which was where she headed. She needed to collect her thoughts and make some more phone calls. Although, she had no idea what she could tell people, there wasn’t much information to give at the moment!
First of all she called her mum; she really needed a hug and morale support! Her mum was shocked about what had happened but very supportive, she gave Julia a much-needed confidence boost and convinced her that she was doing the right things. Julia told her everything she knew and promised to keep her updated on the situation, before ending the call. She was feeling much better after speaking to her mum and she could think clearer. She was just dialling the number for Jane, one of Lucy’s closest adult friends, when she saw a doctor come out of theatre. It was then that she realised half an hour had passed since Lucy had gone in, so she went to speak to him.
As she approached him, Julia could see that his face looked grim; “It doesn’t look good I’m afraid, when we got into theatre Lucy went into cardiac arrest and we had to resuscitate her, fortunately her condition has now stabilised and we have just started to explore her injuries. She is very weak and will be for a while if she manages to pull through this, her injuries are very severe. There is some good news about the pain killers though, Lucy has been very lucky and will not be left with any long-term organ damage.”
Julia breathed a sigh of relief, then she asked about Lucy’s injuries in relation to long-term damage; “Ah, now, that is not so good I’m sorry to say. So far we have only looked at her legs and it is going to be a long job stitching up the wounds, she will also be left with a lot of scarring and she has cut into the muscle in a couple of places.”
“Into the muscle?! What does that mean for her condition?” Julia asked. She knew a fair bit about first aid from her volunteer work with St John’s Ambulance, so she had an idea of what it meant but she wanted to hear it from the Doctor. “It means that she will need physiotherapy and have a limp for a while. Her injuries are serious and need to be taken care of. They will take a while to heal and she may need a skin graft to help the process.” It was then that Julia realised what her and Lucy were facing. She had only been thinking about what had happened and if Lucy would survive the day, never mind the future. If Lucy survived this, which of course what was she was praying for, then it would be months before she was even partly recovered. Lucy had a long road in front of her, ‘but’ Julia thought, ‘I will be there every step of the way.’ “Thank you Doctor” said Julia, “No problem, I will keep you updated” said the Doctor and he headed back into the operating room.
She had to tell them again how many she had taken; “about 30 I think” and the doctor replied, “You’re in for a long session then. Let’s just hope they have not got too far into your system.”
He advised Julia to leave as it would be upsetting, to which Julia responded;” You must be joking, upsetting? How could this possibly be worse than anything else I have experienced since last night?” He also tried again to persuade Lucy to allow Vanessa or another family member in with her.
But Lucy had had enough, and she lost her temper; “Julia is practically family, she has done more for me recently than any of the people out there, so for the last time, they are not coming in here!” The doctor just sighed and poured the first cup of charcoal. There was time for one last hug between the two friends and then Lucy was handed the cup.
Lucy had never been so sick in her life, the charcoal was the worst thing she had ever tasted, and she couldn’t even swallow it without gagging! It had an instant effect though, and as the first wave of sickness hit, she could count 3 tablets. This carried on for a while, but with each wave Lucy grew paler and weaker. It was tearing Julia apart watching, all she could do was hold Lucy’s hair and rub her back as time and time again, she was violently ill. One of the more compassionate and caring nurses finally called a stop to the torture after Lucy had brought up 22 of the pills and could not take any more punishment. It was a good effort, it meant there were only 8 pills left in Lucy’s system and so the long-term risk was greatly reduced. However, there was no time to properly assess the situation, or for poor Lucy to recover from this ordeal, because she was prepared for theatre and rushed off almost instantly because by that point she had lost so much blood that she passed out again and was struggling to breathe. Before she passed out however, she asked Julia not to leave her and to call her friends to let them know what had happened.
The compassionate nurse stayed behind to comfort Julia as Lucy was rushed away, accompanied by what seemed to be half of the staff on duty. Julia was in tears once again and had never felt so awful in all of her life. She had to take her contact lenses out and put her glasses on because she was crying so much. The nurse explained that they would know more about how much damage the pain killers had done when Lucy came out of surgery, and Julia asked about the risks of the surgery.
“They will find out how much damage has been done by the wounds and do what they can to repair it. But I’m not going to lie to you, it will be very much touch and go for the next 24 hours. I hate to say this, but you need to harden yourself to the chance of losing her, I’m so sorry.” Of course this made Julia cry even more and her shakes had returned. The nurse said that she would show Julia to the operating room and that she could wait outside. She said the doctors would come and update her on Lucy’s condition during surgery. She also suggested getting some fresh air and a drink. Julia followed the nurse to the operating room and discovered an outside sheltered smoking area close by, which was where she headed. She needed to collect her thoughts and make some more phone calls. Although, she had no idea what she could tell people, there wasn’t much information to give at the moment!
First of all she called her mum; she really needed a hug and morale support! Her mum was shocked about what had happened but very supportive, she gave Julia a much-needed confidence boost and convinced her that she was doing the right things. Julia told her everything she knew and promised to keep her updated on the situation, before ending the call. She was feeling much better after speaking to her mum and she could think clearer. She was just dialling the number for Jane, one of Lucy’s closest adult friends, when she saw a doctor come out of theatre. It was then that she realised half an hour had passed since Lucy had gone in, so she went to speak to him.
As she approached him, Julia could see that his face looked grim; “It doesn’t look good I’m afraid, when we got into theatre Lucy went into cardiac arrest and we had to resuscitate her, fortunately her condition has now stabilised and we have just started to explore her injuries. She is very weak and will be for a while if she manages to pull through this, her injuries are very severe. There is some good news about the pain killers though, Lucy has been very lucky and will not be left with any long-term organ damage.”
Julia breathed a sigh of relief, then she asked about Lucy’s injuries in relation to long-term damage; “Ah, now, that is not so good I’m sorry to say. So far we have only looked at her legs and it is going to be a long job stitching up the wounds, she will also be left with a lot of scarring and she has cut into the muscle in a couple of places.”
“Into the muscle?! What does that mean for her condition?” Julia asked. She knew a fair bit about first aid from her volunteer work with St John’s Ambulance, so she had an idea of what it meant but she wanted to hear it from the Doctor. “It means that she will need physiotherapy and have a limp for a while. Her injuries are serious and need to be taken care of. They will take a while to heal and she may need a skin graft to help the process.” It was then that Julia realised what her and Lucy were facing. She had only been thinking about what had happened and if Lucy would survive the day, never mind the future. If Lucy survived this, which of course what was she was praying for, then it would be months before she was even partly recovered. Lucy had a long road in front of her, ‘but’ Julia thought, ‘I will be there every step of the way.’ “Thank you Doctor” said Julia, “No problem, I will keep you updated” said the Doctor and he headed back into the operating room.