Being ‘Fuelled by Latte’ and what I learned from my recent hospital stay

Just to let you know this post is more of a ramble: a train of thought. It’s not the usual review or guide on how to make something. I guess it is what it is.

When I think about the phrase “Fuelled by Latte” the image that I conjure up in my mind is a woman who has got her shit together, downs her morning coffee and gets on with living her best life. Her best life being her normal life but with a positive twist on it. Whether that involves the daily chores and work or leisure activities and fun times with the kids. Being fuelled by latte to me is about having energy and pouring energy into everything I do. It’s the image I like to keep in mind when things feel a bit harder, on those days where natural motivation is lacking and it’s quite clear my shit is not quite together as well as I’d like it to be!

This week, no matter how optimistic my outlook, I found I suddenly felt very humbled and very mortal. I was taken ill whilst at a family friendly festival, just a few hours after we’d arrived. I had what I thought was a vomiting bug and ended up being so sick my husband drove me home again that evening so I could try and get right before joining them again the next day.

Being 'Fuelled by Latte'

By morning I felt a bit better and had stopped being sick but I had a bit of pain in the right hand side of my abdomen. I decided I must’ve really pulled my muscles from all that puking! A few hours went by and things just weren’t right, this pain stabbed and throbbed when I moved. It brought tears to my eyes. With it being a Saturday I rang 111 and was advised to go to the Out of Hours Doctors at the hospital so I got hold of hubby on the phone and asked if he’d mind coming back from the festival again to take me.

Within moments of seeing me, the Out of Hours doctor told me I wasn’t going anywhere except straight to the Surgical Assessment Unit – it was probably my appendix. That evening my appendix was removed, all manky and infected, and ruptured, but fortunately it had been squashed against something else so had resealed rather than the infection spreading and causing peritonitis.

So how does this fit with being Fuelled by Latte? Well that buzzing about of daily life suddenly ground to a halt. I stopped, hubby stopped and the kids paused temporarily. In that parallel time zone I had to be in, hospital, I just had to rest and wait and as a result I watched people and I thought about what I watched and I’ve learned something new in the process. Hospital is a place I’ve fortunately not had to become accustomed to and if truth be told, I’d rather not. I find them rather frightening. But on those busy days from now on when I’m bustling around being ‘fuelled by latte’ I’m going to take just a moment here and there to exercise some of the things I learned from this weekend’s hospital stay.

Being 'Fuelled by Latte'

Firstly remember your elders. I was on a ward with two much older ladies than myself who were 74 and 86. I got to know them and their daughters just well enough to notice how the old ladies’ eyes lit up when their children and grandchildren came to see them. How proud they were when they told me stories of their families and how they’d filled their lives with a million experiences from skiing in Austria to long term visits to Alder Hey with their poorly child. Now they are old and unwell themselves with declining hearing and eyesight. They may seem impatient and grumpy, but in fact they are probably just a bit scared and trying to make sense of their situation. Take time to sit with your elders to listen and reassure them. Don’t treat them as fools and visit them often as they it will probably be the highlight of their day.

Secondly some people are completely selfless and give back so much to others without any sort of acknowledgement, let alone thanks or praise. They are secret champions. One of those champions I met was one of the hospital chaplains who volunteered to spend a couple of hours each week in the hospital. She came to visit the ward, not to talk about God necessarily (although I’m sure she would’ve if we’d wanted to) but to talk to people and see if they wanted some company as she knew not everyone had visitors. She also watered the flowers in the vases too: a little thing to do but a nice gesture that I could see lifted the spirits of the old ladies as they nattered about how well they had lasted. I thought about all those people that do voluntary work in their community whether it is litter picking, working in a charity shop, fundraising, or driving the community mini-buses and felt a strong sense it was time for me to get involved in something myself. Small gestures are just as important as big gestures when it comes to giving back to your community. You don’t have to give up loads of time or money but keep an eye on that elderly neighbour, give someone a lift when they need it, mind your friend’s kids for an hour, help with a school trip, or water the flowers for someone. Be a secret champion.

The third thing I realised is that young people often get bad press. It was really noticeable to me this time how young the doctors and nurses seemed to be compared to me in my late 30s! Fresh faces starting out in a lifelong career of looking after others and dealing with the crap the government throws at their profession. And they weren’t jumped up little know it alls, that didn’t have any life experience, in fact, I’d save that insult for some of the older members of staff around my age! These youngsters were kind and patient, eager to learn but knowledgeable already. They worked really hard. There was a young nurse that sat on the end of the bed of my 86 year old ward mate and listened to her stories, combed her hair and tidied her bedside. She instinctively knew how to care. Then there was a junior doctor that came back to see the 74 year old and sit with her to explain the jargon that the consultant had just spewed out to her before he flounced off. The junior doctor took the time to close the cubical curtain and pull up a chair. He drew her a diagram, spoke kindly and explained all the things his senior colleague had not. He also instinctively knew how to care. If these young representatives are the future of our NHS then I feel we are in good hands. 

Being 'Fuelled by Latte'

So now I’m home and getting back to normal. And whilst buzzing around living my best life I think I will do so with my eyes open a little wider to what is going on around and try to keep in mind a few important things I’ve learned.

What experiences have shaped you? Please share x

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1 Comment

  1. barjerow
    July 31, 2019 / 4:32 pm

    This is beautifully written and a wonderful insight into our fabulous NHS. I’ve had reason to be on the receiving end of help from the NHS recently The staff were all so busy and yet they were very kind and caring to me and all the other patients in their care. In fact one member of staff definitely didn’t have any lunch the day I was there!! Wonderfully selfless.