Fart

Mum is snoring again. I woke up several times, at one, at two, at three thirty, and saw her lying there twist and turn and occasionally groan. Time to get up, I told her. "It doesn't help if you can't sleep and just lie there!"

She did get four hours or so of sleep after the nurse gave her this liquid sleeping aid. "It'll knock you off, as it goes right to her central vein." sure enough, when it was administered at eleven, within minutes of lying down, she was snoring. Until she woke up and couldn't sleep at three something.

I got her up, took her on a walk around the ward. The night nurse is an energetic young girl from the south, so very warm and very friendly, and it's always a delight to see her, even at close to four in the morning.

And then mum farted.

That deserves a sentence and mention on its own. A silent (but deadly?) fart. The fart we have been anticipating since the surgery. The fart of farts to overshadow all farts. The fart that will hopefully usher in newer and bigger farts! A fart after any major surgery is a sign that the body is recovering, and that you can eat again. And especially with this surgery, meant to correct the internal plumbing system and ensure food can go down, the fart is very important and meaningful. It could very well mean mum could be drinking and eating, and no longer vomit as she has been doing for over a month. Further sign of the plumbing working better is that there is more pee being collected in the urinary pouch connected to her leg. I know, because I'm responsible for emptying it regularly and for measuring the amount. And just now I emptied some 700cc of urine, lighter than anything I've seen over the past few days. Again, a good sign!

Perhaps all this talk of farting and collecting urine is sick. But to me, it's all just part of natural bodily functions. And I'm so glad mum are getting them for they signal a return to being "normal" again!