But the way you speak of your help at the hospital in Sydney where you had your operation, it sounds like a special place. Unfortunately, I've had bad luck with hospitals (except one in Salem, Oregon after an auto accident. I was in traction for three weeks and overall they took good care of me. But I've been in so many where the people are in such a hurry to get you out, and they don't even know what you had done to you. In one operation, I had just been wheeled back into my room from the recovery room and here comes a nurse, saying, okay, it's time to get up and walk. I was still in a daze. I literally did not know what she was saying.
Fortunately, she realized after I collapsed and after she got me back in bed that I was still sedated from a laporotomy. Then she read my chart, a little too late, but I didn't get hurt, just sore from falling.
So to shorten this before you all leave, if you haven't already, Jo, I think it was great that you had the time you needed to recover. In the states, there's some kind of movement by the insurance companies to get you up and going out the door before you're ready. And it is awful. I could have hurt myself badly and maybe I have a few adhesions I would not have had if the nurse had taken the time to realize my condition - pain and confusion and a total inability to walk due to the drugs used during surgery.
Anyway, what I'm trying to say is its good to stay in the hospital until you are ready to leave, not when the insurance co. wants you to go, or the nurses need your bed or the doctor wants you out because there is no more money to be made. Sorry for the cynicism. Love to all and take care. No more excitement unless its chocolate. Peace, Sally from California