"My health journey"

Late in 2019 I was admitted to SJOG for emergency surgery on my gallbladder. I had extreme pain and had come from Busselton Health Campus where we had a lovely emergency doctor who was super caring and helpful. He told me I would need to go to a Perth hospital and he arranged a bed for me in one of the public hospitals.

When we got there as it was late in the evening I had to be admitted via emergency which was super busy and it took 4 hours to go to the ward bed ( I believe there was such a high demand on the service) that had already been booked for me so the next day we asked if we could be moved to SJOG. I felt the staff at both hospitals were amazing and helpful in this and the transfer was quickly and easily done.

My surgery was done by the wonderful Mr David the same day e.g. that afternoon, and we were and are so grateful for his skill and care. My scars are tiny as well. When I thanked him for all he had done for me his reply was, it was a privilege and a pleasure to help you get well again, wow.

What was to be a 45-minute surgery became 4.5 hours. Mr David had to call in Mr. Andrew to perform an ERCP as there were complications. I spent the night in ICU and unfortunately whilst I was meant to be sedated, the sedation was not working and I had a ventilator (that goes inside my windpipe) so I spent the night with this in breathing for me which was quite stressful and very uncomfortable. I had to work hard to stay calm.

We had to wait for the morning doctor to remove it. However, I had a beautiful nurse called Samantha and another nurse towards the morning who helped me through it. Samantha was kind and attentive and spoke so calmly it helped to calm me. It was a very long night but I got through it!

Following the initial surgery, about 3 days later, when back on the ward,  I was unfortunate to have an internal bleed which was very scary. All staff were amazing though and Dr Kirsten (working with Dr David) quickly got me organized for surgery. So many people to mention - the nurses were all so amazing and caring and helpful.

After this surgery, I spent another night in ICU. I felt very ill that night too but another angel nurse called Catherine was there to help me and support me and she even helped me by giving me a shower in the morning and washing my hair. Wow, that felt amazing.

Then an incredible nurse appeared after Catherine had left for the morning and she was bright and happy and confident and she breezed in saying that she was going to 'normalize' me and hustled my husband to get me some clothes. As soon I was dressed, with hair brushed and sitting in a chair - she moved me out of the ICU bed. I cannot tell you the positive effect this had on me that day. I went from feeling vulnerable and really unwell to recovering and positive in about 30 minutes. Thank you!

Finally after 9 days in the hospital under the care of incredible staff including Marilyn, Izzy, Brett and many more I was able to go home. There was also a beautiful caring overnight nurse called Angela who, I felt, was amazing and also an agency nurse called Marilyn who was also incredible in my care.

I still had some complications to deal with but Mr. Andrew and his team were able to support me through x 3-day surgeries and one more overnight stay. I had not had surgery ever in my 50+ years so to have so many in a short time was something to adjust to.

I want to thank all the staff at SJOG as we did not have one staff member who was not helpful and kind. Thank you for helping me to become well again. I highly recommend SJOG - you made an unpleasant and scary experience something that has ultimately empowered me and inspired me in my ongoing health. Thank you all.