Today we saw a consultant. He confirmed that Abid Ammu Siddiqui has serious liver damage but that there is still every sign that it is recoverable as long as he accepts medication and stops drinking. He does not ave gall stones as we had previously been told, but there is some “sludge” in his gall bladder, which will hopefully wash out in due course. The bad news is that Abid now habitually removes any cannula inserted into a vein, which risks death by dehydration and also low-sodium levels. At long last the ICU people have sedated him somewhat and he was tolerating a cannula when I left him at about 01:00 this morning. The standard of care he is receiving is somewhat erratic. Some of the medical staff are sublimely patient and assiduous and caring; others are obvious jobsworths. If Abids mother, sister and I had not been present continually today he would have been left unattended in his side room for very extensive periods, lying in soiled bed linen and bleeding from where he had ripped out his cannula. Then jobsworths do not like our presence and are seeking to enforce rigid visiting times. They particularly do not like my presence as “non family”, though the consultant we saw was very communicative with me when he came to talk with us. I have been told that I must not return before 14:00 tomorrow. Abids mother very much wants me to return earlier, so I am somewhat confused as to what I ought to do.
Posted on: Sat, 29 Mar 2014 02:07:30 +0000