HOSPITAL CASE

48 hours of drama
it all starts on when's day night
when i roll up late
after a long day trip to londinium
a train ride through rolling countryside
then a walk in the sunshine
from marylebone station
through paddington and hyde park
through the stuccoed streets of kensington & chelsea
with their pink cherry blossom and magnolia
to the aircraft hangar of earl's court exhibition centre
where the collective illuminati of the building industry
are gathered to proffer their green delights
at ecobuild
first off
in the 'arena'
wayne hemingway shocks the punters out of their complacency
reducing janet street-porter to fits of giggles
as he rants against the limitations
of the code for sustainable homes
a licence for developers
to build identikit rabbit hutches with solar panels
that despite their carbon-neutral credentials
will be just as unloved as the stuff thrown up in the 60s and 70s
the slums of the future that will be pulled down in 25 to 30 years
as the developers rush to score eco points to get planning permission
what could be more unsustainable
than buildings that will last only a generation?
as i sweat my way around the stalls n demonstrations
i wonder at the cost of heating this giant-sized space
i come away with some new ideas n perspectives
and a thumping headache
four hours later
i roll up on the doorstep and the drama begins
jinny has been rushed to accident n emergency
after suffering severe pain
vomiting and losing blood
then fainting and collapsing on the bathroom floor
i try and stay calm and call my brother
who has been a rock in a crisis
jinny has rallied enough to swear at me
for not being around at the crucial time
a & e have pumped her full of morphine to ease the pain
and ambulanced her to birmingham women's hospital
for specialist treatment
when we get there
ms f is lying on a bed hooked up to a drip
but looking remarkably serene
not surprisingly
the doc wants to keep her in overnight for observation
as she's an emergency case
the nhs are willing treat her to her own private room
complete with ensuite bathroom
but no male visitors allowed to stay overnight
so it's a ride home through the small hours
when i get there the next day
mrs f is definitely on the mend
but the doc's worried by her low haemoglobin level
which is registering at 7.3 - dangerously anemic
it was quite a late miscarriage
and mrs f has lost an exceptional amount of blood
so the doc recommends a blood transfusion
he says the risks of infection are miniscule
but mrs f ain't feeling too lucky right now
and declines the invitation
they say she can follow a course of iron tablets
and she's free to go home
as long as she can wander around ward 8 without any mishaps
but mrs f is light-headed and none to steady on her feet
so we decide it's better for her to spend one more night
under the watchful eye of the nhs
this morning the red blood cell levels are up to 8.1
just 'out of the red'
and h and i come to take mummy home