After 10 days or so of liquified food, Jane decided that she should start on solids.
She prepared a simple meal for us of boiled fish, steamed vegetables and a small amount of steamed rice.

I sat at the dining room table and Jane excitedly carried over our meals and placed them in front of us.
I started to eat, but Jane paused. After a few deep breaths and some nervous glances at me she gingerly fed a small amount of rice into her mouth. Chewing for a full minute she finally plucked up the courage to swallow it.
Almost immediately it got stuck!

She looked uncomfortable as she rubbed her chest and motioned to me that it had not gone down. Out of habit she grabbed her glass and swallowed a large mouthful of water.

She stood up from the table and, expecting to vomit, she took a step towards the outside door. She stood rigid momentarily and then fell backwards! - She had blacked out on her feet!

Her head landed with a loud crack on the tiled kitchen floor and she lay there stunned looking at the ceiling. - I stood over her and called her name, her eyes were glazed over and she looked dead!!

I had done a first aid course about a month before and I knew that I had to get her into the 'recovery position'. As I stooped to grab her arm she made a blood curdling gurgling sound and water gushed from the sides of her mouth! - I was quite shocked and stood stunned for a moment thinking that she had gone!

I grabbed her arm and pulled , as I raised her from the floor she regained consciousness and started to pull away from me, at the same time she shouted out, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?....GET OFF ME!!!!"

She stood up and appeared disorientated. She had no idea what had happened and I had to explain to her that she had just been to heaven's door and back!!!

We scraped the food into the bin and opened another can of soup!!

The next day I arrived early to pick Jane up and drive her home. The sickness she felt the day before has gone and she looked well once again.

On the way home we stopped off at the supermarket and picked up half-a-dozen cans of assorted soup.

"I can only drink water or weak cordial", she said..."and I can only eat soup or pureed food"

We got home around about lunch time and I asked her what she fancied for lunch. I had not cooked a meal for myself the one and a half days that she had been gone and I fancied a piece of steak.

"I'll just have some soup" She said.

For the next week and a half we lived on soup!!!! - I don't know how much weight she lost that first week, but I lost about 2kgs!! -

"This is not what is supposed to happen"!! , I thought!

At the hospital I presented my wife with a bunch of six irises that I had bought on my way in, a selection of women's magazines and a bottle of her favourite juice, apple & blackcurrant.
Ashen faced she beckoned for me to place them onto the side table whilst she pulled up her bedclothes and laid her head back onto the pillow. She looked like 'death warmed up' and did not appear to welcome my conversation opener of: "How are you feeling?"....

"What the f**k do you think?" she snapped back! - A nurse entered and took away the still warm dish of vomit.

The anaesthetic which they had used on her during the operation had made her feel extremely unwell. I sympathised with her. She had thought, as did I, that her recovery would be relatively quick and painless. The nausea continued for the next 12 hours!

The Visit

So the operation was a success and it was the next day that I was to go and see my wife. I was expecting to see her fresh faced and happy as she had finally had her op'. I was some what dissapointed when I entered the ward and saw her.

I looked at her and could hardly recognise her! She was grey in the face, with no make-up, a 'medusa' hairstyle and was leaning over the side of the bed, vomiting into a stainless steel kidney dish! - Her breath reeked of acrid stomach acids and I was hesitant to 'peck' her on the cheek as she wiped her mouth on a hand towel.