But over the weeks, well over the days, he [husband] started to get really, really poorly. And I called his GP and asked, you know, to check him over because hed been in hospital and he hadnt been well and asked about the tablets, etc. And one particular one that I hadnt I didnt know what it was it was called risperidone. And I asked what was that was for and the GP said, Look its a very good drug for the trauma that [your husband] had been under. At this point [my husband] was having eight milligrams a day of this particular drug. I dont know what it was for and I didnt know why he had to take it because there was no leaflet actually in the box when I brought them home. And so I didnt I hadnt got a clue. So there I am giving him these tablets unbeknown to me, Im actually poisoning him.

Anyway suddenly he started to he had this stance about himhe wasnt very strong on his legs anyway. And suddenly his knees started to bend and his arms sort of came up to sort of head height with his hands in front, stiff. And his eyes were bulging out and pushing his glasses off his head.

So I had to get hold of the GP. And he my husband was in quite a state actually. So he had to be admitted to another hospital, a third hospital, where this risperidone drug was, they took two milligrams off on the Friday. He was taken in on a Friday, a Friday evening, where they took two milligrams off on the Friday. They took another two milligrams off on the Saturday, and they took two milligrams off on the Sunday and they took another two milligrams off on the Monday. So he was completely off this drug called risperidone. I then learned that risperidone is for acute schizophrenia and its for paranoia.

And apparently the ICU notes that were sent to the main hospital, it was that this drug was to be checked daily. He should never have been on it after he came out of ICU. You know after say maybe a week, once hed stabilised, I think maybe he shouldve been taken off then. But they just didnt. They carried on with them. And they gave me six weeks worth and said, He must finish the course, along with you know two lots of strong antibiotics. So his mind was gone really and to be honest I was terrified this was going to permanent. Im just touching wood and whistling that its not permanent. Hes back at work and hes fine. But that was through more luck than judgement. And I am going to blow my own trumpet here because I think the only reason my husband is still here is because I queried the tablets.

I think the strangest thing maybe is that I actually had to phone the GP and ask him to come and see [my husband] after hed come out of hospital and Im just a bit surprised that the GPs are not informed.

While he was sedated he did get a secondary infection and he was put into a isolation room. And I asked a question obviously, the MRSA question, Does my husband have MRSA? And I was told quite categorically, No he doesnt, there is nothing to worry about, he does not have MRSA. And I was told that with my sister by my side.

My sister wasnt told any different to me because I thought maybe they might have told her and not me because I was in a state. But, no, they didnt. And since then, because of the chain of events before [my husband] went into ICU, I was very unhappy with an awful lot of stuff that happened before. Id written to the chief executive of the hospital, outlining my concerns and I did mention this MRSA thing because when [my husband] came home from hospital he had a district nurse come to check his tracheotomy scar and the rest of it and she came up with, about the MRSA and that was the first that Id heard of it. So I challenged her on this and she said, no, its definite. And I said, No, Im sorry youre wrong. So Im arguing with the district nurse who then phones the hospital and then she phones me back full of apologies, Im so, so sorry, he doesnt have it. I dont know how it got onto his notes. Im so, so sorry. So that was one of the things on the letter to the chief executive. And shes written back to me and she has told me, No, he does not have MRSA.

Reading the ICU diary that they produced for my husband, I think that was why I was so disappointed. Not angry, just disappointed. Because when you ask, when you ask a specific question which I did, Does he have MRSA? And they say, No, quite categorically he hasnt, there is nothing to worry about. And up to then I just thought they were all fantastic and I still do think they are all fantastic. Apart from that little glitch in the middle. And I know why they do it, because MRSA has a dreadful press but Im sure if they knew more about it, knew what they were doing, the other thing is my husband has an elderly sister and she was coming in, kissing him, cuddling him, shes not a well lady. If I had known he had MRSA I would have just asked her not to come. He had somebody else come in who was, came in to see him and was going off to the cancer ward to see somebody else there. I would have asked him not to come in. If I had been told I would have asked him not to come in.

Did you know much about ICU at that time?

Not really. I knew that it was, the department is where critically ill people go and they are looked after twenty-four hours a day and monitored twenty four hours a day, I knew that.

And did you knew that he would be attached to lots of equipment?

Yes, I think so. You just pick these things up along the way. So I knew they were going to. But I will say, while they were doing it I was actually I wasnt there when they put the chest drains and things in because I didnt a) I didnt want to get in the way and time is of the essence at times like this. And so they explained to me what they were going to do and I went away. And then they came to get me. And they said, Look, he going to be all wired up, you know, dont be worried, everythings doing everything for him. Hes quite comfortable. They were wonderful. Wonderful.

I dont know what the solution is to be honest but I have a suggestion for when people come out of ICU, when theyre having twenty four hour monitoring and they are wonderful people. They must earn a fortune and they are worth every penny they get. They should have another ward where these patients are taken and put into another ward for at least a week, to be monitored, not twenty four hours as they have been, that would be totally impractical. But with trained staff knowing what theyve been through and knowing what to look for. And then after that if its necessary for them to go further, they then go onto the main hospital because I really believe, I do really believe they there are patients that come out of ICU, having fantastic care and die in the main hospital. And I believe that.

On the 8th of June, no, before I go off to when he came out, several sort of niggley things happened that I was a bit cross about.

There was one when he was on a catheter. And he had some visitors and it was really beginning to fill up, you know, the top half of the catheter was really beginning to fill up. So I thought I ought to go, before his other visitors came around, get somebody to see to it before they came. So I went down and spoke to a sister on the main desk and I asked you know, told her that this was happening. And I said, Is it being monitored, you know, is his output being monitored? And she said, No, no, no, dont worry, just release it. And so I did. I went back and released it. And the evening went on and visitors came and went.

And the next morning, I was there when the nurse came in and said, His output is not very good, you know, were concerned about his kidneys, would you please make sure he drinks and drinks and drinks. So Im shovelling drinks into him. And then I thought, they must be monitoring his output otherwise how would she know that. So I went to get the nurse and I said, You know, excuse me, last night while I was here, I went to speak to a sister about [my husbands] catheter being filled up and she just told me to release it. So I said, Whatever was in the top of there which was full, I just released into the main bag.

So she came back into the room and she worked it all out and she said, Oh dont worry about it, everythings fine, dont worry. So you know, that could have been a potential problem if theyd thought that there was something wrong with the kidneys. Its all communication, isnt it? Total lack of communication.

It all started off really when I had told [my husband] that he had a chest infection and he should go to the doctor. And he did go to the doctor on the 4th of May. And he came back and the doctor said to him, he gave him some tablets to take and said to go back to him if he wasnt better in four weeks.

The same day he went to bed and he couldnt breathe at all. And I got really a little bit panicky so I phoned 999 and got a paramedic out. And they came out and they checked him out. And they did him, you know, the stethoscope and all the rest of it. And then they gave him sort of gas and air, I dont really know what they gave him, but something that he took through a mask. I was then told this wasnt an emergency and I really shouldnt have called out 999. And off they went. [My husband] spent the rest of the night sat up. He did have a few cat naps but he sat up. So then it carried on and then we were up to Sunday and he was deteriorating all the time, and he wouldnt go to the doctor, as men dont. And on the Sunday night, he went to bed and he was just in such a state, I then called [an emergency doctor]. And we had a doctor come out. Well he phoned me back and I explained the problem and he came out. And he then did a few tests on [my husband], put some things on his fingers to measure his oxygen and all the rest of it. And with that he called an ambulance and [my husband] was admitted into the first hospital.

I learned later that he had less than 4% oxygen in his lungs at the time that he was taken then. And he was admitted into the CDU department, which I understand is a clinical decision unit. And he was there from the early hours of Monday morning until the 11th of May, which was the Wednesday. And he was then deemed to be well enough to be sent to the second hospital. I wasnt happy about it, I can tell you this. And he was there all day on Wednesday I think it must been, I think it was yes it was late on Wednesday. It was late on Wednesday.

And early on Thursday morning I got up and I went straight to the second hospital to be there when the doctors ward round came. And I was there and there were quite a few doctors in the room, well came into the room, I was already there. And the doctor said he was quite happy with his progress and to carry on doing whatever they were doing. I stayed there all day and [my husband] was beginning to get worse as the day went on really. I did pop out for about an hour. And when I got back he said that there was lots of people in there poking and prodding him about and he looked, he looked about ninety. He was extremely grey. And then a doctor came in and said that he had deteriorated and he was going to be transferred back to the [first hospital] and the ambulance would be here about five.