Obviously, it’s been a really hard time for you?

Yeah.

And I was wondering, how has it affected your emotions?

Well, at first, I used to cry all the time but now I get, I can do anything.

And you say you were crying a lot of the time?

Yeah.

Did you get any help at all?

Well, yeah. The nurse and the speech therapist, the OT and that, everyone helped. Yeah.

And did they explain why you were feeling like that?

Oh, they said because your, my, your emotions are all over the place.

And did that help to hear that?

Yeah, yeah. Like everything else, it’s getting better and better.

Yeah. And did you ever have to take any medication for that?

No, no, no, no.

No? OK. And how about your temper? Did that, was that affected?

Yeah. Oh I used to swear and that. I just used to crack up sometimes.

What sort of things used to make you angry?

Anything [laughter].

Right. And how did you take that out on people around you?

Yeah, yeah, yeah. [my partner] had to all the time at first.

Is it better now?

Oh yeah, yeah.

When, you said your speech was affected but was your eating also affected while you were in the hospital?

Yeah, yeah. At first, I had to get a special diet because I couldn’t swallow.

What sort of diet was that?

Everything was soft things. It was rubbish [laughter].

And did they have to do any tests on you to see whether you could swallow?

No the speech therapist, she done it and wanted to show once I could try it, I could swallow, she said, ‘OK, your meals can be alright.

Mmm. OK. But before you were on liquidised food?

Yeah, yeah.

And it wasn’t very nice?

Ooh, no.

No. And how long did it take for that to come back?

About a couple of months.

It must have been good that first time you could eat?

Oh yeah. [Ha Ha]

And did they have to bring it back gradually, the food?

Yeah. Bit by bit. Yeah.

Did you come home at all during that time?

I, for a couple of weekends, that’s all.

Mmm. And how’

Because, because we couldn’t get, we had to, we had to move, because, well we, we stayed two up.

Oh right, you had to move house?

Yeah, yeah. Yeah.

So you came back to visit a different house?

No. I didn’t [my partner], my partner, she had everything done she had to do everything a painter, she got a painter and all that and new carpets and all that because I had, I couldn’t do anything.

Yeah. That must have been hard?

Yeah, yeah. I hated it for I can’t do anything.

And had you always done that in the past?

Yeah. I always, I done it myself all the time.

Thinking about while you were in the hospital, how did you find the communication with the doctors and nurses? Was it always good?

Well, yeah, they take their time to, I have to talk, the nurse or the doctor says ‘Take your time They were good.

Mm hmm. Have you had any bad experiences at all?

What?

With talking to the doctors and nurses?

Oh no, no, no.