Michael Enever Personal Memories
Former Heatherwood patient recalls their experiences at a dearly loved hospital.
Michael Enever; who after discovering the web site recently, contacted us:-
Dear Secretary,
I hope you find the article below interesting enough to post it on your great web site.
Heatherwood Hospital 1955-57ish Michael Enever Chronic Osteomyelitis 9 years old.
I found this web site purely by accident as I had been looking for a similar site for both King Edward the Seventh in Windsor and Hillingdon Hospital but with no luck, if anyone knows of a site perhaps they would be kind enough to let me know.
Hillingdon Hospital
I had already been in hospital for over a year at Hillingdon Hospital and after 40 or so operations, yes! almost one a week and getting no where I was transferred to Heatherwood. All my time in Hillingdon was in a children's ward but things were going to change in Heatherwood as I was put into an adult ward. All I can remember of the ward is that it had a television room that was in what I would call a conservatory. I don't remember the name of any nurses but do remember the surgeons name a Mr Maudsley.
Treatment
I had Chronic Osteo in my left ankle and just like the majority of people affected by this evil illness it was an age before anybody actually diagnosed what my problem was by which time serious damage had taken place in the ankle. It started on the right hand side and ate its way through to the other side of the ankle. Mr Maudsley did one operation which if it didn't work the leg was coming off. I can remember coming round from the effects of the anaesthetic with horrendous pain in the ankle, I also remember injections of which I used to have quite a few each day and there was one particular nurse who always managed to inflict as much pain as possible then at the other end of the scale was a nurse you wouldn't have known she had given the injection. Every other day I would have the dressings changed sometimes with an audience of students doctors or nurses, didn't help with the pain no matter who watched.
I can remember the trolley coming round selling newspapers. Magazines & sweets but cant remember who brought it round.
Christmas
I can remember one Christmas in the ward, I believe a surgeon carved the Turkey and there was a massive Christmas tree. Presents! My bed was covered in them. Where they all came from I don't know.
No School
I was the only child in, although I have seen talk of a children's ward on here but I never saw one and I never had a school lesson, in this hospital or any other hospital I was in which in total was around three and a half years.
I remember doing Occupational Therapy which consisted mainly of basket weaving, I could knock a shopping basket out in just a few hours I had made so many of them together with trays, fruit baskets, waste paper baskets etc.
I also used to make plastic kits up of aero planes, ships etc that my parents would bring in, and my pride & joy was a steam engine with all the con rods working but when I returned from yet another visit to the operating theatre it was in pieces completely smashed, I have no idea how it happened and no one was owing up to it.
Race Track
The covered walk way was our playground mainly used as a race track, now I can remember some older boys, early teens but where they came from I don't know but we all had wheel chairs and we could get a fair lick of speed haring around the walkway. I don't remember any of us getting hurt it was just a lot of fun.
Time to Change Hospitals
Although I spent over a year or so of my life there I don't recall as much as I can at other hospitals. There were a couple of incidents that I wouldn't want to recall on here, other than that it was obviously an unremarkable stay. One day a lady turned up in a Morris Minor 1000 traveller, it was a traveller as I had a full leg plaster on and they slid me in from the back and with the back seats folded down they surrounded me with cushions, isn't it strange what things you do remember? it whisked me off to King Edward the Seventh hospital in Windsor, I didn't question it, I must have been so institutionalised it never occurred to me to question it.
I don't live far from the hospital today and when ever I pass it I always think of my time there.
Michael Enever ( April 2015 )