John in Hospital

John had had four bouts of tonsillitis that year. His mum had taken him 
to the doctor who'd decided that it was about time he had them, and his 
adenoids, out. He was now the grand age of eight, but still loving his 
weekly washouts and the chance to wear nappies and rubber pants up to 
three times a week at night. He also wore them during the day when he 
had his internal cleansings but, as he wet himself uncontrollably just 
by wearing nappies and rubber pants at night, his mother felt that he 
should be continent the rest of the time so that he could chose. Having 
nappies and rubbers put on were, for John, his subliminal trigger that 
wetting himself was allowed.

The last time he'd been in hospital, he'd worn nappies and rubber pants 
the whole time and would have loved it, part from his broken ribs and 
two broken arms where he'd received the kicking from the bully's 
friends. He'd hurt too much to enjoy being in hospital, but he had 
enjoyed wearing his nappies and rubbers all the time, and when he got 
home as well, until the plaster casts had been taken off his arms and 
he could use his hands again.

He'd been to the children's hospital out patients clinic where the 
surgeon had used that curved mirror thing over his eye to shine light 
down his throat to see his tonsils while holding down his tongue with 
one of those wooden sticks. John hated that bit as it always made him 
feel sick when that was done to him. The surgeon had agreed with John's 
general practitioner that his tonsils did, in deed, need removing, s 
had made the necessary arrangements for him to be admitted. His mother 
singed the consent form at the out patients clinic there and then. The 
letter had come and John's mum had packed a small case for him and 
they'd caught a bus to the stop nearest the hospital. They'd walked 
together up the footpath with John's hand firmly clasped in his 
mother's while she held the case. He was definitely apprehensive about 
having an operation. When he'd had his arm bones straightened, he'd 
been unconscious anyway, so hadn't remembered anything about the 
operation itself to do that. This was his first operation where he'd 
been aware of what would be happening to him and was not looking 
forward to it.

As they came up the footpath and reached the top of the hill, the 
hospital opened out before them. John had seen the tall ornate chimney, 
but now could see the big ward block in front of him as his mouth went 
dry. They walked on the path around the lawn and entered through the 
main entrance which to out patients. They walked through out patients 
to the lifts and went up to the top floor as the admission letter 
directed. John's mum led him into the ward with beds around the side 
and a day room leading off at the front and took him to the nursing 
station. Handing over the letter to sister, the sister looked quickly 
at the letter and said, "Hello, John. Welcome to my ward. We're going 
to look after you for the next few days while the doctors stop you keep 
getting that nasty tonsillitis. Mrs. Davis, if you'd leave him with us 
now, we've found it better that way. You can come to see him tonight 
and we'll talk about visiting after he'd had his operation then." 
Sister Davis, John's mum, gave him a hug and kiss, promising that she 
and Alf, her husband, would be in to see him that night. With that, she 
left the case beside sister and turned to leave. Both John and mum were 
crying and neither wanted the other to see.

Sister said to John, "All children have to have a bath as the first 
step before being admitted. I suspect that your mum already made sure 
you had a bath this morning, but it's hospital policy. Nurse, would you 
give John his bath now, please and then, John, the doctor will check 
you over." The nurse gave John a friendly smile and held out her hand 
for him to follow her back up the corridor he'd just come up and this 
time, taking the first door on the right.

This door led to a large bathroom which was also the sluice room. In 
one corner was the bedpan steriliser which hissed with steam and beside 
it on the wall was a rack with the bedpans and urinals hung up to dry. 
The nurse told John to remove all his clothes and put them on a chair. 
She started to run the bath. It was a huge white cast iron bath 
standing on four legs on the red tiled floor. The taps were the globe 
type with green streaks down the side of the bath. As the water ran 
into the bath, the nurse put on a green rubber apron which covered her 
uniform.

She picked John up and placed him in the bath. She picked up a sponge 
and started to wash him from his head and hair downwards. He was told 
to stand with my legs apart as she washed there and then proceeded to 
rinse him off with a jug. She pulled the plug out of the bath and 
picked up a large white fluffy towel. She lifted John out of the bath 
and stood him on the floor whilst she sat down on a chair by the bath. 
Wrapping the towel round him, she started to dry him. John loved the 
smell of her rubber apron and the feel of the rough towel as she dried 
him as it reminded him of the times his mother had done the same for 
him at home. His mother had often been in her nurse's uniform, but 
always wearing her long rubber apron, when she bathed him, or helped 
him when he now had started bathing himself. The nurse gave John one of 
those hospital gowns which open right down the back. This was the type 
sometimes known as an X-ray gown without tapes but with a shoulder yoke 
and a cross over back so that it didn't fall open quite so easily. She 
led John across the corridor to the doctor's office where the doctor 
was busy writing up notes while she waited for John to have his bath.

She greeted him both by name and with a big beaming smile. "Hello, 
John. I'm going to examine you to check that you'll be all right for 
the operation tomorrow!" The nurse left him to the doctor's 
ministrations whilst his eyes and ears were checked, his chest sounded 
and heart listened to. She then went on to a more intimate examination. 
She put on a pair of rubber gloves and a white rubber apron over her 
white doctor's coat. She got John to lie down and lifted his gown off 
him exposing his one day to be manhood. She grasped his penis and 
attempted to pull down his foreskin. "Hmm, your foreskin is very tight. 
I can see you having problems in the future with that." "My mum has got 
me to pull it back every time I have a bath to try to make it slide 
down easier." John volunteered, as he felt, rather bravely. "Yes John, 
you've got a very sensible mother, but I'm afraid that you really need 
to have that removed in a little operation called circumcision. I think 
what we'll do is get your tonsils out first, give you two or three days 
to get over that and then, while you're still here, get you back to 
theatre to remove that troublesome tight foreskin. How would that be, 
John?" "If you say so, doctor," came the rather uncertain reply. She 
got John to stand up and put her hand between his legs and fondled his 
scrotum gently to check that both of his testes had descended into the 
scrotal sac. "Everything all right, there, John. Now, if you'd get onto 
the couch for me, lie on your left side and bring your knees up, I need 
to examine you some more." John guessed, correctly, that she was about 
to do an internal examination. A few moments later, as the doctor 
explained what she was doing to him, her probing finger entered his 
back passage and explored within. John was relaxed when she did that as 
he was used to his mum inserting colon tubes and enema nozzles there, 
after first lubricating him with a well greased finger encased in 
rubber gloves. "Well done, John!" exclaimed the doctor, "Most boys 
would have made a big fuss about my doing that." "It didn't hurt me, 
miss, so why should I?" After removing her gloves and apron and washing 
her hands, she ruffled his hair, telling him again that he was a good 
boy.

She asked John to sit on the couch and lifted the back so that he was 
sitting up and supported. "John, I know you've been in this hospital 
before and you've been kept in nappies the whole time. Things change in 
hospitals and the nurses on this ward are trying out whether it is 
better to keep their patients in nappies or to allow them to use the 
toilet, bedpans and urinals like adults would if in hospital. All of 
the younger children will be in nappies still as we find that the 
stress of being in hospital makes them wet the bed at night and 
sometimes during the day as well. For the older children such as 
yourself, we're giving the choice. It's entirely up to you. Would you 
like to wear nappies again both day and night, or just at night or not 
at all, unless you have an accident and wet the bed, in which case 
you'd be put in nappies at night? If you chose to wear nappies, we'll 
be trying a special anaesthetic which we give as a small enema." John 
was nodding to show he understood what an enema was. "Oh yes, you've 
had enemas before, haven't you?" "Yes, doctor," came John's reply. 
"Well John, it's up to you. If you do decide to have nappies, then 
you'll stay in nappies until you go home." "Please doctor, can I wear 
the nappies? I like being looked after in my nappies when I'm in 
hospital. I don't feel so scared and lonely and the nurses changing me 
makes me feel like my mum's looking after me." Oh yes, John. Your mum 
is a district nurse, isn't she. Well, yes, I can understand that. 
Nappies and rubber pants it will be! Just to check, some of the boys 
and girls your age won't be wearing nappies and rubbers. They shouldn't 
tease you for wearing them and the nurse will stop them if she hears 
that, but you wouldn't mind?" "No, doctor, I'm sure!" "OK, John, come 
with me and we'll find your bed."

The doctor led John by the hand to the sister's desk and whispered, 
"Nappies for John, please!" The doctor then handed over the paperwork 
and pointed to her decision that John should also be circumcised. The 
sister smiled, as she was very much of the 'old school' who felt that 
keeping the children in nappies and rubber pants was an excellent idea 
and saved work for the nurses as they only needed to change the 
children four times a day and that as part of a ward routine. Some of 
the newly trained nurses felt the same way so the half of the ward 
where John was to be nurses was staffed by a mixture of both younger 
and older nurses. The doctor left them and sister spoke to John, "I'm 
sure the doctor has told you about the special anaesthetic we're trying 
here. You won't have to breathe gas through a mask to go to sleep. 
We'll give you a small enema on the ward and you'll go to sleep up here 
and wake up again back on the ward. We think that it should be less 
frightening for children, but for your second operation, we'll put you 
to sleep with the gas and you can tell us which you think is better." 
"I can still wear nappies, though?" John blurted out before he'd 
realised what he was going to say. Sister smiled, "Oh course you can, 
John. That's not a problem. What I must tell you is that we want your 
stomach to be completely empty so I'm afraid no food today nor tomorrow 
before your operation, but you can drink as much as you like today and 
test your nappies for us! We'll also need to give you a laxative. I see 
you've had castor oil before. We'll give you that again this afternoon 
and a small enema this morning when nurse puts you in your nappies." 
With that, taking John's case in one hand and John in the other, she 
led John over to his bed and one of the nurses. "Free fluids only, 
nurse, castor oil this afternoon, a glycerine enema this morning and, 
of course, nappies and rubber pants for John!" "Certainly sister. Let's 
get you sorted, John."

With that, sister left and the nurse pulled the curtains around John's 
bed. "Would you take your gown off and get into bed. I'll be back in a 
few minutes with your enema, nappies, rubber pants and some large 
pyjamas which will hide your nappies for you." John was helped off with 
his gown and put into bed. The nurse left and came back, decked in 
ankle length rubber apron and gloves, with a thick pile of nappies, a 
pair of rubber pants and a pair of plastic pants, a pair of pyjamas, 
all over her arm, and an kidney dish. "We're trying the plastic pants, 
John, if you don't mind, and I'll put the rubber ones in your locker 
for later. We're trying the plastic ones as they're a lot cheaper, and 
we want to know what our patients think. Would you roll on your left 
side and bring your knees up, please?" John assumed the position which 
he knew so well from his mum's care at home. The nurse placed all the 
items down on the bed beside John and walked round to face him. She 
lifted a chrome plated brass syringe out of the kidney dish. It had two 
rings for fingers to support the barrel and another ring for the finger 
to work the plunger. The metal tip had been covered by a rubber tip. 
"This is full of glycerine. You're had the suppositories before, but 
this works better and faster. I'll lubricate the tip with a little 
glycerine, ask you to take a deep breath and the tip should slide 
straight in. I'll inject it fairly slowly so don't worry." She did as 
she said and, as soon as she'd got the glycerine into John, rolled him 
on his back to put his thick soft terry towelling nappies on his and 
his plastic pants. These were see through in clear plastic and had 
elastic around the legs and waist which cut into him rather than the 
flat wider rubber leg and waist seals on the rubber pants he was used 
to. John immediately decided that he preferred the rubber pants. The 
nurse dressed him in his hospital pyjamas which had a drawstring waist 
to enable the large pyjama bottoms to hide his nappies, although, as 
John discovered, the plastic made a different kind of rustling noise to 
the 'swish' of the rubber pants which he was used to. He was led off to 
play with the other children, but very soon the glycerine started to 
cause cramping. Very soon, John, who hadn't 'been' to the toilet that 
morning as he had become slightly constipated from his nervousness at 
his impending hospital admission, voided the contents of his bowels 
into his nappy in response to the effects of the glycerine enema he'd 
been given. He sat down on his bottom, feeling the warm mess squeezing 
up around his front, back and sides of his hips. The nurses would have 
'fun' cleaning him up later, he thought to himself. He was called with 
the others to the lunch table where they were given the typical 
hospital fare of mashed potatoes, minced meat and watery vegetables. 
John, because of being on free fluids, was given two glasses of orange 
juice, preceded by a large quantity of castor oil designed to purge him 
thoroughly before his surgery in the morning. After the others were 
starting on their syrup sponge and custard (just like the hospital 
mashed potato, full of lumps), John was led away to be changed into 
clean dry nappies for the afternoon. He'd also wet himself during the 
morning � after all, what were nappies for?

During the afternoon, the children were encouraged to play after their 
lunch, then lie down for an afternoon nap. The blinds were closed, 
making the ward darker and John obediently went for a lie down as he 
thought he wouldn't sleep. He was right. Not long after he had got into 
bed, the castor oil started to cause the cramping he'd got so used to 
at home. Shortly afterwards, his nappy was filled in the seat region 
with the oily mess of expelled stool. When the nurses opened the 
blinds, the children who were not confined to bed were got out of bed 
and sat down for tea. John felt the nappies pressing the oily mess up 
his back and front, and he added to it without conscious effort by 
emptying his bladder. Again tea was for him was a glass of orange juice 
and this time a large glass of Epsom Salts in orange juice. "We want 
you nice and empty for tomorrow, John!" After tea, the nurse took him 
aside and told him that she'd put two more glasses of orange juice on 
his bedside table and that he was to drink them an hour apart. She 
stopped for a moment and John smiled at her, "Yes, nurse, I can tell 
the time!" "Good boy, John. As you'll be drinking a lot, let us know 
when you need changing as I'm sure you'll need an extra change before 
night. Just before visiting time, as the Epsom salts had gone through 
him like the proverbial dose of salts since the castor oil had opened 
the way for a quick result, his nappies where hang down between his 
legs with the weight of all the urine and watery diarrhoea he'd been 
passing. "It's a good job I've got the rubber pants on, nurse," he said 
as she stood him in the bath to shower him off before creaming him 
thoroughly with zinc and castor oil cream, and applying clean nappies. 
"I think you're right, John. I prefer the rubber pants as they stretch 
to fit snugly around legs and waist. I don't like the plastic pants as 
much and they get hard and brittle too. Still, they're a lot cheaper, 
so I suspect that we'll be changing over to plastic ones as the rubber 
ones wear out."

John's mum and dad came to see him that night at visiting time. John 
was more contented now he was actually in the hospital and he'd had a 
visit. He found to his surprise that he'd actually slept through the 
night, although his nappy was very wet in the morning just about 5.30 
am when the two nurses woke him to get him ready. He was lifted out of 
bed and escorted to the bathroom where he was stood in the bath and 
showered clean. He was then lifted onto the changing table by the two 
nurses who were preparing the children for theatre that morning in the 
order they were to go down.

One of the nurses explained to John that she was going to put a little 
tube in his bottom and blow up a balloon on the end of it so it 
wouldn't fall out. The tube would be taped up his back with the end 
just above his rubber pants. The nurse held up the tube. "Oh, you mean 
a Foley catheter," said John. "I bet you forgot his mum is a district 
nurse," the other nurse said, "I expect he's seen those in his mum's 
bag!" John's back passage was lubricated with a water soluble gel and 
the catheter inserted. The 30 ml balloon was filled with water and John 
could feel the cold heaviness of it in his back passage, A piece of 
adhesive plaster was placed to hold the catheter in place in his anal 
cleft and very, very thick nappies were put on him. The nurses said 
that he wouldn't need changing for a long time as he probably would be 
feeling a bit sore after the operation. John was taken back to bed 
wearing his nappy, rubber pants and theatre gown. He had a large green 
rubber bib placed around his neck and tied around his back and a 
matching green rubber shower cap to keep his hair clean. He was left 
there behind the curtains to wait his turn. He felt the tube running 
down between his buttocks into his bottom through the rubber pants and 
nappies and wondered what it would feel like. He didn't have long to 
wait, The curtains opened to admit a lady doctor, not the one who'd 
admitted him, and a nurse. The doctor was carrying a kidney dish which 
she put on the bed, while the nurse was wheeling an oxygen cylinder and 
mask. In the dish, John noticed, was a syringe much like the one he'd 
had the glycerine in the day before, but this time there was no rubber 
tip. There was also a tapered bung in the dish. "Roll on your back, 
please John, and turn your head to face me. That's a good boy." The 
nurse pulled back the sheets and opened the back of John's gown to 
expose his rubbers and the tube. "I'm just going to put some liquid 
into the tube going into your bottom. It may fell a bit strange at 
first, but don't worry. Nurse here will stay with you and take you down 
to theatre." She connected the syringe to the catheter and slowly 
injected the liquid into John's bottom. The nurse pinched the end of 
the catheter as the doctor removed the syringe and then the doctor 
inserted the plug to retain the liquid inside him. "Just lie still and 
relax, John. You'll be fine!" said the doctor as she slipped through 
the curtains around his bed. The nurse sat down by John and began to 
stroke him gently, John could hear another child screaming as the 
doctor injected the fluid into her. "Silly girl," thought John, as he 
began to fell warm and sleepy, It doesn't hurt a bit!" The sleepiness 
overwhelmed him as he drifted into unconsciousness. Once he was out, 
the nurse spoke to him and shook him gently, but got no response. She 
placed the oxygen mask over his face and turned the gas on, and sat 
there, checking John's pulse and breathing every five minutes while she 
waited for the porter to take John down to theatre.

John woke up some considerable time later back in the ward with a very 
sore throat. As soon as he was able, he had sips of ice water to ease 
his throat and was then given an ice cube to suck. He found that really 
helped. Later he was allowed to drink iced water in quantity and did so 
as he was feeling very thirsty since he'd been nil by mouth since the 
night before. The lady who put him to sleep came to see him to ask how 
he was feeling and also about the anaesthetic. John whispered, due to 
his sore throat, that he was very happy with it, having drifted off to 
sleep in the ward and woken back up in the ward. The doctor told him 
that he had been a successful patient, but some of the children had 
made a big fuss about it.

A little while later, one of the nurses came with a rubber tube, 
bucket, funnel and jug of saline. She plugged the rubber tubing into 
the catheter still in John's back passage. "I just need to wash the 
remains of the anaesthetic out of you, John. I'll put some saline into 
you and then drain it out again." She poured the saline from the jug 
into the funnel and let it flow into John until he said he felt full. 
Next the nurse inverted the funnel over the bucket and let the water 
drain into the bucket. This she repeated twice more until the washings 
returned clear. She removed the tubing and put the bung back into the 
catheter.

John stayed in nappies for the next couple of days with the nurses 
trying whenever possible to use the rubber pants on him, knowing that 
he preferred them to the plastic ones. Even though his throat was sore, 
he enjoyed the ministrations of the nurses. On the third day post 
operatively, he was nil by mouth again and wearing a gown and a green 
rubber shower cap to cover his hair and the same sort of rubber bib 
around his neck, tied around his waist, with a nappy tucked between his 
legs. He was lifted by a porter onto a trolley and covered by a 
blanket. He was accompanied down to the theatre by one of the nurses 
who held his hand and smiled at him in the lift. He was wheeled into 
the operating theatre, as first on the list and lifted up onto the 
table. He found this far more frightening than the enema of alcohol, 
chloroform and ether (ACE) which he'd been given in the ward. All of 
the people in the theatre were wearing green gowns, head coverings, 
white masks and rubber gloves. This was scary! A voice behind his head 
said, "I'm going to put a mask over your face. Take nice deep breaths 
for me." The rubber mask, smelling strongly of ether, was placed over 
his face as his head was tipped back to extend his airway and his jaw 
was held as the mask was held tightly to his face. Nitrous oxide and 
ether were added to the oxygen flowing through the mask and John 
struggled against the overpowering smell which made him feel as if he 
was choking. He hated this and wished he could have had the anaesthetic 
enema again for this operation. He had no choice but to breathe the 
gases as his face was held firmly against his nose and mouth and 
started to feel his consciousness slipping.

He awoke feeling very sore between his legs where he had been 
circumcised and aware of the very thick nappies between his legs and 
the slickness of rubber pants over the top. Suddenly he felt sick and, 
before he could inform the nurse who was helping to escort him back to 
the ward, he had been very sick. He realised why he was wearing the 
rubber bib and had been placed on his side. The nurse heard his 
retching and stopped the porter. There was a kidney dish on the trolley 
and a cloth which she used to wipe up the worst of the vomit. "Poor 
lamb! Don't worry. That sometimes does happen with the anaesthetic. 
Have you finished or is there more to come?" "I think I've finished at 
the moment," said John as suddenly he retched again. This time the 
nurse was quick enough to put the kidney bowl under his chin and catch 
the bile which John brought up. The nurse wiped his mouth again and 
mopped his brow which was covered in sweat.

Over the next few hours back on the ward, John was sick again and again 
until nothing more would come up. He was given sips of water and he had 
his face washed to remove the vomit and sweat. He was also given 
several mouthwashes to remove the foul taste. Eventually he was able to 
drink again and was encouraged to keep drinking. He was left very weak 
by the sickness, so common when ether was still used as an anaesthetic 
and was allowed to rest in bed. He was pleased he'd got his nappies and 
rubber pants on as he didn't have to worry about his bladder filling 
and the wet nappies provided him with some comfort during his sickness. 
He had been left in his rubber shower cap to protect his hair and his 
rubber bib, so he was wet with sweat from the contact with the rubber 
clothing. The nurses kept making a fuss of him and he began to 
appreciate the positive sides of his sickness. The doctor came to see 
him and asked which anaesthetic he preferred. John had no hesitation at 
all in preferring the enema to the inhalation anaesthetic. 
Unfortunately, as the doctor told him, the advantages had been 
outweighed by the fuss some of the children had made to the enema 
anaesthetic, although others had made an equal fuss and bother about 
the inhalation anaesthetic. The doctor explained that John was able to 
stay in nappies despite the circumcision operation as the incision had 
been well coated in petroleum jelly dressings to keep the urine away, 
just as would be done for a baby! John was kept in hospital longer than 
the other children who had similar operations because of his extreme 
reaction to the anaesthetic. When he went home, he was fortunate enough 
for his mother to baby him when he got home. He'd begun to enjoy being 
cared for by the nurses and liked the attention he'd received from 
them. Perhaps, he mused, he'd be back in hospital again one day?

In the next installment, John ends up back in hospital and finds that 
nappies are going to be very much part of his future!