My wife was discharged from Royal Darwin Hospital late yesterday afternoon after six of the worst days of our lives. It was exhausting, draining, and quite awful for someone who, as a patient, does not yell, scream, remonstrate with staff and incessantly demand attention.

When we arrived home, both of us were so drained and exhausted that we collapsed on our bed, and that has been it for the past 12 or 13 hours.

I have learned a lot about medical management in the past week, and very little of it has done anything other than make me shudder.