Got put to bed about 10, and was glad to be there. Listened to the news and the Archers, then the beginning of Question Time on the radio. Wanderer still wandering, M walked past a couple of times, and Shoutey man was shouting. A busy shift for the staff – they looked very tired when they came in to do my sugars in the morning – 6.6. Went back to sleep until breakfast, which was later than usual as it had all got difficult again. It is clearly going to be one of those days – I had apologies for there being no Bran Flakes (All Bran was fine) and no marmalade (but I discovered they also have diabetic jam, so I had that and will opt for that occasionally in future).
Lay in bed listening to all the noise going on outside my room. M came in and was dressed including her coat. She asked me to phone her son as she was feeling very ill, was upset by all the noise, and wanted to leave. I said I didn’t have any signal, so she started fiddling with the plug end of my charger, and going through my clothes which were on my chair. I felt I had to ring the bell, but she wandered back out of my room into the rehab room. Nurse came, I explained what had happened, and was told that they’d already rung her son and he was coming in for 10, so at least I can tell her that if she comes in again,
Because everyone was very busy, Stella came to get me up and dressed. A bit of a step backwards as I’d had a bit of an accident, so Stella then started talking about how we could manage this when I go home and have to wait for carers. She was trying to get me to have a hospital bed (partly so that it is height adjustable so carers of different heights won’t have problems and partly to protect our mattress). I said that I didn’t think we’d get one in the house, and that the problem this morning was a timing issue. She still put me in a big nappy instead of the smaller pads and mesh knickers I’ve been using perfectly well for a week.
Sat in my chair, doing emails and stuff. They came to clean my room, and we got talking about nursery rhymes and language and memory development (one of the cleaners has her grandson staying at the moment). Did “1,2,3, mother caught a flea”, and the Philippino lady said she couldn’t do “supercali………"! so we said to take it slowly a bit at a time. After a few attempts, she managed it and was really pleased! Then we couldn’t remember what came before “custard” in Food Glorious Food, so I googled it (it’s cold jelly). A fun time was had by all!
Ken, who had been in breakfast club yesterday was wheeled past and put his head round the door as he was going home. Not unusually, transport was late.
Pre lunch sugars (by me) 9.9. Lunch was a really nice ham salad (I can’t understand why there is such a variety in the quality and quantity of ham in the ham salads) and as a treat they gave me a bowl of chips as they thought I might like them! Cheese and biscuits.
Waited for a while until it seemed a bit quieter and asked to go to loo. By this time my new wheelchair had arrived (the one from Medicare that I will be taking home with me), so we decided it would be sensible to swap me into this when I’d finished in the loo. Ellen commented on the humongous nappy and asked why I was wearing it. I said because that was what was put on me. I was told that although it might be acceptable for overnight, there was no need for it during the day.
Got in the new chair, but it hadn’t been set up properly (one footrest was squiffy, the brakes were the wrong way round and the footrests were at different heights). Alice was called with her toolkit to do the adjustments, but didn’t have the correct missing bolt, so went and “acquired” one from another wheelchair in the store. To be fair, she did then phone the Medicare technician to tell him, and put a note on the broken one. So I have “my” chair.
Brought a cup of coffee by the volunteers and asked if I was allowed a biscuit. I said yes, as the sugars are high because of the steroids. We were then joined by her husband (also a volunteer on the drinks round) for a discussion and comparison of tablets.
I was watching The Indian Doctor – a series about a doctor who came to be the GP in a valleys town and the reaction to him. It has quite a lot of social history, which I am enjoying. The current (well, it’s a repeat showing) storyline is about the smallpox epidemic. I couldn’t remember when it was, although I can very well remember being taken out of my junior school (Cefn Onn in Llanishen) to go to Caerphilly to be vaccinated by the Chief Medical Officer of Caerphilly Urban District Council no less (Dad working for the UDC at the time). I did a bit of googling, and there is a very interesting website devoted to the epidemic which was in 1962 and in which 19 people died and 900,000 were vaccinated. If you want to have a look, the link is Smallpox1962.wordpress.com. It’s very interesting. Oh, and I still have the scar on my left arm!
Not a lot happened for a while – visitors came and took some pressure off the nursing staff, but added to their burden in other ways.
Pre supper sugars 18.5. Supper was lentil soup (which is very nice but might not be helping in the farting department), liver, potato wedges and peas and a banana for dessert. Nurse brought my cup of tea and apologised if it wasn’t very good, as she doesn’t usually do drinks (usually done by the care staff or volunteers). It was fine.
I can’t understand why everything has to happen at the same sort of time. As I was trying to eat supper, the cleaner came to do the surfaces in my room (at least she apologised for the chemical/ bleachy small as she cleaned the sink I’m sitting next to), my injections (which involves pushing my table away, exposing my tummy and then going back to eating), my meds and the menu choice for Sunday. I suppose it’s just a question of timing, but it does get a bit annoying. Another petty annoyance is that the tea often arrives before dessert. But it’s nothing compared with what some people are putting up with, so can’t really complain.
The cleaner has been voicing her opinion on the situation on the ward. She is very sympathetic to both patients and staff, but as she said, this should be a rehab/stroke rehab ward, not a dementia wad. The staffing levels (and skill sets of some staff) are not appropriate at the moment. This is being monitored, but as she said – what can you do when you have the patients and there is nowhere for them to go on to? But let’s not be gloomy – everyone is in good spirits even if frustrated.
It was coming up to visiting time (actually a bit after) when I thought I’d better ring the bell for a loo visit. Had just been installed when I heard Sian and Julio arrive. Then I heard Julio talking to someone and it turns out that it was Stephen, who we know as a customer and who was also involved in the solar farm next door. He had come to see M, who is a relative but she was asleep, so he came and visited me instead and we had a nice chat in the meeting room about all sorts of things. Sian and Juli left late, intending to call in at Halfords for some bits for Sian's car, so I hope they got there in time. They had brought the post, which included a copy of the initial report to the GP from the NMO team, which was more or less totally incomprehensible, but I’m sure the GP will understand it or, if not, will have the contact details to ask! There will be a further report of the appointment this week with the changes in medication (although the changes have already been communicated to the doctors here and the medication changed accordingly).
Back in my room, which was quite hot, so drank quite a lot of water. Someone else taken over escort duties for Mb, the serious wanderer who got a couple of steps into my room and it was quite difficult to get her to turn around and back out. I should really close my door, but I don’t want to be that isolated just yet – bedtime is ok for that. I used to sleep with my door open, but have changed that policy now!
I think I will do some mindless game playing whilst listening to Sky News until Master Chef starts and then Have I Got News for You. I am doing quite a lot of tv viewing. Must start doing something more intellectually challenging. No doubt there will be some more potential visits from Mb and M before lights out (and even after!).
Good night.
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