Lockdown Diary - Friday 17th April 2020
A day of many interruptions in the form of phone calls and messages: nurses at RBH; social worker; care agency. An ever-changing picture.
In between all these calls and changes of plan I have managed to complete the Borges course and start reading some of the stories - so far I've read 'The Garden of Forking Paths', 'The Secret Miracle', 'The Book of Sand' and 'Shakespeare's Memory'. I will read 'The Aleph', one of the longer stories, next, but before that I must return to the 'Wake.
A mid-afternoon flurry of calls from the hospital brought good news, my wife would return today after all and be home in plenty of time for the evening carer visit. By 4pm, she had returned. Boundless joy for me, though she was fast asleep and has barely stirred, so far.
My wife's visit to A&E reminded me just how dependent on others we are, though it's never far from my mind, especially now. We are immeasurably grateful to the paramedic/ambulance crew who stabilised my wife and stopped the seizure, the A&E nurses and doctors (of which I know there were quite a few), the nurses and doctors on the short stay unit, the consultants in the Neurology and Neuro-rehab teams, the Patient Transport service crew and, last but by no means least, the carers. The carers arrived in the early evening to find my wife's bed in total disarray (the bed has a special positioning system involving brackets which have to be in the right position, but can't be in place when a transfer using pat slide is done), medication changes and a whole host more things to tedious to go into. I tell them what I know has changed and they then take charge and sort everything out, get the meds done and the PEG pump set up and everything is as if nothing has happened. We are so lucky to have such dedicated and caring carers and such great NHS staff at the RBH and in the South Central Ambulance service.
Somehow, in amongst all this disruption and negotiation, a few bits of normal life go on. Otherwise, well, just otherwise.
As part of 'normal' I've read four pages of the 'Wake, so I remain on track with that. These four pages have taken me from III.3A into III.3B, a transition which I did not spot. Once I finish III.3 I'll be interested to understand what marks the change - perhaps it's just a compositional split and splicing. I'm planning to re-watch the movie 'Inception' at some point over the weekend but will probably listen to some music this evening rather than watch the film.
Listened to Van Der Graaf Generator ('Pawn Hearts') and the latest albums from Rustin Man and Sorry.
Placebo, 'Without You I'm Nothing' from the album of the same name.
In between all these calls and changes of plan I have managed to complete the Borges course and start reading some of the stories - so far I've read 'The Garden of Forking Paths', 'The Secret Miracle', 'The Book of Sand' and 'Shakespeare's Memory'. I will read 'The Aleph', one of the longer stories, next, but before that I must return to the 'Wake.
A mid-afternoon flurry of calls from the hospital brought good news, my wife would return today after all and be home in plenty of time for the evening carer visit. By 4pm, she had returned. Boundless joy for me, though she was fast asleep and has barely stirred, so far.
My wife's visit to A&E reminded me just how dependent on others we are, though it's never far from my mind, especially now. We are immeasurably grateful to the paramedic/ambulance crew who stabilised my wife and stopped the seizure, the A&E nurses and doctors (of which I know there were quite a few), the nurses and doctors on the short stay unit, the consultants in the Neurology and Neuro-rehab teams, the Patient Transport service crew and, last but by no means least, the carers. The carers arrived in the early evening to find my wife's bed in total disarray (the bed has a special positioning system involving brackets which have to be in the right position, but can't be in place when a transfer using pat slide is done), medication changes and a whole host more things to tedious to go into. I tell them what I know has changed and they then take charge and sort everything out, get the meds done and the PEG pump set up and everything is as if nothing has happened. We are so lucky to have such dedicated and caring carers and such great NHS staff at the RBH and in the South Central Ambulance service.
Somehow, in amongst all this disruption and negotiation, a few bits of normal life go on. Otherwise, well, just otherwise.
As part of 'normal' I've read four pages of the 'Wake, so I remain on track with that. These four pages have taken me from III.3A into III.3B, a transition which I did not spot. Once I finish III.3 I'll be interested to understand what marks the change - perhaps it's just a compositional split and splicing. I'm planning to re-watch the movie 'Inception' at some point over the weekend but will probably listen to some music this evening rather than watch the film.
Listened to Van Der Graaf Generator ('Pawn Hearts') and the latest albums from Rustin Man and Sorry.
Placebo, 'Without You I'm Nothing' from the album of the same name.
[[Tick...Tock...]]
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