8 October 2012

Another reasonable night taking on board the additional hour in bed. The next phase turned out to be slightly dramatic.’ My lovely’ having got me on the edge of the bed, with the two Ross nursing carers watching, then handed me over to them but in a slightly precarious position. I was taking all the weight on my left elbow instead of being equally balanced and all this time being frightened of falling over on my side which, once I had done, would be highly dramatic with one of the girls trying to put on my face mask and other one trying to get me to sit up. In the end we decided the safest thing would be to get me into the sling and, once there, transport m via the sling hoist onto the commode. From there on the programme would pick up as before with me ending up in the study completely dressed and ready for breakfast. After which I would need a shave and a toothbrush. We did not manage this entirely without incident and the time ran out.

Alice then shaved to me (after a fashion!) Leaving only the teeth to be cleaned at lunchtime. I’m sure we will get it right in the end but I believe with the new procedures we will need to ask for a little more time.

‘ My lovely’ has been loath to request more time under the ‘continuing care programme’, in case some bureaucrat decided that the 2 ½ hours we are currently granted is too much. I really cannot believe this to be the case myself as it covers four visits from getting me from bed, breakfast, shave, teeth etc and then the reverse in putting me to bed. In addition the other two visits were little more than short lavatory breaks. It would be wonderful if one was able to programme one’s body to ‘wanting to go’ but nature cannot be so precisely organised. What happens presently is that unless I can ‘go’, almost to a precise minute, then I’m going to have to wait 3-5 hours for the next visit from my carers. So, in the end a lot of it comes down to lavatory. There is the alternative of wearing a nappy but this goes against the grain for a 78-year-old.

There are already emails flying back and forth between Alice and the good Dr concerning a visit in November. Maybe they know something I do not or perhaps they are just more optimistic! To be honest I felt better yesterday than I have for weeks. I even felt my taste buds rising at the thought of Kimberly’s wonderful curry borne to us by Chloe. This is a good sign as, for some time now, I really did not care whether I ate or not.