Woke up.....felt yakky yak yak.
Due to STR Worker not feeling well herself, swimming was cancelled. Wasn't too hung up about that but there needs to be a mutual understanding that just like STR Worker can't predict when she will get sick...I can't predict what days are going to be my more stable days. Ah well. Knickers to that right now.
Mostly slumped until 4.30 pm ish. I wanted to go back to sleep but couldn't and didn't have energy(or motivation) to do much else...but come 4.30, something kicked in. Got ants in my pants and needed to walk.
So I walked to town...then on to GP's to pick up prescription for wafer thingies.... then on to friend's (who lives round the corner from the practice) for a cuppa.
Was little bit pooped so taxi'd from there to hospital. I know I hadn't planned to see Dad today but I went with the flow.
He was in much weirder place. Although he doesn't do the pacing thing that I do when I am highly anxious, his face was gurning something awful, his legs were going and he kept putting his head in his hands.
The reason is, I think, that the doctor who saw him today told him he was being discharged tomorrow. Now, I don't know how much of what Dad says is the truth. It might be the truth as he perceives it...but I like to get the opinion of a staff member (and one that actually knows what is going on). That proved rather difficult.
At one point, there was not a nurse to be found. Having walked length of ward, a kindly visitor asked me if I was lost. I explained I was trying to find a member of the nursing staff and she pointed me to a side room. I waited there for 10 minutes. Nurse explained that she didn't know anything about my father's situation...she went and looked at a sheet of paper and said..."I don't know what is happening but it says he is scheduled for a psychiatric assessement". She advised me to ring up in the morning and speak to the Discharge Co-ordinator. Can't wait!!! You know how much I love talking to different people, all of whom have a different view of what is going on.
Dad got more ajji, so I asked if he was taking any medication. He said that he was told he couldn't have any but felt he needed a lorazepam....so off I trot again and found another nurse who said "You have already spoken to another nurse".
Right so rellies are rationed to one question per visit.
I explained this was a different matter. After I was assured he could have medication, I informed her of Dad's state and asked her if she could organise for him to have his sedation. I also explained that I bought his medication in with him and so it wasn't anything he hadn't been prescribed. She said she would do that....but she still hadn't done it by the time I left. Now I understand the NHS is under pressure (I would say crumbling on it's foundation...status) but I also understand that high levels of anxiety do not go away just because staff are stretched.
Really hospitals are not places to be when you are ill, these days. Then again, isn't like there are that many options!!!
Final summarising of the visit:
There was, I spotted, a Hospital Policy poster on the wall. Quoting such gems as
"All staff will be approachable, friendly and responsive to patients, relatives, carers and other visitors"
and
"Open communication between all staff, patients, relatives etc etc, shall take place.
If I had a marker pen to hand, I would have added
"The left hand needs to keep the right hand clued up on what it is doing...and the deck should have hands on it at all times"
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