“We all learnt so much”
Hiya, it’s Steven Clifford.
This is my Dementia Diaries number two, from Monday 15th to Sunday 21st February.
Monday was a busy day. We both went to our boat club today, where we went on a first aid course. We started at 10AM and had been arranged for anyone at the club to attend. It’s been years since my last course, and so much has changed. So much new stuff to learn, especially the CPR technique. The instructors were from St John’s Ambulance and they had brought the equipment used to teach CPR, along with a small adult doll. As well as a number of defibrillator machines. It was a brilliant course and the instructors explained and showed us how to use the defibrillator. We all learnt so much, and to see and actually use a defibrillator was unforgettable. The defibrillator are fool proof, anyone can use one. I felt a bit intimidated because this is the bit of medical kit that can save lives. So surely it is going to be difficult to use. Not so, all you have to do is press a button to switch it on, then the machine speaks to you and tells you exactly what to do next, where to put the pads, and then it continuously analyses and monitors the patience heart and when to use the shock, if needed. Dead easy. If there is any bit of medical kit everyone should have, it’s one of these. The course lasted all day, and covered everything that anyone was likely to come across. One thing I did learn, above everything else, was the emergency phone numbers to call. I only thought there was 999, but I was wrong, we were told you can also phone 911 or 112 here in the UK. I bet none of you knew that. These last two numbers, you can use anywhere in the world, and you will be put through to the emergency services in whatever country you are in. Even if you don’t have credit on your mobile and also the operator will know exactly where you are, even if you don’t, as they use satellite positioning. Well worth knowing. There is no pass or fail nowadays, as long as everyone takes active part in the course, you get your certificate.
Monday evening was apprehensive to say the least, because I was due to have my operation the next morning. So nothing to eat and drink after 9PM. That was a bit annoying, when Margaret kept sipping, very slowly, very loudly, a very large glass of wine.
Tuesday. Forgot that 6 o’clock came around twice in a day, what an ungodly hour. Got to the hospital, with bags of time to spare, and I thought I’d do a dementia audit to see what the signage was like to get to where I was going. Luckily I knew where the short stay ward was. However, signage to this ward, to anyone who didn’t know the hospital, needs to be a lot better and a lot clearer. We got to the ward, and the reception area was deserted. We were the first there, not before long it started to fill up. A nurse came and took me to a side room to go through my notes. She told me I was fire on, which meant I was first on the list and I would probably go down for my operation about 8AM. We went back to the waiting room and Margaret left. Luckily I’d taken a code word book with, so I got stuck into that whilst I waited, but I always have to cheat a bit. Over the next hour, there were only two of us left in the waiting room. Me and a young woman, then one of the surgical staff came and told her that her operation was cancelled because there were no beds at all in the hospital. It was 10AM now, and my surgeon came, and the look on his face was gloom and doom. He was very apologetic when he told me that my op to had been cancelled, because there were no beds. That was a bummer. You get yourself all worked up, hyped up only to be let down. No one spoke. Anyway, made my way home, absolutely knackered, hungry and very thirsty. Stayed in the rest of the day, exhausted.
Wednesday. Didn’t do much, just waltzed over to my local shops.
Thursday. Margaret likes charity shops, so we went to a precinct that we don’t usually go to. It was very disappointing, so we went into Stockport for a walk about and supported the local chippy. It’s just so important to keep active as much as you can. So we always try to do a bit of walking most days, but then on some days when your body and mind shouts “no, let me rest”, it’s best not to argue with your mind or body for that matter, they both hold grudges and will get you back.
Anyway something weird happened, we just left the cafe and walking around the precinct up Merseyway, when I thought I saw someone I knew. They was about 100 yards away, I said his name to myself as we walked towards him to greet him. But by the time we got up to him, his name, that I said so many times to myself, vanished from my memory and gone from my mind. Disappeared.
