Witch hazel

At the hospital before 9am to make sure that I could talk with the Dr during ward round. He’s as mystified as I am by an addiction to J’s medication by the previous team. The physio team also came to assess J and try to get him out of bed but decided that the weakness on his left side is too much for him to safely sit in a normal chair at present. Although his left side hasn’t been as strong as his right for a while, the extent of the weakness is new.

I felt that my input was welcome and listened to, so much more positive than the last ward. The medics have their expertise, which is vital, but they don’t know J. And advanced dementia presents in such a range of ways that they can’t know what is normal for J.

J was much more alert today too. Requesting orange from the drinks trolley as soon as it was wheeled into his part of the ward. He managed to swallow significantly more fluids than yesterday too.

So feeling much more relaxed, I left. It’ll be helpful for the nurses to support him with eating to better understand his swallowing issues too.

A wander at the RHS this afternoon in the sunshine was just the tonic I needed.