Remember my old chum Bert? He has been in hospital for three weeks now. I went to see him again this very afternoon.
He's quite confused and hardly thriving in the hospital environment. He doesn't seem to know what day it is and as for his treatment or any future plans, it is hardly worth asking him. You would get more sense out of a bowl of fruit.
With regard to his hip fracture he has been standing up and has made some steps with the aid of a walking frame and a physiotherapist. In addition to this issue, he has had a pacemaker fitted because, as I understand it, he may have collapsed in his kitchen because of an irregular heart rhythm.
Will Bert ever get back to his terraced house ten minutes down the road from me? There's a steep staircase and of course his bedroom and sole bathroom are both up those stairs. I understand that the hospital might put him in a residential home temporarily so that he can improve his mobility but I fear that he is on a downward slope and may never get back to independent living.
Not so long ago he was a sharp, well-built little fellow with his wits about him. Now he is looking frail and thin. He's also very forgetful. The rapidity of the decline has been astonishing. I am in contact with both his ex-wife and his youngest son now.
Today I took him a packet of McVities dark chocolate digestive biscuits, a can of Pepsi Cola, a carton of rice pudding and a colouring book for adults. I was going to say an adult colouring book but that might have suggested X-rated images. I also took him some pencil crayons but I very much doubt that he will tackle even one of those pictures.
At English hospitals, visitors have to pay to park their cars. I had to pay £2.80 for four hours even though I knew I would only be visiting Bert for around an hour. In the car park I saw a young driver heading for the pay machine...
ME Are you going to buy a parking ticket?
HIM Yes I am.
ME You can have my ticket if you like. It's got three hours left on it.
HIM (Pause) No you are all right buddy, I'll get my own.
ME Suit yourself then if you prefer to waste your money.
Perhaps I should also have said, "And don't call me buddy!" I hate being addressed that way. Like "mate" and "bro", the term "buddy" has crept into modern English usage in the last decade. Somebody who uses it doesn't really deserve a free parking ticket in my opinion. The young man may also be suspicious of acts of kindness from strangers. Stranger danger and all that.
from Yorkshire Pudding https://ift.tt/d5FJczs
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