Tuesday

Today was supposed to have been a relatively clear day so I arranged to collect Mum’s ashes from the funeral director. There was time to give The Dog a good walk with Lesley before heading off for a couple of hours peace. Almost immediately, the chance for any peace today disappeared.

Lesley’s phone rang. It was The Home. But instead of a familiar nurse’s voice it was a paramedic. The nurse had tried to wake Dad first thing and found him completely unresponsive. The paramedic’s recommendation was to admit him to hospital and they wanted Lesley’s permission. Lesley followed Dad’s wishes – “if they can make me better then intervene”.

The Dog got a shortened version of a favourite walk and I headed off.

The funeral director’s office was rammed but I was ushered straight into a private room.

“You look busy today. I suppose this is Peak Season for you though.”

I hadn’t met this member of their team before and it took her a minute to tune into my characteristic irreverent attitude. She handled it well though.

The paperwork was signed, a box was handed over and I headed back home.

The Dog loves a cardboard box. She helps recycle anything delivered by Amazon. I don’t know what she thought was in this particular box but she took one sniff and her eyes nearly popped out of her head.

Lesley headed off to The Hospital. She arrived to find that Dad had been booked in at A&E and examined already with scans and bloods taken and processed. He was now in an acute medical ward. Intravenous antibiotics looked like they were doing the trick and he was sitting up in bed.

“He’s cheerful and chatty. According to the family at the next bed he’s been like that all afternoon. He’s got no idea where he is though and no idea why he’s here either. He couldn’t tell them where he’d been brought in from or what his home address is and when they asked for his date of birth he said 1957.”

Lesley sat with him while the medics decided what to do with him. He’d improved so much that they were thinking of discharging him straight away.

Lesley then had the presence of mind to speak to his next home. The question was whether the room he was due to move into on Friday could be made available sooner. The answer was that it could but not until tomorrow morning.

A doctor appeared with an update and said the consultant would be making the final decision but the likelihood was that they would discharge him back to The Home.

“When you speak to the consultant, could you ask them to consider something please? I understand that there’s a risk of further infection if you keep him overnight. But, he was due to transfer to another home on Friday and that home can take him early but not until 9am tomorrow. If you discharge him now he’ll have a transfer this evening and another on Friday. If you can keep him overnight he can go straight to the new home and that will save a stressful journey. So, which is the bigger risk? Staying here or an extra transfer?”

“Hmmm, yes, That is worth thinking about.”

His evening meal arrived. Lesley couldn’t believe how much he ate.

Some hours later, the decision was made. He was staying overnight.

“Dad? You’re going to stay here tonight and then you’re going to the new home in the morning.”

“What!? Why!?.. But Reggie’s giving me a shave in the morning!”

Lesley let her sister know about the new arrangement and told her how surprised and disappointed he was at being told he wasn’t going back to The Home. She didn’t care.

“Just keep being positive about it.”

Bloody hell.

Image Credit

Original image by Nick Gilmore. February 2025