General Chat

It’s been a difficult time over the last months and I am glad to see the back of this year, as will many people be feeling.

There are still hard times ahead for at least one family member of mine but all I can do is be at the end of the phone and listen, and give support and care.

Hopefully there will be happy times too. I wish all of you good health and strength to get through whatever else this crazy world throws at us. Enjoy the little things, grab them with both hands and love and support one another.

Liz xx

Very true words Liz, and I wish you all the best in this New Year. <3

Good to see you posting Liz.

Yes it has been quite a year for all of us. Yes being at the end of a phone is such comfort to those that need it. My parents are getting old now and i have to listen even if its just mundane things.But we support each other in times of need and I hope 2022 will be kind to you & your family.

There is also always someone on here to chat to as well.

Sending you hugs <3

Florence in the hebrides

Thank you both. My year started badly when, you may recall, my 97 year old friend Pat was gassed in her flat. Eventually after toing and froing from our local university hospital etc she was sent to a small hospital to recuperate and caught covid there which took her from us all in horrible way.

From August to November my sister in law suffered badly in the same hospital with my brother having to resort to contacting the hospital C.E.O. to get some clarity on her condition due to lack of communication between consultants etc etc. Near the end of November she was allowed home to live out her last weeks/months with my brother but negligent behaviour by the ambulance staff taking her in for dialysis treatment caused a dreadful accident that left her at home with live in care, unable to move, walk, talk or take any sustenance. Her last two weeks were horrendous, both for her and my brother, she had little dignity, no communication or life, and she died on November 29th. Had to be Police.visits, conversations with Coroner’s office and Police, preliminary inquest etc etc until her body was finally released for cremation ten days before Christmas. A full inquiry is under way and an inquest arranged for March. Still no decision whether personnel will be prosecuted or it will be corporate manslaughter but nothing will give my brother and his wife those last weeks to share memories, photos of their wonderful holidays etc etc and bro is left, at the age of 69, to pick up the pieces of his life and move on. Luckily he has incredible support from his many friends, both in the village and further afield but he says their big old rectory feels empty now. He does have the company of their 2 year old wolfhound (one in a long line of huge companions over the year) but nothing will erase those terrible months of fighting for his wife’s mental and physical well being and the final outcome.

I dread that I might end up in the same hospital in the future!

Lizx

Oh my days Liz! What a horrendous time you have had with your friend and family, and still with the inquest to come :-( It's bad enough losing someone, but to lose someone in such circumstances adds to the grief.

I hope your brother gets some answers at the inquest, but whatever the outcome it can't change what has happened.

I understand your dread that you might end up in the same hospital! Stay safe and take good care of you

Thank you Liz and a happy new year to you too

Liz, 2021 has been an awful year for you, and your family.
Let's hope 2022 brings conclusion, and hope <3 <3

Thanks all.

My brother knows exactly what happened , he was following on to spend the dialysis time with A. as he always did. He was doing round trips of over 40 miles every day and sometimes twice a day for all those weeks she was in hospital.
He would have driven A back and forth to the hospital for the dialysis but it was too difficult for her to get out of the car without extreme pain hence using the transport system.
Usually the ambulance staff would get their wheelchair out and strap her into it to take her to dialysis but for some reason these didn’t and used a porter’s wheelchair from outside the hospital. Pulling her backwards down the ramp they lost control of the chair and because she was not strapped in she was thrown backwards out on to the pavement. It was all on cctv so the ambulance company immediately admitted liability and negligence and the staff suspended. A directive went out immediately to all staff reminding them to use straps to keep patients safe but it was too late for A. My brother arrived to find her in A and E where she was discovered to have a bleed on the brain from the fall. She was given no food or drink all day and taken back home as there was nothing could be done. Her blood was already too thin to have had biopsies on her kidneys previously. On the way home she had a stroke apparently and that was the end of any communication between her and my brother or anyone.

Such a traumatic, awful ending which is why we are all so upset. Yes,sadly she had brought her illness on herself after not getting over her parents’ deaths and then that of her older brother more recently but the turn out for her funeral showed the love for her from family, friends and neighbours. She and my bro had no children by choice and had been married for over 45 years.

Oh Liz. What a terrible time for your brother and all the family knowing that an already sad situation was made so much worse.

I hope the new year brings some peace, when the inquest reflects what happened.

Take care of yourself and be there for each other, as you come to terms with the loss of A.

Thank you Gwyn.

Just spoke to my brother and he’s coping, just!

Sadly I also heard that my other sister in law is in hospital! She has Parkinson’s and had a hip replacement while back. (That brother hasn’t spoken to me or younger brother for years until I called him about A. Now he seems glad to be back in touch)
This s.i.l. was taken into hospital the other day and it’s been found she has been going around with a broken hip for 18 months! There is no visiting due to covid so she is in a state and brother is stressed because she is so stressed and constantly phoning him!

What a start to 2022!

Lizxx

Sending hugs Liz <3 <3 <3 <3

Oh Liz, you have had so much sadness and grief and ongoing worry during last year. I sincerely hope that 2022 will bring you some peace and calm

Stay safe and look after yourself. BIG HUGS XXX