Having started at 7.30 a.m., I finished my morning calls slightly earlier than expected. so whilst examining my evening rota, I settled down with a cup of well earned tea .
'Good' I thought 'Not many calls tonight, so it should be a nice steady evening. Time to reward myself with a long soak in the bath along with a good book before going out again'
Ten minutes into my wallow, I can hear my phone ringing. I drag myself downstairs dripping wet to find a voice mail asking if I could take on some more calls tonight. Bang goes my bath, as I now need to get dressed and set off an hour earlier than expected. Like NOW!
Strangely enough though, things were going really smoothly, I even had time to stop off at home half way round for a cup of tea .
I'm in a really mellow mood as I go from house to house, still gaining time as I go. I decide to spend a bit more time with a couple of my ladies; one asking me to sing to her and another sitting on the side of her bed showing me old photos and letters from her family. There was one letter from her father to her mother describing, in true Enid Blyton style, the joy of looking after his new born child. The child being the 90 year old lady sitting beside me on the bed. I leave the second lady content that I have had a worthwhile day and what is more, I am still on track to finish at 9.30pm
I have two calls to go when I enter Phyllis' house to find her in bed. She has dementia and like most dementia patients has good and bad days. She is also profoundly deaf which can also make life very difficult at times.
The fact she has made her own way to bed means it is a good day, or is it? , She has managed to use the commode, this means that her pad is no longer on when she has gone to bed, so the bed is wet. She is still wearing her clothes so they are also wet.
This was going to take longer than the half an hour I had planned. I sighed inwardly as I set about my task and whilst emptying the commode I catch sight of a pile of faeces on the bedside cabinet that she has removed from her pad. I quickly put them in the commode before cleaning it out, rolled her back and forth to change the bed sheets, cleaned her bottom up; washed her hands; put a clean pad on along with fresh pyjamas; all done with the aid of sign language. I finally tidied up the lounge, put her soiled clothes in the wash before going back into the bedroom to say goodnight. As I lent forward to kiss her forehead she jumped because she had not seen or heard me return. We both laughed before she tenderly grabbed my face with both hands, lent forward and kissed me gently on the lips. She has never done this before. Perhaps it was an apology for the mess, but it felt more than that. It was a beautiful moment I would cherish for a long time and made my day. Bless you Phyllis
I have to admit though, I did have one overwhelming thought at the time she was holding my face. 'Thank God I'd washed her hands!'
