Advance Care Poesy

Should I fall, should I stumble, or, land on the floor,

come and make sure I am OK

Check, I can bend and straighten my knee

and get to the toilet as I did before

& please, do your best to make sure

I can at least

get into and out of

Bed.

Or, if I should become short of breath,

Please, please, make sure that I only need to leave my home

If essential…

If my oxygen saturations fall below 88% on room air if I have COPD…

And if I have asthma, listen to my chest and make sure I am wheezy

Before sending me in.

& if

Things start to slip,

I start to lose weight

And perhaps don’t drink as much as I should,

Or even,

If I decide, that I should spend more time in bed than is good for me,

Consider, whether,

That is a sign,

That things are running down,

& perhaps,

I might prefer

To stay at home

& stay in bed

& not have to experience an Airflow mattress,

as people

have been dying for much longer than the NHS has been monitoring pressure areas

& please

Don’t let them

Put up a drip,

Or send me to the scanner

Or move me from bay to bay to ward and ward, to ward to ward;

Keep me here,

Call the district  nurses,

Call the therapists, the carers, the teams who are out there

to keep me

Here

I am sure I’ll be fine,

despite,

all your pills and potions…