Part of me felt sorry for him, after all, he did look young, it was late, and he was out in the rain by himself on a Friday night.
Monthly Archives: March 2018
Manchester (7)
Three guys, One, The tallest Knew That I Knew.
Manchester (3) (Costa)
I contrast the immaculate, red, finger-nails with the chewed ones of the addict.
Manchester (8)*
Sink your teeth into the prickly pear And wait. Matzoh balls And Un-leavened cakes. I was always puzzled, Why Sponge cake was OK But Not carrot or coffee walnut for that matter. *Passover mystery
Yesterday,
Kitty, You know how we went to the art gallery yesterday, and, You quite liked it, Well, I was wondering whether Today we could go to the sculpture park… …I know, you always say you don’t want to go, but, You seemed to enjoy it yesterday – ‘I hated the it yesterday.’ Do IContinue reading “Yesterday,”
Collected blogs on delirium 2015 to 2018
How many older people enter hospital and never leave? Are never aware that the paramedics who carry them from their living-room floor will never bring them back; their secrets, mementos, curios, stashed-away in corners only to be discovered by relatives when clearing-out the house after they have moved-on or died.
Some thoughts on being medically fit
The system is not coping now, how will it manage tomorrow?
Blogs, Poems, etc 2017
Rod’s Blogs, Poems, etc. Table of Contents I search for meaning. 6 ‘Behavioural’ 8 10 Years. 10 10 years. 11 99+. 13 1559 days. 15 A response to Henry. 17 A tale of two times?. 18 Acute. 20 Advance Care Plan, Human Rights & I want what I want 23 alea iacta est 25 AllContinue reading “Blogs, Poems, etc 2017”
Where?
Where would I rather, Be, go? I hear the cars passing my window, See the collared doves framed against the white sky. There is a world out there and I am in here. Door closed, Slippers. Berlin Beirut Belin? It isn’t as simple as that… Visa, Flight, Pollution, Insurance, Currency, Organisation. YouContinue reading “Where?”
How I got my scar…
I have a little scar on my right eyebrow. It used to be, When I was younger, That people thought I had done it myself; shaved, Mimicking some sort of gangster-rap style. No, no. It was a Thursday night, walking back with Phil, Nick and co from… was it Fat Sam’s? Slammed in the faceContinue reading “How I got my scar…”
There was a thing
Respect for ourselves, respect for one another, seeing those around you as equal to you, listening their opinion. Deference, caring, kindness. This is my religion and political affiliation.
Workforce
No, everyone can’t find the meaning of life in work, but so many of us find no meaning at all – the existential treadmill drawing us along.
What is it with butchers?
The butcher, is after all several rungs above Tevye as he struggles with the milk-round.
Rod’s dodgy drugs top-ten countdown!
This medicine is an old-fashioned anti-depressant, taken in small doses to help pain caused by nerve injury or damage – we call this neuropathic;
Pomegranate
I didn’t really know what I was doing Climbing Over a wall beneath The Acropolis. Greek police were Shouting at me As I hid The pomegranate In my rucksack.
Multidisciplinary Cubism
Who am I? I am who I understand myself to be as well as how everyone else sees me;
Ignorant swine
…possibly from too much steroid, booze, or, just, time.
Battered
Battered briefly as they raided the Strawberry Field. Not Forever. Later translated into Hebrew pantomime
Jumper
He staggers from the orchard, threadbare jumper dirty, thin yellow zig-zag lines around the cuffs, stuffed with just-ripe oranges. Now replaced by houses.
Sticks
It was a stunning moment when my colleague jokingly, disparagingly, counter-culturally called the man across ‘Hey sticks, how are you today?’ He had cerebral palsy his gait awkward. He seemed to appreciate the acknowledgment better than being invisible.
Cowering
Running from the pecan grove. Lloyd with me shots fired by the farmer. maybe blanks or his aim poor neither seem likely or probable. Surely a warning.
Choko-milk
The other boys descended on the store. Old Yemenite man behind the till Contending with sales of sweet bread and choko-milk. Some were stolen, forty agurot Pilfer. I wasn’t involved. Too scared, not Too moral.
Milk chocolate
The driver parked his lorry outside the student union. I pilfered a box of Wispas. Shameful. Later, distributed to the assembled at Belmont.
Falls (Swiss cheese and serious harm)
I wonder What is the rule for hospital Inpatient falls. I mean, There must be some Golden Rule That you can Work-out. How many minor falls For every bad fall. Bad being Broken hip, Brain bleed Death. Interesting ratio to calculate. ‘How many patients have fallen in your hospital inContinue reading “Falls (Swiss cheese and serious harm)”
Kafka then Kerouac then Levi
When I was Perhaps 18 I would spend hours in town in Glasgow Between book shops. Borders Waterstones Books etc. John Smith’s And that was before you went down the West End With the second-hand stores. We didn’t have Foyles We never needed it. This one is for Nigel & Papa
This is part two.
We were on the Isle of Bute Across from Wemyss Bay I think it was Easter. Erica’s dog A beautiful Ridgeback Called Simba Was off the lead. There was no one around Except for the sheep Who took flight towards the Clyde. Beautiful scene Not like you get in England. Peaceful, silent,Continue reading “This is part two.”
Fail fast then try again.
Try, fail fast then try again; repeat. try a little different. like cooking frying boiling, basting. add some salt A little pepper, change this move that, over here there, and fail Fail fast don’t take pride in your attempts to change or improve Just stick with what works and lose no sleep with the failure,Continue reading “Fail fast then try again.”
Key Safe
You’re safe; you have a key safe – a digital lock on the outside of your house to help the carers get-in. I heard this week that since Grenfell there has been a thing about the safety of key safes and they are now considered unsafe, perhaps providing too tempting a means of entry toContinue reading “Key Safe”
Beds (or bust)
The government is screwing the NHS through mismanagement at every level and this is left as the elephant in the room. Think of a grey animal. Yes, think of a struggling system.
Doctor
Doctor, you know that medicine you gave me last night, to help with my pain, well, it seems to have made my skin itch and I have become all shaky and my mouth, it is very dry and I feel awful, do you think it might be the medicine that has made me feel worse?Continue reading “Doctor”
Teddy
The old woman’s teddy was left behind when she was taken to the nursing home to die.
Ward round
32 patients, every one being patient waiting their turn For the doctor to reach them, to arrive with News. I wait, waiting; for the doctor with her young friends medical notes. computer. I have been waiting now 44 hours for the test result. I know it I know it I know itContinue reading “Ward round”
Why is delirium so much worse than dementia?
Even Stephen King says that dementia keeps him awake at night.
Brimming – thanks to Don.
Brimming with ideas, Following a day spent in the company of Don Berwick. A proper blog will follow, once I have allowed all the talking points to filter from my little black book, through subconsciousland and onto the page. For the moment, here are some snippets… Don popped in to a meeting of the shadowContinue reading “Brimming – thanks to Don.”
The Monday ward round after Mother’s Day
Maw (washing the dishes): Don’t bother getting anything for me, I don’t believe in Mother’s Day.
Confessional
Forgive me, For I have erred. I don’t know what I was thinking or how I did what I did, I can’t understand how I could have mistaken, or overlooked the allergy, After all, isn’t that basic, isn’t that something we are taught on day one? I have so often alluded to primary school versusContinue reading “Confessional”
Sepsis
Skin mottled, eyes wide with fear, She knew she was dying.
Anthony
Red sandstone tenement Shawlands. Tony stayed up all night reading Sartre’s Anti-Semite and Jew and, in the morning tried to convert my sister.
Xerxes
For all that Ahasuerus was King of kings, It is said, well, inferred In the Scroll of Esther That there were no loos in his palace. That, or else, there were conveniences But, no one could use them.
Mr W-M
Tight, curly, hair. T would gasp episodically When we talked. His rheumy eyes, the after-effects of the ague would half-close as he leaned-back Inhaling deeply on the B&H. I never really understood his story, refugee via Tigray. I never understood His arrival in Glasgow in the 80’s. His dry skinContinue reading “Mr W-M”
See you later. I’m going home.
Sure, we know that unnecessary hospitalisation is bad, but what about inappropriate institutionalisation?
Thanks for rejecting me.
I am part-of – Arianna’s team.
Now, here is a funny thing.
Corridor, stairway, path. You know, it is part of human evolution that we recognise people – shapes and forms from far away. Gait, stature, poise; Coif, Profile. Individuals, even acquaintances are Instantaneously identifiable, Like when Emperor penguins are milling around the ice And each one can tell who is who and who isContinue reading “Now, here is a funny thing.”
Disaster avoided (update)
Boab hands me my phone and is longer shouting, he is calm the rest of the day and the next.
Unsafe admission
The example being:
89-year-old woman, lives alone, dementia, diabetes, COPD, has fallen, bruised face – best admit.
And this is the thing.
There’s no need.
There’s no need to talk to me like that. I was just trying to help. Don’t, swear either, and, No, you’re not going home. It’s not safe tidy ready You’re not safe well able Stay here. Sit down or you’ll fall. Passive-aggressive tropes that fill me with sadness.
It is very easy.
It is very easy When living, Suspended, perhaps, mindfully in the moment; locked into timelessness, to misplace an Awareness of self. Old woman, Purple-black bruised face and, swollen left eye. Thinning hair. fading eyes. Who?
Statesman / politician
I’ll say, before I get going, that I have used the word Statesman rather than Statesperson* as I feel this system of nomenclature diminishes the word; so, when I write Statesman (heaven knows why the capital), please read – Stateswoman and Statesman. Here are some who spring to mind: Obama Gandhi Churchill And once, again,Continue reading “Statesman / politician”
Just one more.
Just one more Pill. The medicine, You see, Is designed to… well… help your symptoms, make you live longer, ease the pain, alleviate the anxiety/depression/disorientation. Chalky calcite caked on tongue; dentures, palate, desiccated. Mouth, a dry foam. Lost look in the eyes of the old woman As she smiles despite theContinue reading “Just one more.”
Dementia
The man has dementia. He is wearing wrong-sized hospital pyjamas In a bed That is tilted Head-down, feet-up to stop him getting out; to somehow protect him from himself. This, of course, Restraint and, against everything that is good and right and perhaps preventing him from falling, but, Doing him far moreContinue reading “Dementia”
Nursery*
All I have are dark memories. An old, red-sandstone house, narrow pathway from front gate to front door and mum Not allowed inside the nursery. Then, thirty years later, Mum is inside. I am visiting her And the bell is rung. Big, brass monstrosity Clanged, Not by Nurse Ratched, But, Someone aspiringContinue reading “Nursery*”
Flying
I drove in my car to the highest hill in Glasgow, Unzipped my coat and tried to fly. For whatever reason, I couldn’t take-off.
I wonder
I wonder what it feels like to lie on a stretcher In the resuscitation department of any hospital probably, in any country w/ adequate health and social care and, attached to a monitor that is recording Your heart rate, blood pressure, those things, and, Listen to the machine alarming as you look around and seeContinue reading “I wonder”
Maximum or minimum?
I also wonder, what is the minimum number or, Perhaps, maximum, of, people working In close proximity without eye contact without smile?
Cannula
Cannula in arm. The one he has is adequate, For the purposes. Although it seems often, There is no purpose to the little plastic device that sits, catching on clothes, gathering dust. But. Student. Doctor, nurse or whatever, Can I go and pin-cushion him again? Can I, Can I? Please?
Cushion
On the subject of cushions, I remember, 1985 On El Al flight to Israel, My mum asking the purser if I could see the cockpit. I was allowed up-front, Yes. El Al jet, and I was allowed-in. And the captain, Handsome, Tanned, Completing a crossword In English. How do you spell cushion?Continue reading “Cushion”
Colin
I can remember His name. Colin lived down the road from me in Glasgow. I think he was adopted, or, perhaps, Some other mystique. He always reminded me of the actor from the Man from Uncle – Ilya Kuryakin* Something About his eyes And hair. Anyway. I don’t know why,Continue reading “Colin”
Apple-pie
Every time my brother Lloyd returned from University, back in the 70’s, My mum would make him an apple pie. She had a special tray that had wavy walls and a base that could lift-out. It’s Lloyd’s favourite was the excuse – perhaps, I can’t remember me or any of my other siblingsContinue reading “Apple-pie”
Dr Rod’s Odd Blog (almondemotion) 