Day 23-24: a mental test

On my return to London I went straight to the hospital to find dad in fine spirits. He eagerly filled me in on the weekend's events and proudly showed me his DVD player. One of the reasons why we were a little reluctant to get him one was the lack of security at the hospital. Honestly, you can walk in off the street, take a lift, and really be as opportunist as you like. Very rarely will anyone challenge you.

Anyhow, it's only a cheapie DVD player. And it gives him a bit of happiness.

The occupational therapist also gave my dad some mental exercises to do. Testing on events, memorising numbers. That kind of thing. I guess to check if he is muddled in any way. To be frank, dad's sharper now than he was before. Maybe cos there are less distractions for him.

Dad is now allowed to goto the gym with one of us and try out some physio exercises. He has one where he goes on his toes, another where he steps up and steps down. He walked backwards and at one point, walked forwards without any help - no support, no stick, nothing! "You're better than Aimee [his granddaughter]!" my brother said. At which point, dad broke down in tears - am not sure what kind of emotion he was feeling. Relief or despair?

The following day, 2 people came in from Patientline to check the TV screens of the beds opposite. Dad's TV screen has been bust since he arrived at his new bed a week or so ago. When I reminded them that our screen was also awaiting repair they said we weren't on the list! They did try to fix it and we ended up with a very yellow screen. We paid up for another 24 hours telly, and then 20 minutes later, all the screens in the whole ward crashed!

Spoke to the lady physio who massages my dad's hands today. They are researching if hand massage makes any difference to arm/hand recovery in stroke patients. Dad has 2 hours massage every day, broken up in 30-40 minute segments. It takes up a lot of time ("no time for his acupuncture sessions" my mum grumbled), but it's beneficial for sure. Straight after massage, dad's hand can grip pretty well. The effects do wear off though.

Anyhow, she told me that physios are having a tough time in the UK at the moment. There's been a freeze on promotions and there's no new openings so nobody's career is progressing. It must be quite demoralising for them.