Day 30: All the ward's a stage

It was doctor's rounds today and the consultant made dad walk for him. So there were all the patients in the bay, the nurses, physios and junior doctors watching dad - "like an actor in a play," he related - as dad walked the length of the bay, trying so hard, walked back and then at the last moment, sort of stumbled back into his chair.

He felt that the consultant was disappointed in him and would now definitely keep him in hospital for one week longer. Actually, the decision was already taken. Dad's new physio - a nice, young chap - said he'd done really well.

At lunchtime, I took dad for a walk downstairs, loosely keeping hold of his belt. I should have known better though. Weekday lunchtimes are manic at the hospital with throngs of employees, patients and visitors. Dad was overwhelmed. We took refuge in the hospital gift shop. "This hospital saved my life," dad told the lady at the cash register. He bought a book about the hospital to show a bit of appreciation.

There's an old lady in the stroke ward who keeps wandering around at breakneck speed. She loves exploring and the nurses chase after her to prevent her entering restricted areas. She also likes coming into my dad's bay, sometimes sitting down and staring - bit spooky. Maybe she used to sleep here. Dad said that last night, she'd wandered over to patient T's bed, sat there and then held his hand! And patient T could do nothing except stare back at her!

Mum found out that two of the other patients in the bay were originally heart attack victims. They were having heart surgery when they had 'mild' strokes due to dislodgement of clots. How awful! The double whammy of suffering heart and brain attacks.