My birthday started off really well, with a lovely phone call from home. It was late evening in England and although Mum sounded a bit distracted, she Mum was still awake, and it was so good to hear her. She said the carers would be along presently, to get her to bed. (I had another call from Mum later in the day; she was much more awake, and sang Happy Birthday down the line to me).
When Wendy was up, she gave me my first present of the day, a cat key ring; I was very happy to have it! and as soon as we had eaten breakfast, we were off to Princess Alexandra Hospital. We took the birthday cakes with us, and Uncle John was delighted to see us.
One of the nurses told us Uncle John will be moving later today, to St Vincent's Hospital. This is a private hospital, but they have a bed in the palliative care ward available for him; all beds in the other hospitals are full. (There was a headline in the Courier Mail, reporting that, apart from the children's hospital, there was not a single bed free in any Brisbane hospital. The NHS is not alone in having challenges to supply sufficient beds).
Another nurse brought us plates, a knife and forks, so that I could cut my birthday cake and share it out. Wendy and Uncle John sang Happy Birthday to me; Uncle John chose which cake we should eat first, and helped me to cut it. The nurses and reception staff couldn't join in at the time, so I left the second cake for them to enjoy when they had a break, in order celebrate my birthday with me.
Wendy and Uncle John had been in cahoots about getting a birthday card for him to give to me. I was banished to the waiting area outside the ward for a little while, giving Uncle John a chance to write something for me, and I was so chuffed to have this very special birthday card.
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| Uncle John and me - 28 March 2019 |
Uncle John was then helped into the bathroom to have a shower; when he was finished, the nurse came to us, carrying a bag of clothes. Some were things he had been wearing, when he was first taken ill, and taken to Logan Hospital, including a pair of shorts, and one of his lovely silky shirts that he enjoys wearing. Wendy and I were shocked that no-one had seen fit to get him some nice clean things to put on, and thanked goodness we had thought to buy a couple more pairs of pyjamas for him! The nurse said of course there are laundry facilities at the hospital, but usually the family take patients' clothes home and wash them. Clearly this hadn't been done for Uncle John, so we said we would take it; we had a washing machine in the apartment, a tumble dryer, an iron and an ironing board, so it would be easy for us to return it to him in the morning.
We were told Uncle John would be transferred to St Vincent's Hospital that afternoon; he might have to wait for some time in the discharge lounge, but in the end, he was able to have his lunch and was then transferred by ambulance, which went very smoothly.
Back at the apartment, we washed Uncle John's clothes, tumble dried and aired them; later that evening, I ironed everything, and thought what a simple, easy job it was, to do something like that for him.
We checked the parcel with the rug securely packed inside: strongly held in the two boxes? Check. Boxes firmly held together with strong parcel tape? Check. Brown paper carefully wrapped around every inch of the boxes? Check. No string left around the parcel? Double check!!
The Receptionist had kindly printed off all the documents and labels for us, and after another, final check that everything was in order, we took the parcel downstairs to await collection by TNT; it would be kept safely behind the desk, until the courier collected it on Friday, between 9.00 a.m. and 6.00 p.m.
Then we were ready for the drive out of Brisbane, to see Jane and Stuart, our wonderful friends from South Africa.
My Mum's dearest friend in Durban was a lovely lady called Mary; they were neighbours in Stanbury Court, and Mum and Grandma grew very close to Mary and her husband Tony. When my Grandma died in 1985, Mary was such a great support to Mum, both emotionally and practically, and after Mum returned to England, we all wrote to each other and always kept in touch. Jane is one of Mary's children; she is married to Stuart, and they settled in Australia some years ago. We met up once before, in London, but that was such a long time ago, I certainly wasn't going to miss the chance of seeing them both again now! They live a couple of hours' drive away from the centre of Brisbane; Wendy and Uncle John have visited Jane and Stuart before, so Wendy knows the way very well, and we were soon pulling up outside their house.
From the moment they opened their front door, the warmth of their welcome enveloped us; it was so good to see them again.
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| Jane, Alex and Stuart |
The time passed all too quickly; Jane and Stuart understood we had a long drive back to the city, and so reluctantly we said our goodbyes. We all hope it won't be very long until we can meet again.
What a splendid birthday I enjoyed!
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