Surviving the fallout

Hi, it’s just over two years now since I lost my wife to illness. We were married for 33 years. People say that times a healer but I’m not so sure. My own health has progressively worsened since I lost her and without her support I’m finding it difficult to cope with life on my own. I’m currently in hospital with yet another serious infection and life just seems to be passing me by!

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Hi! Sorry to hear you are struggling. I obviously don’t know the medical details you’re experiencing but please do share the fact you are struggling with the hospital. They maybe able to arrange for an occupational therapist assessment (this should happen anyway, prior to discharge). You can also self refer to adult social care for them to assess your needs. Sometimes simple changes to the home can make a huge difference. Adult social care can also sign post to different organisations that maybe able to help x

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I hope if you do access adult social care they are more use to you than they were to me. Over a bank holiday when my husband who was also my carer went into hospital. Contacted adult social care who said they couldn’t help but told me to contact my gp after bank holiday. I did so who told me to talk to adult social care. My surgery have organised the occupational therapist and a physio. I had to organise my own care privately. Fortunately they were very efficient. They contacted me day after bank holiday and care in place the day following. Definitely try though. Your area may be better than mine.

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I’m suffering from kidney failure and have to attend dialysis three times a week at the moment but I’ve now been hospitalised with an infection in my kidney. I’ll certainly call social services when I get out of here to see what they can offer.

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Sorry to hear that. Definitely speak to the therapy staff in the hospital before discharge.

If it’s like my hospital stay they won’t discharge you until you have seen the therapist

They shouldn’t. They all have to sign off the discharge (OT and physio)

Come to think if it I did have a physio assessment too. It was just before the queens funeral last year. I had a room to myself although not sure why and a tele. The staff kept popping in to make sure I didn’t get too lonely. They had 2 rooms with teles but only 1 remote. They let me have it. On the whole Yeovil district hospital has a good reputation. Even the food was good when I felt up to eating.

Blimey that sounds like luxury compared to my local hospital. We have those terrible TVs you pay a fortune for yet haven’t been upgraded for over 20 years!

The remote was a bit knackered. You had to fiddle with it to turn the tv off. The first night I was in a ward with someone with dementia. That was a rough night as some idiot had given her a phone and she kept insisting it wasn’t charging and wasn’t working and kept calling the nurses. It drove the rest of us nuts.

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