I'm sure there are some out there who question why I spend so long with Colin - well apart from the obvious, he just doesn't seem to appreciate where he is and why. He gets very confused about his surroundings and who is doing what. Yesterday, when I arrived I could hear him repeatedly shouting out my name - all to ask me where his passport was for the trip he was going on. For days, he's been talking about a round the world trip, and about travelling on trains, planes and ships!!! I don't ever recall him talking about wanting to do this - unless he was thinking about it but never told me!!
I have equally bizarre conversations about all sorts of things - some completely out of character for Colin. He has had a bad dose of hallucinations so much so that the staff in Perrins pleaded with the GP to sort it out with even more medication. He is now being given Olanzapine and it does seem to have rid the room of the attacking crocodiles, snakes, alligators, dinosaurs and dragons. Not sure about the giant ants - there does still seem to be some white ones! However the confusion has got worse since the start of this medication as has those bizarre conversations. It is very difficult to ascertain if Colin really does understand when I tell him where he is and why. And if he does, he forgets almost as soon as I tell him!
We are still waiting for the new recliner chair to be made and also for the wheelchair - the latter will be about 6 weeks we were told when the wheelchair services staff visited Colin last week. That will be too late for enjoying the lovely weather in the grounds of Perrins. The soft fork-mashable diet is still working well, and mostly Colin is eating well and appears to be enjoying the food. The lack of eyesight is truly awful though - if there was one thing I could wish for and get, it would be the restoration of Colin's eyesight - no contest!
I continue to thank those of you who have made the effort to continue to visit Colin - and indeed especially to the friend of six-bypasses fame whose other unmentionables took a turn when what I think is a secondary has been discovered in the liver. We wish him well with the forthcoming surgery and hope it can all be sorted out successfully. [Colin and I really do appreciate it that you still visit Perrins even though you have enough troubles of your own!]
Jane