Sat 21st:
A fairly quiet day, Andrew has been getting quite a lot of rest after the excitements of the last two days when he has been up for long periods. He did spend around three hours in the dayroom this morning; we did various things, memory book, some yoga, played snakes and ladders which he did almost 100% competently ( I think he miscounted once) and then said what was the point of that? We moved onto hangman, had lunch, Chris arrived with guitar and then he got a bit tired and we took him to bed where he has been the rest of the day, resting but not always asleep, listening to CD's, talking to Rory and Doreen for a while.

I am not tolerating any non-verbal signals but insisting that he talks. This gives much better understanding e.g. he says "I'm confused " or "I'm not sure what's real and what isn't", even "am I dying?" at one point. All of these are understandable and enable us to respond accordingly with reassurance and explanation. I am learning to avoid magazines, newspapers and the telly because they have just too much info, and he trys to make non-existent connections.

Hospital is an unfamiliar environment and I do have to start from basics each day telling him where he is, why he is there etc., checking his age (if it is low as it was today, its a sign of insecurity, I believe). However, there are real improvements on a week ago and I think we just have to take things steady, make sure he concentrates on one topic at a time, and address all the issues as they come up.

love
Gill
xx