Wed 18th:
Found Andrew in someone else's armchair this morning but no-one seemed to mind.

Met the speech therapist who advised that he drink plenty of water to keep his throat moist in dry hospital conditions and that he takes a deep breath in before he tries to speak. After she had gone we tried some yoga exercises - 9 - pacifying breaths - and some "oms" - which did seem to help. Visitors think his voice a little stronger tonight. One of the visitors was Pauline, who does singing lessons and I immediately asked her to do a little singing exercise with Andrew to try and help.

I am not happy that he has not had an MRI but a CT scan. The consultant does not know why this is so either; an MRI was requested. The canula was still in when I went home and I asked staff to remove it if it was no longer needed as it is clearly annoying Andrew , though he has managed to play guitar with it in his hand tonight.

It does not look as if he is going to Harefield but will have the TOE next Tuesday when the cardiologist with the equipment visits. This is to see if there is a clot in the heart. Apparently it rarely does but as they are having difficulty with diagnosis its one more thing they must check.

Apart from the CT Andrew has been in a good mood all day and spent a considerable amount of time listening to the CD that Bob compiled which he listened to calmly all the way through, crossing out the notes that Bob had made and numbering the tracks. We also spent a fair amount of time on the memory book. Establishing age today 23.

I also managed to park the car under the window of the dayroom so that he could see it and make a connection with the outside world.

Quite a lot of vsiitors today including Sean and children, Paul, Glenn, Pauline, Doreen, Chris , Peter. People have asked me about the number of people visiting and what I think about it is quite complex and roughly as follows:
- big or small groups of musicians are OK because Andrew can play or sing along and feels included and happy ( so long as the dayroom is free, of course) I think it is good for him to have an hour or two playing each day, and want to encourage it, especially exercises and singing to strengthen the voice.

- I think it is better to only have 1 or two people around the bed, though, and better to have a 1-1 chat with him if there is no music is involved. Please be aware that short-term and longer term memory are poor, and therefore easy for him to feel excluded in a three-way conversation. Its best to pick one or two topics and stick to them ( maybe something that you have brought in or a particular memory) rather than a wide ranging conversation which is hard to follow. Some short simple jokes are nice, too. Please write jokes in the "Jokes" section of the memory book. He has managed to recall the punch line to the duck/soul singer one today, so I might not be able to get away with that anymore! Alternately, a simple game - Chris tried noughts and crosses today which went down well - is quite nice if you have the time.


Bob/Jane - lentil salad very nice!

Lots of nice letters and cards are still arriving. I can't keep them al at the hospital as there isn't room, so there is quite a collection at home now. Thank you also to everyone who has written with words of encouragement for me personally.

Gill
xx