Message Seventy

I have this saying that 'there are no secrets in families, just taboos.'

Elizabeth has probably now stayed on ward 2 longer than anyone else.  She knows pretty much everything that is going on in the ward, and could act as a prompt for staff, if they asked her.  The realisation of this caused a bit of a stir yesterday because it was noted that the strict patient confidentiality rules may have been stretched.  This resulted in them moving Elizabeth away from the nursing station. Elizabeth felt she was being pushed away and excluded when she has appreciated their company over these many days. It all felt too much and she was overwhelmed with sorrow.  Her therapies could see this and the nurses also felt bad.  Again we were reminded of how challenging it is to be cooped up in a hospital ward with next to no privacy, let alone experiencing significant disabilities.

Elizabeth enjoyed the weekend with her Uncle Peter and Grandma calling in late on Sunday evening after a train mix up delayed them by two hours.  We all ate late night cake, a gift from Helen.

Today Kate visited with a big bag of lychee to aid the celebration of Chinese New Year.  (We all pigged out.)

Happy New Year everyone.