Margaret was very obviously at the very edge of death when she was ambulanced from the RAH to Mary Potter. She had her wonderful quilt spread out on her bed when I arrived to see her shortly after the transfer from RAH to Mary Potter.
She always made a special effort to pretend to be in better shape than she really was whenever she knew I was around. She was not aware I was in the room when I took this photo.
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Blog 236 finished with extracts from my diary entries for Tuesday 11 July 2023. This Blog continues my diary entries from the point where Blog 236 finished.
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Tuesday 11 July 2023 Blog 236’s diary entry finishes this way. [I woke up at 5.50 am on Tuesday 11 July 2023. Today is our 25th anniversary. I have had breakfast and now I will pack a small bag of supplies to get me through the next few days at the hospital until Margaret dies. I will not leave her until she leaves me. We have already exchanged a few texts. I packed a small bag with essentials such as toiletries and left for my ENT appointment. After a check, a fresh appointment was made for October to have my polyps removed. I then returned to Margaret at the RAH.] **** Tuesday 11 July 2023 The diary entry for Tuesday 11 July 2023 continues. She was in much better shape today – the pain was controlled by sub cutaneous oxycodone. I stayed with her until I left to return home and I got home at 8.50 pm. At 5.00 pm Margaret was told that she will be transferred tomorrow to Mary Potter Hospice in the grounds of Calvary Hospital, North Adelaide. The ambulance is scheduled to do the transfer at 9.00 am tomorrow Wednesday 12 July. Once she received the news about Mary Potter, Margaret’s spirits improved noticeably. She was born in Calvary, trained as a nurse in Calvary and stayed in the nurses’ quarters at Calvary while training. Mary Potter is located in the building which was once the accommodation for the senior nurses. Margaret wondered if she would return to her old room at Calvary. The news about Mary Potter visibly lifted her spirits and Margaret insisted that I should go home. She now felt she would be able to sleep and she started yawning while I was there. I returned home via Cheryl’s place. Margaret told me Cheryl had cooked a casserole for me. I picked up the casserole and had it for dinner; delicious. It is now 9.38 pm. I was in bed by 10.30 on Tuesday 11 July. Wednesday 12 July 2023 I woke at 6.15 am on Wednesday 12 July 2023, lying in bed for 30 minutes enjoying the ability to just lie there without having to move. I got myself up at 6.45 and Marg sent me a text almost as soon as I was up. She had slept for at least five hours and the pain was still under control. The move to Mary Potter Hospice was still on schedule. She will ring me after she has arrived at Mary Potter and become “orientated” and I will then visit her at Mary Potter. It is now 9.27 am. Marg rings just after 11.00 to say she has arrived at Mary Potter. I get there about 30 minutes later. The physiotherapist arrived at the same time as me. Her aim was to enable Marg to get into a wheelchair so I could wheel her outside so she can have a cigarette. Marg has great trouble getting up and into the wheelchair. When we get back, Marg’s nurse produces a device to help her get upright from the wheelchair and then down back onto the bed. This process is much faster and completely pain free. The staff are simply wonderful. Marg has been given a gift of a hand made rug with wonderful patterns on it. I am told the hospice volunteers make them. I am told that I will be given one main meal every day. After the cigarette, I spend an hour filling out the mountain of paperwork required for this final hospital admission. Once I finish the mountain, I take Marg out for another cigarette. After three cigarettes Marg says I should go home early so I can return later this evening with more supplies for her (not cigarettes). While at Mary Potter, I sent messages to let friends know where Margaret is now located. I sent this text to Heather at 2.27 pm.
Heather’s blocking of my phone number was still lifted as the time of that text. The block was reinstated a few days later. At 2.31 pm Heather sent me this text.
I replied at 2.35 as I returned to my car to go home for a short period. My reply said this.
I arrive home by 3.10 and go for my walk – the first walk in days. I then do more updates for friends on Margaret’s health and current location. It is 4.45 as I type this entry. I will aim to return to Mary Potter by about 7.00 pm. Mary Potter Hospice is physically located in the part of Calvary Hospital where Saint Helen’s Ward was once located. Saint Helen’s Ward opened in 1971 and Margaret was the very first charge nurse in the ward. Marg thinks everything about Mary Potter is appropriate. She was born in Calvary, she trained in Calvary, she was the first charge nurse in Saint Helen’s Ward and now she will die in Calvary in what was Saint Helen’s Ward. |
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