Grandad – Got up but went to lie on the bed for the nurse. He was very good. Arthur came while E went to her meeting. Mr Hinchley brought strawberries.
Mum – Saw Dr W in morning. Haemoglobin 10.7 only 70% so he put me on Ferrogradumet. To stop Sinequan when taken all I’ve got. FR rang in afternoon. Very low all day. Roger went to school at night to help with car parking etc at concert.
Notes
Change in Handwriting
There had been a change in handwriting at the end of June. Based on this, it seems likely that this, and subsequent entries, were made by grandma even though this is not stated explicitly. If indeed, the entry was made by grandma, she refers to herself in the third person as E and writes with grandad in the first person although the “I” is implied, e.g. in “got up“.
At Home
Grandad had come home from hospital the previous day having been admitted a few days earlier with symptoms related to a further urinary obstruction, see Chapter 116. He had had surgery to stretch the bladder neck. This was carried out by consultant urologist, Mr Ashken. However, the operation had not been very successful in terms of relieving his urinary obstruction. So, he had been discharged home with the catheter in place. Mr Ashken had explained to mum that the catheter would be in place for three weeks initially.
Nurse
Grandad got up but went back to lie on the bed when the nurse came. Gradnad’s diary commented that he was very good, see Chapter 116.
Arthur Elsegood
Arthur refers to grandad’s friend Arthur Elsegood. He came to sit with grandad so that grandma (E) could attend a women’s meeting at Drayton Methodist Church, see Chapter 124.
Mr Hinchley
Grandad’s diary noted that Mr Hinchley brought strawberries. I am not entirely sure who he was but probably someone grandma and grandad knew through Drayton Methodist Church. He had previously brought them strawberries, see Chapter 106.
Anaemia
Mum saw her GP, Dr Welch (Dr W), in the morning, see Chapter 116. He tested her haemoglobin and found it to be low. The figure of 10.7 is g/dl. These days, haemoglobin is measured in g/l so this would be a haemoglobin of 107. A level of more than 12g/dl or 120g/l would be considered normal in women. It is therefore not surprising that Dr Welch prescribed mum some iron supplements (Ferrogradumet).
Doxepin
Mum was taking the antidepressant Doxepin (Sinequan), see Chapter 116. Dr Welch advised her to stop this once she had finished all she had. I am not sure if this was because she was feeling less depressed or simply because he wanted her to only take it for a limited period. It is also possiblt that he thought the doxepin might be contributing to the anaemia but this seems less likely.
Rev Dowson
FR refers to Rev F R Dowson. Frederick Rodham Dowson entered the Methodist ministry in 1936. He was born in Haxby, York on 5 August 1912 and he died in Selsey on 4 September 2011, aged 99. I believe he was superintendent Minister for the Park Lane circuit from 1968 to 1974. He and mum were close and they spoke and corresponded frequently, see Chapter 114. On this occasion, he phoned in the afternoon.
Feeling Very Low
During this period, mum had severe struggles with her mental health, suffering with depression and anxiety, see Chapter 116. She noted feeling very low all day.
School Concert
Roger refers to me and mum noted that I went to school at night to help with car parking at a concert. I vaguely recall this, see Chapter 118.
Leave a Reply