Mum’s Diary
Went to see Dr W in aft. Another Dr there with him so I didn’t say much. Dr W not as friendly. Gave me 30mg Dalmane but I took it back. Will see Dr W on Monday if he’s alone. V. depressed. Talked to Malcolm on phone a bit. Went to see Mrs Tomlinson at City College about AMS, not too helpful. Ordered 2 bks from library. WGBR came in aft about Com Roll. Mr Claxton came – seems satisfied with work. Typed in aft. Went to see Thelma at night – nice. 1D 1L 2S.
Roger’s/My Diary
A fairly boring day although I worked very hard both at school and at home. Jimmy Carter narrowly won the US Presidential Election from Gerald Ford.
Mum went out to a meeting and I did my hwk & played my guitar.
Notes
GP Appointment
Mum went to see her GP Dr Welch (Dr W) in the afternoon, see Chapter 116. She was dissatisfied with the consultation, because he had another doctor with him so she did not feel able to speak to him freely. She also noted that he was not as friendly, perhaps more formal, than he would have been usually. She noted that she would try to see him again on Monday if he was on his own.
I am not exactly sure who the other doctor was but the Mile End Road practice was a training practice so perhaps it was the GP trainee assigned there at that time.
Dr D M Welch
Dr D M Welch was one of the GPs at the Mile End Surgery that we had belonged to since we moved to Norwich, see Chapter 78. They also had a surgery in Tuckswood that mum sometimes used. This practice is now known as Castle Partnership. While she mostly saw Dr Welch, she did sometimes see other doctors in the practice.
Dalmane Dosage
Mum was taking flurazepam (Dalmane) as a sleeping tablet having fairly recently been changed from nitrazepam (Mogadon). At this point, she was alternating between one and two flurazepam tablets at night. I assume she had the 15mg tablets. Dr Welch prescribed her 30 mg tablets possibly with the intention that she could take one of those when she felt she needed the higher dosage. However, mum was not happy with this so took them back.
I don’t quite follow the logistics of this. From the way it is written, it sounds like Dr Welch gave her the physical tablets and she took them back. While this is possible, it seems more likely that he gave her a prescription and she either took that back or she did get the tablets and then took those back. As far as I know, the Mile End Road surgery did not have a dispensary so if she had wanted tablets she would usually take the prescription to a chemist. On balance, I think she was probably given a prescription for 30mg tablets and took that back. This would explain why she referred to “it”.I
I am not sure why she took the prescription back as she simply did not have to use it. Perhaps she feared that she would “give in” and use it even though she did not want to. Perhaps, more likely knowing my mother, she wanted the staff at the surgery, including Dr Welch, to know that she had refused the prescription!
I think mum took sleeping tablets reluctantly. She had been trying to stop them but had experienced profound mental health problems so Dr Welch had proposed that she restart them.
Very Depressed
Throughout the late seventies, and at other times, mum struggled with depression and anxiety, see Chapter 116. On this occasion, she noted that she was very depressed.
Malcolm Carter
Malcolm refers to Rev Malcolm Carter. He was a Methodist Minister who became mum’s friend and confidant, see Chapter 114. From Merseyside, he served in the ministry there and in Darlington and East Anglia. He was Minister at Court Hey Methodist Church from 1978 to 1986. He was the Methodist chaplain to Walton Prison, now HM Prison Liverpool, for 20 years. I found a YouTube video of him taking a service at Wonford Methodist Church in Exeter in July 2024. When he was in Norwich, he was mainly based at Bowthorpe Road Methodist Church. On this occasion, she spoke to him a bit on the telephone.
City College
Mum went to see Mr Tomlinson at the City College about “AMS”. I am not sure who Mr Tomlinson was. I wonder if this was about exams and/or professional qualifications. AMSPAR now offers a number of professional qualifications. However, mum commented that it was not too helpful. I am not sure why.
Two Books
Mum ordered two books (bks) from the library. While she does not specify, these could have been related to the medical secretary studying that she wanted to do. However, they could have been unrelated to her trip to City College. I don’t know which library she went to. It could have been the Earlham library or, perhaps more likely, the main library in Norwich.
Community Roll
WGBR refers to Rev W G B Ream who was the Senior Minister at St Peter’s Park Lane Methodist Church at this time, see Chapter 124. I think mum maintained the church’s rolls. She referred to three forms of church roll. First, there was a community roll which listed everyone with a connection to the church. Second, there was a membership roll which listed everyone who has been admitted into church membership. Third, mum referred to a pastoral roll, as here. I think this indicated those people for whom the church had some pastoral responsibility. My suspicion is that mum used the term community and pastoral roll interchangeably. It is possible, even likely, that there was one roll which indicated who were members etc. On this occasion, I think mum was referring to the community roll (com roll).
Rev William (Bill) George Bertram Ream
Rev Ream was born in Stockport in July 1912. He entered the Methodist ministry in 1935 and served in Newcastle-under-Lyme and High Wycombe before coming to Norwich in 1974. During his time at St Peter’s, he was active in Norwich Council of Churches and Amnesty International. Afterwards, he retired but remained in Norwich. He died in Norwich in July 1999.
Roof Repairs
At this time, we were living at 192 College Road, see Chapter 117. For some weeks and months, the roof had been leaking and major repair work was being carried out. Mum had organised this work through a builder, Peter Claxton. He had organised it through a roofing subcontractor. He came to review the work and mum noted that he seemed satisfied.
Peter Claxton
Peter Claxton was a builder/painter/decorator who initially did some decorating for grandma and grandad in January 1974, see Chapter 102. Mum used him for a wide variety of jobs in the late seventies.
Typing and Duplicating
According to mum’s CV, see Chapter 105, she ran a typing and duplicating business from home until 1975. However, she did typing and duplicating after this date, particularly for St Peter’s Park Lane Methodist Church, see Chapter 121. On this occasion, she noted that she typed in the afternoon (aft).
Thelma Cooke
Thelma refers to Thelma Cooke who was a friend of mum’s from St Peter’s Park Lane Methodist Church, see Chapter 124. Mum had been due to attend a meeting of a fellowship group, St Peter’s Guild, but that had been cancelled so she went to see Thelma instead. Mum commented that it was nice. In my diary, I commented erroneously that mum had gone out to a meeting.
Mum’s Medication
At the end of her diary entries, mum tended to note the tablets she had taken that day, particularly at night, see Chapter 116. On this occasion, she noted that she took one flurazepam (D for Dalmane) tablet to help her sleep, one long-acting amitriptyline (L for Lentizol) tablet for depression and two senna-containing tablets (S for Senokot) for constipation. She had been trying to wean herself off both antidepressants and sleeping tablets but had been advised by her GP to increase them once again because of her current feelings of severe depression.
Relatively recently, she had changed sleeping tablets from nitrazepam to flurazepam. She had started taking two tablets of flurazepam at night but had then varied the dose between one and two. She also varied the dose of the long-acting amitriptyline between one and two tablets. That morning, the GP had offered her a higher dosage of flurazepam tablets but mum had not accepted these.
Boring… But Hard Work
I was in my first term of sixth form at the Hewett School, see Chapter 118. My common sentiments about school at that time were that it was both hard and boring with a significant step-on in effort required compared to my earlier years. I captured both these sentiments on this occasion saying it was a “fairly boring day” but that I worked hard both at school and a t home, where I referred to doing homework (hwk).
US Presidential Election
I noted that Jimmy Carter had narrowly won the US Presidential election over incumbent Gerald Ford, see Chapter 129. Jimmy Carter was the Democratic candidate with Walter Mondale as vice-president. Gerald Ford was the Republican candidate with Bob Dole as his pick for vice-president. Gerald Ford had become President when Richard Nixon resigned in 1974 in the aftermath of Watergate, see Chapter 112.
Playing Guitar
I tried to learn to play the guitar during this period but not very successfully, see Chapter 122. Nevertheless, I often noted spending time playing or practising my guitar as I did here.
Leave a Reply