It was an early start today. For some reason, the dog had not come in to jump on the bed, so I had to rely on my alarm to wake me. I had another turn in ECT, so it was the wrong side of 7am I found myself falling out of bed. Traffic seemed a little heavier today, I supposed because it was a Tuesday rather than Friday, when traffic is often lighter even without a global pandemic.
At the hospital, I changed into another delightful pair of disposable scrubs, before the team gathered for the morning brief. Now for those of you who have never been in a mental health hospital, and even those of you who have, you might not appreciate the lengths taken to reduce what are known as ligature risks, basically points where someone to attach a cord to, with the goal to harm themselves or end their lives. One ligature point is the curtain rail which runs around the beds in the recovery room.
To get around this risk, the raised are held up on a magnetic strip, strong enough to hold the curtain up, but apply much more weight and it falls down. Unfortunately, while we were discussing the patients, one of my colleagues managed to stand on the curtain, which was enough to see the curtain rail fall and narrowly miss his head. To make things worse, the rail broke in the process, so instead of starting the morning list on time, we had to wait while the maintenance team removed the broken piece.
Once we were ready to start, it was back in the uncomfortably stuffy PPE. Before anyone says anything, I know the mask is not on correctly in the picture. I had a moment to snap the shot and quickly pulled the mask on for the full effect, before putting it on properly before the list began. We had four patients again today, two of which were new. This gave me an opportunity to practice titrating up the dose given to the patient, something which needs to be done during the first session as you cannot be sure without trying what size of dose to give them.
The list was finished by noon, I quickly got out of my PPE before heading back home for a shower and lunch (the last of the cheese in a sandwich today). After this, it was back to the computer and phone reviews. One of my calls was to a patient who has been struggling over the last couple of weeks, but I was pleased to hear he has responded a little to the medication changes I have made, so much so he even managed to sleep through the night at the weekend, a first for some time.
After work, it was time for a walk with the dog. For the first time it what seems like weeks, it was raining, and predictably the walk was almost entirely deserted. Unfortunately the dog was wet and muddy by the time we returned, so I had to battle with him and a towel when we got home.
Dinner this evening was chicken curry, made with the bell peppers and a tin of chickpeas from the cupboard. Even if I say so myself, it was delicious, and of course there is plenty left for lunch. The plan for this evening is to finish the Watchmaker of Filigree Street, I only have a few pages before I can start considering my next literary delight.
Self-Indulgent Twaddle 