28th July: Simon takes a phone call

Simon had quite a good day, despite some rather 'iffy' care on his ward. He had been out in his chair for two and a half hours this morning, then eaten lunch. I know this was bolognese because I found some spaghetti in his bed! He was very interested in the copy of Campus Wide Information Systems that had arrived in the post today, it was the issue that he guest edited with Michael and Ken, and also contained two of his papers. He flicked through it at least three times and seemed very pleased with it. This generated quite a high level academic conversation in which Simon talked about some planned papers, and I tried to find out where he had hidden the data for the SMAL-talk paper. The paper is written, and he had set up tables, but I cannot find the data to populate the tables. I am hoping that with Moira (his secretary's) help we can track this down. SMAL-talk was a very original experiment. Later he drifted into the world of fantasy by asking his mum to generate a critique of economics. Shirley said she would do this once she's finished the ironing....
Speaking of fantasies, I did quiz him about the Anne Widdecombe story, and he vehemently denied this, it was Glenda Jackson!
I bought a liquidiser yesterday, and made a banana smoothie for Simon today, he drank the whole lot and requested a raspberry and banana smoothie for tomorrow. I have never known him so easy to please.
Just after 3pm, Asher phoned from England, and Simon had quite a long chat with him. Simon was following what Asher was saying, listening intently. I was able to catch some of his replies, they were mostly 'yes', 'I see', 'good', 'oh no', so he was certainly responding to Asher, and he is looking forward to another call tomorrow.
We watched a TV programme about crocodiles - wildlife films seem to keep his attention, so I feel a David Attenborough box set coming on. In fact, I think we have one somewhere on Blu Ray. I also have one of Michael Palin's films that he might like.
Simon has not made friends with the man opposite, Graham, and is still frightened by him. They keep the curtain drawn between them, but that does not prevent him from hearing all the yelling. I think it may be time to move Simon to another hospital.
We were unable to speak with the social worker today (absent), but Shirley managed to track down and speak to the dietician. We also had some brief words with his doctors and the nursing staff. They had missed an enormous septic blister on the palm of his right hand. I found it when I was cleaning his finger nails (which I do everyday). How can this happen under an acute nursing care regime? I have been promised a session with the social worker tomorrow if he turns up, I desperately need to obtain power of attourney for Simon.
I was at work this morning to see my research student, and another interesting connection popped up. Her husband is the doctor on the stroke ward at Flinders Hospital, and he knows about Simon's case. She is going to arrange for me to speak to him this evening. I am going to ask him about the wisdom of moving Simon to Flinders (where I work), and whether he thinks the standard of care might be better. At present, Graham is taking the lion's share of the nurses' attention on Simon's ward, and important things are being missed. Flinders is also closer to us, about 15 minutes rather than the long journey into Adelaide, and I would be able to pop in and out during the day. I am being strongly advised not to move Simon to a private hospital because they lack the specialisms that he needs.
Stop Press, the doctor that I referred to just phoned, and he is going to come with me to Adelaide on Saturday morning to see Simon and talk to the staff there. I needed an ally, and God just sent one. He told me that Simon's is an heamorraghic stroke, and that the chances of recovery are greater than ischaemic stroke (sorry if those words are mispelt). He also sounded very positive when I told him of the strides that Simon has made.
Love from Marian xx