OLD BAT uses TELECARE

Just as I was moaning about being Shielded until mid August, having already spent five weeks in hospital, then twelve weeks at home. Things got worse. I had a nasty fall when I tumbled into my walking frame. I fell forward and got my legs tangled up with its metal legs. I could not wriggle free. Every movement made my position more painful, so I gave up and pressed the tele care security button that hangs around my neck..A voice answered straight away, even though it was three thirty in the morning, I explained my position, and asked him to telephone my daughter and ask her to bring her husband to my rescue. I needed him because he is very strong and would be able to lift me up from an extremely awkward position. I did not have to wait too long before the rescuers arrived and put me back into bed.This was after we had viewed the damage.I had a nasty gash on my lower leg and a pool of blood on my carpet. I had also managed to preserve a small measure of dignity keeping all my night clothes in the right place rather than around my neck.

Every elderly person should sign up for Telecare protection.. It is a service where you just have to wear a panic button around your neck which you press when you are in trouble.This alerts a person on the other end of a phone who arranges the help to get into action.This help can be family members as in my case, or the police or firemen if necessary. This service is free to elderly people on a low income.I am sure that it is a life saver To join this organisation, just telephone your local Council office and they will arrange everything..

In the morning I telephoned the District Nurses office to ask them to call when they had a free space. One of the nurses came immediately. She did not like what she saw, and said that in normal times she would have sent me to hospital. It is not normal times, as we are still in the middle of a Cofid Virus 19 pandemic, so it was wiser to treat the injury at home, but it would take a long time. I now have a large dressing bandaged on to my left leg between my ankle and my knee. I must take more care as this is the second time this has happened. I might not get away with so little damage next time.

The OLD BAT is HOME ALONE

When I was in hospital, I longed to be in my  comfortable two roomed flat, home for the last 18 years. It occupies the ground floor of a large town house, converted into six flats, where I live on my own/.  I used to know all the other tenants, because they have been in residence  nearly as long as I have. This could  have changed .My windows look out over the Recreational grounds. a large green park marked  out into rugby and football pitches.This park is very popular with families having picnics and barbecues. At this moment, there are people there disobeying the Governments lockdown rules. They are gathering  in groups, which the police are continually chasing away. Having lived here for so long, I know most of the neighbours  Yesterday, as my morning carer left, she found my next door neighbour pumping up a slow puncture in her back tyre. I must remember to thank him the next time he cleans my widows..Another neighbour, was watering my plants in the small garden. We have had a very long spell of dry sunny weather. The sort of weather to go to the beach, or take a picnic to the country. Unfortunately, since the advent of COVID 19 VIRUS, the whole of the British Isles has been in lockdown including me, because of my age and health problems. This means that I cannot leave my flat for12 weeks, only seeing the carers for company,  plus any one delivering supplies.

My close friend and neighbour does my shopping. Every few days, she stands outside my large bay window, makes a telephone call to me and  gives me all the local news. This works quite well, because I can see her as she talks, so I don’t feel quite so lonely, I had a delivery of food this morning. She brought me everything I needed plus some treats,  two Portuguese custard tarts, and a large chocolate croissant for tomorrows breakfast. We also managed a few minutes of chat, quite difficult with face masks on.

Because of  my age and disability, I am extremely lucky to have two carers who come to the flat to help me live on my own .One arrives at 9 oclock to help me wash and get dressed. She is always dressed in  gloves, full mask and apron.The other one comes at 6 to check that I am O.K This is because I have had a fall. Both carers are dressed in fully protective gear. They work for the same company. who employ many trained carers  I just have two out of a big group who look after many elderly people in the area. I look forward to seeing them and hearing about their families, most have children whose schools are closed. Many of them  come from the local district, while others,  originally come from Europe and even Asia. I am disturbed that the fatalities in  this grade of carer is not counted in the Governments figures, These carers look after the patients most likely to catch the disease, Good news this after noon for all carers in Wales.They are to be given  five hundred pounds each, as a bonus for coping with the virus. They certainly deserve it..

I have lived on my own for the last eighteen years, so I am used to my own company. I enjoy reading, watching T.V.,and having my friends around for a chat. I have a few very good friends who I am missing badly. Nowadays, my carers have become my friends, who check on my wellbeing because I had a fall when I was on my own..I will now describe what happened. It was all my own fault. It was 3 o clock in the morning and I had to go to the bathroom. I walk with a zimmer frame made of metal. It was dark, I was not properly awake, and my flat is overcrowded with furniture,. When I started walking, one of the frames legs  got  caught behind a chair. I did not notice it, so when I tried to move the frame, it was stuck and tripped me up, so that I fell on top of it. At first, I thought I could get out of the sticky situation. I wear a panic button around my neck, but I did not think that my situation merited an army of strong men to lift me up. However, the more I struggled, the more I got entangled with the metal legs of the frame,  the more bruising my legs received.. I could not stay on the floor for the rest of the night, even though it was carpeted. Luckily, I  had taken my phone with me, also my diary with all those long mobile numbers. I rang a friend who lives not too far away. It was only ten minutes before she arrived with her husband. My friend tried to pick me up but failed, as I was such a  dead weight. Her husband had no  such problem. He lifted me up and had me back in bed in seconds. I was bruised and a lot wiser, it was a lesson well learned.  I am much more careful now.. I have to accept that I am really elderly, so have to plan all moves carefully if I want to continue living on my own. I certainly do not want to have to move to a care home, I was sent to a  boarding school when I was five years old, where I was quite a little rebel. I don’t think that I have changed that much in all the years between .Living in a care home is the answer for some people who cannot for some reason look after themselves.I have one such friend who has never been so happy/.During lockdown,  the care homes have fared very badly, having large numbers of deaths due to the frailty of the inmates, and  the closeness that they live to each other.Once the virus gets into the home, it runs riot threw the occupants.This includes many carers who had not been able to get the protective clothing they needed. .I am so sorry that this happened, It would take a lot of courage to work in a care home at the present time. We must be very thankful that there are many wonderful people who do this every day.