I Was Scolded

 

 

 When I was in a hospital as a patient, I had recovered to a condition in which I could go to the restroom by myself. A nurse told me, “When you go to the restroom, push the nurse call button and let us know. Even at midnight.”

 By the way, once I worked for a school for nurses as a teacher. My students were working for a hospital. They were also studying in the school. Some of my students complained to me, “I really hate the nurse call button, especially at midnight.”

 I remembered those words. Then I went to the restroom at midnight. But I did not press the nurse call button.

 The next morning, the nurse scolded me angrily. I thought, Why are you mad at me? I was on your side.

 Actually, my medical condition and my toilet activities had a strong connection. It included important information. That was why the nurse was irritated.

 I was not a strict teacher. I should have scolded my students like this when I was a teacher.

“You have to have dignity as a nurse. You should not hate the nurse call button at midnight!”

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The Best Joke

 

 

 A few years ago, I was riding an ambulance as a patient. I was brought to the ICU of a hospital. I lost consciousness for a week. I had a narrow escape. The following week, sometimes I recovered consciousness, sometimes I lost it. I experienced a strange world where reality and dreams mixed.

 At that time, I finally thought up the best joke. The joke might make all the people in this world laugh.

 As you know, jokes are effective in a narrow scope. A joke could make young people laugh. But the same joke might make old people angry. A joke could make men laugh. But the same joke may be offensive to women. The reverse is also true. Exporting and importing a joke is also difficult. I sometimes worked as a translator. I found it difficult to translate jokes. It was difficult to find a joke that made everyone all over the world laugh.

 At that time, I finally found the best joke at the risk of my life. I thought, I have to get out of the hospital and make everyone laugh as soon as possible. Then I lost consciousness.

 The next time I recovered consciousness, I had forgotten the joke. I remembered that I had thought up a joke, and then I tried to remember it. Then I lost my consciousness again.

 This is bad news to you. I am leaving the hospital now. I had completely forgotten the joke.

 I think I will remember the joke when I have to face death in the future again.

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Help with Meals

  My mother had Alzheimer’s disease. The caregiving a caregiver gives to an Alzheimer’s disease patient who is on the beginning stage doesn’t look like the typical one. Listening to the repeated stories of the patient is one example. People who are not familiar with Alzheimer’s disease tend to assume that the caregiver is doing nothing. This is a misunderstanding. Staying with a person who has trouble communicating for long time is difficult. I had lived with my mother for 14 years. I love my mother, but I felt it was torture. I took care of my mother with the help of my father and wife. We needed more people to take care of her. I didn’t have enough personal time. I had to give up many things I wanted to do. It was difficult to travel. I was almost a prisoner. But most people couldn’t understand what I was doing.

 One day, the change happened. I set food on the table, but she didn’t eat. Before that, she could eat a meal by herself. She forgot how to eat. I put food to her mouth with a spoon, and she started to eat.

Helping with meals had started.

When I was a child, I loved watching TV. In those days, this kind of plots was very popular in Japan: a good son or daughter taking care of a sick, aging parent; they help with meals. The patient might say, “Thank you for helping me every day.” Then the son or daughter might say, “We promised you would never say that again.”

On TV, caregiving was always obvious. It was easily understood. I had continued to take care of my mother for 12 years. Finally, I reached the “obvious” caregiving. If a bystander watched us through our window, the person might easily know that I was a caregiver! I felt happy that I finally got a clear position.

On TV dramas, it was always like this: a superhero shows up and saves all people who have problems and then a happy ending. I haven’t met a superhero, but my wife, care managers, and helpers have helped me. I wish my happiness.

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Which one needs care?

 

 I listened to this story from my wife.

 It happened when my wife, my parents, and I lived together. We needed to temporarily leave my mother to a nursery home. She had Alzheimer’s disease.

 Meanwhile, my father needed kidney dialysis. It is said that if a person starts kidney dialysis, they might die in about 10 years. At that time, my father had been doing kidney dialysis for more than 10 years. He was lucky. But he was sickly thin. His blood veins were already bulging. He didn’t use a wheelchair, but he walked very slow. He was hard of hearing, so we needed to speak loudly when we talked to him. But his brain was still healthy. He could do all things in daily life.

 My wife and my parents visited the nursery home to temporarily leave my mother. But the caregivers in the nursery home went to my father instead and almost started caregiving for my father. They assumed that the person who would stay in the nursery home was my father. It made sense. My father looked like a sick person who needed care.

 My mother had Alzheimer’s disease, but she was on the middle stage of the disease, and she looked very healthy on the outside. But she needed 24/7 care at that time.

 Don’t judge people by their appearance.

 Don’t judge people’s health condition by their appearance. Some people look very healthy but might have a serious illness. Some people look very sick but might be very healthy.

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