Life as a Day Patient

Life with Julie as a day patient is surprisingly hard work.  There is the commute to hospital three days a week, which means that Julie has to get up early in the morning.  Then there is the constant shifting from one gear to another - from the ward, to the on-site school, then back home.  At the same time we are expecting Julie to start picking up her studies again and take a few exams, which means that she often comes home just in time for a home tuition session.  Meanwhile, I am trying to pack most of my working week into the hours that she spends at the hospital, so that I can give her more attention when she is home.

Last week, which was our first week trying out the new arrangement, was exhausting.  I try so hard to detach myself from Julie's emotional state, but it is difficult to remain indefatigably cheerful in the teeth of Julie's depression.  By the time Julie had an argument with Chrissie at the end of last week, and went into meltdown, we were all fairly stressed.

So it was a huge help to have the long weekend set us all back on our feet again. Despite the relentlessly wet weather, we shopped and gardened and cooked; we read books and we visited and played music with friends.  By the time Tuesday rolled round the slate was clean again.

This week has been better so far: Julie is managing to remain fairly buoyant.  To get enough sleep she is in bed before half past eight in the evening, and lies in whenever she can.  With her current medication getting to sleep and staying asleep are not a problem.  I hope that as the pattern gets established she will feel less stressed by the constant shift of scene and be able to build up her stamina levels.  It may be tiring, but it has to be better for her than days spent watching daytime TV, which is pretty much where we got to before she went back into  hospital at the beginning of March.