Keeping Things Going

Julie is still in hospital.  It is impossible to tell what is going on - whether she is getting better or not.  Messages are conflicting.  One day we are told she will be on the ward for a long time, the next day we hear she is about to be discharged.  Her own accounts (and mood) also swing about wildly.

In the midst of this I am trying to hang onto the reins of her "normal" life: her job, her flat, her finances.  I want them to be still there when she is ready to take them up again.  But it is far from easy.  Employers, understandably, would like to know what to expect from week to week.  If I relay the worst of the predictions to them they may start the process of ending her contract.  At the same time, you don't want to give the impression that everything's rosy and she should be back at work.  I have to be cautious what I say.

I phoned the ACAS helpline for advice about her employment (this is a government service).  I explained my daughter was sick and I needed to know what she could expect from her employer.  They were very sympathetic - gave me a long list of employee rights - until I mentioned sectioning.  There was a pause, and then the conversation changed abruptly. They started explaining how, if you go to prison, your employer can terminate your contract.  "Yes", I said, "but that's if you go to prison.  Going back to being sick - if she had been hit by a bus for example..." But I had lost them at sectioning.  One deprivation of liberty is as good as another it seems.  A bit depressing really.