Cranky Old Person…

This post relates to a previous post of mine: Memorial Hospital & the hell that is geriatrics

 

I came across it on a is it a hoax website.    There is a   Brief Analysis included after the poem, from the website.  Wherever this poem came from or how it came to be, it is worth reading and remembering that most of us will end up old and feeble one day.  Might be a good poem to add to geriatric hospital training for nurses, doctors, etc…

Cranky Old Man (or woman)

What do you see nurses? . . .. . .What do you see?
What are you thinking .. . when you’re looking at me?
A cranky old man, . . . . . .not very wise,
Uncertain of habit .. . . . . . . .. with faraway eyes?
Who dribbles his food .. . … . . and makes no reply.
When you say in a loud voice . .’I do wish you’d try!’
Who seems not to notice . . .the things that you do.
And forever is losing . . . . . .. . . A sock or shoe?
Who, resisting or not . . . … lets you do as you will,
With bathing and feeding . . . .The long day to fill?
Is that what you’re thinking?. .Is that what you see?
Then open your eyes, nurse .you’re not looking at me.
I’ll tell you who I am . . . . .. As I sit here so still,
As I do at your bidding, .. . . . as I eat at your will.
I’m a small child of Ten . .with a father and mother,
Brothers and sisters .. . . .. . who love one another
A young boy of Sixteen . . . .. with wings on his feet
Dreaming that soon now . . .. . . a lover he’ll meet.
A groom soon at Twenty . . . ..my heart gives a leap.
Remembering, the vows .. .. .that I promised to keep.
At Twenty-Five, now . . . . .I have young of my own.
Who need me to guide . . . And a secure happy home.
A man of Thirty . .. . . . . My young now grown fast,
Bound to each other . . .. With ties that should last.
At Forty, my young sons .. .have grown and are gone,
But my woman is beside me . . to see I don’t mourn.
At Fifty, once more, .. …Babies play ’round my knee,
Again, we know children . . . . My loved one and me.
Dark days are upon me . . . . My wife is now dead.
I look at the future … . . . . I shudder with dread.
For my young are all rearing .. . . young of their own.
And I think of the years . . . And the love that I’ve known.
I’m now an old man . . . . . . .. and nature is cruel.
It’s jest to make old age . . . . . . . look like a fool.
The body, it crumbles .. .. . grace and vigour, depart.
There is now a stone . . . where I once had a heart.
But inside this old carcass . A young man still dwells,
And now and again . . . . . my battered heart swells
I remember the joys . . . . .. . I remember the pain.
And I’m loving and living . . . . . . . life over again.
I think of the years, all too few . . .. gone too fast.
And accept the stark fact . . . that nothing can last.
So open your eyes, people .. . . . .. . . open and see.
Not a cranky old man .
Look closer . . . . see .. .. . .. …. . ME!!

Remember this poem when you next meet an older person who you might brush aside without looking at the young soul within. We will all, one day, be there, too!

Brief Analysis

This is an Australian version of several older stories that have circulated in the United States and the UK for many years. The stories attached to this version of the poem are fictional. The scenario described in the message did not happen and the poem was not found in the belongings of an old man in a nursing home as claimed. The poem itself has a long and somewhat obscure history. The original version featured an old woman rather than an old man and is sometimes attributed to English nurse Phyllis McCormack who reportedly penned it in the 1960’s. The “old man” version of the poem was apparently adapted from the original by David L. Griffith of Texas and can be seen in its original context on the poet’s website.

Fair Isle 1969

Here I am when I was 17… can you believe that I actually knitted this vest from a vintage boys pattern book!!!   My mum taught me how to knit and crochet when I was a kid, so I can knit, but that intricate pattern!!!   Pat On The Back to teenaged me!!  I edited this photo.. so that my work of art stands out…..

My big assignment…

Student Nurse Toronto 1973

Then there was the cardiac medical ward, where I came in contact with ‘supernurses‘… experienced professionals who obviously knew their stuff inside out!  I swear more than once in my rotation on that ward I would pass a room and notice a nurse and a resident working on a patient who had arrested, without hearing all the bells and whistles on the PA announcing a ‘code’!  My first time witnessing this impressed me like a scene from a movie: ….

the young attractive seasoned R.N. was straddled over a patient, giving him chest compressions with all her might, while a perhaps, (I cannot really remember) handsome young intern was bagging oxygen on the count of 2 to every 5 compressions ? (as it was in the day) into the patient’s airways …………. I was fascinated by the fact that her cap had fallen off her head, and somehow her long light brown hair had become loosened from hair clips and clasps with the physical effort of CPR, was flowing all over her shoulders – and needless to say over the patient too!  of course the neophyte students (one or two of us) who were witnessing this surreal feat, were soon pushed out of the way as the crash cart team did come thundering through the corridor………….. Wow…….. cool I thought!! could I ever be like that???  Then there were about six ECG monitors at the nursing station that relayed the beats of the more seriously ill cardiac patients … amazing considering it was the early 70’s.  These were monitored by nurses, who obviously knew how to read an ECG (me, never figured it out!!).

My main assignment on this rotation was to follow a newly admitted patient, Mr. Van Der Zam (Dutch roots).  He had had  rheumatic fever when he was a child.  I learned that this condition could affect  the mitral  valve with scarring from the strep infection, causing it to become stiff and occluded through the years, most often unnoticed until the mitral valve stenosis diagnosis would be reached in adult years with the onset of heart arrhythmias and fatigue.  I first had to do a ‘nursing history’ of Mr VDZ, finding out that he was 41 years old (God that seemed so old in those days) married with kids (?), well educated,  moderate smoker and drinker and other than worsening periods of arrhythmia and a consequent cardiac consultation, he had no other health problems ………… and yes he did have rheumatic fever when he was 11 years old, nothing unusual along with all the other childhood diseases that everyone had in days of yore. [Rheumatic Fever is rare in the first world environment now].

I got to follow my patient, who was a really nice guy, to the cardiac catheterization lab, and observe the procedure which confirmed his mitral valve was moderately stenotic with scar tissue.  I had to research thoroughly this condition and then ask my patient, after the cardiac surgeon had explained the necessary op that he would need, if he had any questions about the causative factor, -rheumatic fever, the sequelae of his cardiac disease- mitral valve stenosis… and the surgery that he was about to undergo – mitral valvotomy!!  Awkward! –  it felt that way, a student nurse trying to explain to a learned older man all about the heart problems he had …. the joys of being a student in a medical field…. I do hope it went okay … I have really no idea!!

So then I get to prep Mr. VDZ  preoperatively.  Preop prep was not too difficult to remember, but of course certain surgeries have specific elements related to body parts!!!  I prepped my patient and then we got the call to go to the OR suite.  So, along with a porter, I wheel my patient to the OR department into the waiting area hall where other scared, hopefully pre-operatively medicated souls are lying in their stretchers .. waiting their turn.  I go through the important ID and chart information with the OR nurse, then I will get to go to the nurses’ change room and get into ……… what’s that you say?? ….SCRUBS!!  Cool…………. but first a surgical resident is talking with Mr. VDZ, reassuring him, checking his hospital ID bracelet………. and then…………..”why hasn’t his chest been shaved”???  The resident is talking to me and not in a ‘reassuring’ tone any longer.  Somehow, someway I had NOT SHAVED OFF HIS CHEST HAIR and he was having open heart surgery!!!  To this day, I cannot recall how or why this had not been done, but it seemed to me and to everyone within ear shot that it was my fault!!!  So one of the OR nurses hands me a disposable razor, swabs and a can of shave cream (I guess they are always prepared in the OR suite)!  I apologize profusely to poor Mr. VDZ, who as far as I can recall is floating in a sea of euphoria from the demerol/atropine im pre-op I gave him, as ordered, an hour or so earlier.  So in the waiting hall of the OR, with doctors, nurses, technicians, porters constantly passing by, I put the foam on my patient’s hairy chest and proceed to shave him with so much embarrassment, because, hell, this was a really stupid oversight, and everyone knew it. 

You know, come to think of it, that would be the first, if not only time, I have shaved a man’s chest!!  The deed done, Mr VDZ is wheeled into the OR, and I am directed to the change room.

So I am standing there scrubbed, paper over-shoed, masked and gowned, watching the surgeon cut into this man’s chest.  Stupidly, my mind says: ‘are you going to faint now???’.  No! no more embarrassing moments for me thank you very much.  All I have to do is o.b.s.e.r.v.e!!! which I do and thankfully the surgery goes without a hitch.  I next follow my patient into the patient recovery area and watch as he stabilizes and then I accompany him back to the ward and do post-op observations, add antibiotics to IV bags and give him im demerol for his pain…………. whew!!  For some reason, I heard myself telling Mr. VDZ that he would be happy to know that his lungs both look nice and pink………. well, remember he was a smoker, and I did get a look at his lungs during the op…

Now I get to finish my assignment essay and p.r.e.s.e.n.t. the whole shabamm to my group……………. now that is worse than all I went through in the OR suite ………… Mr Van Der Zam soon was discharged with a cleared heart valve and I got a very decent mark…!

Spotted this pic of Marilyn on Pinterest today! Beautiful, but definitely not a MM look………. looks more like the Twig!  Pinterest search for Twiggy and I find this iconic shot of her…

look familiar!!  Put these 2 photos side-by-side and this is what you get:

This is no great earthshattering import to anyone of course, but it was a fun ride…  In my opinion who ever did the photoshop editing did a great job!!  As far as I can see only Marylin’s actual face is replacing that of Twiggy to depict a totally new look for  MM… the neck and shoulders, the ears, the hair (of Twiggy) and even the photo border are identical in both photos….

a blast from the past in 2013….

Yes, I watch the British soaps here in my home in Toronto… have done for decades now.

EastEnders is a couple of years behind for us, so I have no idea if the character Eddie Moon is still part and parcel of the show in 2013!

I just have to say that when his character appeared on Eastenders a while ago, I thought wow, it’s amazing when I see a man with a full head of fully grey hair, I don’t look too closely at first (yes in my early 60’s now, I am still a blonde). However, when I did get a real look at old Eddie, I thought wow, he must have been a real charming looker way back when, um .. hell, he is a looker now!!! I rattled my brain wondering if I could figure out if this actor was big when he was young. Having limited knowledge of the UK TV scene, I thought to myself, he was probably some famous dashing character on 70’s or 80’s British TV series… ! I thought that I had already looked at his name on the program closing credits … I guess I didn’t!! Imagine my surprise when last night I happened to glance at the name Eddie Moon, only to glimpse the name David Essex!! a blast from the past that I do remember…

Now I actually don’t know anything about Mr. Essex except that he was a fairly big name, a touch on the glam-rock type singer and had some hits back in the 70’s including the above, and when I lived in London for a while the  ‘We’re Gonna Make You A Star’ … I loved that number, and I remember seeing his face on the telly and in some mags and  thinking how gorgeous he looked.  Now, of course, I can totally see him as an actor, especially as the cockney father of an assortment of young men in Albert Square..

This is an excerpt from a previous post that I wrote about first visit to Biba back in 1976 (London~ magical visit ~ BiBa) :

Armchairs and couches! With live people sitting in them (in the display windows)! Turns out that the BIBA shoppers were the display, and they were truly fabulous trendoids! What an incredible idea I thought, trust BIBA to think of such a cutting edge concept so far removed from traditional stores. I approached the glass doors with total rapture. I walked in and immediately was immersed in loud heavenly (to me) music. It was one of my absolute favourite tracks: David Essex and ‘I Want To Make You A Star”! Somehow, it fit my enchantment so perfectly. There were many counters, fabulous Art Deco décor, heavenly scents, artfully arranged racks of beautiful clothes, totally hip salesgirls and of course the vibrant beautiful people who were the customers. There was even a tea place with light fare. I eventually became part of the window display as I sat in a plush comfy armchair drinking my pop and smoking a ciggy taking a break from the ‘hell’ of shopping. BIBA more than lived up to my expectations.

Fancy that!!  Mr. Essex grew up real good…

somewhere in the mid to late seventies…………. went to Vidal Sassoon Salon in Toronto, my sis always went there, when she wasn’t going to the House of Lords (which believe it or not, still exists somewhere on Yonge Street). The stylist told me that golden wasn’t really moi, so I let him dye my locks dark ash blonde………………… I think it lasted perhaps 3 days, then I bought a box of light golden blonde dye and went back to being what I feel is me….I suppose I kept it long enough to go to work…

Oscar is the plant behind me (a chefalure…?? that my sis and bro bought for my mum on mother’s day not long after we emigrated to Canada.  I still have Oscars great-great-great offspring). Back to golden blonde with roots, and bleached eyebrows and little denim piny…

Yes it is an awful wig.  I bought a couple of wigs in the 70’s – experimenting with new looks, including a brown very curly (not quite afro) wig. 

browny curls..

My sis and I were playing around with clothes and taking photos of each other.  She is wearing my awful light ash blond wig.  Ahem, we both loved Cat Stevens…

this is a cute shot of my brother and sister also fooling around with photos.  She is wearing a sou’wester that my bro bought during his year in England…

OMG … this is a pic of me and sis on a new year’s eve in the mid 70’s.  I don’t know if she went out to party, but I remember I did, hoping to hook up with a certain guy!  Acht, he was with someone else, as was my other hope, (his bro).  Horrible new years eve for me!!  Please excuse the ‘orrible flashy belt I am wearing.  I borrowed the striped cross-over top from sis.  She is wearing a Miss Selfridge top.  The biggest store in Canada in the last century was EATONS.  They had the wisdom in the 70’s to add a Miss Selfridge (from pre TOPSHOP Selfridges) to their YouthWear department!!  We bought quite a bit of Miss Selfridge gear back then…

of past hospitals and jails…

Fortunately for me, my geriatric rotation in my Canadian nurses training of 2  years at TGH School of Nursing was mercifully short compared with my post The Hell That Is Geriatrics The Memorial Hospital.  Well, at least it seemed shorter and much less traumatic than my sink or swim days training as a State Registered Nurse in Woolwich.  Our rotations were closely interspersed with classes, ward instructors, group work.  I actually do not remember anything of my patients in the Riverdale Hospital,

an old photo of Riverdale Hospital c:1963

The Don Jail, c 1950 (courtesy City of Toronto Archives/Fonds

which was a relatively new geriatric hospital in Toronto.  This is perhaps sad, but what I do remember about Riverdale is that one side of the hospital building looked onto the exercise yard of Toronto’s ancient Don Jail,

The Don Jail in the 1970’s.  I believe that the old gothic looking building was closed and the inmates were transfered to the newer built jail on the left

You can see the old Riverdale Hospital, now the Bridgepoint Rehab being renovated in 2010, and there is the Don Jail on the right…. the juxtaposition of the geriatric hospital to the disintegrating jail that I recall from 1974

which I believe at the time was more of a holding centre for prisoners.  At a certain time each morning, the male prisoners (I think it was just men) would be taking their outside break in the exercise yard.  This of course created much interest for a gaggle of student nurses, some of whom would wait at the window on those mornings, and be rewarded by a bunch of men looking up and waving.  That’s what I remember about my geriatric rotation in Toronto.  Perhaps after The Memorial experience, I blocked out the Riverdale experience…………. who knows??!

here you can see the distinctive curved hospital located very close the former jail

An interesting postscript to these 2 institutions is that Bridgepoint Rehab (physical not drug) took over the Riverdale Hospital in 2009.  The Don Jail was closed in 197xx?  Now the Bridgepoint has been in the process of building a brand new rehab centre around the curves of the Riverdale, the shell of which will be demolished when the new Bridgepoint building is completed.  Most interesting to me is that Bridgepoint people also own the empty Don Jail, will be restoring and  renovating it also into executive offices for the Bridgies.. and perhaps some more B Hospital ammenities..

I visited my kids’ former carer, a few winters ago.  She had broken her second hip and was at Bridgepoint for physical rehabilitation.  It still reminded me of the old Riverdale Hospital geography.

and below is  the new Bridgmount building in progress built at the side of the old hospital they took over…. I heard it and it’s jail abutment is supposed to be completed this fall.

..Interesting idea to convert a jail as part of a big downtown rehabilitation hospital…………………… I should go and see the finished product when it is done…

For the benefit of fellow Brook student nurse, Florence, I am showing this class photo of the student nurses that enrolled at the Brook General School of Nursing in September, 1972.  I am Carol the blond in back row.  A few first names I remember were Diane, Marion, Anne ( a lovely Welsh gal), Naomi, Jasmin, Sue, Jean, Wilma, David, Andrew, Pete and ‘Sprog’….  I met a wonderful lot of fellow-student nurses in my one year at the Brook..

Big Biba opens, September 10th 1973.

Reblogged from Kasia Charko … the opening of the Big Biba from someone, a very talented artist, who created some classic BiBa graphics and was there before and on the big day …

I just had to add a comment about one of Kasia’s work mates, *Dave, pictured near the end of the above reblog.  I was immediately struck by how another David is (currently) the spitting image of *Dave…

David Walliams looking very similar to Dave from the 70’s

Kasia Charko

The Whitmore Thomas design team had to move out of the roof Garden a few weeks before the opening day. We moved to the studio in St Albans Grove around the corner, there was still Biba advertising work to be done and Steve and Tim wanted to move on to other projects too. The cafeteria which had been our drawing office and the Roof Gardens were to be completely renovated and prepared for the opening in the spring of 1974. The cafeteria was to become the Roof Garden restaurant furnished with big peacock chairs and wicker furniture, serving lunches, diners , and cream teas.

The morning Biba opened Iwent to the store by myself before going round to the office. It was a normal working day for the guys and I could not persuade them to join the crowd. These are my impressions of that morning from what I can…

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just a snapshot …on my own ….