Another trip outside

Now that Rhys has made it to non-isolation he has the chance to see a few extra faces. So far he has seen Karen and Abigail, Grandad, Grampa and Grampy.

Being in non-isolation has also meant that while he has access to our car, he can get out to Sam’s which is what happened yesterday (Saturday 2^nd August). The idea being to allow him the opportunity for a shower.

After over two months of being limited to a single room in the hospital, a large amount of which has been spent lying in bed, his muscles aren’t as strong as they used to be. Our accommodation at Sam’s is on the top floor and the lift only goes to the first floor. By the time Rhys had walked the flight of stairs to the top floor and made it to our room he was worn out and needed a rest on the bed.

Eventually suitably recovered he was able to make his way to the bathroom. Rather than the anticipated shower, due to worrying that his legs were unsteady, he opted for a bath.

He admitted that this first proper bath in such a long period of time felt really good and the chance to just sit for a while and soak was something he enjoyed.

As non-isolation is so quiet at the moment, there are only two or three patients in here everyone else is either coming in on a daily basis or is in isolation, there is the chance that one of the bathrooms can be made available for his use only. If its the one closest to the room then it only has a shower so the weekend trips to Sam’s for a bath will be a regular feature until he is discharged.

One other benefit of being in non-isolation is that it was possible to bring back Mary a stuffed toy cat that he has had for years and which had to be left behind when Rhys went into isolation because everything had to be cleaned which would have meant a trip through the washing machine and tumble dryer. Ok, Ted had the experience of that back on day 6 anyway but I bet it wasn’t a pleasant one.