In the Midst of Life (57 page)
Read In the Midst of Life Online
Authors: Jennifer Worth
Transient ischaemic attack (TIA):
a small stroke with little or no long-term effects on the person. But a doctor should be seen urgently if one occurs because without treatment a major stroke could follow.
Trephining / trephine:
when a burr hole is made through the skull, using a drill, as part of a surgical procedure.
Trocar and cannula:
a cannula is a thin ‘needle’ structure often made of plastic which can be inserted into the body. The trocar is the introducer, a thin piece of stable metal, which assists its placement. The trocar is then removed.
Uraemia:
high levels of urea on the blood.
Urethra:
the tube that transports urine from the bladder during excretion.
Urinalysis:
a simple test of the urine to look for any problems.
Urine drainage bag:
used to collect urine drainage via a catheter.
Vascular dementia:
dementia caused by lack of circulation of blood to various parts of the brain causing the death of those affected parts and therefore affecting mental functions.
Ventricle:
the larger chambers of the heart.
Ventricular fibrillation:
fibrillation of the ventricles, the two largest chambers of the heart.
Voluntary euthanasia:
when someone’s life is actively ended with their agreement, and with the help of someone else using specific drugs.
Volvulus:
a blockage of the bowel caused by it twisting in on
itself.
Warfarin:
a blood clot-dissolving drug which tends to be used prophylactically to prevent further blood clots forming.
White cell counts:
white cells exist in the blood and fight infection. If a person is not producing enough white blood cells they will be
immunocompromised.
My appreciation and gratitude to all the people who have helped me in writing this book.
My husband, Philip, whose love and loyalty, wisdom and humour have kept me sane throughout
Dr David Hackett, Dr Richard Lamerton, Dr Michael Boyes
Dr Robin Moffat, President of the Medico-Legal Society Susan McGann, Paul Vaughan and Susan Watt of the Royal College of Nursing
Louise Massen and Madeline Bass
Patricia Schooling, for her several readings and invaluable suggestions All those who have supported me in prayer, especially Sister Christine and the Community of St John the Divine, Birmingham; Sister Elizabeth and the Convent of Our Lady, Kettering; the Sisters of the Love of God, Oxford
The Chaplains of the Methodist Homes for the Aged, and St Francis Hospice for the Dying
Colin Rivett, Eve Griffin, Jeremy Buckman, Counsellors
Anna Powiecki, Eugenie Furniss and Claudia Webb at William Morris, Endeavour Entertainment, John Saunders, Kirsty Dunseath, Sophie Buchan and the team at Weidenfeld & Nicolson, Carole Lewis, Sue Theobald, Christoper Howe
David Hart, poet, priest and dreamer
Patricia Birch, Joanna Bruce, MBE; Sue, Jayne and Jane, my sister and nieces who are nurses and care assistants
Lydia Hart, Eleanor Hart
Shelagh and her family in Israel, and Steve and Sandy, Wendy and Philip.
— and the many people who have told me their stories but do not wish to
be named.
Excerpt from
Nurse on Call
by Edith Cotterill, published by Ebury, Reproduced with permission of The Random House Group Ltd.
Excerpt from
How We Die
by Sherwin B Nuland, published by Chatto & Windus. Reproduced with permission of Random House Group Ltd.
Excerpt from ‘Do not go gentle into that good night’ by Dylan Thomas from
Poems,
published by JM Dent, a division of the Orion Publishing Group. Reproduced with permission from David Higham Associates.
Excerpt from
Four Quartets
by T.S. Eliot reproduced with permission of Faber.
Excerpt from
Malone Dies by
Samuel Beckett reproduced with permission of Faber.
Poems by David Hart reproduced with permission of the author and Five Seasons Press.
All efforts have been made to obtain permission for the use of the excerpt from
Truman of St Helens
by Shirley Rosen. Anyone with rights to this book is invited to contact the
author.
Jennifer Worth trained as a nurse at the Royal Berkshire Hospital, Reading, and was later ward sister at the Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Hospital in London, then the Marie Curie Hospital, also in London. Music had always been her passion, and in 1973 she left nursing in order to study music intensively, teaching piano and singing for about twenty-five years. Jennifer died in May 2011 after a short illness, leaving her husband Philip, two daughters and three grandchildren. Her books have all been bestsellers.
Eczema and Food Allergy
Call the Midwife
Shadows of the Workhouse
Farewell to the East End
In the Midst of Life
abuse,
207
adrenaline,
340
advanced life support,
340
‘agonal gasp’,
241
airways,
339
Aldershot Military Hospital,
239
allbumen levels,
382
almoners,
62
see also
dementia
amiodarone,
340
amyotrophic lateral sclerosis,
279
anaesthesia, and ventricular fibrillation,
337
angina pectoris,
216
anti-arrhythmic drugs,
340
aortic aneurysm,
240
Aristotle,
326
ascites,
230
aspirin,
309
see also
euthanasia; suicide
atheism,
332
atropine,
340
Auschwitz,
116
Automatic External Defibrillators (AEDs),
251
,
255
—
6
,
258
,
338
,
343
Avon, Somerset and Wiltshire Cancer Services,
349
back-pressure,
229—30
Beckett, Samuel,
201
Belfast,
337
Belsen,
116
benign growths,
120
Bible texts
Ecclesiastes,
8
St John,
214
Blake, William,
154
blindness,
195
Boer War,
5
Bonn,
345
and degenerative disorders,
278
frontal lobe,
195
hypothalamus,
107
speech centres,
278
stem reflex,
345
Briggs Report,
203
bronchitis,
196
Bruce, Joanna,
270
Burnham, Dr Rodney,
199
Butler, Josephine,
164
Cairngorms,
144
abdominal,
298
lung,
160
ovarian,
111