In response to my exposé report, the Head of Quality and Head of PALS (Patient Advice & Liaison Service) from the Northwest Boroughs Healthcare NHS Trust met with me to discuss my concerns around the care I received. I was uneasy about the meeting and anxious, but it went extremely well.
The Northwest Boroughs Healthcare NHS Trust have taken my report seriously and the feedback has been responded to with both top-down and bottom-up approaches.
The meeting couldn’t have gone better and I left feeling very assured that they had not only taken my concerns seriously, but responded to them appropriately. They are due to write a formal response to me in due course.
I followed this with a self-care treat of a 60 minute full body massage. This was relaxing and de-stressing. It was a GroupOn deal, I’ve never used GroupOn before, but it’s great for trying out new experiences or businesses at a reduced price. So check it out.
Yesterday I attended a meal to celebrate what would have been Alex, my younger brother’s 28th birthday.
Words that sum up my last few days: unease, anxiety, bravery, changing things for the better, relaxing, de-stressing, remembrance, celebration.
April brought a change to my medication for my mood disorder. This change led to an unstable mood and would lead to a crash into a depressive episode later on in the year.
In April I also got my gorgeous kitten, a black Bengal that I named Nicholas:
Nick, my black Bengal kitten, he wouldn’t take his eyes off me, I think I was being stalked :P.
Quickly becoming my favourite animal, the giraffes. What I love about giraffes is that every time I’ve politely called over to one (in different Zoos I might add), they come over. They look at me with their big black eyes and some times, if I’m really lucky, they let me take a photo before they walk off.
This is how close we got to a Lion. Able to look in its eye and see the intelligence, along with the hunter instinct. He appeared to be eyeing us up as a snack. Blackpool Zoo had two male Lions living in the enclosure together from what I saw. They seemed pretty well bonded and one went and groomed the other while we watched.
Look how close we got to this tiger at Blackpool Zoo. In Chester Zoo I don’t think I’ve ever seen a tiger, let alone been able to get close enough to appreciate its stripy beauty.
Orangutan.
The parade of Elephants.
Penguins.
This photo of a penguin is most probably the best photo I’ve ever taken. The penguin was swimming at great speed, although you wouldn’t have guested. I looked at this photo when I got home and it looks like it was taken by a professional. A total fluke.
Growing up I was the middle child. There are mixed views on whether the order of birth impacts on the individual, but my question is: How can it not? Especially when 80% of what we do is learned behaviour.
Research says that middle children are:
Adaptable.
More likely to take risks.
More Independent.
Better at articulating our view.
Have healthier and happier social relationships.
Are self-motivated.
Have realistic expectations.
Are responsible.
Are more empathic.
Value justice rather than money.
Good at working in teams.
Have strong leadership skills.
Are more patient.
Have less ego.
Are more likely to succeed in making changes to the world.
Do better in positions of great power and responsibility.
Are happy not being the centre of attention.
Are determined and driven to succeed.
I can’t help but wonder if this research was undertaken by middle children to make themselves sound good. Listing the above on a CV would definitely lead to someone landing an interview.
Take more independent as an example. I’d say I’m independent, but no more so that either of my brothers.
But the are some benefits to being the middle child. Being the middle child I’ve always had hand-me-downs. As a young child hand-me-downs were just part of growing up. But as an adult one of my brothers is into designer clothes. He doesn’t buy clothes often, but when he does I get his hand-me-downs.
Another benefit is that I always have big brothers who have got my back and are a source of support. I always have older brothers to ask for advice and some of their advice has truly been invaluable.
Being the middle child has helped me to be more extroverted in social situations. It has helped me to learn how to work a room and make people laugh. This is probably to ensure that as a middle child I don’t get forgotten about. Even if this means being slightly dramatic at times to get my voice heard. I also make good use of pauses and silence to get the impact that I want in social situations.
There’s a freedom to being the middle child that comes from parents having no expectations, unlike expectations parents often put on the first born. This means that we middle children can do what we like, within reason and usually without disappointing our parents.
Being the middle child has helped me to be better at negotiation, compromise and sharing. This is due to having to consider others growing up.
Are you a middle child? What are the benefits you’ve found from your birth order? Leave a comment below.
I have to say that although Nando’s didn’t live up to the hype, it filled a hole. From Nando’s we walked to Liverpool Guild of Students’ the venue for Sloss’ show.
Taking photos were not allowed, so you’ll have to settle for this pre-performance stage photo.
If you’ve not seen any of Sloss’ stand-up before, I highly recommended that you check out his two shows on Netflix: Dark & Jigsaw. Both are hilariously funny, cheeky and finish with a poignant point.
Sloss’ latest live show was even better than the Netflix shows, probably because Sloss wasn’t being filmed and was more at ease with the audience.
Indeed Sloss owned the stage throughout the performance that was well over an hour long. In the show he covered his love of children, toxic masculinity and the things nobody taught him about vaginas and sanitary products.
My friend and I laughed, more than I can’t remember either of us laughing for quite some time. It was definitely a good shout, buying these tickets for my friend’s birthday.
Sloss ended the show with an experience he shares about his friend being raped by another one of his friends. The part was done sensitively and with some appropriate humor. Sloss did recount statistics one too many times, sounding like a public service announcement. I think this was Sloss’ way of demonstrating that he had really looked into the issue.
Overall my friend and I thoroughly enjoyed the show and would definitely see Sloss again. We would probably just opt for a different venue due to the difficulty at times in seeing Sloss and the lack of comfort provided by the chairs. Perhaps when Sloss is planning his next show he should consider the Apollo in Manchester.
My tramp stamp to allow me to use the loo and get back into the gig.
Blog soon,
Antony
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Saturday 14 December 2019
About
Antony Simpson - Author, Blogger, Nurse & Witch.
Author of eight books.
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