Having had enough of Michael’s interminable faffing I went to sit in the living room and read a book at 02.30. I awoke to the sound of our phone ringing at 4 am. The number was “Mike Mobile” so I naturally assumed it was my brother but on checking the number found it was Michael’s phone. As I opened the door to our bedroom I could hear the alarm for his BiPAP then spotted him flat on the floor. After my initial reaction (panic) I checked he was still breathing before manhandling him upright and replacing the BiPAP. It’s amazing what you can do when you have to.
Being at home and facing a situation like this is far more difficult than at work; there’s no alarm button and no colleagues to help you move the risk-taking buffoon back into bed. Panic gave way to irrational anger; why did he try and get out of bed on his own again? I feel pretty chilled about it now, but for a few days afterwards I couldn’t stop thinking about what might have happened if he hadn’t been able to reach his phone.
We’ve made an adjustment to the place his call bell is so now he can reach it is he falls again but Michael shows no signs of actually doing what I tell him to and continues to launch himself out of bed while I sleep through it. I shouldn’t complain about his stubbornness though; it’s what got him this far.
No toddlers were harmed in the making of this blog. Reenactment staged using a very cooperative model.
