MARRIAGE

We both had few finances when we met so arranged our wedding ceremony to be held at Eastbourne Town Hall and held a small wedding reception at a hotel in Fairlight. I can honestly say that until I examined our certificate of marriage I had no idea Mac had been married before and had fathered three children because his hospital records stated he was a bachelor and he had given me no reason to disbelieve this. When we met I did not know that he was in fact waiting for the necessary two years to pass to be eligible to receive his divorce papers. He begged me after our wedding for whatever reason to keep his secret and I have until this time but think now that I am laying a few ghosts I will include this one.

I had no idea where his past family were but when Mac died his ex wife did contact me to verify that the news she had heard via a relative was true. That was the only contact I have ever had with that side of his previous life and all I know of his children is that he had a daughter and two sons.

As Mac had a flat in Eastbourne it was practical that we start our life together there so wanting to continue working in the area I knew continued to travel to and from Hastings daily. By this time I had taken a post as Sister in a geriatric hospital at St Leonards on Sea being in charge of 60 patients of both sexes. I found this part of my nursing life very satisfying and interesting and I liked to find time to talk to my elderly charges that had so many colourful tales to tell.

This building was in two sections and we had to go outside to access either one. On one occasion I was walking across the outside area when a sea-gull flying over-head dropped a large fish head onto my head and it slithered down my face? I don’t know who was most surprised me or the bird?

One elderly lady patient was very pleased and proud to be able to tell me that she had nursed Florence Nightingale until her demise and I heard many other similar stories from other patients who had tales to tell.

After a couple of years travelling I took a sisters post nearer home in Eastbourne again looking after the older generation and enjoyed this equally as much as my previous post.

I had for some time been accident prone and sometimes my left leg would not do what I wanted it to do causing me to trip and fall. On one occasion I became unconscious for some hours and had to undergo a lumbar puncture. However I chose to ignore these happenings and when a post of Nursing Officer came available at All Saints Hospital I was a successful applicant.

NIGHT DUTY: Part 2

One of our chores at night was to start cooking the porridge oats in a huge double saucepan ready for the patient’s breakfast and if we were too busy or forgot we were hauled to Matron’s office trained or student!  Another reason to have to go to see Matron in her office was if we broke a thermometer which was considered complete carelessness so we were fined sixpence per item. I can remember dropping the whole tray one day and breaking the contents of twelve thermometers this accident cost me six shillings which was docked from my monthly pay cheque.

Another duty sometimes for the night staff if the day staff hadn’t time was to do the mouth wash round and clean people’s false teeth for them to put in their own denture pots in their lockers. One night I was in my office writing my report when my junior nurse came to the door to ask what to do now? When I turned to look at her I saw her holding a bowl of a dozen floating false teeth so we spent the next hour trying to fit the right teeth into the right patient! Hopefully she never did that again!

My ward number five had a very large kitchen with a huge fridge behind the door and it was a very common occurrence for me to go into the kitchen up until midnight to find an ex male patient sitting out of sight with a bunch of flowers or box of chocolates for me and if I wasn’t busy a chat over a mug of coffee. I think when caring for male patients who feel far more vulnerable than ladies a nurse has to add all sorts of talents to her nursing knowledge. These include being temporary wife, mother, daughter, mother-confessor, counsellor and to develop good listening skills.

My long years working with gentlemen has in fact made me feel as comfortable in their company as with my own sex which leads me into admitting a huge sin of marrying a patient! Just the once!

Mac was an in-patient on my ward and to me just another person to be cared for therefore he received the same respect and attention as did my other twenty five patients. As he was unable to get any information from me about my private life he decided to ask one of my staff re my married status etc and when I realised what he had done he received more verbal answers from me than he anticipated!

There was a very strict rule that stated nursing staff were not allowed to go out with patients or other staff in the hospital that had more menial jobs. I am afraid I broke both rules because I went out with a hospital porter for six months until he moved to Cambridge and a year or so later I married Mac on March 4^th 1974 and changed my name from Luck to McCall.

NIGHT DUTY ON WARD 5: Part 1

It was obvious to me that in those days working alone and having very heavy patients to cope with often without a portable hoist I would now not be able to fulfil all the nursing duties required while working in the community. With this in mind I decided to return to hospital work and did some year’s night duty back on the male surgical ward. I worked four nights a week 8.00.p.m. to 8.00.a.m. which meant with three nights off I was able help my Mother and spend more time with her now that she was a widow.

Night Duty was still as busy as days because more often than not there would just be myself and either a junior nurse or Auxiliary to cope with my 26 beds and the adjacent eye ward of six beds which I had to supervise. Being an acute surgical ward we took twenty four hour emergency admissions and never knew one minute to the next what to expect.

One night I was asked to admit a young female patient because the ladies ward was over-flowing so found a bed for her in the side ward. When she arrived she was in severe pain and had been diagnosed by her GP with acute appendicitis. On helping her into bed I noticed she was a very well built young person especially round the tummy area and my suspicions became aroused as to her being in the wrong department. I had hardly bleeped the on call House Doctor when loud screams erupted from the side ward and I saw that a birth was imminent. It was a good thing I had midwifery experience because before the doctor could arrive a baby girl had come into this world and the population had increased by one!

Once I had the seventeen year old mother and baby transferred to the Maternity unit I needed to inform her parents they had a lovely grand -daughter. This was not an easy conversation as they had no idea their daughter was pregnant but life had to carry on and I spent the rest of the night tending the needs of my male patients!

Part 2 Still working as a District Nurse

On another occasion I was attending an elderly gentleman who was confined to bed and needed a visit night and morning. When I arrived at his house one morning his wife met me in tears saying “he died in the night” I was truly amazed as her husband had seemed a long way from heaven the evening before.
I went in and tried to console the poor lady but became even more concerned when she told me she had buried him in the back garden! Mobile phones were not in use in those days so I said I would drive to the nearest phone box. I was just leaving the house when the good lady asked when I was going to wash her husband as he was waiting for his breakfast.  Feeling by this time as though I needed to change my vocation to psychiatric training I asked who was buried in the garden. When she said it was her little dog I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry with relief.

Working in the community was my first experience of seeing how much better maggots could work on a bad leg ulcer than daily dressings. I was appalled when I removed a ladies dressing to be confronted with a whole nest of maggots but amazed to see how clean the ulcer crater was. I redressed the patient’s leg and later spoke to her doctor who said although the maggots were due to lack of cleanliness they had done a much better job than I could ever have done and if it happened again not to be concerned. I read in medical articles today that maggots have been re-introduced in some hospitals to deal with chronic conditions of dead tissue likewise have leeches.

My work in the community consisted of morning and tea-time visits and one evening on my way home along Hastings sea-front I was involved in a three car pile-up through no fault of my own. I suffered a very bad whip lash injury but managed to drive home to Fairlight. Overnight the pain became very severe so I asked a friend to take me to the accident and emergency department where I was x-rayed and found to have fractured my fourth cervical vertebrae.

Initially I was admitted as an in- patient until it was evident there was no spinal cord injury but then allowed home for physiotherapy treatment and a two month spell of sick leave.

During this time I had to undergo a big dispute with my employers to prove that although I was on my way home which was where I started and finished my working day I was in fact still on duty until reaching  home. Until this was proven my accident could not be considered an industrial accident.

Fortunately I was a member of a health service union and had their complete backing by representing me at my tribunal. It was proven by my union representative that as I had my “tools of trade” namely nursing bag in my car I was in fact still on duty. I have my union to thank for a small industrial pension for life which I would not be in receipt of without their intervention. My case is somewhere now in a reference manual which can be used in work related injury disputes.