© irene waters 2014
Jerry’s partial destruction of the fence meant the dogs were locked inside until it could be repaired. This didn’t worry them unduly as they tended to lie about where they could smell or see me and only if I was doing something did they move around.
As I couldn’t manage the shop alone whilst Roger was in hospital I managed to get a couple of our occasional workers to come in and help out in the store. The next day Roger went by ambulance to Taree, 75 kms away, for a CT scan of his head to see if there was anything sinister happening, which luckily there wasn’t.There had been no improvement in his condition however and all he wanted to do was lie in a darkened room with his eyes shut and not move. He didn’t even want me to talk to him as he became nauseated at any movement and I apparently made him move. The diagnosis that he was eventually given was labrynthitis, an inner ear problem, which causes severe vertigo and vomiting. Infection is often the cause of this condition but I believed that Roger’s was due to severe stress and tiredness. They were treating him with stemetil but it didn’t seem effective in stopping the symptoms.
On the third day I received a call from Roger insisting I come straight in and get him. He was ready to come home. Luckily I had help in the shop and raced into the town of Gloucester. I sat down beside his bed to wait for the drawn out discharge procedure.
“Quickly” Roger said. “I’ve only got a window of half an hour before the drugs’ll wear off. You’ve got to help me dress and get me to the car.” It was a hurried exit from the ward and by the time we had reached the front door of the hospital Roger was starting to buckle. His world was spinning. I left him sitting and got the car so he didn’t have so far to walk and we drove home.
The welcome from the dogs was overwhelming but all Roger wanted to do was collapse on the bed.
The next day with him still feeling lousy I insisted that he get up and repair the side fence. Protesting he did this. Luckily the nausea subsided over the next few days but his balance has never fully recovered. For many months when we walked the dogs he would ask me if the horizon was moving for me also and he complained of feeling as though he was permanently fuzzy in the head, as though he had a perpetual hang over.
This illness made us reassess our position and we finally decided to get permanent full-time staff to work in the shop and started to discuss our strategy for leaving Barrington General Store.
Reflections and Nightmares- Irene A Waters (writer and memoirist) 