Month: January 2025

My Daughter’s 21st Birthday – We visit The London Dungeon

On By samanthaIn GOING OUTLeave a comment

My daughter had been debating what to do for her 21st birthday. We had already been to see the Mean Girls Musical a couple of weeks beforehand. She had been planning on going back to university but many of her friends were on work placement or studying for their exams. In the end she decided to stay at home and celebrate with her friends after their exams were finished. She still didn’t seem very enthusiastic about doing anything in particular, we debated going to Madame Tussauds or The Natural History Museum but on the end decided on The London Dungeon. I booked tickets on the day which were £35 each. We had been a couple of times before, about a decade ago so we knew what to expect.

We travelled to Waterloo East and then it is a five minute walk to the dungeon which overlooks the river, you can’t really miss it. The nearest Tube is Waterloo. There weren’t many visitors to The Dungeon at 11am on a Wednesday morning, there seemed to be more staff than guests but we were greeted enthusiastically by staff wearing various medieval costumes, a silent monk was particularly creepy. There are plenty of photo opportunities in the entrance but after that point you have to turn your phone off. The staff do corner you to take some “official” photos, pictures of you in the stocks or about to have your head lopped off with an axe and you can view and purchase these photos before leaving. The Dungeons are manned by actors, all very young, who take visitors on a tour of some of the horrors of London. It had changed somewhat since my last visit and I was disappointed to see the boat ride had been removed, that was my favourite part. A room dedicated to the witch trials had been added and this was probably the most frightening spectacle. I had previously taken my children and some friends for their tenth birthdays but I think the witch performance would be too scary for many ten year olds.

The first character we met was a court jester who dramatically told us a little bit about what to expect and then we were taken into a pitch back lift called The Descent and the tour began. We found ourselves in a courtroom where a batty judge sat in session. One of the other visitors was placed in the dock and some silly charges ready out, it was all very funny. A long list of crimes punishable by death in 1622 was displayed on the wall, pickpocketing and animal theft included. We are then led to a medieval torture chamber, again a guest or two are singled out to participate but it is all very light-hearted.

The actress playing Mrs Lovett in the Sweeney Todd section was absolutely superb and seemed to be thoroughly enjoying herself. She stood behind a counter ladened with dubious looking meat pies. Guests are then escorted into a room full of barbers chairs and asked to sit down. It is enough to make your scalp crawl. There is a strong comedic element to some of the exhibits, particularly the courtroom and the pie shop. Others are strictly horror inducing such as the section on Jack the Ripper and the Witches. Be prepared to find yourself in pitch black rooms at various points during the tour, not knowing who or what is going to appear right in front of you. There are also a lot of strobe lighting effects.

The London Dungeons are genuinley quite educational in places, especially the plague section and guests stop here, sit down and are treated to an autopsy of a plague victim. Prepare to be splattered by the totally incompetent physician!

There is a confusing mirror maze and then the guests find themselves in a Whitechapel set where we meet a lady of the night, terrified that she will be The Ripper’s next victim, we then going into a pub for another genuinely terrifying spectacle. Now I come to think about it, I do remember many squeals in this part when I visited a decade ago with a gaggle of ten year old girls. Maybe not the obvious choice of venue but they did all have a fantastic time.

After making the rounds of all the exhibits the dungeons predictably ends in a small gift shop where you can buy the usual stuff, key rings, pencils and T shirts etc. There is also a bar before the exit where you can rest before heading back out into 2025.

I think The London Dungeon is brilliant fun and a great way to spend a couple of hours in London. It’s probably suitable for most children of twelve and older. The London Eye is right outside and you can buy a multi-ticket including the Dungeon, The London Eye and Madame Tussauds and make a real day of it.

Thank you for reading

Samantha

The Dementia Diaries – Chapter Thirteen Finally Accepting Help

On By samanthaIn THE DEMENTIA DIARIESLeave a comment

Mum’s health seems to plateau for six months or so and then, suddenly, something that she has been managing becomes impossible for her. About six months ago she stopped being able to get into the bath. My parents shower is over the bath so that is impossible too. I didn’t know that this was an issue, my dad didn’t volunteer the information but it became very apparent that Mum was not as clean as she should be. A few years ago the Occupational Therapist visited and installed handrails all over the house, including the bathroom but, even so, Mum can’t now climb over the side of the bath. Like many elderly people, she suffers from urinary incontinence and, although the washing machine is always on, Mum herself isn’t washing the parts of her body that really need cleaning. Incontinence pants such as Tena Lady are very expensive, they aren’t available on the NHS but the district nurse did bring some pads round. They are so cheap looking that they don’t even come with an adhesive strip and I don’t think Mum has the dexterity to use them correctly. We ordered some incontinence pants from Amazon but I’m not convinced Mum will use them, in fact I am sure she won’t.

I don’t come from a very open family and definitely would not feel comfortable giving Mum an intimate wash and neither would Dad. I bought some Water Wipes for her to use but the pack remains, unopened, in the bathroom and they wouldn’t be a long term solution anyway. I have been trying to persuade Dad to engage a carer but he just wouldn’t agree. He has a gardener come a few times a year and Mum constantly tells her to go home and she also constantly tells me when I visit “go home, your husband will be wondering where you are”. I know that Dad is worried about her being difficult with having a stranger come into the house and helping her but we are out of options. I tell Dad that if I were in Mum’s position I would want my family to ensure I was kept clean and we are letting her down by not doing so just because we are afraid of a tantrum. Finally he rings Social Services, we had been waiting for a referral from the psychiatrist who diagnosed Alzheimer’s but that never materialised, and they pay my parents a visit.

Annoyingly I couldn’t be there when Social Services arrived because I was working but they assessed my parents needs and put them in touch with Crossroads., a charity that supports unpaid carers. The very next day a woman from Crossroads visited my parents and spoke to them about any benefits they are entitled to such as Carers Allowance and filled out the form for a council tax exemption. Two days after that Dad had to go for an Xray as he hurt his shoulder . I was unable to get time off from work at such short notice. Dad arranged hospital transport and a volunteer from Crossroads offers to sit with Mum. Dad’s appointment was at 3pm but he still hadn’t been seen at 4.45pm and the carer rang him to say she had to leave. Fortunately I had finished work and didn’t have to collect my son as I usually do at that time so I rushed around to their house. Then Dad rang to say that hospital transport had forgotten him! The nurse told him he should have booked a morning appointment if he wanted to use that service. Poor Dad it had all been arranged that morning, the transport coordinator was well aware of his appointment time, not the most confidence inspiring start to accepting other people’s help. In the end he called a taxi. An expensive solution.

When I arrived at my parent’s house Mum told me to leave before I had even taken my coat off. I asked the volunteer how things had gone but she understandably rushed off without saying much. I made Mum a cup of tea and Dad was home about an hour later. So we learned that we have to book a carer/volunteer for much longer than is necessary in the case of hospital appointments and that hospital transport can’t be relied on.

Thank you for reading,

Samantha

Cover Photo by Pawel Czerwinski on Unsplash

Tackling Insomnia – Part One

On By samanthaIn HEALTH3 Comments

Happy New Year!

This week I have really battled with insomnia. I tend to go to bed around 10.30pm and am usually asleep by 11pm but have been waking about at around 3am and finding it almost impossible to fall back to sleep. If I do manage to nod back off, I am plagued by the most terrible nightmares, possibly caused by the Propranolol that I take for migraine prevention. The sort of nightmares that stay with you all day. Menopause apparently is also a major culprit when it comes to low quality sleep.

Last night I woke with a migraine after sleeping for four hours and got out of bed to take a Sumitriptan tablet. That was it for the night then, I just lay there trying not to disturb my husband. We have a burglar alarm and, although I know you are suppose to get out of bed and not just lie there trying to sleep, I didn’t want to venture downstairs and risk the beeping waking the rest of my family. Fortunately today is a Saturday and I am not working and I don’t have to drive anywhere because I feel shattered.

My daughter bought me a rather lovely silk sleep mask from Millie & Boo for Christmas. The mask has wonderful reviews with people stating that using it radically improved the quality of their sleep. The mask, which is well made, super soft and a pretty silver grey, arrived beautifully boxed. It fastens with velcro and I have been careful not to secure it too tightly nonetheless I think the slight pressure across the top of my face has contributed to my migraine. Maybe not the solution I have been searching for.

My GP was optimistic that the Utrogestan capsules that I take before bed as part of my HRT routine would help, and for a few months they did, but my insomnia is now back with a vengeance. Once it gets to around 3am I am wide awake and unable to stop the racing thoughts that flood my mind. I start to worry about…well everything. A mistake I made at work in 1989, something daft I said at a coffee morning in 1999, I’m stressing about it at 3am in 2025. Apparently we experience a Cortisol (known as the stress hormone) spike at around this time and this is why early morning waking is so common. I note that my fists are often clenched and I have slept with a sheet over my face since I was a little girl and was frightened of ghosts whispering to me. Both of these things are apparently signs of high stress levels. It has become increasingly clear that one of the first things I need to tackle in 2025 is my insomnia as it is going to start affecting my long term health. In particular, in light of my mum’s Alzheimer’s disease, I am keen to regularly achieve a good night’s sleep to help prevent cognitive decline.

This week I am not going to watch television on my computer before bed which is a habit I have fallen into. I am going to sit in bed and read an actual book, nothing dark or frightening. I do read three or four books a month but it used to be around double that before I discovered the endless entertainment on Netflix . I am also going to try to do some sort of pre-sleep meditation to relax my body, particularly my hands and jaw which is where I seem to store most of my stress and tension. I shall report back.

Wish me luck.

Thank you for reading

Samantha