Personal Stories
4 excerpts from My Journey - by Sheila Openshaw 18th Aug 2009
The Port Macquarie West Rotary Clubs held a Forum, where Sheila spoke as a Carer. The event, which was held on Tuesday 18th August 2009 at Westport Bowling Club Port Macquarie, was attended by more than 200 people. Also speaking on the night was the former Liberal Leader John Brogden and Professor Rick Van der Zwan from Coffs Harbour.
"........ recommended to us that we should see a Psychiatrist. That though, was much easier said than done. I knew it wouldn’t be easy so I told my son I was concerned about our deteriorating relationship, and asked him if he would please come with me. I didn’t tell him that we were seeing a psychiatrist but a Counselor, he agreed to come. We were both interviewed separately; my son was given some medication and told that he would be OK in a couple of weeks. I believed this as I did not know any better.
Nothing improved over the next month, and then on New Years Eve he came to us in quite an anxious state, and said he felt he needed to see a psychiatrist and told us he wanted to go to hospital. He was obviously having his first psychotic episode which was frightening him......................."
"........I think we Carers do a lot of grieving. I know that I do, grieving for the loss of the life that my son could have had..............."
".....On returning to Port Macquarie my son went to live in the Group Home Ellamatta in Morton Street, and he lived there for the next 2 years. I cannot praise the staff at Ellamatta enough; they are a wonderful team of people doing a great job. From Ellamatta my son went into housing managed by the organization New Horizons.
He was in the first group of 4 young men who became a part of their HASSI program and I am very pleased to say that he is still a part of their program. It is about 4 years now since he left Morisset and my son has had no further hospitalizations. He has been a volunteer at the Koala Hospital, he is a member of Men shed at Wauchope and has just completed a small course through the guidance of TAFE in building a pushbike which he has said is a gift for me. He attends Billabong Koala Park as a volunteer, and will soon be participating in Guitar Lessons again and doing a small engines reconditioning course, once again at Men shed............."
".......As a Carer to other Carers out there, I would just like to say, there are a lot of services out there in the community for you and your loved ones to access.........."
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