During the Level 2 Home Helper course, while learning practical skills in a classroom downtown in Tokyo, I learned the procedure for changing a user's yukata while they remain lying down. The students were required to bring their own yukata, as we would take turns acting as models of bedridden users for practice. Naturally, I also brought a yukata from my parents' house, but the one my mother gave me was the very same yukata my grandfather wore when he was bedridden in the hospital. His name was written somewhere near the collar to prevent it from being mixed up with other people's laundry at the hospital. During the practical training for the Level 2 Home Helper course, I wore my grandfather's yukata and lay in bed as the model for a bedridden patient, to assist the other trainees. At that moment, I deeply felt that, even without becoming a medical doctor, there were so many things I could have done for my grandfather. My grandfather had been bedridden for many years, so I do not think he ever had any desire to fully recover from his illness. However, though it was too late, I realized that he had probably just wanted his children and grandchildren to be around him. I felt this deeply when I was lying in bed wearing his yukata during that time. I aimed to become a medical doctor because I wanted to cure my grandfather’s illness, but there must have been other routes I could have taken. However, as a middle school or high school student, I was not able to think that far. Even though I was not a doctor, I now realize there were many things I could have done for my grandfather. I came to this realization through the caregiver training program, which was called the Home Helper Level 2 course at that time. In that sense, although it took more than 30 years, the dream I had in middle and high school of becoming a medical doctor has at least partly been fulfilled through my work in caregiving, where I have had the opportunity to interact with the elderly.
(translated version of the post on August 27, 2022)
ヘルパー2級課程において、都心にある教室で実技を学んでいく中で、利用者が寝たままの状態で、利用者が着ている浴衣の着替えを行うための手順を学んだことがあります。受講生は、お互いに寝たきりの利用者のモデルをするために、それぞれ浴衣を持ってくることになっていました。当然私も、実家にあった浴衣を持って行ったのですが、母親から渡されたその浴衣は、私の祖父が寝たきりのまま入院していた時に、実際に身に付けていたものでした。病院で洗濯しても、他の人の洗い物と混ざらないように、襟元かどこかに祖父の名前が書かれていました。ヘルパー2級の実習の時には、他の実習生のために、祖父の浴衣を着て、寝たきりの利用者役としてベッドに横になっていたわけですが、その時私は、医者になどならなくても、祖父のために私ができたことはいっぱいあったのだなあと、しみじみと感じていました。祖父は何年も寝たきりの状態でしたから、たぶん、病気から完全に回復したいなんて微塵も感じていなかっただろうと思います。でも、子供や孫たちには、周りにいてもらいたかったんだろうなあと、今更ですが、ベッドで浴衣を着て横になっていた時に、そのように感じました。祖父の病気を直したいと思って医者を目指していたわけですが、そのほかにもいろいろなルートはあったはずなのに、そこまで思いを巡らせることは、中学生や高校生だった当時の自分にはできませんでした。医者ではない私でも、祖父のためにできることはいっぱいあったのだろうと思います。それを、ヘルパー2級課程と当時言われていた介護職員養成講座で悟ることができました。そういった意味で、中学や高校時代に自分が抱いていた医者になりたいという将来に対する夢は、30年以上の時間はかかってしまいましたが、介護職として高齢者と関わるなかで、少なくともその一部は達成することができたのではないかと思います。
(2022年8月27日のポストを再掲）