Care In The Community?
This is a long post but a very important one to me. I have had many, many problems trying to ensure my mum has adequate care. She is nearly 85 and becoming quite confused and for the most part, I seem to be kept out of the loop. I am sharing this with all names removed and I haven’t mentioned which local authority and health board are responsible. After a lot of shouting and threatening to go public, I have an assurance that mum will be moved closer to me, into a care home where she will be properly looked after. I’m not holding my breath. The following isn’t well written. It is as accurate a retelling of events as I can manage at the moment. I will add to it as and when I get more information. If you are so inclined to share this, please do. We...
Read MoreMore About Mum
There doesn’t seem to have been any improvement regarding mum. I am trying my best to stand back, but I find it terribly difficult. Yes, the stress of dealing with her makes me ill, but she’s still my mum. Anyway, after withdrawing for a while I called her on Friday. She told me her ear was still sore and bleeding so I suggested she call the doctor. She promised she would and that she’d call me back as soon as he had left. I heard nothing from her all weekend but reckoned that if anything major was wrong, her carers or the sheltered housing warden would call me to let me know. Yesterday, I gave in and called her. I got so many conflicting stories: that the doctor came and wanted her to take something but she didn’t have whatever it was that was prescribed. But...
Read MoreAbout Mum
If you are a regular follower of my blog, you will have noticed that I haven’t posted anything about my mum in a very long while. Her little funny ways were worsening and rather than finding myself laughing when I told people about her, I was finding myself more and more concerned by her behaviour. I feel now I am at a crisis point and am at a loss what to do for the best. When we were moving 300 miles away to Machrihanish last year, we asked mum to come with us. She said yes. Then she changed her mind. Since then I’ve only seen mum a handful of times. My own health has deteriorated over the past year and, quite frankly, I’m not fit enough to make such a long journey on my own. Each time I’ve visited I’ve seen a change in her house. Mum has never been house...
Read MoreAn Only Child and an Elderly Mother
I have started this post many, many times. It’s not just the fibro fog making the words difficult to find, it’s that actually committing my thoughts and fears to the page forces me to accept that they are real, tangible and inescapable. But I’m a grown up and I hope that writing this all down will be cathartic, help me to cope and if anyone else out there is going through a similar time, perhaps they will realise that they are not alone. My mum’s health, mental and physical, is deteriorating and her mortality scares me. I’ve documented elsewhere on this blog the problems I’ve had with my mother over the years. You can read about them here if you are interested. To summarise, ever since my dad died 31 years ago I’ve had to...
Read MoreThe Chiropodist is on first base. Mum’s still in the dressing room…
Mum visits the chiropodist in Oldmeldrum every 2 or 3 weeks. She has visited this chiropodist for around 5 years. Mum: I got my chiropodist appointment through. It’s for a Wednesday. Me: Which Wednesday, Mum? Tomorrow? Mum: No, next week. The 11th. Oh, and I’ve to get my heart thing at the same place. Me: The chiropodist is doing your heart thing? Mum: No! It’s at the same place. In Inverurie. Me: The chiropodist isn’t in Inverurie. It’s in Oldmeldrum. Mum: Uh-huh. That’s right. The heart thing is in Inverurie. Beside the chiropodist. In the hospital. Me: Erm… there isn’t a hospital in Oldmeldrum. The chiropodist is in Oldmeldrum, the hospital is in Inverurie. Mum: Well…is it Inveraray then? Me: No that’s in Argyllshire. Mum: Where are we now? Me: In...
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