Saturday visit

I got there at 2.00pm in time to give Mam a wheel around outside and get back in to set her up to listen to the match. I got the impression from one of the staff that at the moment Mam seems to prefer her own company and stays in her room. If she's happy with this then OK. Perhaps her awareness of her communication problem makes her shy of meeting others.

Her watch is nowhere to be found. Was it ever taken to the LSoP?

She needs a wastepaper basket for her room as well as a biscuit tin. Her moveable table is looking very cluttered.

Also took her an Evening Chronicle. She'll need a Radio Times and perhaps one of those cards showing Newcastle United's fixture list for this season. As Adam and Jolyon are Newcastle fans, couldn't they send her a postcard once a week with their thoughts about the match. Just a thought.

Too tired to spellcheck this stuff.

Don't seem to hear anything from anyone else. We will need to discuss getting the telephone account changed over and probably the utilities. Mam shouldn't be paying for resources that she isn't using.

Paul

Thursday's visit

I saw Mam again this afternoon. I took her out for a ride in the wheelchair through the grounds which she really enjoyed. While I was there a nurse came in to take a look at her legs which have been quite dry (I dont think Mam's been using her diprobase cream for a while). The nurse is going to ensure that the carers once a day put a cream on her to moisturise the skin on her legs.

Mam again mentioned the issue about two members of staff being not very nice. I think that she said that one of the sisters had sorted it out and told me not to do anything else.

This is a little more serious: Mam had a fall last night around 8pm whilst she was coming out of her en-suite bathroom/toilet. She didn't have a blackout, she said. But she did say that she found using the bathroom toilet there difficult - which is something I suspected might be the case. I don't know where the on-site Occupational Therapist is based. Can somebody maybe give them a phone and ask if something can be done to coach Mam in getting into and out of the bathroom?

Paul

Visiting Mam 20th August

Went along to see Mam today. She seemed OK but was finding speech difficult. Maybe it was tiredness as earlier in the day she'd had Uncle Jim and Aunty Lucy; and also a visit from Peter.

Points to note.

• Mam said that one of the staff had been "nasty" to her but the circumstances weren't clear to me. Seemed to have been an incident in a dining area where the residents were being marshalled by the staff and Mam complained about their treatment and said she got treated quite rudely. Mam may just be finding it difficult to adjust to the regime there. There has to be a certain amount of regimentation, I'd guess.
• I'm not sure whether Mam is keen on attending church EVERY day. Is this compulsory? Can someone check?
• Mam also claimed (and I'm sure this is incorrect) that her medications had been withdrawn.

Today (Thursday 21st) there has been a call at the door from a man from the pensions service. He had a form with my name written into one of the fields but not my phone number. I assume he wanted to talk to Peter - it concerns transferring the handling of Mam's financial affairs (at least, the pensions aspect of this) into someone else's hands now that Mam can't really do this herself.

Can you give me an indication that any of you are bothering to read this stuff?

Paul

Visiting Mam today

I walked over ot the LSoP today to see Mam. She looked very well and was having breakfast when I arrived. I took her some things which'd been forgotten yesterday - nail files, Nivea, creme puff, lipstick and some combs.
She seemed very happy. She'd had a nice bath and her feet had been seen to. All in all she looked better than she has in ages. She again asked about heminevrin but I managed to get her off the topic.
The place looks very nice and I hope this works out for her and that we can find a funding model to finance her long-term care there, should she wish to stay. This is something we'll need to talk about, I know. I wish I could help out more but I have needs of my own - not least to get myself a better job because there's as good as none to go back to at Northern Rock. I have a good chance of a job down in Chesterfield but it's not an ideal location for me. I'm hoping to hear this week about a job in north yorkshire which would be closer to the sea. Also a possibility of an IT job with the Swiss government.
But Mam looked so well, which was good. I hope it continues.

Mam's homecoming and my operation date

Mam is due home this afternoon. I saw her earlier on as I came back from seeing the surgeon for th epre-admission appointment.

On Thursday morning I have to be up at word 33 for my operation. May be home the following day or perhaps kept in longer. Have been told to take things easy for a while.

This may affect Mam's care and place additional burden upon Peter. Can anyone else come round to help out if needed?

Note on Mam's blackouts

You may already know this. Dr Shaw told me that the likely cause of Mam's blackouts has been identified. As Mam was undergoing some tests, she had a blackout and they measured a sudden fall in her blood pressure. Mam has been taking various drugs to lower this for quite a few years. At one time it was Adalat, another it was Lisinopril and the most recent one has a long name that I can't recall (I'd have to look at her medipak which I don't have).

So they have withdrawn this blood pressure lowering drug. Whether it is being replaced by a different one to serve the same purpose, I simply don't know. If such a drug is no longer being prescribed, we need to consider the implications - presumably it had been prescribed to keep Mam's blood pressure down. So it's possible that Mam may run the risk of high-blood pressure, isn't it? What are the symptoms and what ought we to do about this (other than avoid stressful situations in the house)?