All Hail the Bradley Wiggins idea, it only went and flipping worked. I might still consider getting a tumble drier anyway. And definitely another mattress protector.
Nothing can dampen my spirits today. Not one single thing. Will and George are already on the bus speeding north as I type. I am beyond excited but also keep getting emotional at the realisation that H is going back with them on Thursday.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ok Mum?
Yes I'm fine. Just this side here is hurting. Wonder why that is?
Because you broke your hip.
Did I? When??
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I'm just off to pick the boys up in Manchester. Ma has no idea they are comiing and will be delighted to see them.
We've had a funny sort of a day really, she's been upset many times but I can't quite work out why. The recurring themes seem to be that she will be happy when she gets home, she doesn't want me to leave her, and a bizarre story about hospital involving a day trip on a bus and nursing staff who sound as though they were moonlighting from Prisoner Cell Block H.
She doesn't want the enablement team coming any more. She seems to really dislike people coming in on a regular basis, she was the same earlier in the year when we had to pay for carers to come in and administer her medication. It's odd really, as she has always been such a sociable creature you would think she'd like the regular contact but she doesn't. I've told her they are coming in for my benefit so perhaps we can keep it going for a little bit longer. I must admit that the morning visits are an absolute Godsend.
Possibly back later when the boys have settled in :)
Monday, 22 August 2011
Sunday, 21 August 2011
Sigh
The Bradley Wiggins shorts combo didn't work. But only because she took them off.
Just replaced everything. And with the oft repeated 'this will make things easier for both of us' to which she replies 'oh that's good'.
Anyone else thinking what I'm thinking...?
*looks up tumble driers on Comet.com*
Allow me a sigh. Not a whiffly barely there kind of sigh. One that lifts your lungs and means a heap of beans.
Nightbless x
Just replaced everything. And with the oft repeated 'this will make things easier for both of us' to which she replies 'oh that's good'.
Anyone else thinking what I'm thinking...?
*looks up tumble driers on Comet.com*
Allow me a sigh. Not a whiffly barely there kind of sigh. One that lifts your lungs and means a heap of beans.
Nightbless x
Sunday Things
Another full set of bedding to wash. (*sings* Latex gloves I love you, Latex gloves I dooo...)
A trip to Boots for supplies to attempt to prevent the above happening again.
Ma's tolerance for visitors is roughly an hour. But only if they talk about the past and her part in it. Any deviation from that and she is likely to get up and walk out.
It is easier to persuade her to eat in the evening if it is something sweet: sticky toffee pudding, tinned fruit and evap etc.
Those mattress protectors take some drying! Thank goodness for the Aga otherwise it probably wouldn't be dry despite going on the line before 9am.
She may have dementia but she clearly hasn't forgotten how to be passive-aggressive.
I hate giving her those injections. Not because I haven't injected before (two diabetics) but because it's quite a thick liquid and hurts for quite a while after it is done and the injection site always bleeds a little. Bless her, she never complains but does say now and then that it's 'not very nice'.
To keep the new night time underpinnings firmly in place she's also wearing a pair of cycling shorts. When I said 'Goodnight Bradley' I don't think she got the joke but it amused the hell out of me.
A trip to Boots for supplies to attempt to prevent the above happening again.
Ma's tolerance for visitors is roughly an hour. But only if they talk about the past and her part in it. Any deviation from that and she is likely to get up and walk out.
It is easier to persuade her to eat in the evening if it is something sweet: sticky toffee pudding, tinned fruit and evap etc.
Those mattress protectors take some drying! Thank goodness for the Aga otherwise it probably wouldn't be dry despite going on the line before 9am.
She may have dementia but she clearly hasn't forgotten how to be passive-aggressive.
I hate giving her those injections. Not because I haven't injected before (two diabetics) but because it's quite a thick liquid and hurts for quite a while after it is done and the injection site always bleeds a little. Bless her, she never complains but does say now and then that it's 'not very nice'.
To keep the new night time underpinnings firmly in place she's also wearing a pair of cycling shorts. When I said 'Goodnight Bradley' I don't think she got the joke but it amused the hell out of me.
Saturday, 20 August 2011
Saturday
06:30 Put the kettle on, let the dog out, fill up the bird feeders, feed dog, make tea.
07:00 Go into Ma. Thank the Lord I bought a mattress protector. Thumbs already throbbing at the thought, I get Ma out of bed and deal with bedding, pyjamas, Ma etc. Put her back into bed and dispense tea and tablets. Seriously consider trading in the kingsize bed for a small single.
07:30 Put washing on. Dust Ma's bedroom, shove the Dyson round downstairs. Have a cup of tea and surf the net for a while.
09:00 Reablement lady, Julie, arrives and Ma is encouraged to get up and go into the bathroom for a shower. Take the opportunity to empty and refill washing machine and peg out wet washing.
09:45 Julie leaves. Ma is clean and dressed and has put herself back into bed. Take the opportunity to go to Tesco.
10:00 Struggle round Tesco with sore, tired and therefore clumsy hands and a wonky-wheeled trolley. The wave of shoppers I travel around the store with include an inept father with an iPhone permanently clamped to his ear who threatens his three children with draconian punishments for the merest transgressions of behaviour (like walking in front of the trolley) resulting in one, two or all three of them constantly in tears at any one time, and an elderly couple who are incapable of moving to the side of the aisle when they have to stop and look for something. Arrive at the tills and find one just finishing someone's shopping and sweep in. Bad move. This is the till with the faulty card reader and the numpty till assistant with verbal diarrhoea. I hear far more about her medical problems than I need to then wrangle the trolley out of the store. /rant off
11:15 Unpack the shopping. Promptly drop two bottles of wine and a jar of pickles on the kitchen floor. Stupid bloody hands. But should know by now to do the shopping before the cleaning. Get dustpan, mop and bucket. More throbbing.
12:00 Make Ma a sandwich and sit her and it in the lounge in front of Love Actually. Forget to warn Ma about the porn movie body doubles. Oops. In true Ma style, 10 mins before the end of the film Ma declares she's off to bed for a rest.
15:25 I settle down to watch Shrek Forever After.
More later. Maybe :)
07:00 Go into Ma. Thank the Lord I bought a mattress protector. Thumbs already throbbing at the thought, I get Ma out of bed and deal with bedding, pyjamas, Ma etc. Put her back into bed and dispense tea and tablets. Seriously consider trading in the kingsize bed for a small single.
07:30 Put washing on. Dust Ma's bedroom, shove the Dyson round downstairs. Have a cup of tea and surf the net for a while.
09:00 Reablement lady, Julie, arrives and Ma is encouraged to get up and go into the bathroom for a shower. Take the opportunity to empty and refill washing machine and peg out wet washing.
09:45 Julie leaves. Ma is clean and dressed and has put herself back into bed. Take the opportunity to go to Tesco.
10:00 Struggle round Tesco with sore, tired and therefore clumsy hands and a wonky-wheeled trolley. The wave of shoppers I travel around the store with include an inept father with an iPhone permanently clamped to his ear who threatens his three children with draconian punishments for the merest transgressions of behaviour (like walking in front of the trolley) resulting in one, two or all three of them constantly in tears at any one time, and an elderly couple who are incapable of moving to the side of the aisle when they have to stop and look for something. Arrive at the tills and find one just finishing someone's shopping and sweep in. Bad move. This is the till with the faulty card reader and the numpty till assistant with verbal diarrhoea. I hear far more about her medical problems than I need to then wrangle the trolley out of the store. /rant off
11:15 Unpack the shopping. Promptly drop two bottles of wine and a jar of pickles on the kitchen floor. Stupid bloody hands. But should know by now to do the shopping before the cleaning. Get dustpan, mop and bucket. More throbbing.
12:00 Make Ma a sandwich and sit her and it in the lounge in front of Love Actually. Forget to warn Ma about the porn movie body doubles. Oops. In true Ma style, 10 mins before the end of the film Ma declares she's off to bed for a rest.
15:25 I settle down to watch Shrek Forever After.
More later. Maybe :)
Friday, 19 August 2011
Heading for back to normal
The day kicked off at around half six and as usual I went downstairs, let the dog out, topped up the bird feeders and put the kettle on. By this time Ma had heard me wibbling about so was awake and ready for a drink. I'd checked on her a couple of times during the night and as far as I could tell she had slept soundly throughout thank goodness. My biggest worry at the moment is if she gets up in the night and then has a fall but I don't hear her. I'm seriously considering getting a baby monitor - she'd have to shout quite loudly for me to hear her over the noise of my CPAP machine without one. Anyway, the first night at home passed without a hitch.
She did an F1 circuit to the loo and back then decided that she wanted to stay in bed for a bit longer. I tell you, she's a demon with that zimmer frame! I suspect the parquet flooring helps. And is possibly also a safety hazard but I had to take up all the rugs because they were a serious trip hazard. Can't win. As I was getting her settled with a cuppa and her medicine she asked for a little sandwich or something so I suggested her favourite porridge and she was delighted with that suggestion. And bugger me if she didn't eat it all! She napped for the rest of the morning then ate scrambled eggs (with a dash of sneaky cream for calories) but not the bread and butter, and two Nice biscuits.
Flowers arrived for her from the Ladies' Club so we spent half an hour chatting whilst I arranged them in a couple of vases. Well I say chatting. Ma talked and I made non committal noises due to the fact that I couldn't make head nor tail of the majority of it. Then Mavis and Vic arrived (cue choirs of angels on high) so I took some chairs into the bedroom for them, along with some tea, and left them to natter. I half dozed on the sofa, listening to Mave and Vic chatting away and blithely ignoring the mad bits. I love them more than I can say.
About five minutes after they left, the lady from the reablement service arrived so more kettle boiling and tea making ensued. She took notes, asked questions and we have agreed on a morning and evening visit to get Ma up, showered etc. and dressed in the morning and then into bed in the evening. The aim is to get her as independent as possible so I hope this will be successful. The first visit is 9:00am tomorrow.
After all that excitement Ma was a bit tired so she had a nap and I pootled in the kitchen with chicken thigh fillets, white wine, onions, rosemary etc. which went into the bottom oven and prepped the spuds for mash. Suddenly I heard the zimmer approaching...
Hello where are you going?
I thought I'd go and see the girls
Which girls?
The ones over by the place
Ok. But there's nowhere for you to sit comfortably in here Ma, how about sitting in the lounge?
Ok shall I turn round then?
Yep good idea. I'll get your dressing gown to put on.
*gowned and sitting comfortably
Ok? Shall I leave the news on for you?
Yes that's fine. And I'll have a (strokes throat) something... umm... a thing... Can I have one?
A glass of wine??
Yes please.
I gave her a very small, watered down glass of wine, which she didn't drink in the end. I think it's a knee-jerk habit type of thing really. Dad and she always had a couple of snifters.
She managed 12 minutes of the news before going back to bed where she ate a reasonable portion of chicken and mash (about as much as a four year old would eat) and two Jaffa cakes. Then injection, meds and lights out.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Night Mum
Goodnight darling. Make sure you leave the thing on the road. No not the road. Upstairs. Or is it in the fridge?
Ok Mum don't worry about it. Nightbless.
She did an F1 circuit to the loo and back then decided that she wanted to stay in bed for a bit longer. I tell you, she's a demon with that zimmer frame! I suspect the parquet flooring helps. And is possibly also a safety hazard but I had to take up all the rugs because they were a serious trip hazard. Can't win. As I was getting her settled with a cuppa and her medicine she asked for a little sandwich or something so I suggested her favourite porridge and she was delighted with that suggestion. And bugger me if she didn't eat it all! She napped for the rest of the morning then ate scrambled eggs (with a dash of sneaky cream for calories) but not the bread and butter, and two Nice biscuits.
Flowers arrived for her from the Ladies' Club so we spent half an hour chatting whilst I arranged them in a couple of vases. Well I say chatting. Ma talked and I made non committal noises due to the fact that I couldn't make head nor tail of the majority of it. Then Mavis and Vic arrived (cue choirs of angels on high) so I took some chairs into the bedroom for them, along with some tea, and left them to natter. I half dozed on the sofa, listening to Mave and Vic chatting away and blithely ignoring the mad bits. I love them more than I can say.
About five minutes after they left, the lady from the reablement service arrived so more kettle boiling and tea making ensued. She took notes, asked questions and we have agreed on a morning and evening visit to get Ma up, showered etc. and dressed in the morning and then into bed in the evening. The aim is to get her as independent as possible so I hope this will be successful. The first visit is 9:00am tomorrow.
After all that excitement Ma was a bit tired so she had a nap and I pootled in the kitchen with chicken thigh fillets, white wine, onions, rosemary etc. which went into the bottom oven and prepped the spuds for mash. Suddenly I heard the zimmer approaching...
Hello where are you going?
I thought I'd go and see the girls
Which girls?
The ones over by the place
Ok. But there's nowhere for you to sit comfortably in here Ma, how about sitting in the lounge?
Ok shall I turn round then?
Yep good idea. I'll get your dressing gown to put on.
*gowned and sitting comfortably
Ok? Shall I leave the news on for you?
Yes that's fine. And I'll have a (strokes throat) something... umm... a thing... Can I have one?
A glass of wine??
Yes please.
I gave her a very small, watered down glass of wine, which she didn't drink in the end. I think it's a knee-jerk habit type of thing really. Dad and she always had a couple of snifters.
She managed 12 minutes of the news before going back to bed where she ate a reasonable portion of chicken and mash (about as much as a four year old would eat) and two Jaffa cakes. Then injection, meds and lights out.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Night Mum
Goodnight darling. Make sure you leave the thing on the road. No not the road. Upstairs. Or is it in the fridge?
Ok Mum don't worry about it. Nightbless.
Thursday, 18 August 2011
Well...
... she's home. The ambulance dropped her off at 4pm, still in her pyjamas having done a Skipton and refusing to get dressed all day.
She wasn't deemed to be in need of rehabilitation or intermediate care but Barry phoned this afternoon to say that she can have the services of the reablement team. I do think this is a good thing. As we know, her mood swings can be mercurial, especially with me, so I'm hopeful that having someone here to encourage her to do things who isn't personally involved will work well. This is assuming that she doesn't take against them of course.
She looks tired and it is very difficult to follow what she is saying so I suggested that she goes to bed for a while, and she's just zimmered her way to the bedroom. Slightly concerned by the speed and lack of control with the Zimmer though!
Also apprehensive about giving her the Clexane injections. But I'm going to have to get over that.
Her appetite is still rubbish so I've just nipped to the chemist for some Complan. It's all very well me sneaking extra nutition into her food but its not much use if she won't eat it. At the very least she will have half a 'milky' drink at bedtime.
I'm hopeful that now she's home she will settle and stabilise. Not the best time for me to suffer from the worst IBS attack I've ever had mind you. Typical.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Injection done. Painkillers and meds given. Bell placed at the side of the bed. Chocolate Complan and some biscuits on the bedside table. I hope she has a good and restful night.
I'm off too. Nightbless.
She wasn't deemed to be in need of rehabilitation or intermediate care but Barry phoned this afternoon to say that she can have the services of the reablement team. I do think this is a good thing. As we know, her mood swings can be mercurial, especially with me, so I'm hopeful that having someone here to encourage her to do things who isn't personally involved will work well. This is assuming that she doesn't take against them of course.
She looks tired and it is very difficult to follow what she is saying so I suggested that she goes to bed for a while, and she's just zimmered her way to the bedroom. Slightly concerned by the speed and lack of control with the Zimmer though!
Also apprehensive about giving her the Clexane injections. But I'm going to have to get over that.
Her appetite is still rubbish so I've just nipped to the chemist for some Complan. It's all very well me sneaking extra nutition into her food but its not much use if she won't eat it. At the very least she will have half a 'milky' drink at bedtime.
I'm hopeful that now she's home she will settle and stabilise. Not the best time for me to suffer from the worst IBS attack I've ever had mind you. Typical.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Injection done. Painkillers and meds given. Bell placed at the side of the bed. Chocolate Complan and some biscuits on the bedside table. I hope she has a good and restful night.
I'm off too. Nightbless.
Wednesday, 17 August 2011
A ray of hope
My wonderful cousin David and his equally wonderful wife Glenys visited Ma yesterday afternoon. While they were there they spoke to the hospital social worker and told him in no uncertain terms how difficult it would be for me to care for Ma when she's only five days out of surgery. I am hopeful that they will now offer her intermediate care. I know it's only available for six weeks but to be honest even a couple of weeks would be incredibly helpful, I'd hope by then that she would be able to get on and off the bed and loo for example. As they pointed out, before Ma fell her mobility was far better than mine!
David was shocked at how much Ma has deteriorated since she stayed with them last weekend. I struggled to follow her conversation too when I went in the evening, she was all over the place. One moment she was telling me she hadn't been out of bed, the next saying that they'd had her scrubbing floors and washing up...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(to Elsie's husband) Hello! Did you bring them?
*he looks confused
You know! The things. The sticks. What do you call them?? Cigarettes!! Did you bring me some cigarettes?
But you don't smoke!
Ooh but I could do with a bloody fag.
David was shocked at how much Ma has deteriorated since she stayed with them last weekend. I struggled to follow her conversation too when I went in the evening, she was all over the place. One moment she was telling me she hadn't been out of bed, the next saying that they'd had her scrubbing floors and washing up...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(to Elsie's husband) Hello! Did you bring them?
*he looks confused
You know! The things. The sticks. What do you call them?? Cigarettes!! Did you bring me some cigarettes?
But you don't smoke!
Ooh but I could do with a bloody fag.
Tuesday, 16 August 2011
Ring Ring
Hello?
Oh hello, it's Ocupational Therapy here. Just to let you know your mum will be coming home tomorrow.
Oh right. How easy will it be to cope with her?
She's fine. She's had a wash this morning and is using her frame. We'll send her home by ambulance. Bye.
Bye then.
I sincerely hope she doesn't need lifting. Or I'll be in A&E having my wrist/elbow/shoulder dislocations reduced.
Every cloud though. At least she'll stop asking when. But not today because they've already told her she's going home. I expect she's got her coat on by now.
Oh hello, it's Ocupational Therapy here. Just to let you know your mum will be coming home tomorrow.
Oh right. How easy will it be to cope with her?
She's fine. She's had a wash this morning and is using her frame. We'll send her home by ambulance. Bye.
Bye then.
I sincerely hope she doesn't need lifting. Or I'll be in A&E having my wrist/elbow/shoulder dislocations reduced.
Every cloud though. At least she'll stop asking when. But not today because they've already told her she's going home. I expect she's got her coat on by now.
Monday, 15 August 2011
Monday
Yesterday was a day of two halves. Afternoon visitng was fine, Ma was quite chirpy although still confused. She was delighted that the Vicar had called to see her the previous day but I'm not convinced that they'd been out for a drive and tea. She told me she hadn't been out of bed yet, then when Simon arrived after parking the car she told him she'd been up and down the ward and the staff said she was fantastic! It turns out that she had been out of bed and was doing really well. She still isn't really eating anything at all, half a bowl of soup and half a sandwich yesterday, so when I offered her a banana she could barely lift it she's so weak. Stern words about how they won't allow her home until she's eating and drinking properly fell on deaf ears due to her being far too interested in what's going on everywhere else. It was almost impossible to engage her interest due to her earwigging!
When I returned in the evening she was morose and tearful. Even more so when I had to tell her that no, I wasn't there to take her home. As I arrived she was halfway off the bed 'going to the loo', luckily a nurse was nearby and managed to stop her explaining that she still had a catheter. I dread to think what would've happened if she'd tried to get up without help.
She's now on a new ortho ward and seems to be in the company of four other ladies who are all in various stages of dementia. One is as garrulous as Ma but as neither listens to the other properly they aren't communicating so much as talking at the same time. One poor soul keeps calling 'Hello?' and asking where her husband is and another is permanently distressed because she believes she's going to die because she's in hospital. So not exactly a restful environment!
I took in some bits and bobs such as jelly pots and sandwiches she likes in the hope that it might tempt her to eat. It didn't. But the Nurses have stored everything in the fridge and will offer it to her if she refuses her meals.
I've also replaced her old heavy bedding at home with a lovely new pluffy duvet which should be much more comfortable (and probaby warmer!) for her.
Proper physio should start today so hopefully this will give us a better idea of what happens next. She may not be referred to rehabillitation due to her dementia. I'm told that this is partly because dementia patients tend to recover quite well due to the fact that when they are told to do an exercise it is usually done fully without hesitation because there's no expectation or recollection that it may hurt.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(Hello?? Hellloooo? Have you seen Keith?)
Ma: Hello? Are you all right? (to me) So am I ready?
Me: What for?
Ma: to go home.
(I'm going to die in here I know I am *keening*)
Ma: (laughs) Oh she's always saying that.
Me: Not today Ma, you need to see the physio first and get back on your feet
(HELLOOOOOO??!?)
Ma: *getting upset* oh I'm useless. I've been here such a long time.
Me: But it's a serious injury, they need to be sure you are ok before sending you home
(HELLLLO!?)
(This is my pink cushion, it came from Wales you know. My daughter lives in Wales)
Ma: (to pink cushion woman) My son is in Spain. He has a place.
Ma: (to me) She's goes on all the time you know. She knows it all.
(Hellooo????!?)
etc.
When I returned in the evening she was morose and tearful. Even more so when I had to tell her that no, I wasn't there to take her home. As I arrived she was halfway off the bed 'going to the loo', luckily a nurse was nearby and managed to stop her explaining that she still had a catheter. I dread to think what would've happened if she'd tried to get up without help.
She's now on a new ortho ward and seems to be in the company of four other ladies who are all in various stages of dementia. One is as garrulous as Ma but as neither listens to the other properly they aren't communicating so much as talking at the same time. One poor soul keeps calling 'Hello?' and asking where her husband is and another is permanently distressed because she believes she's going to die because she's in hospital. So not exactly a restful environment!
I took in some bits and bobs such as jelly pots and sandwiches she likes in the hope that it might tempt her to eat. It didn't. But the Nurses have stored everything in the fridge and will offer it to her if she refuses her meals.
I've also replaced her old heavy bedding at home with a lovely new pluffy duvet which should be much more comfortable (and probaby warmer!) for her.
Proper physio should start today so hopefully this will give us a better idea of what happens next. She may not be referred to rehabillitation due to her dementia. I'm told that this is partly because dementia patients tend to recover quite well due to the fact that when they are told to do an exercise it is usually done fully without hesitation because there's no expectation or recollection that it may hurt.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(Hello?? Hellloooo? Have you seen Keith?)
Ma: Hello? Are you all right? (to me) So am I ready?
Me: What for?
Ma: to go home.
(I'm going to die in here I know I am *keening*)
Ma: (laughs) Oh she's always saying that.
Me: Not today Ma, you need to see the physio first and get back on your feet
(HELLOOOOOO??!?)
Ma: *getting upset* oh I'm useless. I've been here such a long time.
Me: But it's a serious injury, they need to be sure you are ok before sending you home
(HELLLLO!?)
(This is my pink cushion, it came from Wales you know. My daughter lives in Wales)
Ma: (to pink cushion woman) My son is in Spain. He has a place.
Ma: (to me) She's goes on all the time you know. She knows it all.
(Hellooo????!?)
etc.
Friday, 12 August 2011
Mending
This afternoon she looked so much better. Thank goodness!
She was bright and alert but very very very confused. She told me lots of tales about going on trips to the seaside with the ladies in the beds across from her etc. Nothing I hadn't expected and quite amusing.
What did distress me was when I handed her the cards which had arrived in the post this morning. She studied each envelope very carefully, looking at the front and turning it over and over in her hands. Then put them all aside because she clearly didn't know what to do with them. I suggested she might like to open them so out they came again. She studied each one very carefully, once again reading the front, then with a bit of gentle prompting remembered that you have to tear across the top . Which she did. And then put them aside again.
Eventually with a little more prompting she did remove the cards from the envelopes but couldn't interpret the handwriting so it was all a bit of a lesson for me. In future perhaps I should just open the cards on her behalf and tell her who they are from? It just feels wrong to open a card or letter addressed to someone else and it is taking yet another function (is that the word I'm looking for?) away from her. But it is clear that she is no longer able to do this.
Apologies if this post is dodgy. I'm in the throes of a migraine - all aura, no pain, which mans I can't see the screen properly to check my speeling ;)
She was bright and alert but very very very confused. She told me lots of tales about going on trips to the seaside with the ladies in the beds across from her etc. Nothing I hadn't expected and quite amusing.
What did distress me was when I handed her the cards which had arrived in the post this morning. She studied each envelope very carefully, looking at the front and turning it over and over in her hands. Then put them all aside because she clearly didn't know what to do with them. I suggested she might like to open them so out they came again. She studied each one very carefully, once again reading the front, then with a bit of gentle prompting remembered that you have to tear across the top . Which she did. And then put them aside again.
Eventually with a little more prompting she did remove the cards from the envelopes but couldn't interpret the handwriting so it was all a bit of a lesson for me. In future perhaps I should just open the cards on her behalf and tell her who they are from? It just feels wrong to open a card or letter addressed to someone else and it is taking yet another function (is that the word I'm looking for?) away from her. But it is clear that she is no longer able to do this.
Apologies if this post is dodgy. I'm in the throes of a migraine - all aura, no pain, which mans I can't see the screen properly to check my speeling ;)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)