This week has been very challenging, and I am going to resist writing volumes summarising what has happened.  Instead I want to focus on an incident yesterday afternoon to highlight something of the current state of affairs.

All Maureen seemed to want to do yesterday was sleep.  I couldn’t prise he out of bed until after noon, and she ‘rested her eyes’ on the sofa several times during the day.  Towards the end of the afternoon I was tidying up in the kitchen whistling: ‘You Are My Sunshine’.  Suddenly Maureen rushed into the kitchen looking all flustered and said excitedly: ‘Is My Dad Here?’  Jack, Maureen’s father, has been dead for over 30 years.  The Good Music page explains the significance of this song. Whenever Maureen wakes up from resting her eyes; confusion abounds at one level or another. This time she quickly realised that her hopes could not be fulfilled.   

During the last week Maureen has often  been confused about time, place, and person.  This is nothing new but these periods are more frequent, and enduring.  It has often been difficult to persuade her to go to bed at night, as she wants to stay on the sofa.  She is frightened to go to bed by herself but anxious if I accompany her, when she is uncertain who I am. 

The ‘having no suitable clothes syndrome’ has once again reared its head with a vengeance.  Clothes are either missing, too tight or irritate.  This means that Maureen often returns to bed upset, and worn out, after a fruitless search for comfortable gear.  She feels that relatives who have long passed or those who have given up on helping her on this front, may resolve things: my efforts in the past week have been fruitless.   The amount of times I have trailed around the undies in Marks and Spencer have led to me being on first name terms with some of the assistants.

Another issue that keeps surfacing is Maureen thinking there are other people in the house.  For some time she has been enquiring about her Aunty Clarice and Uncle Dennis: now she often has concerns about children.  The other morning she wanted to know if they had already gone to school.  Then out of the blue one day she asked me where my son, Steven, had gone: we haven’t seen him for about three of years.  So a valid question indeed!

Maureen has been reluctant to venture outside in this cold snap, and her exercise in the last week has been restricted to the garden.  This means we have avoided the stress caused  by visiting supermarkets or relatives.  Maureen remains reluctant to make or receive telephone calls.  The only call she has taken this week resulted from a ‘cunning plan’ between myself, and her youngest son.  She has often talked of sending post cards to her grandchildren but these plans never come to fruition.

I have  had a couple of chats with Chloe and Gail this week about Maureen’s presentation. These are generally snatched conversations while Maureen is out of earshot.  The time has arrived when the three of us need to sit down to review how things are going, along with professional staff.  Things are changing rapidly and we need to discuss the most appropriate way forward.

On a personal note the rotator cuff in my left shoulder is not getting any better, despite further acupuncture,. My legs continue to give me grief.  One session at the Leisure Centre last week needs to be improved upon.  I have managed to slip in a few meditation sessions to good effect.  I have also spent the odd half  hour preparing my vegetable plot, and sorting out my seed trays

I’m really looking forward to Wednesday when I will be day tripping to Coventry to see my own family.  It’s good to have time relaxing on the coach, and ruminating on improvements that might be made at the home ranch.