All my working life I looked forward to the weekend when I could choose how to spend my time.  Now as a Care Partner it is quite the opposite; hence TGIM.  For the next five days there is the possibility of having a couple of hours off duty as our regular team of Carers will be here.

I’m also hopeful that Gary our social worker will be back at work today and we can put the finishing touches to my Carers Assessment.  Duty Workers seem to have given the Green Light to my aspirations but I will need to contact our Care Agencies today to make sure that the jigsaw of care that is needed is firmly in place.  There have been so may Red Lights in the past that I’m cautious when I’m getting Amber Signals about who will be sitting with Maureen when I’m out of town.

I am no longer prepared to accept that my wife should be left with ‘strangers’: who can’t find keys to our front door; fail to feed her; humiliate her over personal hygiene; find her asleep on a lounge floor; give me dubious accounts of how she sustained a black eye and a bruised back .  It is taking time for the investigations, that I have requested, to be concluded and I will be taking legal advice if I conclude Maureen has been neglected by those who have a ‘Duty of Care’.

Chloe, our longest serving Carer, will be here shortly: she always treats Maureen with dignity and respect.  I have yet to meet anyone who has such a sound working understanding of dementia and am indebted to her for helping me try to get up to speed.

It will be good to be able to get out this morning; something I haven’t been able to do over the weekend as I had to ease Elaine into working here.  I would gamble that Chloe will give Maureen one of her Pamper Days and my Blonde Bombshell will be waiting for her lunch on my return.

Always best to start the week with a song: