Maureen woke early this morning wanting to go to the bathroom but afraid to leave her bed because there were birds in the room.  I am beginning to wonder if dreams play a part in her reality whenever she wakes after sleeping.  As she had been sleeping for long periods after the visit of her son I decided to encourage her to stay awake for a while before attempting more sleep.

I think there was something Freudian about my choice of music as we sat and as I sought The Eagles on YouTube.  As we looked back at some of our favourites from 40 years ago we discussed how life had changed in the last four decades. It was great to hear Maureen articulately expressing her opinions on how hectic life was for parents in 2016.  Anyone who was a party to such a discussion would struggle to believe that Maureen has dementia: such snapshots are very deceptive indeed.  This is one of my concerns about professional assessments.

When I meet our social worker on Thursday I am going to suggest that we seek a coordinated assessment of Maureen’s presentation.  We need to see how she is presenting when she is in Care Homes, on carer sits and home alone with me.  Capacity Assessments on one particular issue may  be required by the system but if we are to decide on her overall best interests something much more detailed is required. Perhaps a final word from The Eagles is helpful on this front: