This week’s song of the week has to be ‘So Wrong’.  I thought that Maureen going into an Acute Mental Health Unit would be a disaster for us both.  It’s a time to eat my words.

The Konar Suite is nothing like your typical Mental Health Unit.  My reservations that they would turn her into something like my brother well ill-conceived.  He has Alzheimer’s and came out of an MHU in Coventry a shadow of his former self: goodness knows what they did to him.

I have to admit it took me a while to trust the medics on the Konar Suite with my dear wife.  I must have been deaf to have not listened at first hearing.  Their message was loud and clear ‘we have to weigh up the benefits of any medication against the risks involved’.

Maureen is settling well after three weeks away from home.  She generally makes her way up to our bedroom at night after dozing on the sofa for a while.  That is another thing I have to thank the staff on the Konar for – not only did they encourage her to sleep in a bed whilst she was in their care; they coached me on how to do the same when she came home.

Although Maureen has been discharged from the Konar Suite staff are always available for out of hours telephone advice and will make a home visit in an emergency.

It is now a week since Maureen’s discharge from the Konar Suite.  She is beginning to settle down to being back home after three weeks in an Acute Mental Health Unit.  Just as her Consultant stressed her presentation is subject to fluctuation.   My status can change from her husband to the wicked man who is stopping her from going home at the drop of a hat: from hero to zero.

We still have great fun together and Maureen’s wicked sense of humour shone through when she was in the hospital.  When a staff member was encouraging her to take lunch Maureen said ‘she wasn’t hungry and suggested that the individual concerned would be well advised to eat a little less’.   I’m not always sure our larking about is always well received by professionals when they call.  I hope it doesn’t lead to them to place us on some psychiatric scale.

I’m doing my best to stick to routines that help Maureen’s dilemma of ‘not knowing what to do with her time’.  It is now very obvious that she needs prompting to complete most tasks.  Her days of hanging out washing on the line have gone.  She can manage to assist with such tasks but forgets what she is meant to be doing if she is left to her own devices.

We slept together beautifully last night and that is a real bonus in the scheme of things.  I know it’s very early days but I’m optimistic that things can only get better if I continue to take breaks and don’t try to do it all by myself.  It is so reassuring that the Home Treatment Team are monitoring how things are going and are calling shortly for yet another chat.

I have to admit my reservations about Maureen going into the Konar Suite were ill-conceived.  They treated us both with the utmost dignity and respect along with lots of TLC.  To experience a Mental Health Unit that does not see medication as the answer to everything was so refreshing!