It’s a struggle here this morning as nothing seems to be grounding Maureen. Even music on YouTube has not done the trick!
Her initial concerns were about the wellbeing of her children: she wanted the phone number of their school to let them know she would be unable to pick them up today. Now she is packing to go home and wanting me to put some of her belongings into the car. Fortunately, the sun is shining this morning and I am going to try to entice her into helping me tidy up the garden.
Maureen has obviously heard about the latest research on the benefits of dancing:
Our Sun Room often turns into a dance studio as she moves around to The Sound of Music. The mask is because I just can’t get the hang of pixelating videos. Unfortunately, it means you can’t see her beautiful smile and the sheer joy on her face.
Another excellent communication tip from Teepa Snow:
I always find Teepa’s videos helpful and need to include ‘tell me about it’ in my repertoire!
I’m optimistic that rest will help Maureen and I recover from our ordeal on Wednesday. We were both extremely tired yesterday and Maureen was frequently distressed that our children were at risk. She remembered that she had been to hospital but thought it was to deal with her ongoing problems with her left leg and foot.
There was a period of real concern yesterday when the Emergency Services were disagreeing over their powers under the Mental Capacity Act. Maureen was clearly vulnerable, cold and at risk of injury from passing traffic yet, the people on the ground felt powerless to direct her into the waiting ambulance. Fortunately, the staff at my Brother’s Nursing Home came to her rescue and helped her to get the assessment she needed.
This isn’t the first time I have come across problems with getting Maureen to a place of safety when she has been distressed. On our way to the hospital, our Paramedic outlined how the Emergency Services were often at odds with each other as they try to cope with inadequate resources.
Maureen is very confused this morning convinced that she has two young children to contend with. She is exhausted after the events of yesterday.
I was naive to think I could solve the problems over the lack of visits from her family by taking her to see them. She had a lovely time with two of her grandchildren yesterday evening Maureen but woke up crying this morning because ‘she never sees her family.’
Maureen never ceases to amaze me with her resilience in the face of adversity.
She awoke at 2.30am completely lost: terrified that she couldn’t remember anything.
Two hours later, with a cup of tea in hand, she is singing this one:
She is currently getting ready to travel to Coventry as she wants to cheer my mum up.
We both got off to a flyer yesterday morning. As I was shutting the door on my way out I could hear our Carer easing Maureen into the shower. A short while afterward I was a short distance away sorting out a missing link in our Care Package.
I’m keeping my finger crossed that Ashgrove Care Home will be able to accommodate our needs for scheduled Respite Breaks. The Manager is willing to book Maureen in for Rolling Respite once she has conducted her assessment.
I’m confident that the new regime at Ashgrove will mean that Maureen is in safe hands. The staff has clearly worked very hard to ensure that the place is now up to the standards expected by our Clinical Commissioning Group. Those days when residents could escape or find themselves lost in an unused part of the building – as Maureen did – are long gone. The other advantages are that all rooms are downstairs and Maureen loves spending time in the internal garden.
Ashgrove is so convenient: it is a short stroll from where we live. It will be such a relief to know that Rolling Respite in a safe place is only an assessment away. How great that it now looks likely I will be on that plane to Australia in April to catch up with my old school pal and his wife. Then if I’m really lucky I might even get to meet Kate Swaffer, Dominique K and Leah Bisiani to thank them for their exceptional support.
From today Focus Adult Social Care has agreed to fund 6 hours of additional sits a week. This means that I will get a 6-hour break (10 until 4) every Monday. There is also a 3-hour sit in place on Wednesday evening to enable me to attend local Buddhist Meditation Classes.
I need to spend some of my time today looking into alternatives for Respite Breaks. No Care Home can ever guarantee availability. I need to have options for those times when Alderlea cannot accommodate Maureen in a downstairs room.
When the going gets tough I often sing silly songs to Maureen by changing the words to lift her mood. Very early this morning she was beside herself as she felt unable to build a boat. No matter what I said I couldn’t shift her from her focus on feeling ‘useless’; until I swapped Maureen for Michael in this one:
Once I got the song underway her despondency changed to hysteria and it took a while before I was able to coax her back to sleep.
Today’s Carer commented that Maureen looks tired at the moment. This isn’t surprising as she never made it to her upstairs bedroom while she was in Alderlea. She refused point blank to get into their lift – I’m not surprised as it reminds me of something from the Dark Ages.
It is vital that Maureen gets good rest when she is in a Care Home. Slumbering in an armchair or sleeping on a sofa is not recuperative when she spends a larger portion of the day on her feet. It is difficult enough to get someone who fears being attacked to sleep in a downstairs room: persuading them to go upstairs is never going to be a viable option.
George Rook at his satirical best and he does have a point!
A world without diabetes
Diabetes is a disease that is invisible. The disease is hidden, often not diagnosed until it has caused damage.
Type 2 diabetes is often brought on by being overweight, eating an unhealthy diet, and too much of it.
The UK spends around £9bn a year treating people for type 2 diabetes. (£1bn for type 1.)
The total direct and indirect costs of type 1 and 2 diabetes is around £24bn a year.
It can usually be avoided by having a healthy lifestyle…reasonable exercise, good diet, healthy weight.
The results of diabetes include loss of limbs, loss of eyesight, heart disease, renal disease, extensive neuropathic pain.
I wish to propose that this disease, which is invisible and to a large extent avoidable, should not be treated.
The direct health care savings of £10bn could be used elsewhere to improve care and introduce new, expensive drugs and treatment…
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Books, papers and blogs by Joanna Moncrieff
Buddhist meditation applied to our everyday lives...
My Voyage Through Early-Onset Alzheimer's
Just like the horse whisperer - but with more pages
healthcareandhumanity@gmail.com
Non-smoking, vaporizers, e-juice and more
Bringing awareness to mental illness and sexual assault
One more person's journey with Alzheimer's
"Always at your Service"
Lessons and love from Alzheimer's World
Person with Dementia Symptoms
Empower Dementia Strategies
