Journal Entries
Things have got worse
Posted Jul 20, 2014
My elder sister lives in Rugby and seems to have become the first point of contact for the hospital. Warwickshire Social Services want to meet us on Wednesday to discuss arrangements for when Mum's discharged. The snag is that the discharge can't be any time soon. From what my sister told me, Mum can no longer walk to the toilet on her own. She now needs a two-person hoist, presumably on to a commode as I'm not sure she can even sit in a wheelchair.
The longer this goes on, the more I'm afraid that Mum won't be leaving hospital at all - not alive, any way. I'm frustrated and upset. Frustrated because there's nothing I can do to help my mother, upset because I'm watching an important person in my life fade away. I'm starting to understand what my husband went through when his parents were dying of cancer.
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Latest reply: Jul 20, 2014
Worried and needing to vent
Posted Jul 14, 2014
In mid-May of this year Mum had a fall. She lives on her own and wasn't found for at least a couple of days. The woman who takes Mum to church was worried when Mum didn't answer the door. In the end they had to get somebody to break the door down. When Mum was found she was in a pretty bad state. She was taken to University Hospital, Coventry (aka Walsgrave Hospital). While she was there she suffered a stroke and contracted pneumonia. She has since been transferred to University Hospital, Rugby (aka St. Cross Hospital).
So far, so mundane. So what's my problem. Mum was unconscious for at least a week in the Coventry hospital. Since she regained consciousness, she hasn't been herself. She says things that don't make any sense. For example, while she was in Coventry, she said that the nurses lied to her and she refused to believe anything anybody said to her. Since she's been at St. Cross, she's complained that her grandson got blind drunk and ended up in the same ward as she was in - an impossibility for more than one reason. She's hardly eating or drinking, which isn't helping her recovery. She was told something like 'If you eat your meals, you'll be able to go home', and interpreted that as she'd be allowed to go home after eating one meal. No chance! She refuses to take her medicine and she seems to be spending a lot of the time asleep. She's so weak she can bearly make it to the toilet, even using a walking frame and with a nurse helping. When we visited her a couple of weeks ago, she told us she had nothing to live for. That worried me. She was asleep when we went to see her yesterday (Sunday 13th July). We couldn't wake her and spent some time with the nurses. One told us that she'd been agressive that day, calling the nurses demons who were doing evil against God, and even attacking one of them. I've never known Mum to be violent. She wouldn't even let Dad spank us and never hit us herself. The fact that she can act so out of character, on top of all the other issues, has got me really worried.
I know that confusion, weakness and depression (low mood, as the nurses insist on calling it) are normal after a stroke. It just feels like nothing's being done to help her. But then, how can the nurses help her if she won't help herself?
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Latest reply: Jul 14, 2014
An H2G2 holiday
Posted Dec 20, 2013
Hubby and I got back from a cruise yesterday. I was amused to find links to H2G2 cropping up during the holiday. On arrival at Dubai cruise terminal we were greeted by '42' written in balloons. We saw '42' quite often during our stay in Dubai and Abu Dhabi because December 2nd 2013 was the 42nd National Day for the United Arab Emirates. On board the cruise ship, one of the cabin stewards was called Marvin (no, he wasn't paranoid. Quite the opposite, actually.). And through out the holiday, any excursion where we got hot and sticky (all of them!) ended with us being given moistened tissues to freshen up with - lemon soaked napkins for our comfort and convenience. We also got hot, fragrant flannels for the same purpose on the flights out and back (Emirates).
I'm sure there were more links than that, but that's all I can remember right now.
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Latest reply: Dec 20, 2013
Serious family health problems
Posted Nov 22, 2013
Just before 10am I had a phone call from my Mum. She's been told she's seriously ill. Her kidneys are working at only 15% and her blood pressure is way too low. Her appetite is gone and she's hardly eating. She's been put on iron tablets and bicarb, but it sounds like there's not much the GP can do with medication. She's going to be sent to a clinic but she won't know which one until this afternoon. The doctor also mentioned dialysis. A transplant isn't an option, partly because of her age, partly because she doesn't want one.
Mum told me not to cry, but I've been crying off and on since she called
. I know she's not dead yet, but the news has come as a shock. Mum wants me to bury the hatchet and make friends with my sister who, for a change, has been helping Mum recently. I told Mum I'd try to be friendly next time I meet my sister, but I can't make any promises about how hubby will react. He's never forgiven my sister for pushing her first husband (a good friend of ours) to the verge of suicide. As an indication of the seriousness of the situation, Mum has given my sister our address and phone number in case the worst happens. Mum told me her belief in God is giving her strength and advised me to pray for strength to get through each day, which she is doing. She doesn't seem to appreciate that I'm an atheist and that praying to an entity I don't believe in isn't going to do me any good at all.
Now I'm going to struggle on with my OU assignment. I've told my tutor about receiving bad news and warned her it's likely to affect the quality of this assignment. Posting isn't helping get it done, I just needed to type out my troubles.
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Latest reply: Nov 22, 2013
Injured collared dove
Posted Jul 20, 2012
I was relaxing in our 'library' (back room) this afternoon when a very young collared dove wandered up and sat down by the French windows. It just sat there, so I went to have a look at it. It still has a lot of down on its head and breast, so it's not fully fledged. I went right up to the door and it didn't move. Then I noticed that its left wing has been injured. There are no wildlife rescue places nearby, not even an RSPCA centre, so there's nothing we can do. It's likely to fall prey to a local cat or a fox.
I know the mortality rate for young birds is probably quite high, so I can accept that this bird is likely to die. I just wish it didn't have to be in our back garden.
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Latest reply: Jul 20, 2012
Cheerful Dragon
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