Just a quick update, before I head off for work.
Okaasan is back at hospital. Same bed. same room room. With nurses under instructions not to force her to eat food she doesn't want, and to try and just mildly agree with things she says.
If they can....
At the end of all that - getting her back to the hospital was actually very easy.
She was dozing on the sofa at 1 pm and I felt bad that we were about to unsuspectingly rip her out of comfort back to the place of uncertainty. Even though for her own good. Like when the cat is snoozing in the closet and I am tiptoeing around to prepare the cat carrier in another room so he doesn't know the a vet visit is a coming.
Just before the wheelchair taxi arrived Dear Son got Okaasan alert and took her to the toilet. She was there ages...leaving the taxi driver and Dear Son hanging around in the entrance hall...and then...he helped her walk out..oh and "turn right!" and "sit here"...and "put on this coat" and "here is a nice driver man" and "let's go!"...she was out from the toilet and into a wheelchair and out on the road to hospital without a fight. Amazing.
The nurses said she will need at least another week of hospital to get strong enough for solo walking. She IS really shaky and not balanced. The day care manager telephoned...she and dear son will discuss things...whether a short stay unit could be used....or not.
WE were knackered. And I had the extra emotional toll of seeing the events in London on my TV screen. I was born in London. It's my city. I had dinner with a friend near London Bridge after the Olympics....I feel numb about it all.
And so.
We certainly couldn't have Okaasan living with us if she was like Saturday's condition. Impossible. For the first time Dear Son actually said that. He saw the reality. He talked about her living in a care home.
But we really really believe that the Saturday condition was an extreme. She isn't that bad, yet. We hope that she can get strong physically and come home and mentally enjoy life again with us.
We do hope that. I know that is shades of an abuse victim saying: he didn't mean it, he was just drunk and angry. But we don't believe Okaasan is that bad yet. This whole hospital experience is effecting her and will make her dementia worse. But we think she will retutn to a calm state.
But we are exhausted.
And now I am going to work....
* Thankyou for many messages. I can't reply to all. Just no time and energy. But thankyou .:-)
I;m glad you were able to get her back to the hospital. I hope she is calmer this week, and I hope you can rest. My condolences on the terrorist attacks in London.
ReplyDeleteI understand what you are saying that she isn't normally like this, but if you tried to move her to a care home in 6 moths or a year, when her cognitive abilities are even worse, wouldn't it be harder for everyone?
Thanyou. We hope she is calmer..but I see another weekend looming where she comes home for respite...Day Care Manager is checking options...
DeleteWe DO still believe we can have her living at home, once this immediate crises is over. If she can walk on her own to the toilet again. We can feed her and keep her happy. Take her out for walks etc. But the anger...we can't deal with that...if it is a constant.
GANBATTE!
ReplyDeleteYou should get the support of a psychiatrist/gerontologist now, the day care manager is not a doctor is he/she? My mom was prescribed a mild anti anxiety medicine when she got back home from the hospital and that really helped with her post hospital anger and paranoia. She took it for a month (the dosage was reduced gradually over this period to avoid abstinence symptoms) and she never needed it again.
ReplyDeleteFrancesca
Japanese hospitals don't have this kind of staff on service for patients with other health issues...even large hospitals. care is very compartmentalized. THis hospital did give Okaasan some kind of calming down medicine - which appeared to make her very drowsy. But kept her quiet. Anyway...now moved on to another stage....
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