Winter carer

Hey!!!

Almost forgotten HOW to blog....which part of the website do I click on....

Hopefully this one...

Winter is here. First snow in Sapporo yesterday. Mostly gone from downtown, but out in the countryside it's all looking white.

Okaasan. How is she?

The latest meeting of care workers/nurses/doctors etc decided that her Care Service level has gone up to Level 5. I think there are 7 levels.

Level 5 means that she needs a nurse visit once a week to check on her overall health, and that the care home staff are doing much more support for toilet/walking and even feeding.

We have noticed a decline in her mental and physical abilities. She needs to be guided to do simple actions like sitting upright in a chair, or grasping onto a support bar. Not many full sentences now; inarticulate sounds like a small animal....laughs, grunts of agreement. A full exchange of communication is rare.

But she knows us...mostly. And is happy to see us.

We took her in the wheelchair for a car-ride downtown to see a flower festival. She just slumped and looked...not always at the flowers themselves...sometimes just at the wheelchair side bar.

But when we took her back to the familiar surroundings of the 10th floor of the care home...she actually said:

"Oh, I live here, this is my room...pink curtain!"

Mostly we go and try to get her to walk a little with the walking frame (above). Actually, once in it she is a fast walker...but tires quickly. And she needs major guidance on how to stand and reach into the frame from her wheelchair.

Lots of sleeping now. Staring at the TV.

But smiles and laughs.

Dear Son is away this week on the annual Trip South for Drinking. So I am stepping into my winter care role. I told Okaasan he was busy at a ski work meeting because he is an important person who will teach rich foreigners in English etc

She loves that story and laughed out loud: my son speaks English well enough to work and get paid extra. Ha ha!

We've replaced her black trousers, taken the red cardigan to the sewing shop for more repairs...life is trickling on.

I will go and see her once a week this winter. But, I don't feel confident enough to take her out in the car now on my own. Just getting her in and out of the car is hard, and toilets while out. It'll be care home visits - 10th floor and little trips to the lobby. 

A friend who reads this blog says I should include update here on Dear Son, me and cats....

So. 

Dear Son. Another summer of bike taxi work. He is about to start the ski season.

Cats - aged 10 now...fatter and fatter. But beginning to enjoy the fact that my English students come to the house for classes now. Moving the classroom here in the spring was a good idea....one of the cats even sits on my knee during classes.

Me: a summer of teaching and tour guide work. Very enjoyed the tour work - mainly day trips with guests from Asian countries. family groups to local beauty spots, some easy hikes. Steep learning curve in trying to do the social media for the tour company and writing a blog.

Next week I go off on holiday to central Japan, to hike with friends from the UK and enjoy temples and ancient forests. In a tiny camping car!

That's us.....thankyou for dropping by :-)