Whole sentences :-)

 Okaasan spoke whole sentences, about the weather, on our visit this week!

We were so happy! Even though it was, basically, the same sentence.

Our 20 mins visit was in the middle of a spring snow storm, which makes looking out the window and talking about something harder. We had been pleased to hear from the staff that we could actually take Okaasan and her wheelchair to another floor of the care home - such freedom felt wonderful.

The elevator! Another notice board to look at, oh look - a picture on the wall!

We ended up in the open space room where oh-so-long-ago I was about to launch my career as a care home karaoke star. Over a year ago, before any of us worried about masks and a shared microphone.

One usual problem for us/Okaasan when "looking out the window" is that from her chair position she can't actually see much, since the window frame is too high. Note to care home/hospital designers: if most of your users are in wheelchairs, how about making window frames lower???

We end up positioning her chair back from the window and trying to talk about things she can see. But of course, she then doesn't know we are talking about the view FROM the window - because that is too far away. Our conversation becomes too abstract for her. It's all not so great.

But this time. The open space room window faces parking areas, and a nearby temple. But there is a black building wall to the right.

"Look it's snowing today, you can see the snow flakes!" Okaasan suddenly said, pointing to the wall. And indeed we could, SHE could. The snow flakes showed up very clearly against the wall, far better that the scene against the grey city landscape or grey sky.

She repeated this a few times, with excitement. And we shared that thrill with her. Whole words. Strung together in a whole sentence. Said with appropriate feeling.

Dementia brings such a huge change to somebody's brain. A few years ago I was enduring those looong kitchen table talks about wartime memories, and flower arrangement classes, and housewife things. Now I am so pleased to hear a simple sentence from Okaasan.

It was a good visit.

Vaccination cometh????

 Saw Okaasan again yesterday - all great.

Happy, smiley, laughing. No speaking. But she is in a good mood. Given the no-speaking, our allotted visit time of 20 mins is enough.

She gets the happy feeling of seeing us.

We feel reassured.

And, somehow, we can do a double act of chat to fill out 20 mins. What's out the window, the weather, his jacket, my mask design, my impending birthday age...Okaasan looks from face to face and smiles and makes the nodding motion, and open mouth pouting gesture.

And then we're done. Back in the elevator and out into the snow.

Care home sent a letter about the COVID-19 vaccination.👀

Japan is JUST starting vaccinations now. Health care workers. Elderly will start in April, a very very slow roll out, which will only really get going in  May. Japan bought its vaccinations from Europe, and then had a system if domestic trials to go thru.

So the general vaccination program is still a month away, at least. Healthy...fairly young people like me probably won't get the call up until late summer...

Dear Son looking at the letter: "Hmm...she hates vaccinations. She won't want it. What should I do?"

 Me: "Well, I hope we can take her out of the home this year, into sunshine, to a coffee shop.  If she picks up Covid in a coffee shop and takes it back into the home....for a few minutes of her bad feeling about injections - we should be thinking of her community - ALL the old people in that home!"

Really. He even considered NOT authorising her to get a vaccine.

Face Palm moment in a relationship.

I hate injections too. Not for the same reasons as Okaasan (general distrust of mainsteam medicine), my feelings are based on the sight of needles entering skin. TV is FULL of that image at the moment....it maybe having a feeling-numbing effect on me?

Anyway. Okaasan. I hope she gets the jab. So she can go to a coffee shop this summer.

Meeting again :-)

 

And there they are - together again! Mum and son! 

The care home announced recently that family visits can start again, reservation only and for 20 mins at a time. 

New COVID-19 case numbers in Hokkaido have dropped to less that 50 a day recently, and so the home felt they could let us meet our dear elderly again.

Okaasan was surprisingly great - we were relieved.

Last spring, when we didn't meet for 10 weeks she lost a lot of communication ability and mental alertness. It slowly returned over the summer, and then of course we were cut off from her in November.

She was very smiley and happy, lots of laughs and funny goldfish mouth gestures. Pretty sure she knew who we were. The care home had Dolls' Day decorations, and plastic cherry blossom on the walls - more cheerful. We spent our 20 mins walking the corridors of her floor, sitting in window areas to make gold fish gestures and laughing a lot.

The staff said she can still walk, with the walking frame and a lot of support from an able bodied person, but her confidence for walking is initially low.

But! Here she is!

Hope we can visit once a week again....and I wonder when she will get vaccinated? Japan JUST started vaccinations last week and a 90 year old in a care home must be high on the list.

By the way - did you see this funny Covid-19 story last week? We all need a laugh...a 6 cm high man was offered an early vaccination....

 So. Hi!

JUST realized I haven't blogged at all this year, and January is ending.

Because, really, nothing to blog about on the Okaasan side of life. 

She is in her care home. We can't visit her. Our lives go on, week by week. So does her life. The care home (if telling the truth) had only two cases of Covid, and for that we are very, very thankful.

Yesterday in my English class, both students related how elderly family members had died over the winter months, without their nearest family being able to visit with them. Tales like this around the world, of course.

My part of Japan seems to have got infection rates under control again, schools and restaurants are open - although the adult entertainment district of Sapporo has been asked to close by 8 pm...which is probably half happening. In Tokyo the new cases numbers topped 2,000 earlier this month, and are now falling to under 1,000 as a half-hearted State of Emergency was introduced (eating and drinking places closed at 8 pm).

I guess we will see Okasan again in spring, but probably can't go outside with her....into the fresh air. She has been inside that care home building for over a year now...

Our lives go on. I teach online and face to face. I do writing for a website. I picked up an extra class at a downtown English School. Next month I am going to do a narration job involving lots of Ainu language words and I will be given special training in pronunciation!

We cancelled our Okinawa holiday, and rebooked for a 4 day camping car holiday locally - next month going to east Hokkaido to see sea ice and winter animal sights, like the red-crested cranes. 

It's my 60th birthday celebration trip! I'm almost 60...kind of amazing. I even got information from a former-employer, private pension scheme in the UK asking me if I'd like to take my pension payments sooner, or later. THAT made me feel old :-)

Japan won't start its vaccination programs until the end of February, and there have been stories about a lack of dry ice and refrigeration units...a lack of staff in rural areas. All of that...and the government maintaining the Tokyo Olympics will start in 5 months from now....

So, there we are. Plodding on. Today is one year since the very first positive test of Covid was found here. I think it was a Chinese woman who'd arrived at the local airport. Seems such a long time ago...back in January and February last year...we had the big Sapporo Snow Festival, and I went to a Queen rock concert in Osaka...

What a year it has been.

Hope you are well, and happy.