Thursday, 19 March - Such A Busy Day

Thursday, 19 March  - Such A Busy Day

I spent a lot of time on phone - firstly to the District Nurses, who came to see Mum within a couple of hours. They examined Mum, and re-dressed her bedsore, and said they would be back on Monday, to check how it was healing.  They assessed it as a Grade 2, which is not as bad as it could have been, but I made the point that Mum has been with us for 8 years, and has never had a bed sore; thirteen days in hospital, and she comes home with one. I am not impressed. I remember being told that there is absolutely no excuse for any patient to develop a bedsore; yet here we are.

We brushed Mum's teeth and got her some chocolate Complan, and a nice cup of tea; she had so little, and she is just skin and bone, so I don't know if we have passed the point of no return, and there is no chance of her picking up a bit. I hope we can still go on for a while; it is my birthday on Saturday week!

It was another exhausting day, trying to get shopping in. Sainsbury's organised the first hour of the day - from 7.00 - 8.00 a.m. - to be set aside specifically for older people, but it was still totally chaotic, and goods disappeared from the shelves so quickly, we still could not get everything we needed.

Throughout the day, we kept feeding Mum tiny sips of tea, and Complan, just trying to keep her going, really. The ladies came four times during the day, and said Mum was not passing any urine - her pads were pretty dry, so that is a continuing worry.

At least having Mum home means we can be in and out of her bedroom, with a supply of fresh Ribena, which she seems to like! - and keep trying to persuade her to at least drink something.

On one evening, we watched a programme about Whitby, and Robin Hood Bay; I reminded Mum she had had a lovely holiday there once, and had really enjoyed it. There was a lot of information about the smugglers, and the way the sea erodes the coastline, and I tried to get Mum talking and reminiscing about it.

I asked her, "Do you remember your holiday there?" and Mum said, "Yes." Well, whether or not she does remember those good times, at least I know she has experienced them, and can try to help her to recall them!