Saturday

The day started with a call to Eldest Sister from The Hospital. Mum had been transferred to the stroke rehab ward.

I managed to contact Mum’s decorator to explain that the work she’d arranged was certainly going to be delayed, was probably going to be amended and was possibly going to be cancelled altogether.

Eldest Sister got another call. This time from a physiotherapist on the stroke rehab ward. They wanted more information on Mum’s mobility to gauge the needs she would have after discharge. Somehow, they’d been given the impression that Mum already slept downstairs and that there was a downstairs bathroom. None of this is correct. We’re hoping that a home assessment by an Occupational Therapist will sort this out nearer Mum’s discharge and we think we’re looking at a hospital-style bed, a commode and all sorts of changes to her home.

Mum had provided misinformation like this before. When Mum tripped over and broke her collarbone, Youngest Sister was at the hospital with her and had to correct a lot. Much to Mum’s displeasure, obviously.

We’ve had this sort of misinformation a lot with Lesley’s dad too. Lesley has to make sure she’s with him for any sort of medical or social services appointment because he just makes shit up. The last visit from the Falls Clinic specialist saw him get his first 100% score. Not one single question was answered honestly or factually correctly even when he wasn’t giving an answer to the question he’d actually been asked. I feel as if we need to go through everything they’ve got from Mum directly and fact check it.

The Physio also started talking about groups where Mum could join in activities. It was pointed out that this had been tried before. After Dad died, various attempts had been made to get her to go to groups just to socialise. Places had been booked, transport arranged. All to no avail. She would flatly refuse to go. It was highly likely she’d refuse to go even if she was going to benefit health-wise.

Eldest Sister and her kids were first to get to Mum. Mum was asleep when they arrived and an hour later was still asleep.

Mum had tried to speak a little while they were with her but only to say that she was too hot and that she wanted to go home. Eldest Sister was told that Mum had been in a chair and put back in bed after lunch, but they hadn’t specifically stated what/if she had eaten.

When the doctor briefly popped in, it was as if she was seeing mum for the first time as she had to check who she was. She said that she was going to look at mum’s notes and would then come back, but they didn’t see her again. She asked if there was an improvement since their last visit. She said that she had little bit but that she was nowhere near as lucid as when Mum was admitted But then again Mum had had strokes since then. In spite of everything, the doctor had seemed keen to send Mum home.

They had to leave shortly after I arrived and, fortunately for them, shortly before her dinner was delivered. The rotters. It took an hour and a half to get half a plate of sausage and onion in her followed by four teaspoons of yoghurt.

The staff told me that Mum has been talking earlier and that she’d eaten all her breakfast and lunch. I don’t know about anyone else but I couldn’t personally see any evidence to support that. Every mouthful had been a struggle and she had to be reminded to swallow every time. Her Swallow Reflex is unaffected apparently but she either can’t remember or can’t be bothered.

She did try to speak twice in the two hours I was there but it wasn’t anything I could recognise.

However, the doctors must have seen something that gave them hope to keep thinking of a reasonable future for Mum.

I was buggered if I could see what it was though.

Author’s Note

My Mum is in a nursing home in a small village in the Thames Valley. The photo is not of the home. I used an AI image generator to give the reader some idea of the home she’s in.

All, some or maybe even none (you’ll never know!) of the names have been changed to protect privacy and hide real identities. If you think you recognise someone then let me know and I’ll edit the post or remove it entirely