Monday

Youngest Sister did the visit today. We got a pretty comprehensive update too. Helped no doubt by the senior medics on the stroke rehab ward having had a chance to do their own assessment of Mum. The doctors at the weekend are primarily on call for emergencies. 

Mum was still waiting for the heart scan. The doctor was going to chase this and it should be done in next couple of days. Mum had finished the course of antibiotics for the infection and they would take bloods tomorrow to confirm that the infection has gone, as it can take 24-48 hours to confirm after treatment has finished. They would also be treating the conjunctivitis with a cream as the drops didn’t seem to be working.

There was still a concern about Mum swallowing and this was being assessed as mum needed prompting to swallow. She would be assessed by the physios to see what she would be able to do for herself in the future – whether she would be able to go home with a care package or whether she would be safer in a care home if the risk was too great for her to be at home.

Youngest Sister also asked about the tumour and they were happy that this was stable, as in not growing quickly, so is likely to be benign. The will still assess every 6 months at out patients and can provide the results of further scans by phone.

The doctor said that Mum had been more sleepy today and not so interested in food. She asked if this was how she was when she was admitted. I said that she was more alert and talking more when she came in, so this was a definite change. However, I did say that she was always able to sleep anywhere and said that before she was ill, she always had very good appetite.

Eldest Sister noted that when she saw Mum the day after she was admitted they commented that she ate a lot more than expected and she was able to feed herself. She was also more awake and alert. But then again she hadn’t had a stroke then. She added that with the level of care Mum is likely to need, a care home sounded like a good option if she leaves hospital – even if we told her it is only temporary.

I thought the timing of Mum’s transfer has been really unfortunate. I understood the general medical ward wanted to get Mum on to stroke rehab some point and that they were concerned about the queue that Mum was joining but it did feel like it was rushed due to a bed becoming available and them not wanting to miss the chance. Moving Mum to a rehab ward where there were no weekend doctors and less qualified nursing had done mum no favours. There seemed to have been no real handover at all.

Youngest Sister’s update concluded with some notes about Mum’s clothing. She said that iIf any of the nurses mentioned Mums nighties, she would bring more in when she next went. When mum was first admitted, she asked for some nighties to be brought in. They didn’t use the nighties on the last ward, but they will on the new ward. They like it if the patients can wear their own night wear as it often makes them feel more comfortable.

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