Monday

I was keen to get to The Home reasonably early so that I could get the chance to talk to the senior medical staff before they got too busy.

Juliette waved at me from the nurses’ office as I walked in. Mum’s dip test had been clear. No UTI had been detected. They’d tried several times over the weekend but every Newcastle Pad was soiled so they couldn’t be used to test the urine they had caught. Plus, Mum had been fine this morning.

As I entered the rear lounge, Audrey seemed pleased to see me.

“Fancy seeing you here!?”

“I know!” I said, “What are the chances!!”

Sure enough, Mum looked better than she’d done for days. She was still very sleepy and not talking at all clearly. but, when she did wake up, she actually seemed quite lucid. She was aware of things going on around her – people talking in the corridor, the laundry trolley going past, that sort of thing. She had no memory of Eldest Sister and the kids being there yesterday but there’s so surprise there. She’d been absolutely sound asleep yesterday.

She had several sips of squash without protest and listened intently when I read to her.

She showed no sign whatsoever that she’d been at all unwell.

Mystifying.

I had seen Mum do this sort of thing before. When she was in hospital on the stroke rehab ward and they were doing regular blood tests to make sure the pneumonia infection was still under control they had seen a marked increase in the infection markers. There was also a decline in her physical condition. She didn’t seem well. But there was no sign of a return of the chest infection and no UTI either. And then, just as spontaneously, the level of the infection markers halved overnight. And she well again. 

The Dog has to go to the vet tomorrow. Just for her annual jab and to get prescriptions for the regular wormers and tick and flea tablets. Nothing wrong with her. But she’ll need a walk to make her hungry enough to take sedatives without noticing. She absolutely hates going to the vet and needs to be sedated first so no-one gets bitten. Three capsules tonight and another three with her breakfast. She hates taking meds too. It’s going to be a battle.

Bibliography

Tales from the Parish: 31 humorous short stories about community, family and village life, set in the English countryside

Kindle Edition

by Stefania Hartley

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