Wednesday

An easier day today. We started with a short trip to a copse nearby where the bluebells are reputed to be widespread and wonderful. They weren’t disappointing. The Dog loved it too. I’m guessing that was mostly down to a profusion of rabbit and fox scent trails though. It’s been some time since we’d walked there and it was saddening to see how many dead, dying and fallen trees there were. A heatwave last summer, bad winter storms and spring flooding are taking their toll.

When I got to The Home I found Mum sleeping and snoring softly.

I think she must have only just gone as I got a response at the second attempt.

“Mum? MUM!! It’s Nick”

She half opened her eyes and nodded once.

“How are you feeling? Are you alright?”

Another nod.

“Are you comfortable?”

She nodded again.

“I can see you’re a bit sleepy. Shall I just read to you for a bit?”

A single shake of the head.

“OK then. I’ll just leave you to sleep.”

No response.

The snoring restarted before I’d left the room.

A cousin saw the update and asked if I thought Mum was “slipping”?

It’s hard to tell.

Whatever happened the other day when I thought she had a UTI has changed her. Could it be temporary? Possibly. But this staying sleepy far longer than she was is very different from how she was 10 days ago. So is going from Sleepy & Weepy to “Get me out of bed, we’re leaving!!” within 24 hours.

I don’t know how they manage with feeding her when she’s unresponsive. But if she doesn’t eat or drink for a few days and then only has a couple of days awake before going back to sleep then she won’t last long.

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