Hi everyone,
I am wondering whether we should think about moving my mother to a nursing home in France to be nearer her family...???
I don't know if any others have had to face this dilemma (moving an Alzheimer's patient to a country with a different language...?).
If not, I would still be interested in your opinions on the importance of language (speaking and understanding) as the illness progresses.
My mother is 89, with mild to moderate Alzheimer's. She was living alone in North London before going into a NH in January. She has no close family nearby, except one of my daughters, who visits occasionally (she lives about 2 hours away, is very busy and travels a lot for work). She has some friends, but I think as the illness progresses, visits from friends will taper off. Also her friends are increasingly ill, or immobile, themselves.
Her only other close family is me and my 3 other daughters and 2 grandchildren - we all live in France (southern).
There is a lovely nursing home 30 mins from where I live (and there are others which are closer) - so I could visit frequently, and be in touch with the doctors etc... visit if she goes into hospital... One granddaughter, and 2 small great-grandchildren (whom she never sees at the moment) live in the same town, and she would see the other granddaughters much more frequently than if she stayed in London.
The downside though, is that she would be in a French-speaking environment !!! Some of the staff would speak and understand English, there is an English-speaking resident, they told me - BUT it is a huge upheaval... My mother spoke French before, but I assume she has probably already lost that ability.
When my mother had a fall and went into hospital in February, my daughter and I rushed over (an 8-hour journey door-to-door), and I realised then the importance for my mother of familiar faces (us!) and also the importance for us of being able to talk to doctors etc... and make informed decisions about her care...
I won't always be able to rush over from France at short notice - and I think a dementia patient in hospital needs family around to look out for their interests. I am feeling it would be so much easier if my mother were local...
When we spoke to my mother about this in February, she loved the idea - but I know that she is not able to make decisions like this now.
But is it a realistic possibility, given the Alzheimer's...?
I think that, as the illness progresses, her surroundings will matter less and less. Is that also true for the language...?
Thanks for reading !
Angela
I am wondering whether we should think about moving my mother to a nursing home in France to be nearer her family...???
I don't know if any others have had to face this dilemma (moving an Alzheimer's patient to a country with a different language...?).
If not, I would still be interested in your opinions on the importance of language (speaking and understanding) as the illness progresses.
My mother is 89, with mild to moderate Alzheimer's. She was living alone in North London before going into a NH in January. She has no close family nearby, except one of my daughters, who visits occasionally (she lives about 2 hours away, is very busy and travels a lot for work). She has some friends, but I think as the illness progresses, visits from friends will taper off. Also her friends are increasingly ill, or immobile, themselves.
Her only other close family is me and my 3 other daughters and 2 grandchildren - we all live in France (southern).
There is a lovely nursing home 30 mins from where I live (and there are others which are closer) - so I could visit frequently, and be in touch with the doctors etc... visit if she goes into hospital... One granddaughter, and 2 small great-grandchildren (whom she never sees at the moment) live in the same town, and she would see the other granddaughters much more frequently than if she stayed in London.
The downside though, is that she would be in a French-speaking environment !!! Some of the staff would speak and understand English, there is an English-speaking resident, they told me - BUT it is a huge upheaval... My mother spoke French before, but I assume she has probably already lost that ability.
When my mother had a fall and went into hospital in February, my daughter and I rushed over (an 8-hour journey door-to-door), and I realised then the importance for my mother of familiar faces (us!) and also the importance for us of being able to talk to doctors etc... and make informed decisions about her care...
I won't always be able to rush over from France at short notice - and I think a dementia patient in hospital needs family around to look out for their interests. I am feeling it would be so much easier if my mother were local...
When we spoke to my mother about this in February, she loved the idea - but I know that she is not able to make decisions like this now.
But is it a realistic possibility, given the Alzheimer's...?
I think that, as the illness progresses, her surroundings will matter less and less. Is that also true for the language...?
Thanks for reading !
Angela