Morning all.
I'm working on the tree puzzle, 2jays - suspect I may find the answer to that, before I find the answer as to why Mil does what she does
JM, Red is right - too often instead of taking time and enjoying things like a Mum/Daughter shopping trip, things like that do end of as something to be just 'ticked off' a list - I hope you and your girl managed to have a nice time together.
yaditO , I seemed to spend a fair bit of my thinking time trying to work out where some of Mils delusions spring from - sometimes, I can identify where the idea's come from, but other times, I'm completely stumped. Increasingly, though, there is no doubt that the TV plays a part and we now have to very discretly (because there are certain programmes she loves but which we know will set her off) try and be selective about what she views.
Where was the hudle, GL? Hope Maureen has recovered from the invisibles visit, bless her x
Had words with day care yesterday. Walked in to collect Mil, to find her very confused and agitated, she wanted to know if the visitors her son and Seamus were expecting had turned up?. Though she has a legion of Irish nephews and relatives, none have the name Seamus - the only Seamus she knows is our lunatic puppy, so I assume that's where that name came from! Anyway, reassured and said 'lets go', only to have Mil make a beeline for a plate of biscuits saying she must finish them first. Now, I've had 2 or 3 face to face conversations about Mil's weight with the senior staff there, I've spoken to them on the phone about her being given large bags of sweets as 'raffle prizes' or about her lifting sweets and chocolates from other relatives. I've reported the concerns raised about Mils breathing as a result of the extra weight after her COPD review, about how upset she gets at being increasingly breathless, about the worsening of her arthritis and about how difficult it is for her to bend and dry her feet, put on shoes and do numerous other things when she is carrying nearly 13 stones on a 5 foot frame. Each time, I'm told that they will stop the second breakfast of toast laden with butter as soon as she walks through the door, and stop the providing her with biscuits and cakes every time she asks. They have also said they will do something about portion control at meal times. But its clear that they aren't doing this - last week one staff made reference to her having her 'usual toast' on arrival and another said she had been asking for biscuits all day, adding that they had just given her 'plain ones' (rich tea and digestives)! Seeing her with the biscuits, I saw red - in front of all the other staff and in earshot of the lady in the kitchen, I told them it had to stop and that they weren't being fair to Mil. That I'd asked several times and was fed up with having to deal with the results of the weight gain and the upset it was causing Mil, as well as the damage to her health. That they were making life harder for both Mil and me. I wasn't rude, but I made it clear how fed up I was - there were a couple of surprised faces, they are definitely not used to me being an 'awkward' relative, but honestly - what do I have to do to get them to listen and act? Mil was not one bit bothered at this, concentrating instead on stuffing the last of the biscuits in her mouth, her only comment was 'It was only two biscuits, Ann'
In the car, initially quite confused and a confabulation about her having been to the shops to pick up 'something for the woman who lives next door but one' led to a panic as she declared that she had left the shopping behind and please we had to go back for it as it was a 'present for the womans' Mum's birthday, an ornament' and she had to get it as the birthday was 'tomorrow'.
Back home, no nastiness, but oh my goodness - the delusions and confabulations
We had the 'little girl', we had looking for dance shoes, a box of pots, looking for the letter from her nephew, asking where the room with the lights in it had gone, looking for the piles of clothes she said she had just ironed, all the cushions off the sofa as she searched for something she couldn't remember the name of, asking me where Ann had gone and where Ann's daughter was (as youngest was sat next to her). Oldest phoned to tell us how her primary school placement was going (the last thing she has to do to finish her teacher training) and she spoke to her Nana, who spent 5 minutes telling oldest about how she had spent all day walking by the river and - after asking about what Oldest was doing and being told again about how she had got a job - was amazed because her son's daughter had also just trained as a teacher and had got a job in Stockport too. When she finished on the phone, within less than a minute, she was telling me about when she taught in a primary school - after she came out of the army, that was
The chatter and the confusion, with her groping for words and sometimes sounding a little garbled because of that, carried on all evening - as I said, not a bit nasty but boy, it caused ringing ears. I offered her meds at 8.30 and she said no, she wanted to stay up for a bit, but finally at about 9.30, OH simply told her it was time for meds and bed, and off she went. Helping her/making sure she put the pull ups on upstairs, she informed me she was getting worried she might be pregnant, as she hadn't had a period 'for months' - I reckon I did well to come up with telling her that no, it was the medicine she had 'last time you were poorly' that was causing the delay, not pregnancy - she accepted that, thank God, but again - the mind boggles!
Just after 3 a.m., on my way to the bathroom I heard noise from her room, and on checking found her stood in front of the wardrobe rifling through her clothes - but she let me guide her back to bed and settled straight back to sleep, so that was OK.
My camera finally arrived at 3.30 yesterday afternoon, having taken 11 and a half hours to make the usually 45 minute journey from Deeside, according to parcel tracking - must have taken the scenic route
Anyway, hoping to find time to have a play with that today, once I have the usual chores sorted.
Hope you all have a good day today x