In many ways my wife seems to have settled in well to her residential care home, although her moods and behaviour are as fickle and unpredictable as ever. On Monday she was almost like her old self when I took her and her sister for a walk to a local cafe for coffee and cake. I was dreading the return trip but when we arrived she said "We've been here before" followed by "I like this place". When the door opened she went inside quite happily.
On Wednesday she joined in with a quiz put together by the activities coordinator. She was not fully engaged but bright enough to talk about and expand on the answers after they had been given. One resident, almost always either silent or bad-tempered, even sang a song in answer to a question about Calamity Jane (not one from the film but that did not matter).
Today she was still asleep in bed after 11am. She looked so peaceful that I left her to it. Apparently she had been up wandering about for much of the the night. The staff were going to wake her up so that she wouldn't miss out on today's favourite lunch of fish and chips. She is due for a hair wash and blow dry when the hairdresser is there this afternoon.
After nearly 6 weeks, I would say that the decision for her to go into residential care seems to have been the right one for both of us. As she continues to deteriorate there are bound to be more challenges but at least I know that she is safe, looked after, and (sometimes at least) approaching something like contentment.
On Wednesday she joined in with a quiz put together by the activities coordinator. She was not fully engaged but bright enough to talk about and expand on the answers after they had been given. One resident, almost always either silent or bad-tempered, even sang a song in answer to a question about Calamity Jane (not one from the film but that did not matter).
Today she was still asleep in bed after 11am. She looked so peaceful that I left her to it. Apparently she had been up wandering about for much of the the night. The staff were going to wake her up so that she wouldn't miss out on today's favourite lunch of fish and chips. She is due for a hair wash and blow dry when the hairdresser is there this afternoon.
After nearly 6 weeks, I would say that the decision for her to go into residential care seems to have been the right one for both of us. As she continues to deteriorate there are bound to be more challenges but at least I know that she is safe, looked after, and (sometimes at least) approaching something like contentment.