Hi, I am a newbie here. Have been reading up, trying to understand the system and where to go from here. Will try to be brief...
Mum was diagnosed with Vascular Demenia at 88 yrs old and we have slowly gone from one visit per day to two per day. My Mum still lives independently in a High Rise Block for over 50's. I share the caring with my sister but we are not spring chickens, both in our mid 60's, not in the best of health ourselves and with other family commitments.
Things stepped up last summer when mum started wandering. She would look outside at the lovely weather and decide she was going out for the evening! That was when we stepped up our visits to twice a day. My sister doesn't drive and is a 10 minute uphill walk away (she has emphysema and arthritis in her feet and hands). She tends to deal with mums emotional needs and help around the home. I tend to deal with more practical things, financial, shopping, running her around to different appointments, daycare, Singing for the Brain etc. We both make sure that she was eating ok during our visits.
It all came to a head a week before Christmas when Mums legs just seemed to pack up. She had already had a fall when her legs wouldn't support her getting out of bed. Thankfully, no bones broken but now she has extreme problems just getting out of a chair or off the loo. When my sister couldn't lift her, we had to step back, hold our hands up and say Whoa.... we cannot cope now, she needs professional help. We rang 111 who sent Paramedics, who got an ambulance and sent her to hospital.
....and that is where she still is, more than 3 weeks later, in general good health but still unsteady on her legs. Bless her, she is so confused about where she is and why. She has started hallucinating, thinking she is at school, thinking it is raining over her etc. She is a calm and placid lady who, so far, has had no aggressive outbreaks but we are now stuck in this bedblocking scenario where she needs to be discharged but without some sort of care package in place, nothing can be done.
We fought for over two years to get a social worker from the Council but she has been no help at all, always off sick and having to 'prioritise her workload'. She hasn't even completed Mums assessment and has now passed the buck, saying we should speak to the hospital Social Work team for help.... but no doubt they will have 'prioritise their workload' too
I wonder if, because we are not in the position to pay Privately for help, that we are being put at the bottom of the pile. Any advice on where to go or what to do next would be helpful. It didn't help, having the Christmas/New Year holidays in the middle of all this but feel now we just have to get things moving!!
Mum was diagnosed with Vascular Demenia at 88 yrs old and we have slowly gone from one visit per day to two per day. My Mum still lives independently in a High Rise Block for over 50's. I share the caring with my sister but we are not spring chickens, both in our mid 60's, not in the best of health ourselves and with other family commitments.
Things stepped up last summer when mum started wandering. She would look outside at the lovely weather and decide she was going out for the evening! That was when we stepped up our visits to twice a day. My sister doesn't drive and is a 10 minute uphill walk away (she has emphysema and arthritis in her feet and hands). She tends to deal with mums emotional needs and help around the home. I tend to deal with more practical things, financial, shopping, running her around to different appointments, daycare, Singing for the Brain etc. We both make sure that she was eating ok during our visits.
It all came to a head a week before Christmas when Mums legs just seemed to pack up. She had already had a fall when her legs wouldn't support her getting out of bed. Thankfully, no bones broken but now she has extreme problems just getting out of a chair or off the loo. When my sister couldn't lift her, we had to step back, hold our hands up and say Whoa.... we cannot cope now, she needs professional help. We rang 111 who sent Paramedics, who got an ambulance and sent her to hospital.
....and that is where she still is, more than 3 weeks later, in general good health but still unsteady on her legs. Bless her, she is so confused about where she is and why. She has started hallucinating, thinking she is at school, thinking it is raining over her etc. She is a calm and placid lady who, so far, has had no aggressive outbreaks but we are now stuck in this bedblocking scenario where she needs to be discharged but without some sort of care package in place, nothing can be done.
We fought for over two years to get a social worker from the Council but she has been no help at all, always off sick and having to 'prioritise her workload'. She hasn't even completed Mums assessment and has now passed the buck, saying we should speak to the hospital Social Work team for help.... but no doubt they will have 'prioritise their workload' too
I wonder if, because we are not in the position to pay Privately for help, that we are being put at the bottom of the pile. Any advice on where to go or what to do next would be helpful. It didn't help, having the Christmas/New Year holidays in the middle of all this but feel now we just have to get things moving!!
