Thanks to those who have been asking ...... I am delighted to report that mum (Tender Face) is very quickly settled into her new Nursing Home .... albeit she seems to have no concept of why she is there ...... and 'if only my throat would get better, there would be nothing wrong with me'!
Mum even shooed me away at one visit because she was having a lovely conversation with Mary - Mary being deaf and mum unable to speak more than a whisper! But somehow a friendship has blossomed! The whole atmosphere in her 'unit' is one of up-beat, impromptu cameraderie, aided by fabulous nursing staff who burst into song at medication time ... or any other time for that matter!
Mum is still losing weight (although her palliative care plan means she is no longer required to suffer the indignity of being hoisted onto scales to determine just how much) and dangerously close to organ failure at any time .....
There have been odd heart-wrenching moments when she hasn't recognised me immediately and I wonder the sharp decline in her dementia might beat the cancer after all ...... (until I do a quick reality check) .... other days she is lucid and cheeky and spirited as anything!
Her diet is generally a few spoons of pureed food ..... (unless it's trifle, custards and ice cream) and liquids - even her beloved cups of tea - now have to be thickened to enable her to swallow .... we have discovered the consistency of Baileys or Advocaat fits the bill quite nicely!!!!!!!
Against the saddest of times, I am somehow at peace - after the torment of the last few months and the treachery of her care at the first NH and then the hospital - my own sadness at not being able to keep her at home - but finally being realistic that with her overall nursing needs that was an impossible dream ...........
Thanks to the hospice, primarily, I have learnt much about 'quality of life' these last few weeks when I had lost all hope of ever providing anything more for mum - and I believe mum is achieving it - with the highest standards of nursing care from the home and from the Outreach Palliative Care Team who are finally there for us both ....
Me - I've got a great big gaping hole already ....... but mum is enjoying what she deserves, so the abyss isn't quite so deep or dark as it felt a few weeks ago ......
Thank you all for your concern and support, Karen, x
Mum even shooed me away at one visit because she was having a lovely conversation with Mary - Mary being deaf and mum unable to speak more than a whisper! But somehow a friendship has blossomed!
The whole atmosphere in her 'unit' is one of up-beat, impromptu cameraderie, aided by fabulous nursing staff who burst into song at medication time ... or any other time for that matter!Mum is still losing weight (although her palliative care plan means she is no longer required to suffer the indignity of being hoisted onto scales to determine just how much) and dangerously close to organ failure at any time .....
There have been odd heart-wrenching moments when she hasn't recognised me immediately and I wonder the sharp decline in her dementia might beat the cancer after all ...... (until I do a quick reality check) .... other days she is lucid and cheeky and spirited as anything!
Her diet is generally a few spoons of pureed food ..... (unless it's trifle, custards and ice cream
) and liquids - even her beloved cups of tea - now have to be thickened to enable her to swallow .... we have discovered the consistency of Baileys or Advocaat fits the bill quite nicely!!!!!!! Against the saddest of times, I am somehow at peace - after the torment of the last few months and the treachery of her care at the first NH and then the hospital - my own sadness at not being able to keep her at home - but finally being realistic that with her overall nursing needs that was an impossible dream ...........
Thanks to the hospice, primarily, I have learnt much about 'quality of life' these last few weeks when I had lost all hope of ever providing anything more for mum - and I believe mum is achieving it - with the highest standards of nursing care from the home and from the Outreach Palliative Care Team who are finally there for us both ....
Me - I've got a great big gaping hole already ....... but mum is enjoying what she deserves, so the abyss isn't quite so deep or dark as it felt a few weeks ago ......
Thank you all for your concern and support, Karen, x
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