My mum's vascular dementia

[malcolmc]

Hi I haven't been on here for a while as I've been able to cope reasonably well with "remotely" helping my 90 year old mum's with her vascular dementia (diagnosed in early 2015) since some "dramas" in March/April last year.

A summary of my situation first - I'll try to use just this one "thread" now to keep everything about my mum in one place on this forum and not have to repeat the background:

My wife and I drive 360 miles round trips, roughly monthly, to visit mum, staying ~four days to do some home maintenance, deal with mail, do her shopping, take her to appointments, etc. Being so distant, and having experienced some serious issues when mum was on her own, I installed 3 webcams in her bungalow about a year ago and check on her daily to confirm she is managing OK. She's struggling, but is safe and just about gets by.

Mum lives independently in her own little bungalow and has a 30 min carer visit every day at around 8.30am to help with compression stockings (mum has diabetes T2 which affects her legs), check she is OK, check she's got her "Lifeline" on, check she's taken her meds and deal with anything that needs doing (as well as having some vital human contact!). Mum also has an elderly neighbour who tries to keep an eye out for her - the neighbour's sons often do some grocery shopping for mum between my visits.

Mum is fiercely independent and does not accept help readily, insisting she's coped on her own since my dad died in 1979. She refuses to accept her circumstances have changed, or that she needs help and often rages when people try.

I've organised with mum's GP that all her 7 daily tablets can be taken together in the morning and they are delivered in blister packs. This morning, mum's carer visited and texted me to say her med blister pack suggested she hadn't taken her 7 tablets today . Mum insisted to the carer that she had taken them. I subsequently checked the cameras and confirmed mum had forgotten to take them today. I phoned mum but she was adamant she took her tablets "as I do every day", but it was clear she hadn't, as her version of when/how she took her meds was not what the cameras showed. When I tried to gently explain it was her memory that was playing tricks she went into a rage and we had to end the call.

If this was a one-off it wouldn't be the end of the world for her to miss her meds for one day, but there has been increasing pattern of this for the past 4-6 weeks. Before this, her routine in taking her meds every day was not a problem.

So, sorry for the long intro. The question is, given my situation with her meds, has anyone else had this type of problem and any suggestions as to how to deal with it?

 

[Bennyboy58]

May i suggest a lockable medical cabinet with the key kept safely for the carer to dispense the tablets.

 

[malcolmc]

^^ Thanks - that's something I hadn't thought of! I'll discuss it with carer. Mum won't like it one bit, but something has to change as her current routine is starting to fall apart.

 

[malcolmc]

Mum has been pretty stable for a while, continuing to manage on her own with help (which she still fights, due to her fierce independence).

That all changed today.

Mum usually rises at 6.30am, 7am latest, but no sign on webcam at 8am. Tried to phone mum multiple times but no reply. Didn't worry too much as mum often can't hear the phone on her bedside without hearing aids in place. Texted carer to let her know mum wasn't up. Daily carer visited 8.30 am for 30 minutes, finding mum simply asleep on arrival, but mum had difficulty stringing a coherent sentence together during the whole visit. Speech was OK and otherwise she appeared physically OK, moving around normally. I spoke to the carer and we agreed doctor home visit needed. Couldn't could get through on the GP phoneline, the call kept getting dumped multiple times after an automated message to say I'd be put on hold to speak to receptionist. Then got a call from the surgery to say had I been trying to get through?! Their phone system was down and wasn't passing phone calls to staff! Having passed that hurdle they arranged for doctor to do home visit between 12 and 2pm. So, thought I'd better monitor mum for a while before Doc arrived. Disaster! She tried to make breakfast, but had forgotten how to! Made a pot of tea OK, but then poured it into a jug full of milk. Tried to drink it from the jug and realised it wasn't quite right. She then poured more TEA into her cereal bowl and added some butter and then cracked in a raw egg and stirred it up with a spoon, She then looked at the concoction with some confusion and put it on the floorstanding CH boiler. Next she plugged in the toaster and turned it on at the wall. Then she poured the whole jug of tea/milk into one of the slots of the toaster, to be greeted with a plume of blue smoke! As this stage I was somewhat frantic as to what to do!! Managed to get care agency to get someone to call asap - they did a brilliant job to get someone on site within about 20 minutes. She cleaned things up and took the toaster away. Again, mum more confused than usual, but otherwise OK. The carer made a cup of tea for mum, but mum was quite rude about it, saying she didn't want it (she hadn't had a proper drink she she woke up, which is very unusual). In the meantime I'd got hold of a neighbour who was happy to pop if required. But mum then simply went back to her bedroom, so thought best to leave her to sleep.

Mum woke up late morning and seemed to be moving around OK and she had dressed herself. Shortly afterwards her GP arrived at the door but mum refused to let him enter! He tried his best to persuade mum to let him in but she blocked the door and held it open just a crack. He could see she had communication issues and said if she wouldn't let him in he's have to call out an ambulance and admit her to hospital. She still refused, so an ambulance arrived at about 3pm. The Paramedics had been given mum's keysafe code so they didn't ring the doorbell but let themselves in. Mum was not happy about that and it took them 45 minutes to get mum out to the ambulance. I shall never forget mum's plaintiff cries as they took her out in a transport chair. She clearly wasn't happy to be going, but I have to praise the Paramedics for their patience and calm handling of an awkward situation.

Now awaiting a call to confirm where exactly she has been admitted, but the GP Doctor called me to say he thinks she may have Dysphasia, a problem possibly due to a stroke causing damage the communication part of the brain.

I'm now looking out of the window at my car on my drive under 6" of snow and bracing myself for a trip of 180 miles to mum where a weather Red Alert has been issued. Mum's neighbour has said it's snowing quite hard there at the moment with high winds too.

Just needed to get that off my chest as I was in tears as they took mum off to the ambulance. Webcams are a two edged sword. They have enabled me to keep mum independent and safe for 18 months now, but it's hard to witness some scenes....

 

[DeMartin]

Mum has been pretty stable for a while, continuing to manage on her own with help (which she still fights, due to her fierce independence).

That all changed today.

Mum usually rises at 6.30am, 7am latest, but no sign on webcam at 8am. Tried to phone mum multiple times but no reply. Didn't worry too much as mum often can't hear the phone on her bedside without hearing aids in place. Texted carer to let her know mum wasn't up. Daily carer visited 8.30 am for 30 minutes, finding mum simply asleep on arrival, but mum had difficulty stringing a coherent sentence together during the whole visit. Speech was OK and otherwise she appeared physically OK, moving around normally. I spoke to the carer and we agreed doctor home visit needed. Couldn't could get through on the GP phoneline, the call kept getting dumped multiple times after an automated message to say I'd be put on hold to speak to receptionist. Then got a call from the surgery to say had I been trying to get through?! Their phone system was down and wasn't passing phone calls to staff! Having passed that hurdle they arranged for doctor to do home visit between 12 and 2pm. So, thought I'd better monitor mum for a while before Doc arrived. Disaster! She tried to make breakfast, but had forgotten how to! Made a pot of tea OK, but then poured it into a jug full of milk. Tried to drink it from the jug and realised it wasn't quite right. She then poured more TEA into her cereal bowl and added some butter and then cracked in a raw egg and stirred it up with a spoon, She then looked at the concoction with some confusion and put it on the floorstanding CH boiler. Next she plugged in the toaster and turned it on at the wall. Then she poured the whole jug of tea/milk into one of the slots of the toaster, to be greeted with a plume of blue smoke! As this stage I was somewhat frantic as to what to do!! Managed to get care agency to get someone to call asap - they did a brilliant job to get someone on site within about 20 minutes. She cleaned things up and took the toaster away. Again, mum more confused than usual, but otherwise OK. The carer made a cup of tea for mum, but mum was quite rude about it, saying she didn't want it (she hadn't had a proper drink she she woke up, which is very unusual). In the meantime I'd got hold of a neighbour who was happy to pop if required. But mum then simply went back to her bedroom, so thought best to leave her to sleep.

Mum woke up late morning and seemed to be moving around OK and she had dressed herself. Shortly afterwards her GP arrived at the door but mum refused to let him enter! He tried his best to persuade mum to let him in but she blocked the door and held it open just a crack. He could see she had communication issues and said if she wouldn't let him in he's have to call out an ambulance and admit her to hospital. She still refused, so an ambulance arrived at about 3pm. The Paramedics had been given mum's keysafe code so they didn't ring the doorbell but let themselves in. Mum was not happy about that and it took them 45 minutes to get mum out to the ambulance. I shall never forget mum's plaintiff cries as they took her out in a transport chair. She clearly wasn't happy to be going, but I have to praise the Paramedics for their patience and calm handling of an awkward situation.

Now awaiting a call to confirm where exactly she has been admitted, but the GP Doctor called me to say he thinks she may have Dysphasia, a problem possibly due to a stroke causing damage the communication part of the brain.

I'm now looking out of the window at my car on my drive under 6" of snow and bracing myself for a trip of 180 miles to mum where a weather Red Alert has been issued. Mum's neighbour has said it's snowing quite hard there at the moment with high winds too.

Just needed to get that off my chest as I was in tears as they took mum off to the ambulance. Webcams are a two edged sword. They have enabled me to keep mum independent and safe for 18 months now, but it's hard to witness some scenes....

She’s safe, thank goodness you monitored her, made it so help could get in to treat her, you’ve done a good job keeping her independent and at home.
Be careful if you set off to travel, remember she is safe, and you being stuck on a motorway helps no one.

 

[malcolmc]

Thanks DeMartin. I'll always think I could have done more, but pleased she's remained safe and independent in her home, which is her wish, for much longer than her GP believed possible.

I will pack tonight, but check weather and road reports before we set off tomorrow. My wife has family who live halfway along the route, so if things gets worse we'll stopover there. We could have left today, but we would have arrived after dark with deteriorating weather predicted, which has turned out to be the case, so a good call to delay our trip.

Still awaiting someone to tell me where mum has ended up - it's been over 3 hours now. I guess local hospitals are busy with weather-related admissions today. No problem, as long as she's being looked after, but I fear she'll be very frightened at what is going on and needs a familiar face to help calm her fears.

 

[malcolmc]

Update. Mum was admitted to the Acute Stroke Unit and diagnosed with a probable clot causing the stroke. She was transferred to the Stroke Rehab unit within 48hrs. She hasn't settled into hospital at all. She doesn't really know where she is and thinks she is perfectly OK, despite having difficulty using the right words and forming intelligible sentences. She's quite depressed (normal after a stroke I understand) and not very cooperative with the Therapists. The Physios are happy they don't need to do anything as her movement is fine. Most of the work is falling on the Occupational and Speech Therapists. Medically, she on her usual meds, plus high dose Aspirin to thin her blood to prevent any further clots.

My wife and I met with the Team of people looking after mum last Friday, including a Social Worker. The Therapists had not been able to do enough work with mum to determine if she would be safe to return home with an increased care package or will require Residential Care. They said they would update us later this week, after doing further tests.

I've been doing some reading up since the meeting and it seems I should request an NHS Continuing Care Assessment, which will determine whether mum's needs qualify for NHS funding? This is new territory to me, and I suspect, given mum's history of dementia, that she will not qualify. However, as she was independent (with just one daily Care visit, unrelated to her dementia) prior to this stroke, then if she now needs Residential Care then that is due to a change in her health caused by the stroke and maybe she does qualify for Continuing Care?

Does anyone have any experience of NHS Continuing Care and can advise?

 

[Wigglesworth]

My Mum's behaviour has been so similar to your mum in every way albeit my mum has had a far more rapid decline and is 73 (although she does repeatedly tell everyone she is 90). She was diagnosed in July of last year, ended up in hospital in after a bout of flu in January from which she hasn't recovered. (we too had to rely on 4 paramedics to 'persuade' mum she needed to go to hospital. The hospital told me they would not be able to discharge mum back to her independent living due to the deterioration in her abilities although she was well enough not to be in hospital.

The hospital arranged for her to be referred to a nursing home for a period of 8 weeks assessment and as part of that the nursing home had to apply for DOLS as mum was adamant she wanted to go home despite not having a clue where home was. She was seen by a Social Worker and a Psychiatrist. I was then informed that there would be a meeting at the later end of mums stay to carry out a Continuing Health Assessment. My understanding is that the medical professionals started the process, I did not have to request it. That meeting is today so I will let you know how it goes. Your (or your mum's) local health service should have a CCG (Clinical Commissioning Group) and I found that a useful point of information.

 

[malcolmc]

Many thanks for your reply Wigglesworth. As you say, there are a lot of similarities to the situation with my mum. Yes, please update me on how your meeting goes today as it seems I may well be following the same path soon. I hope you have a better idea of the future path for your mum after the meeting. The team looking after mum in hospital are due to update me in the next two days with regard to mum's likely future care needs, so I will enquire as to whether a Continuing Healthcare Assessment has been started or is being planned. I've read that the CCG is the body that is a critical "component" of the process, so I'll doe some more investigation in that area - thanks.

 

[Kikki21]

Many thanks for your reply Wigglesworth. As you say, there are a lot of similarities to the situation with my mum. Yes, please update me on how your meeting goes today as it seems I may well be following the same path soon. I hope you have a better idea of the future path for your mum after the meeting. The team looking after mum in hospital are due to update me in the next two days with regard to mum's likely future care needs, so I will enquire as to whether a Continuing Healthcare Assessment has been started or is being planned. I've read that the CCG is the body that is a critical "component" of the process, so I'll doe some more investigation in that area - thanks.

Sorry to hear you have had recent troubles with your mum as I have with mine.
Please bear in mind that it is very difficult to get CHC funding. My mum passed the initial checklist but failed at the crucial stage.
She would have to have more stuff medically wrong with her other than dementia.

I do not agree with this skewed way of logic but the NHS deliberately set the bar very high. I guess if your mum were to go back home then she would need a bigger package of care or I think I would be thinking that she needs a care home considering that you live a large distance away from her. Would you consider a care home nearer to yourselves?

 

[malcolmc]

Hi kikki21 and thank you for your input. I suspect you are correct and I'm certainly not holding my breath for any CHC funding, but thought I should make sure we explore it to be certain. Like your situation, I believe the checklist stage may reveal that a full assessment is required (due to the severity of Behaviour, Cognition, Psychological and Communication issues), but that full assessment may well decide mum's situation is not sufficient to warrant support. I've done a fair bit of reading on the topic now and realise how subjective (or at least open to varying opinions) the process appears to be in determining the severity of the various decision criteria and, as you say, the bar is set very high.

I think it's 80/20 likely she will need to go into a residential home (RH). Mum does not tolerate the help of others well, so a more extensive Home Care Package is simply likely to result in mum refusing carers entry (it's happened before). Mum has been very uncooperative with the Occupational and Speech Therapists at the hospital, which isn't helping her assessment, but it is demonstrating to them how she is likely to reject any more extensive care package at home. In anticipation, have already visited one RH, only 15 minutes walk from where I live. It ticked many of the boxes but I need to look at more, so this morning I've been doing some online research and found 4 other homes close to me that are candidates (all take PWD, good or better CQC reports).

I mentioned at the Hospital Team meeting last Friday that if the conclusion was that mum needed to go into a RH then I would want it to be near me, to which the SW commented they'd need to decide "if that was in the best interests" of my mum!! I didn't react, but I note it's been documented. My wife and I have already given the issue considerable thought and the Psychiatrist has already said mum doesn't have the mental capacity to make her own decisions. Mum doesn't recognise the area she has lived in for the last 60+ years and never goes out on her own any more. When I take her to the local shopping centre she is completely lost - so sad as she's been there 1000's of times since it was built in the 1960's, even working in the M&S Store there for a few years in the 1970's. The only regular visitors mum has had in her home in the past ten years has been my wife & I, plus mum's next door neighbour, who's struggling with her own health issues as shes 91 in a few day time (note to self, mustn't forget to get her a birthday card!). If mum was to be placed in a home where she lives we would most likely be needing to use hotels to visit and mum's neighbour would undoubtedly feel "pressurised" into making visits when we weren't there, which wouldn't be in her best health interests. She's already said how relieved she is when we visit mum as she can relax and not have to worry about mum for a few days.

 

[malcolmc]

My wife and I met with one of the Therapists yesterday and the conclusion is that mum would be best going back home with a live-in carer. A meeting has been arranged with the SW tomorrow to explore this options (and others?). Live-in care is bit of a surprise conclusion and, according to the Therapist, is based on mum's strongly expressed desire to return home. Given the informal hospital assessment is that she lacks capacity to make her own decisions I'm a little confused as to how much weight seems to be given to mum's "wants" versus her "needs". Having said that, I'm certainly not opposed to a live-in carer option as mum will return to a familiar environment and will have the opportunity for more social interaction and help on tap. The key element will be finding the right person (or probably 2-3 people as it will need to be 24 hour care) as mum does not accept help readily and will (I expect) find it difficult to adapt to strangers in her home. Luckily, she does have a spare bedroom, the one we use when we visit, so it's certainly feasible.

Has anyone gone down this route of live-in care and how has it worked out?

Mum has some savings which is just above the threshold so I'm assuming for a short while she would be self-funding the live-in care costs, but that's likely to last only a month or so and then I'm unclear as to what contribution SS would make. Live-in care costs look to be sightly higher than Residential Home costs when all factors are taken into account, as she will still have day-to-day bills and food costs whilst at home.

I'd really welcome experiences of anyone who has already gone down the live-in care route.

 

[Rosettastone57]

My wife and I met with one of the Therapists yesterday and the conclusion is that mum would be best going back home with a live-in carer. A meeting has been arranged with the SW tomorrow to explore this options (and others?). Live-in care is bit of a surprise conclusion and, according to the Therapist, is based on mum's strongly expressed desire to return home. Given the informal hospital assessment is that she lacks capacity to make her own decisions I'm a little confused as to how much weight seems to be given to mum's "wants" versus her "needs". Having said that, I'm certainly not opposed to a live-in carer option as mum will return to a familiar environment and will have the opportunity for more social interaction and help on tap. The key element will be finding the right person (or probably 2-3 people as it will need to be 24 hour care) as mum does not accept help readily and will (I expect) find it difficult to adapt to strangers in her home. Luckily, she does have a spare bedroom, the one we use when we visit, so it's certainly feasible.

Has anyone gone down this route of live-in care and how has it worked out?

Mum has some savings which is just above the threshold so I'm assuming for a short while she would be self-funding the live-in care costs, but that's likely to last only a month or so and then I'm unclear as to what contribution SS would make. Live-in care costs look to be sightly higher than Residential Home costs when all factors are taken into account, as she will still have day-to-day bills and food costs whilst at home.

I'd really welcome experiences of anyone who has already gone down the live-in care route.

No personal experience of this but when I made enquiries previously with social services I was told they wouldn't fund live in carers or overnight care. Too expensive...

 

[Etheldreda]

No personal experience of this but when I made enquiries previously with social services I was told they wouldn't fund live in carers or overnight care. Too expensive...

We were told we would have funding for a live-in up to the value of a residential home place but would have to fund the shortfall (about £300w) ourselves.

 

[malcolmc]

Thanks Rosettastone57 & Etheldreda. Much as I suspected. From what I can see, live-in care is normally a more expensive than RH, so funding this option will be more difficult.

 

[Mike23]

No personal experience of this but when I made enquiries previously with social services I was told they wouldn't fund live in carers or overnight care. Too expensive...

 

[Mike23]

Hi - we are in a similar position with live-in care offering benefits to our 74-year-old mum in that she is in familiar surroundings and maintains her daily routine. despite this being a recommendation and the generally perceived wisdom in supporting people with Alzheimers, the local authority will not approve overnight care. They say her current care package is worth £450 per week (so less than the cost of a care home) and would leave a shortfall of around £400 a week. To make matters worse the local authority say we cannot to pup the care package from mum's own savings and only family members can contribute. This is a ll odd as a recent intervention by the crisis team produced a bunch of recommendations to support mum at home. We are pushing for a 'Best Interests' meeting as we are tired of West Sussex County Council's arbitrary decisions. It seems it never gets any easier. Sorry that doesn't answer your question but felt it might be good to share. Best wishes

 

[malcolmc]

Thank you for that Mike - what a ludicrous situation re top-up funding. I can only wish you well in reaching a solution for your mum. It's really tough to get to understand the system, let alone try and make it work for you and your loved one.

Well, my wife and I had a "best interest" meeting today with SALT, OT and SW involved. Conclusion of OT and SALT is that, based on their assessment, mum needs 24/7 care and they recommend she should return home with a 24/7 live-in carer. I asked how this would be financed and the answer was that mum would need to self-fund until her savings reached the £23k threshold level. I said that will only take a few weeks at ~£800-£1000 cost of live-in care, so what would happen then? SW replied LA can't fund it all but can contribute something, leaving us to fund the rest! I said that's not possible, as it would likely be around £300-£500 a week we would need to find. It seems everyone has concluded that NHS Continuing Heaithcare funding is not appropriate as mum's medical needs are not deemed to be sufficiently severe. So it would seem then, for financial reasons (once mum's savings have been drained by live-in care costs), that she would have to move to a Residential Home which would be funded by sale of her bungalow. I said, what's the point of the live-in care period then, if it's just delaying the inevitable?? It'll be more disruptive for mum to move back home, get used to a live-in carer and then have to move to a RH!! Bonkers! Might just as well move her to a RH straight away if that's going to be the way forward.

OT and SALT very unhappy with direct RH move as they are concerned at mum's likely reaction to an immediate RH move from hospital to another unfamiliar location. Mum has already been moved 3 times within the hospital and they have noted the disorientation this has caused mum. So, we had lots of discussion at this point before we came to a sort of compromise. Mum will move back home with a live-in carer for a trial period of 2 weeks. The aim will be for the carer to assess mum's capability to live on her own if her care was dropped from live-in to 4 visits per day after 2 weeks. The reasoning is that none of us really know how mum will re-orient herself when she is back in her familiar environment. OT and SALT think is possible mum might re-orient herself in familiar surroundings. So it's a sort of, "let's give it a try", satisfying mum's strongly stated wish (as noted by SALT, OT and SW) to go home and see what happens. If it can be demonstrated that mum could cope with dropping to 4 daily visits then fine. The SW would sanction payment for 4 care visits per day once mum's finances are drained to the threshold level. If the live-in "trial" is unsuccessful in demonstrating mum could cope between care visits, then we've all done as much as we can and the only alternative left will be for mum to be found a RH place. Should that be the case, although not mentioned at the meeting, I would extend the live-in carer stay for longer to take the pressure off me finding a suitable RH place. I might even extend the 2 week trial if the live-in carer convinces me that mum is making progress over the first two weeks and needs longer.

So, I received a requested list 5 live-in care agencies from the SW later in the day and have already contacted 2 by phone to progress further. I have booked with one agency to visit mum in hospital with us on Tuesday next week, followed by a visit to mum's home to check for suitability for a live-in carer.

I'm feeling reasonably comfortable with the agreed way forward, given all the factors and constraints in play. I just need to make it happen now and see what transpires.

 

[malcolmc]

A live-in carer has now been organised for a trial period of 2 weeks, starting this coming Monday. Cost is £895 p/w (self-funded from mum's rainy day savings), plus we may have to pay for an extra carer to cover the 2hr breaks the live-in carer is legally entitled to each day. We've spoken to mum about this arrangement with mum for several days now, as have the hospital staff. Until yesterday, mum seemed to accept this was needed in order for her to return home safely and there were no real objections, so we thought things were falling into place. But no, on visiting mum in hospital yesterday, the live-in care arrangement came as a complete surprise to her, "there's nothing wrong with me. I don't want a stranger in my home". This development was not a great surprise to us, given her memory problems, but I'm even more anxious now as to how things will proceed on Monday as mum "finds out" (for the first time of course) that the stranger we have told her about daily will be living in her bungalow with her. My wife and I are spending the time until Monday "de-cluttering" mum's home in anticipation of the carer's arrival and mum's return. We haven't been able to do this previously as mum has always hovered in the background stopping us from dumping stuff - like an enormous king-sized duvet when she's only got single beds! Counting down to Monday.....

 

[malcolmc]

We collected mum from hospital as planned, the day before yesterday. She was clearly, and understandably relieved to be going home, to familiar surroundings.

"Maria", her 24/7 carer (a nice ~30-35 y/o Romanian lady organised by a specialist agency) had arrived, as expected, and was waiting at mum's bungalow when we got back. My wife and I stayed for a few hours to check mum was settled back home with Maria and then left to drive home, having been away for 10 days. Maria was happy to leave the 3 webcams active so we can assess, over the next 2 weeks, how mum might cope if left on her own between a possible 2-4 daily care visit regime (which would be financially viable, whereas long term 24/7 live-in care would be an impossible £ strain). Early indications are that mum is struggling with doing familiar things, but nothing desperately unsafe, and it's early days. Biggest issue so far has been this morning when mum claimed she had taken all 8 tablets she is prescribed, but Maria found she had missed one and prompted her to take it. Mum got more and more agitated, saying she'd taken them all, even though there was clearly a tablet left! Despite a valiant effort (on camera), Maria had to "back off" as mum was clearly not going to take it! Time will tell where the path will lead us next....