Hi All
haven't posted for a while.....I've been kept busy...........
Well....its taken 6 months to get to this stage but things are looking up!
3 or so weeks ago I still hadn't heard from Mental Health so I phoned to see what was happening.....was told mum hadn't been allocated a support worker but they'd "look into it" and phone me back......
Half an hour later they say yes mum has been assigned a SW and his name is Gary but he's not around today....
Next day someone else phones and says he's mums SW and arranges to come and see us the following week.....
I liked him as soon as I saw him....he stayed for 1.5 hours and went through everything with us.....day care,mental health assessments,respite,help with personal care.....
Mum had been assigned a social worker who specialised in older people in general when she first moved in with us and has now been referred to the specialist mental health team.....which is where,I believe ,she should have been referred to in the first place.....but hey....I'm splitting hairs now!!!
So after 6 months I have 2 weeks respite well and truly booked starting next Wednesday 18th October( I had requested this previously but not had it confirmed) and we're going away!!!!......me, husband,3 kids....can't wait!!!!
Not only that...mums moving up the waiting list for daycare 1 or two days per week, SW has referred us to Crossroads and another sitting agency.....life looks positively rosy!!!
And....I've also arranged for 4 days respite care every 6 weeks so we can all have a family weekend now and again(going in Thursday...out Monday).I've booked this up until April next year!!!
Now....I'm a worrier.....so I spent a lot of time worrying about 2 weeks respite....I felt cruel" putting her in"....I saw it as locking her away for 2 weeks....confused,in a place she doesn't know,with people she doesn't know,feeling lost and frightened......oh how I've agonised over this one....
Then the unthinkable happened....last Wednesday I took mum her first cuppa of the day......I thought she was dead....I couldn't wake her...she was warm but totally unresponsive....i called the ambulance by which time I'd got her to open a rather glazed eye....she was having a diabetic hypo.....one thing puzzled me.....how can someone who is virtually unconscious still manage to give the paramedic a hefty right hook when they were trying to give her a glucose injection ....mum did !!!
Anyway they admitted her to hospital where she spent 3 days and 2 nights.....I was so worried ....I was with her there from 9am to 4pm.....(she'd gone back to "normal" within an hour....) ...I just didn't want to leave her there....I was asked to leave........and explained my fears.....mum wanted to come with me but as if i was leaving a child at their first day at school,the nurse took her and let me go.....I felt awful......
The next morning they said they'd had an eventful night...mum wandering ,pacing,collecting tissues,soap,hiding her notes,"borrowing" another ladies' walking stick etc......but she was fine!!!!....When I visited her it was if I'd just popped out for a minute!!!...Mum was in control of her "hotel"....chatting to the "guests"...generally having a good time!!!
I was so relieved.........
Do you think these trials are sent for a reason?.........I can now go away next week with no worries.....I feel as if a tremendous weight has been lifted off my shoulders........
......now....where did I put the passports..........................?
love xx
haven't posted for a while.....I've been kept busy...........
Well....its taken 6 months to get to this stage but things are looking up!
3 or so weeks ago I still hadn't heard from Mental Health so I phoned to see what was happening.....was told mum hadn't been allocated a support worker but they'd "look into it" and phone me back......
Half an hour later they say yes mum has been assigned a SW and his name is Gary but he's not around today....
Next day someone else phones and says he's mums SW and arranges to come and see us the following week.....
I liked him as soon as I saw him....he stayed for 1.5 hours and went through everything with us.....day care,mental health assessments,respite,help with personal care.....
Mum had been assigned a social worker who specialised in older people in general when she first moved in with us and has now been referred to the specialist mental health team.....which is where,I believe ,she should have been referred to in the first place.....but hey....I'm splitting hairs now!!!
So after 6 months I have 2 weeks respite well and truly booked starting next Wednesday 18th October( I had requested this previously but not had it confirmed) and we're going away!!!!......me, husband,3 kids....can't wait!!!!
Not only that...mums moving up the waiting list for daycare 1 or two days per week, SW has referred us to Crossroads and another sitting agency.....life looks positively rosy!!!
And....I've also arranged for 4 days respite care every 6 weeks so we can all have a family weekend now and again(going in Thursday...out Monday).I've booked this up until April next year!!!
Now....I'm a worrier.....so I spent a lot of time worrying about 2 weeks respite....I felt cruel" putting her in"....I saw it as locking her away for 2 weeks....confused,in a place she doesn't know,with people she doesn't know,feeling lost and frightened......oh how I've agonised over this one....
Then the unthinkable happened....last Wednesday I took mum her first cuppa of the day......I thought she was dead....I couldn't wake her...she was warm but totally unresponsive....i called the ambulance by which time I'd got her to open a rather glazed eye....she was having a diabetic hypo.....one thing puzzled me.....how can someone who is virtually unconscious still manage to give the paramedic a hefty right hook when they were trying to give her a glucose injection ....mum did !!!
Anyway they admitted her to hospital where she spent 3 days and 2 nights.....I was so worried ....I was with her there from 9am to 4pm.....(she'd gone back to "normal" within an hour....) ...I just didn't want to leave her there....I was asked to leave........and explained my fears.....mum wanted to come with me but as if i was leaving a child at their first day at school,the nurse took her and let me go.....I felt awful......
The next morning they said they'd had an eventful night...mum wandering ,pacing,collecting tissues,soap,hiding her notes,"borrowing" another ladies' walking stick etc......but she was fine!!!!....When I visited her it was if I'd just popped out for a minute!!!...Mum was in control of her "hotel"....chatting to the "guests"...generally having a good time!!!
I was so relieved.........
Do you think these trials are sent for a reason?.........I can now go away next week with no worries.....I feel as if a tremendous weight has been lifted off my shoulders........
......now....where did I put the passports..........................?
love xx