My mam has Alzheimer's and Vascular dementia. She is in what I think to be the middle stages.
Up to 2 months ago she was still living in her own home, with carers visiting. However things had become increasingly bad, and her behaviour was agitated and angry. She was shouting and slamming doors(her neighbours even put a complaint in to the local council about her, wow! I didn't think my once quiet, friendly, polite mam would ever have a noise complaint against her, though the council were very good when we explained her situation. Makes me smile when I think about it). She started destroying things in her house, breaking coffee tables, chairs( somehow she managed to break a sturdy chair leg in two!) smashing ornaments, vases, pictures.The list seems endless.
It came to a head when she put a small window through, brought a heavy computer chair downstairs on her own,(she is only small and frail!),was seen in the street by the carers with 3 cigarettes in her mouth, and also tried to eat bird seed and drink washing up liquid!
Her social worker said we needed to get her into a home for her safety. I live over 120 miles away, and though my brother is local to my mam, with his own work commitments, he was finding it increasingly hard to provide the care needed.
We took it on the chin, and found her somewhere really nice. A nursing home with EMI unit. Unfortunately she became aggressive on day one, and within 5 hours of her going there, the care home had her placed under a section 2 for assessment. Whether they should have done is another story, that I don't really have the answer to ,but we knew that at least she would get good care in hospital. She was whisked off to a pyschiatric unit out of town, and kept there for 4 weeks.
The staff there are brilliant with her, and we have no complaints about her care at all, After 4 weeks she was placed under a section 3, and has now been there in total almost 7 weeks. The staff have now said that the unsettled environment of the unit isn't helping her and she is ready for discharge into the right place..... that's if we can find the right place!
In her home town of Hartlepool there are NO EMI places available. We are now trying to find a suitable nursing home in neighbouring towns and villages. We have just been turned down by one place, as after they did an assessment of her they decided that due to the residents they already have, there would be ' a personality clash'.
Due to the homes assessing her before they accept her, she should hopefully be more suitably placed when we do find somewhere, but it is a nightmare. Each time we think we are getting somewhere, it seems we get a knock back. And in the meantime she stays in hospital. She couldn't go home, I know that, but I worry that due to her erratic and sometimes confrontational and aggressive behaviour, we will not find anywhere willing to take her on. She can be so sweet, but then suddenly kick off at nothing, and is very active still, making her unpredictable.
Sorry for the long post, I just needed to get out how I am feeling, summed up in one word...worried!
Up to 2 months ago she was still living in her own home, with carers visiting. However things had become increasingly bad, and her behaviour was agitated and angry. She was shouting and slamming doors(her neighbours even put a complaint in to the local council about her, wow! I didn't think my once quiet, friendly, polite mam would ever have a noise complaint against her, though the council were very good when we explained her situation. Makes me smile when I think about it). She started destroying things in her house, breaking coffee tables, chairs( somehow she managed to break a sturdy chair leg in two!) smashing ornaments, vases, pictures.The list seems endless.
It came to a head when she put a small window through, brought a heavy computer chair downstairs on her own,(she is only small and frail!),was seen in the street by the carers with 3 cigarettes in her mouth, and also tried to eat bird seed and drink washing up liquid!
Her social worker said we needed to get her into a home for her safety. I live over 120 miles away, and though my brother is local to my mam, with his own work commitments, he was finding it increasingly hard to provide the care needed.
We took it on the chin, and found her somewhere really nice. A nursing home with EMI unit. Unfortunately she became aggressive on day one, and within 5 hours of her going there, the care home had her placed under a section 2 for assessment. Whether they should have done is another story, that I don't really have the answer to ,but we knew that at least she would get good care in hospital. She was whisked off to a pyschiatric unit out of town, and kept there for 4 weeks.
The staff there are brilliant with her, and we have no complaints about her care at all, After 4 weeks she was placed under a section 3, and has now been there in total almost 7 weeks. The staff have now said that the unsettled environment of the unit isn't helping her and she is ready for discharge into the right place..... that's if we can find the right place!
In her home town of Hartlepool there are NO EMI places available. We are now trying to find a suitable nursing home in neighbouring towns and villages. We have just been turned down by one place, as after they did an assessment of her they decided that due to the residents they already have, there would be ' a personality clash'.
Due to the homes assessing her before they accept her, she should hopefully be more suitably placed when we do find somewhere, but it is a nightmare. Each time we think we are getting somewhere, it seems we get a knock back. And in the meantime she stays in hospital. She couldn't go home, I know that, but I worry that due to her erratic and sometimes confrontational and aggressive behaviour, we will not find anywhere willing to take her on. She can be so sweet, but then suddenly kick off at nothing, and is very active still, making her unpredictable.
Sorry for the long post, I just needed to get out how I am feeling, summed up in one word...worried!