Lavender - your mum must be very strong physically to 'resist' all those meds. Surely it would make sense to wean her off everything and try from scratch. It's a shame they won't do it. Do you have PoA? Could you insist, or press them? I guess under their jurisdiction a PoA would only go so far. I remember when mum was on some pretty strong stuff for her manic behaviour I encouraged them (in hospital) to take her off the very strong things, and I think I did manage some influence. Could you ask for a 'second opinion', a different consultant? I am still amazed to this day how my mum managed around 5 months without a night's sleep. At 89! How is that even possible, never mind at that age? It was like the brain would not rest, was in some constant fear/anxiety mode which would not let her sleep. But how the body carried on for so long without proper sleep, I have no idea.
PT - I have issues with food and mum as well, but not quite as bad as you seem to be having. If something does not clearly look like what it is, eg something in breadcrumbs, then she pulls a face and says she's not going to eat it because it's worms! The worm theme has been going for several months now, I have no idea what triggered it, I could even have been something she saw on TV. But fortunately, whatever I put in front of her, she eats. She really likes fish and chicken, which is great as so do I, so we're really kind of eating mainly what we always have done. She also loves eggs, but now and again she gets a bout of diarrhoea after eating them. I could cut them out, but feel I can't deny her, diarrhoea or no diarrhoea! Also I love them too and get some lovely fresh eggs from a local farm.
Lady A - your dried apple sounds wonderful - do you have a special contraption for drying the fruit, or do you do it in an oven?
Best wishes to everyone else. I've got 10 days without our carer now as she's on holiday, and I've decided not to have anyone else from the agency. We'll probably be doing quite a few trips out to garden centres and interesting shops. If mum walks for a while, she often has a little doze in the armchair when she gets home. I'm expecting a call about her new recliner chair soon - really hope she likes it!
