Hi!
Sorry for this huge long post! I meant to be short but I was trying to put in as much information as possible! I just wonder if anyone can tell me if there is alternative to care home as I don't think my mum will get on well there at all!
... My mum, who is 81, developed vascular dementia after having a series of silent strokes. She was also hardly eating. She was taken into hospital, we were told for 2 weeks to do tests to find out if she had cancer too. She has now been in hospital about 9 weeks & now they are saying she can't come home and has to go into a care home. The tests were eventually done and they couldn't find cancer, though are still puzzled why she won't eat and weighs now just about 5 stone. She deteriorated radically in physical and mental state since going into hospital and now can hardly walk. Before she went into hospital, she was going up and down stairs. I just think she was left on her own far too much in hospital. She'd just be on her own, lying in bed without any company when we go to visit. We visit every day but the visiting hours don't start til 2, stop for a few hours for meals and then are just an hour in the evening. I just think that made her deteriorate even quicker and now they are saying she has to go to a care home and I worry that will be just as bad.
I just got so annoyed with the social workers, who have just suddenly popped into my mum's life, age 81 and I hate that suddenly this is some social case because they want money for a care home! I feel dementia is not being treated as an illness and because she probably hasn't got cancer, she's just been tossed aside and we've been told a care home is the only answer. I know, if my mum could understand what was happening, she would hate this! She has always been so independent and I just feel so bad that now there isn't even any other options. It's terrible to think, but I just feel this wouldn't be happening if she did have cancer. I think she would have had better care and more options. I am really angry that dementia is somehow classed as a social, rather than medical problem, or so it seems.
Really though, I just want to know if anyone knows of alternatives to care homes if that is the medical opinion? I really think she could manage at home with me and my dad here and a package of care. She just sits quietly for most of the day, and from what I have seen there is nothing more in hospital for her, she has less stimulation than at home and just surrounded by unfamiliar faces and things.
Thanks for any advice on what else I could explore instead of a care home!
Sorry for this huge long post! I meant to be short but I was trying to put in as much information as possible! I just wonder if anyone can tell me if there is alternative to care home as I don't think my mum will get on well there at all!
... My mum, who is 81, developed vascular dementia after having a series of silent strokes. She was also hardly eating. She was taken into hospital, we were told for 2 weeks to do tests to find out if she had cancer too. She has now been in hospital about 9 weeks & now they are saying she can't come home and has to go into a care home. The tests were eventually done and they couldn't find cancer, though are still puzzled why she won't eat and weighs now just about 5 stone. She deteriorated radically in physical and mental state since going into hospital and now can hardly walk. Before she went into hospital, she was going up and down stairs. I just think she was left on her own far too much in hospital. She'd just be on her own, lying in bed without any company when we go to visit. We visit every day but the visiting hours don't start til 2, stop for a few hours for meals and then are just an hour in the evening. I just think that made her deteriorate even quicker and now they are saying she has to go to a care home and I worry that will be just as bad.
I just got so annoyed with the social workers, who have just suddenly popped into my mum's life, age 81 and I hate that suddenly this is some social case because they want money for a care home! I feel dementia is not being treated as an illness and because she probably hasn't got cancer, she's just been tossed aside and we've been told a care home is the only answer. I know, if my mum could understand what was happening, she would hate this! She has always been so independent and I just feel so bad that now there isn't even any other options. It's terrible to think, but I just feel this wouldn't be happening if she did have cancer. I think she would have had better care and more options. I am really angry that dementia is somehow classed as a social, rather than medical problem, or so it seems.
Really though, I just want to know if anyone knows of alternatives to care homes if that is the medical opinion? I really think she could manage at home with me and my dad here and a package of care. She just sits quietly for most of the day, and from what I have seen there is nothing more in hospital for her, she has less stimulation than at home and just surrounded by unfamiliar faces and things.
Thanks for any advice on what else I could explore instead of a care home!