Morning all,
JM, I'm glad the party went well for you, and that you got decent weather for your BBQ. And I hope that you have a lovely day on Tuesday, too xxxx
Slugsta, I hope you enjoyed meeting your 'Cat' friend and that the visit went well. Our local hospital also does appointments for blood tests (and X rays) at the weekend, and I found the idea of it very strange too!
Spamar, it's really chilly here too - we unlike JM - had heavy rain on and off through Saturday, and our heating was back on late Sat afternoon! Wish Spring would start properly !
Red, the consultant said he has issued prescriptions - but the GP then doesn't run them as repeats, and stops them after a short time. I agree - I've been put right in the middle of two so called experts, who are putting their conflict of opinion over and above Mil's needs. It's infuriating! And unfair - but how to stop other than by me steeping up and intervening, I honestly don't know
BTW - how's your daugter and that gorgeous grandbaby of yours? I think we are due at least one photograph, you know
xxxx
Went to visit Mi yesterday, and made a point of chatting with the nurse on duty before seeing her. Resperidone has definitely been stopped - the nurse expressed her relief at this, because she said that even though Mil was only taking them for 8 days, after day 2 or 3, she felt that there was a definite increase in Mil's level of aggression. Mil is back on the quietapine, now on 3 doses daily - that is being monitored, as yet again there is concern that it isn't actually doing anything for her in terms of lessening the agitation
Zopiclone (sleeping tablet) is written up on her meds list, but they are still waiting for the script to arrive. Only paracetamol written up as pain relief still, but the nurse said she would be chasing that up too. No sign of maintenance anti biotics - which the nurse agreed work for Mil and really should be given. She also added resperidone, lorazepam and diazepam, to an allergies section at the front of Mils notes, when I suggested it - she said that considering the bad impact they have on Mil, describing Mil as being allergic to them was accurate as far as she was concerned - so Amy, thank you, Hun - that suggestion will hopefully ensure Mil is never given any of those drugs again! I explained about Mr R phoning me - the nurse was disgusted, described the situation as being unfair. I explained that I'd been left feeling like I'm constantly complaining at the moment, and that that wasn't what I wanted - she told me that as far as she and the staff are concerned, all I'm doing is looking out for Mil's best interests, and that I wasn't to worry about it. She apologised and said she just wished that the GP would actually listen! I asked could Mil please be seen by another GP in the practice (have looked it up, only one other GP there anyway!) and was told yes, that wouldn't be a problem. So - some things sorted, some not, but hopefully getting there - slowly!
Then to see Mil. Staff explained that she had had another bad morning, had been very agitated, and was in her room. At the last check, however, she seemed to be calming down, they said. I forgot to say that when I spoke to the senior nurse on my last visit, she mentioned how Mil - when staff managed to dodge her attempts to grab or slap them - was increasingly resorting to throwing anything she could get her hands on, both in her room and the lounge, at the staff. She has also started to deliberately break things in temper. Going into her room, the truth of that was imediately apparent. Her room is so bare now. Her window sill and dresser top used to be full of little knick-nacks, nothing heavy (because throwing stuff in temper has long happened on odd occasions, so I'd brought in light and inexpensive odds and ends for her, to try and make her room look more personalised and cosy) but now, there is absolutely nothing on either. Looking for one of the pretty throws she should have, I checked her wardrobe - all of her once framed photo's are loose in the bottom drawer, the frames obviously having been broken. No sign of the majority of the little ornaments that she had scattered around, it seems that she has thrown and broken just about all of them, too. I couldn't find eiter of her throws, only one of her teddy's were there (even Paddy the leprechaun was missing), no sign of the fiddle muff son bought her, no sign of the snakes and ladders game, and no sign of the photo albums either. She should have 20 plus DVD's - very few of them there, the few that I could find were 'burried' under pull ups in her dresser drawer, most with cracked/broken cases. I am assuming that the throws were possibly in the laundry, no idea why her teds weren't there, probably she has destroyed the books and game. It was just sad - her room looks like a very basic cell, just hospital bed, chair and drawers in there. Even the pics from her wall were in the bottom of her wardrobe, covered by one of her dressing gowns.
Wonders of wonders, however, she was sat in her chair, properly supported by both her cushions!
Mil seemed really pleased to see me, though she called me by a variety of names throughout the visit (Val, Catherine, Pat, Pam and Betty!) and at different times thought I was her sister (she had no sisters, only brothers), a workmate, a nurse and a school friend, judging by the content of the different things she said to me. I got a detailed account about the pain she has in her arm and shoulder since she 'fell off the table' (?) which halfway through the tale morphed in to it being her Auntie who was having the pain. She chuckled away telling me about how I'd got 'detention' in school last week. She also confided in me that she was 'fed up' with 'S***', (OH) and that she had lost her temper with him the night before, telling him she was sick of him coming to her house and 'cadging money off her', then going to my house and 'cadging' off me too. She was rather indignant whilst relating the story, but what blew me away was that she was so clear and coherent, and it would all sound very plausible, I would imagine, to anyone listening, who didn't know her situation! Her window looks over a small square of garden, which seems to be part of the regular path used by the staff on the way to their smoking area, and you could see the agitation bubbling away in Mil each time one of the staff passed through the garden. She was 'sick' of them 'in and out' all the time, and there were a few sudden flashes of temper and comments about how she was going to 'deck' this one, or 'slap' another. Those moments left me feeling quite wary, as the switch to her being angry was so quick and quite intense - I felt that it wouldn't have taken much for the anger to have transferred to me and perhaps turn physical, and I felt for the staff who have to deal with her when that happens.
Her TV was on, but after she twice looked at it and referred to the travel documentary that was on as being 'rubbish', I found and put her Mary Poppins DVD on - a bit of a struggle as her remote has gone, (staff think she has binned it) - but once we got it playing, it was clear she was enjoying it. I stayed for about 45 minutes (again, some of that time being spent on trying to sort the meds situation), before telling her I was going to make us a cuppa and slipping away. It did occur to me that if they were just putting the TV on, rather than setting her up with a DVD, that she was perhaps sometimes seeing news items or programmes that may trigger the delusions and cause some of her meltdowns, as has happened in the past?
So, a better visit and today, I will try and speak to the GP. Its a pain because today, OH and I have a day off together, and we had made tentative plans. I am betting that GP isn't available to speak to me when I ring, and that I am left waiting for a return call!
Hope all of you have a good day, love to all xxxxx
