Evening all,
Slugsta, I hope that whatever help is on offer materialises soon, so you can at least have chance to sort out your Mum's meds, hun - I used to worry like mad, more about il taking too many pills (she had a trick of 'borrowing' the next nights sleeping tablet at one stage, which obviously led to all sorts of confusion) than I di about her missing the odd dose
R-Anne - a very bizarrer confabulation! Its still completely throws me when the tiniest bit of 'fact' (as in your OH flying in the RAF) can be built upon to create such fantastical tales. At the moment, a lot of Mils stories revolve around why she is in hospital (on the occasions when she accepts that she is in hospital, that is!) - she fell over chasing a lorry; the man with the stick knocked her legs from under her and left her unconcious; she fell over on the boat coming over - the 10 past 4 ferry, it was; She must have been allergic to that wasp-thing that stung her; he Doctor (naming an old GP who passed away many years ago) sent her in for a rest because she was exhausted looking after all the children. We can get several different 'reasons' for her admission in the space of an hours visit. I hope the medication changes are or will be worth all the stress and effort that they take, hun xxxx
Maureeen, yep, the stairs are Ok for a stair lift - we actually did a lot of research on this several months ago. We can alos have ceiling hoists fitted if needed. DC taking her - hmmmmmm, sort of yes, but almost certainly only a short term measure as they are not geared to EMI nursing, which is what the consultant, CPN and the like are saying she would need. No room downstairs - we are semi 'open-plan' with one room leading off another. If DC can't take her for day care, then there is one alternative in the area - but for a lot of reasons, its not an alternative that either OH or I are particularly keen on - however, we accept that if push comes to shove, then it might be the only option
Mil has had 'social care' support staff before, so I assume that something similar would be on offer. And - if needed - there could be up to 4 carer visits a day. We think that if we get to that stage and she is still here, then we would have to pay (or rather Mil would) for extra visits in order to save my back. I have never heard of any sort of a sitting service being on offer
dotty, if she qualified for CHC then yep, I guess we could get more care in at home - however, CPN and Consultant, as well as at least 1 social worker and a 'senior' from adult services have all told me that getting CHC is so near to being impossible that its unlikely, despite the consultant and others backing the need, that she would get it
News about meeting. According to OH an almost complete about face on the part of the hospital. It seems that the gunmen and gangsta's (or something very similar) have caught up with Mil in hospital. The meeting today was all about how paranoid and distressed she gets. I guess they had to see it for themselves, our word and the word of DC evidently wasn't enough - but it seems that seeing it for themselves has finally got the message across. Its now 'No way' is she ready for discharge and they have at last started to do something with the meds. Its taken nearly 6 weeks and repeatedly being told (not just by us and DC, but hands on nurses from the ward) to convince them that we are right about diazepam, and they have finally stopped it. Memantine is now down to half its previous dose, and will be halved again before withdrawing completely - they are saying that already she is sleeping better, and that they think the memantine was possibly causing the issues before. Orlanzapine has also been massively decreased. Whislt the withdrawal hasn't helped with the behaviours, they are saying now that the way is clear to try other meds that might help - they named a medication that OH can't for the life of him remember - chlora-something? - an old med which used to be used to treat alcoholism but which sometimes works well fro dementia induced delusions and hallucinations? Anyway, they are trying that. It will be at least anothe 2 weeks till they consider discharge. They sent OH home with a bag of laundry that was absolutely stinking from urine soaked clothing, all piled in together, so I have no idea if it was the pj's or trousers. I have provided them with pull ups (though they insisted they had some on the ward for patients use) but I'll send in more tonight, along with the 2 new sets of PJ's and the nighty I've just bought her. So many of her things seem to have been lost
At least now I feel that they are actually doing something for her - I just wish it hadn't been such a stress filled, exhausting, miserable battle to get this far!