"Those" phonecalls

[jenniferpa]

You know the ones I mean - the ones where they start -bang- like it's the middle of a conversation, and you just have to catch up. As it is, Mummy called me at 2.45 am (my time) which is 7:45 UK time, so I wasn't at my best anyway. The first thing she said - well I want a mobile. Why, she doesn't go anywhere? I finally managed to work out that for some reason she's got it into her head that her phone, the phone by her bedside, the phone she was actually calling on, was for everybody's use (everybody? everybody who?) I'm now wide awake at 3 in the morning, having spent 15 minutes attempting to straighten out this misunderstanding.

Jennifer

 

[Lila13]

Can't you switch your phone to an answering-machine at least for a few hours a night? you need to get some sleep.

 

[jenniferpa]

Normally it is - this was the result of my dear husband trying to be helpful. Also, our daughter's just gone back to college, and if she needed to phone me in the night I wouldn't want to miss it. The middle of the night calls aren't normally a problem - mostly Mummy just wants reassurance (and I can, and do, provide that in my sleep), but tonight (this morning?) required more in the way of detective abilities to work out exactly what the problem was, hence the sleeplessness.

Jennifer

 

[Helena]

Oh how i empathise with the "you know" phone calls .........meaning we are physhic and know what she is trying to say but actually we do not have a clue

 

[Margarita]

Don't you just hate it when that happen being woken up at that hour it happen to me the other night ,but it was my son Girlfriend phoning from airport saying that the flight my son had book for her to join him was not book. It was an E ticket. I had all paper work as I did fax it all over to her, but the ink her end had run out on fax machine, the woman at the airport was asking me if I had a fax machine ,yeah ok shall just pop in to internet shop( 24 hours )at 4am .

Anyway did sort it out & woman on phone found the flight. Hope you can catch at with your sleep I Never

 

[Lila13]

I'm still missing the 2-3 phone calls a day, but always switched it off at night. (My father said what if it's an emergency? I said if it's an emergency dial 999 not someone who's 3 hours away.)

Of course being in the house was different, lying awake wondering if I'd hear my mother if she decided to go out for one of her midnight rambles.

 

[eve43]

i get 'those phone calls' too

Hi all, I am new here and decided to join in after a most desperate evening yesterday which started in 'one of those calls' and ended three hours later in shambles but not disaster.

Dad has AD, is 80 and lives with mum who is 76 - they both have multiple health problems but continue independant living with family support.

Dads phone calls are always to me to come and take him home......and yes he is home and acknowledges that but there is no pacifying him - home is where he wants to be and it is a different home to the one he is in. Normally i pacify him by offering to pick him up the next day and take him home...of course he has forgotten by morning and crisis is averted - that is until last night when he became aggressive and threatening violence to mum and the house. I picked him up in the pouring rain and then was stuck - where to go as he needed to go back to where we were! Eventually took him to my own house 5 minutes away - gave him a drink - let the dog in to distract him and rang the local hospital where he is registered. Eventually after three phone calls, a discussion with a community nurse who doesnt deal with elderly dementia and advice to take him to A&E I rang the doctors out of hours service - had to play 20 questions with the girl on the phone including answering questions like had he gone blue or did he have a purple rash! they agreed to call a doctor out to me - three hours later we were still waiting!

Dad eventually worked himself into a tired heap and fell asleep - didnt protest when i took him home and went to bed!

I know no one can help but i needed to get it off my chest to people who had probably been there before - i have to say i am dreading answering the phone now in case it is him saying - please help me, they wont let me go home.

 

[Amy]

Hiya Eve,
Welcome to TP. Let's hope that last night dad was just particularly tired which added to his confusion, and that it is not the start of a pattern. It may just be a one off.
Love Helen