We are enjoying a temporary respite!
Gosh, is it really ten days since I posted something here?? Thank you Isabelle and Jeanette, for your concern about me. Things have settled down somewhat here, and Ken and I are indeed having some much needed 'respite'. His Mum was in hospital for a week, and then she was transferred to an aged care facility for convalescence while her hand regains enough strength to grip and hold things. The orthopedic surgeon said it would take about 4 weeks, so she will be there for the month of April.
She has been there since Tuesday, and has settled in well, after at first feeling abandoned when she figured out where she was! But we (Ken, myself and his sister) have been visiting her every day, either during the day or at night, and she is much happier now. The staff are excellent - they are all very kind and patient, and do all the things I was doing for her at home, such as crushing her tablets into a gel (I used jam) so she can swallow them easier, taking the crossword out of the paper for her, and even coaxing her to have a shower - more than I could do! She always said she hated showers, preferring to just wash herself all over.
She is eating well, which we are very pleased to hear, and I haven't felt obliged to take any of her favourite foods into her since she left the hospital. Today she sat with the other residents in the communal lounge room while a thunderstorm raged outside. MIL is terrified of thunderstorms, and I was wondering how she would cope, but when we got there tonight and asked the staff about that, the nurse in charge said she was fine. She said MIL admitted that storms scared her if she was on her own, but when she is with other people she felt safe, so that was good.
It is such a relief for us all to know that she is okay at this place. She may even decide she wants to stay there permanently, and if she did, they can accomodate her, as it is a new facility, and I don't think they are full to capacity yet. The staff ratio is 1 carer to 4 residents, which is good, and we would be comfortable having her there. It isn't far from any of the family, so it would be very convenient to visit her daily. MIL actually told us she might like to stay on instead of coming home with us, but she might just be trying to take the load off us, knowing her! We'll see what happens at the end of the four weeks. Ken and I will keep her bedroom in our house as it is, so she will always have a choice of coming back if she wants to, even just for a weekend or overnight. I really think at the end of the month, she'll want to come back with us. I hope so. We coped well enough for the first two months, and although we got tired, we are more aware now of what is in front of us, and Ken's sister has promised to take an active part in giving us respite on a regular basis.
She has been there since Tuesday, and has settled in well, after at first feeling abandoned when she figured out where she was! But we (Ken, myself and his sister) have been visiting her every day, either during the day or at night, and she is much happier now. The staff are excellent - they are all very kind and patient, and do all the things I was doing for her at home, such as crushing her tablets into a gel (I used jam) so she can swallow them easier, taking the crossword out of the paper for her, and even coaxing her to have a shower - more than I could do! She always said she hated showers, preferring to just wash herself all over.
She is eating well, which we are very pleased to hear, and I haven't felt obliged to take any of her favourite foods into her since she left the hospital. Today she sat with the other residents in the communal lounge room while a thunderstorm raged outside. MIL is terrified of thunderstorms, and I was wondering how she would cope, but when we got there tonight and asked the staff about that, the nurse in charge said she was fine. She said MIL admitted that storms scared her if she was on her own, but when she is with other people she felt safe, so that was good.
It is such a relief for us all to know that she is okay at this place. She may even decide she wants to stay there permanently, and if she did, they can accomodate her, as it is a new facility, and I don't think they are full to capacity yet. The staff ratio is 1 carer to 4 residents, which is good, and we would be comfortable having her there. It isn't far from any of the family, so it would be very convenient to visit her daily. MIL actually told us she might like to stay on instead of coming home with us, but she might just be trying to take the load off us, knowing her! We'll see what happens at the end of the four weeks. Ken and I will keep her bedroom in our house as it is, so she will always have a choice of coming back if she wants to, even just for a weekend or overnight. I really think at the end of the month, she'll want to come back with us. I hope so. We coped well enough for the first two months, and although we got tired, we are more aware now of what is in front of us, and Ken's sister has promised to take an active part in giving us respite on a regular basis.
posted by Gina E. | 10:48 pm
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home