Monday, September 24, 2007

So to continue...

I resolved in the beginning not to make this a long dreary account of visits to the doctor and dealings with Home Care. Who wants to read about the price of incontinence pads?! (But while I'm on the subject, can anyone tell me why those who have to use them, can't get them on prescription?! Pads are a no-no. Mum doesn't understand things like "not to be flushed" and she's highly unlikely to rip her pants off. I might as well ask the question here, because emails and phone calls to the "Incontinence Service" go completely unheeded. Ditto Blue Badge parking. If I leave Mum outside a shop and go off to park, the chances are I shan't find her again but the BB scheme is about as deaf as the rest of the "support services"! And while I'm on a good old rant - I do actually wonder if anyone bothers to question the number of days off sick in the Upper Echelons of Home Care.

Nurse Plus arrived last night, 15 minutes late for the nth time in a row. Most are kindly, and it's true that by the evening Mum is not very co-operative. And no, she doesn't want to sign their work sheet, which is the first thing they wave under her nose, to say that they have stayed their full half hour. Good for her. Even in the depths of dottiness, she realises that they do very little other than close the windows and the perfunctory question: do you want a drink, something to eat, take your tablet? Few dementia "clients" in the advanced state of dementia understand any of this. Might as well ask if they want to fly to the moon. Most remember at least to switch the lights on if they leave Mum sitting there before it falls dark. Some don't. So whose "lights" are switched off exactly?!

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