A Busy Time

My father has been making good progress with social services. They recently had a visit from someone who was able to look at arranging for help at home and for mum to be taken into care for a couple of weeks a year.

Since then they have made arrangements for mum to be looked after for a week in a local care home.

This idea of mum spending time away from home terrifies me. I know how tough it would be for my dad too, even though this is exactly what he needs, which is some rest and time to himself. But he'd still be worried about her being away from familiar surroundings.

Thankfully my Aunt was able to be there when the social worker visited each time. They had a lot of forms to fill in. I'm quite surprised by this considering the age of the people expected to complete them. There were lots of difficult questions and a lot of documents to manage.

What we are all most concerned about is mum living away from home for several nights is whether she'll be properly taken care of: particularly, that she takes the medication or vitamins she's suppose to take, that she eats well and regularly, that she uses the toilet when she needs to, and of course that she feels safe and comfortable.

The home being offered apparently specialises in care for dementia sufferers. Best of all is that it's very local - easy enough for my dad to get to and easy enough for us to visit. But we'd need to make sure the team are fully aware of her habits and what she needs. She can't simply be left on her own to do what she wants. She'll be confused and wondering where my dad is. But I'm also conscious of the fact that very soon after being there - a matter of hours - she'll probably forget about him altogether. I wonder then what would happen when the week is over and she goes back to her own home...

But, we need to try it out. Dad needs the breathing space. I really hope this works out and it's just something we have to go along with now.

Not only that, but my wife and I are looking for a new home. We had put our home on the market and accepted an offer, but we're in no rush to move and certainly won't jump at a properly just for the sake of selling the home quickly.

So, with our baby boy going through interesting times (weaning and teething), mum and dad's arrangements with respite and the care and getting our heads around selling and buying a property, there is a lot going on at the moment.