Tuesday 1st November 2011
Mum was in the lounge watching TV when we arrived, she didn't know who we were at first but got very excited when she finally realised. She looked very pale and was very muddily, she rambled a lot today.
Jessica was ranting and raving about 'that woman' had hit her with a magazine, she said that she's in there with her daughter, I realised that she meant me and mum. I asked Tina if something had happened and she told me that Jessica was talking about mum, apparently mum and Jessica had been arguing and mum had hit her with the magazine she had been holding in her hand, she said that Jessica had been causing a lots of problems and was being moved onto a new home tomorrow. Mum had never liked her as she had upset mum the first time they had met. The incident had to be put in the 'incident book' made me smile to think of mum in the 'naughty' book.
Mum wouldn't be seeing the doctor until Thursday, Tina said that she would definitely see him then, she was happier today although she had another upset tummy last night.
I was talking to Tina, who is in charge this week as Daphne on holiday, she was very stressed, I asked her what she thought of the home and she said that she had worked for several but Park View was the best one, I told her that I was impressed with how many staff they had on in each shift as other homes we had looked at only seemed to have a couple of staff on at any one time.
We walked mum along to the dining room so she could get seated at the table for lunch. We told her we would see her later and she was quite happy when we left.
Left a message on Teresa's phone about mum not seeing the doctor until Thursday.
Phoned Daph and she said that they would go in either Thursday or Friday and would phone me and let me know how she was.
Thursday 3rd November
Phoned to see if mum had seen the doctor, Tina told me that he is going to put mum on high energy drinks to try and build her up, he is not sure why she is still upset as they had done tests and all were normal, he suggested getting the dietitian in to sort out a diet for mum, Tina said that she would talk to Daphne on Monday, when she is back from her holiday, about the dietitian.
Tina said that she was fine and quite happy.
Friday 4th November
Daph phoned, they had been into see mum she said that they had sat around the table with Britt, Joyce and Betty, she was well but quite muddily, she had talked a lot, she couldn't remember that we had been in to see her on Tuesday, when Daph mentioned John, she asked her who he was and she told her that he was my husband, she looked surprised and said 'is she married then?'.
She is not on energy drinks yet, as waiting for the prescription to come from the chemist.
Tuesday 8th November
Mum was at the hairdressers having a perm, so we went up to see her, Elaine was just rinsing the perm solution of and rolling mums hair up, so when she had finished she put a scarf over the rollers so that we could take mum down to the dining room. We met Karen, who was just bringing one of the other ladies up to have her hair done, so she helped us take mum down in the lift, which was quite a feat, as we couldn't get her into it, she was very wobbly and we couldn't get her to step in, it took quite a few times before we finally got her in..
When we got back to the unit she asked us if she was in Hawkhurst, we told her that she was! She was very muddled and rambling today and her attention span was almost nil! it was a very hard visit as she kept looking out of the window. She asked me where her mum was and I told her that she wasn't with us anymore, she just said 'Oh' and then asked me where my mum was, I told her that she was my mum she just laughed and said 'am I'.
Just after 12 we took her back up to the hairdresser and told her that we would see her later.
I found it a hard and depressing visit today. I had a word with Daphne, she said that mum is not liking her energy drinks but they are encouraging her to have them, when I said about what Tina said about the dietitian, she said that the doctor has to arrange that. Tina told me that she had eaten a jam sandwich for her breakfast and she did nibble at 2 biscuits and had half a cup of tea while we were there.. I will not let this go, every time we visit or are in contact I will badger and ask about mums appetite, they must not ignore it, she has lost a lot of weight and we are worried about it.
Friday 11th November
We went in for a quick visit, we took in some bits for the Christmas fair and left some cash for mum.. We took Herbie with us to see her, he was a hit with all the old ladies and mum was pleased to see him, she looked a lot brighter than she did on Tuesday. Daphne told us that the doctor had seen her yesterday and had taken her off of the antibiotics that she has been taking for her UTI's also the Omeprazole, as they can both cause tummy upsets, she told me that she had eaten something. She had her lunch in her room and I got her to eat a little of it, JJ said that if she had been left on her own she wouldn't have eaten anything, as she hadn't got a clue how to use the knife and fork... we left just after 1.30pm, Justina took mum some pudding (jam sponge and custard) I expect that she will eat that..!!!
Wednesday 16th November
Mum was having tea and biscuits when we arrived, she was pleased to see us and looked much better, her speech has got a lot worse and it was hard to understand what she was trying to say to us. JJ managed to make her laugh a few times. We stayed for a couple of hours.
I had a phone call from Teresa to say that mum has had a fall and that she was fine, she is going in to see her on Friday and would let me know how she is. Michael is going in at the weekend. She will be away next week.
Thursday 17th November
I phoned and spoke to Tina, she said that mum had a fall in the corridor and that she has a small bruise on her bottom. Mum said that her legs had crossed! Tina joked with mum asking her 'what are you doing down there Annie' mum just laughed, she said that mum was in good spirits and was eating well and they are keeping an eye on her.
Tuesday 22nd November
We are were going to taking Bett in with us today but she had phoned to say that she wasn't very well, she was going to take in some birthday presents in with her for mum. I told her that we would pick them up from her on Thursday and take them in when we go in on Friday, which is her birthday.
Mum was in her room watching TV, Tina told us that she didn't want to go anywhere else today, she looked tired but was pleased to see us, although, until I bent down to kiss her she didn't realise it was me. I took her in some homemade cakes and she manage to eat half of one. Daphne came in with some post that was addressed to mum and asked if Teresa had told me that mum had another UTI and that she was on antibiotics again (I didn't know anything about it).
While I was in the loo the doctor, nurse and Daphne came in. The doctor just looked at mum and said nothing and walked back out again!. I went and caught him in the corridor and asked him about mum, he said that mum was on a course of antibiotics and when she has finished those she will then got on a maintenance dose of antibiotics ( I don't feel very impressed with the home doctor).
Mum was very tired, we watched some TV with her and left about 12ish.
Thursday 24th November
Phoned to see how mum was, I spoke to Daphne, she said that mum was a lot better and that she had eaten a dinner and a pudding, I told her that I didn't think that we would be able to get in to see her tomorrow and she told me that she would get the chef to make mum a birthday cake.
Monday 28th November
Mum was in the dining room, I suggested we go to her room as she had some presents to open, if we had stayed in the dining room all the others would have wanted to open then and we wanted mum to open them herself. Her TV was on and her table was missing. Mervyn came in with a cup of tea for her, so I asked him if he could find mum another table.
We put her cards on her window sill and helped her open her presents, she had a nice tin of biscuits, which we opened and she had one with her tea, she had also been given some chocolate eclairs which I thought she would have trouble eating but she happily chewed one.
Peggy (one of the residents) came wondering into mums room, she was still in her nightie which had porridge all down the front of it, we couldn't get her to go, so I went and asked Daphne if someone could help us with her, she was quite 'off' with me and told me that everyone was busy! Karen was on her tea break, Mervyn was doing the teas and Tina was at a training class... I was a little cross and told her 'don't worry, I'll get Mervyn' I went into the dining room and Karen was there, she came back with me and took Peggy off.
We closed the door and sat with mum watching TV, she seems to think that she knows everyone on the screen, she was very happy but rambling. I find it very upsetting that she finds it so difficult to communicate now, it must be so frustrating for her.
We took her along to the dining room before we left so that she could have her lunch, she was quite happy when we left.
We both feel that the atmosphere has changed in the home the last couple of visits, the staff all seem to be discontented.
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