Sunday 2nd September 2012
Teresa phoned and said that mum was a lot brighter yesterday, they are now trying to feed mum all of her meals but mum is very stubborn. Teresa said that while she was there she would try and get mum to eat something, mum had a few spoonfuls and when Teresa tried to get her to eat more mum said 'for Christs sake'. Teresa thinks that mum is also having stomach pains. They have put the chart in mums room to keep an eye on her fluid/food intake. Mum just has no interest in food but I suppose she hasn't eaten very much for so long it isn't surprising.
Teresa is going in on Tuesday so she will be there when the doctor goes in, mum still hasn't had a blood test so she will ask him about that.
Wednesday 5th September
Teresa phoned to say that she was with mum when the doctor called and he said that mum has had her blood tests and all was fine, her blood pressure is now also OK and her temperature is now normal. The doctor said that she must be encouraged to eat, even bribe her if necessary. Teresa and I both think that mum is so stubborn it will be hard to bribe her to do anything. This is all part of the dementia getting worse.
Mum is brighter and Karen is back on the unit and although mum doesn't recognise her Teresa could see that mum was taking her arm. Daphne is now on other unit but Teresa saw her and said that as mum is wandering around she could go in to one of the other residents rooms and eat a biscuit and choke but she didn't respond!
We went in later and mum looked a lot brighter she was sitting just outside her room in an armchair, we decided to take her for a walk as it was such a lovely day, it took us about 15 minutes to get her from the armchair into the wheelchair, she really enjoyed being outside, we took her to the park and she surprise us both by saying 'I've been here before' .
We took her back to her room, she wouldn't get out of the wheelchair when we went to go, we put her TV on and left her in the wheelchair, on the way out I told one of the carers that mum was in her wheelchair and she said that she would go and check on her.
While we were there I changed mums sheet and duvet cover as they were both very grubby.
Thursday 13th September
I went in to see mum with Mary and Roger, Yolande told us that mum has been immobile for 3-4 days and that they had to use the hoist to get her out of bed and into her chair, she looks very, very frail today she has lost even more weight since we saw her last Wednesday, she rambles on a lot, not a lot made sense, she got quite stressed at one point trying to tell us something, she did say that nobody cares and just left her and that she would come with us....I got her to eat a pot of yogurt but couldn't get her to drink any of her tea, the carer assured me that they would get her to have some fluids. We put her TV on for her and I asked the carer if they could leave it on as she likes it for company.
Later in the afternoon Michael phoned to say that Karen had phoned and said that mum had another fall, she was OK but may have a bruise, she told Micheal that mum had gone downhill fast.
Friday 14th September
I phoned the care home to see how mum was and spoke to Daphne she said that mum was having trouble swallowing again today and she was not able to put her words together, she is able to stand up. Daphne wonders if she may have had another little stroke, she said that she would do another urine test, she said, like Karen, that she has gone downhill very fast.
Michael in going in tomorrow and we will go in either Sunday or Monday
I feel quite tearful today.
Saturday 15th September
I spoke to Micheal and Teresa about how mum was today, Michael said not too bad (Linda said 'terrible' !) ..Teresa said that mum wasn't as bad as when she saw her in the week, they took her for a walk to the park but she did not like going out and wanted to go back.
She is definitely getting worse, Teresa said that mum says about going home with her too, I asked her how she deals with and she said that she changes the subject. Mum kept asking Linda who she was.
Teresa said that it was bedlam in the care home today, she had to go and get someone to get mum changed as she had soiled herself. Karen was in charge but as they had an emergency she was unable to help so Teresa had to find one of the young carers and had to help him sort mum out. I told her we would go in tomorrow.
Sunday 16th September
Mum was in her room watching TV, John went in first and she looked at him and said 'where's Liz?', she looked better than she did on Thursday but very pale but as usual very muddled. Karen came in to give mum her medications, I asked her if she had eaten her breakfast and she just said 'pass' Not a very helpful answer. I did manage to get mum to drink a little of her tea.
Mum looked very tearful when we left, she would have been happy if we could have stayed with her all day.
I text Teresa and told her about our visit and how mum was, she said that she was going in on Tuesday and would let me know how she is.
Tuesday 18th September
Teresa text to say that mum was very tired, she had tried to get her to eat some lunch but she only managed 5 spoonfuls.
Thursday 20th September
The carers were getting mum washed and dressed when we arrived, mum was absolutely exhausted by the time they had finished, she is looking so frail, she was happy that we were there but we couldn't understand anything that she was saying today, she kept making a moaning noise, her breathing is still very raspy sometimes.
I got her to eat most of her pot of yogurt but unable to get her to drink a lot of the tea, although she did try to do it herself, we had to keep reminding her to swallow.
I hate seeing her like this and wonder how long she can go without eating anything
The staff were a little sad today as Betty had died, she had a stroke and didn't recover, she was such a lively character and I think that she will be greatly missed.
Thursday 27th September
Mum was in bed, she was very muddled and talking to herself, it was upsetting seeing her like that, she was very distressed by a lady in the corridor who was shouting. Daphne came in and gave mum her eye drops, she wasn't very chatty, in fact she was very brisk, I asked her why mum was in bed and she said that she had pressure sores on her bottom and heels. The district nurse had been in and said that mum needs a pressure mattress and pressure cushion for her armchair.
Mum was rambling and we couldn't understand a lot except she said that she would come with us. The carer came in with some mashed banana and some tea, I told her that I would give it to mum if she liked, she ate it all but when I tried to give her some of her tea she said 'it's bloody awful'. We did get her to smile a couple of times. The carer came back and got mum to drink some of her energy drink she managed to drink most of it, she told me that they were going to get mum up for an hour so she could have some lunch then put her back into her bed, then they would get her up again in the evening for another hour.
They have a chart which they are filling in for when they moving/turning her. Just as we were going the carers came in to get mum changed and out of bed, they had to use the hoist as mum couldn't do it herself.
Sunday 30th September
Teresa text to say that mum is very weak but she still had a little smile.. they are still waiting for her new pressure mattress.
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