What's been happening today .....

[angel_bear]

Today I volunteered again at the NICE nursing home (NICE being the operative word, they spoil their charges rotten .. it's so nice to see) and I got to take one lovely germany/austrian lady for a walk about the gardens in her wheelchair. Then we took her and another gentleman outside, but it was too windy, so we came back in pretty quickly. I settled my lovely german woman, re-brushed her hair and went to another ward where I played Ball with 5 of the residents. One gentleman can hardly talk, prefers the wheelchair to walking, he's not at all what you would call 'alert', but bring a ball into play and WOW !! What a difference!! I worked up quite a sweat actually! They had me hopping. We had a fun time until my gentleman kept the balls .. !! LOL

After that, I went to another wing and handed out some mail, and then played cards with another gentleman who was 6 foot 5 inches high!! He didn't know how to play cards, so we started with Snap. He won (with some encouragement) 2 games out of 3. He made sure I won the 3rd. He was such a gentleman! Then we played memory (with alot of prompting of --- pick up THAT card .. yes.. oh look, you have a pair!!) .. he loved it too. I said "I'll see you in a couple of weeks" and he said "oh, I'll be home by then, this is a lovely resort" ..

LOL LOL LOL .. ok .. he was on holidays in his world!! After that, I went back to the wing I played Ball in and assisted with lunch! I handed out meals and cutlery and drinks, and spoon fed one poor soul who is in a comfy lay-back chair, and all she can do is call out 'help'. But by golly she had an appetite on her! I found a resident I know there, that's such a shame, she was a great character 20 years ago, and now, she's a feisty cranky character! The staff were all so patient with her .. even when she tried to tell one to "PI$$ off", and then pulled her pants down in the corner of the room to squat ... she got well and truly rushed off to her room where she argued !! LOL .. poor sausage . she would hate knowing she's like this.

After that, I left, and visited FIL at his nursing home. Talk about a huge difference. We really need to get him moved ... the nursing home won't let me bring in hot meals for FIL anymore now .. he's screaming blue murder. It's against their protocols and principles of their operation to allow a resident to eat food not prepared on the premises. They cannot be held responsible for other peoples food. FIL and I said [B]"fine, we'll sign a waver" [/B] .. but nope, we couldn't do that either. We're working on a way to 'buck the system', (other than that, the more difficult he is, the sooner he might be moved?)

Now this morning, Cameron ran down to remind MIL she was going 'out with the ladies on the bus' again this morning (because she went on Monday too) and she looked at Cameron like he was going nuts, and shrugged and kept wandering around. So Cameron tried to remind her .. and she just huffed and kept walking. He gave up (he learns quickly .. don't push Nanna!!) and came upstairs. OH well we thought .. nothing we can do ... the bus turned up at 9.15am (late!!!!) and nope, she wasn't ready !! She went charging down the hallway to get shoes and a jacket .. and finally went out the front door! She came home early too at 2.15 which is unusual too. Short day for some reason.

When she was gone however, I took my trusty new digital camera and took some photo's that needed to be taken. The 2 casks of wine and the bottle of wine at her feet in the loungeroom. The wine stained carpet. The left over food in a stocking in a drawer. The soggy food I don't recognise in the cupboard. The wine bottle under the sink (stashed???), the dirty plate and pair of underpants in the cupboard ......... the UNDIES stashed everywhere except the bedroom (LOL). The mess of her room and the other bedroom (she was always a neat fanatic) ........ time to start logging this mess. Only one complaint: I can't take photo's of the smell of urine .. cause it STINKS down there!! Anyway .. why am I logging?

Because ACAT rang me the other night to tell me that there are "heaps" of respite beds at ANOTHER nursing home and that they think MIL would fit in their nicely. ACAT wanted to know if the China BIL turned up. When I said he had, for 3 days, she said "BIL KNEW I wanted to talk to the other brother, he's ignored me AGAIN" and I said "yup, your learning" and she was ANGRY .. and she said "What did China BIL say about his mother?" and I said I had asked him the same question and got the answer back "Except for no speech, she's doing really well, I think she's fine".

That just set ACAT off again on a tirade. They asked me what do I do now? And I said "I feed her 1 meal at night, we drive her wherever she wants to go and take her to visit FIL and Church and stuff, and we do all the behind the scenes stuff - laundry, cleaning up her messes etc etc" I also told ACAT about the 3 days of tablets in one day, and she said "Do you have proof?" and I said "yeah .. the chemist" and she said 'GREAT' ... So I don't know what she has planned, but she AGREES with me that the family (not us) is putting MIL in DANGER voluntarily .............

and they're NOT HAPPY.

I just said "Do what needs to be done" .............. so we'll see what happens (but let's not hold our breaths .. we've been through this before)

And it's only 3.20pm !!!!

Time to get dinner ready ... chopping up chicken thighs for Satay Chicken tonight. Yummmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Hugs all
Sally

[BarbaraH]

Hi Sally,

WHEW!!!!! Your day would exhaust a marathoner!

I so hope ACAT can shake up the works and get MIL the care she needs. This could really be good news! Can FIL go to the same facility? That would simplify things, perhaps.

Keep snapping those photos and date them. You never know how they'll be needed.

Sending many hugs and wishes for all the best! Busy here, so must get to it!

((((((((((((((((((((((hugs)))))))))))))) )))))))) Barbara

[ToBeFreeToRoam]

Hi Sally,

That sounds like a really nice nursing home where you volunteer. I am sure they love having you there (the patients and the staff)! Is this just because, or part of your schooling? Is it only an AD place or both? How long can the other (not nice) nursing home, make FIL stay? You do need to try and do something to make them let him move!

I am so glad you got a chance to take the pics. Yes, do make sure you label them, as to what they are and the date. That should help make the correct decisions! It sounds like there is hope for MILs future in a safe place.

Take care and dont wear yourself out! Wannabe

[angel_bear]

Oh it's scary .. tonight Cameron took her dinner down, and found her attempting to eat some bread ..............................

Which would be fine except she had spread laundry detergent all over it and was trying to eat it .............

DH said she was having an 'off' day .. he doesn't know how right he was !!

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Anyway .. theory is, if FIL is difficult enough, the not so nice nursing home will happily get rid of him to another home. I also have his name down at 3 other nursing homes, and, if I get a moment tomorrow, might put his name down at another one (where hopefully MIL might get some respite care) ..

And I'm doing the volunteer thing because a) I want to b) it helps with my schooling (not officially however) and c) it makes "L" look bad .. LOL LOL LOL and d) it get's my name known and *fingers crossed* FIL's name known and if they know how miserable he is and how horrible the nursing home is, they might shuffle him in a bit faster.

Can't hurt ... LOL

Ok .. doing dinner .. Tuna Casserole tonight

Hugs
Sally

[BarbaraH]

Oh, dear,

I guess it's time to lock up the detergents and poisons like you would child-proof your home for a toddler. If MIL ate much of it, she'd be likely to have the runs or worse. If there's bleach in the detergent, she could be in real trouble, but I think she'd have acted like she was in pain - throat, stomach burning and such. Tell BIL about this and see how he blows it off.

This also means MIL cannot have access to any medicine - not antacids, aspirin, or other OTC meds. as any medicine taken incorrectly can be a hazzard. How sad.

I hope FIL can be moved to a better, happier, sunnier, and less controling place soon, especially if MIL can be there, too. The place you volunteer sounds great! I had to laugh at the gentleman's comment that he was on holiday. My mother thought the locked unit she was in was a cruise ship: she had a roommate (also had one on a cruise to Alaska, so a reasonable conclusion) and you couldn't get out. It didn't occur to Mom that somehow I got onto the ship and that the scenery outside didn't change at all! Oh, well, you just have to laugh!

In all of your pleasant and other busy-ness, take time for yourself, to rest, read, sleep, and relax.

We almost had Tuna Casserole last night, too, but the noodles had been used up.

Hugs, Barbara