Yesterday 1st Oct 2015

Oh! What a day. I wish this day could be eliminated from the week.

I wake up at 6.45am. I wake my children. My children leave at 8am

It is now 9am – I am worrying, just in case, like yesterday, the carer does not arrive until later. I decide to get my mum up. I use the full body hoist and I place my mum on the commode. I leave her on the commode for 30 minutes. Still no carer…….

I went into my mums bedroom to check and see if she had done the toilet. I walked in…… and what a fright I got. My mum had slid down on the commode slightly, her skin colour was grey and her skin was extremely clammy looking, she had fluid dripping from her nose, her left eye was open but looked completely disoriented and her right eye was nearly shut. I rushed over to her, I was thinking, “has she had a stroke”, “should I call an ambulance”, then I think, “do not panic”, “get a glass of water and a tissue for her nose”, “assess the situation”, amongst all of this I am still thinking, “should I call an ambulance”, “test her grip”, “wipe her nose”, and “give her water”, – my head was like a freight train……………..

I wipe my mums nose and I gently talk to her, I give her sips of water and I stroke her head and still I gently talk to her. I try to hold her right hand and I try to move her right hand around my hand, I try to get her to grip my hand, she doesn’t. I give her another sip of water, I continue talking to her. Her nose has still got fluid dripping from it, I wipe it and I continue talking and I still try to hold her hand and I am still thinking should I call an ambulance. All these thoughts – what do I do?

My mum is like this for what felt like around 40 minutes. I looked at my mums face and noticed that the right eye, which had been nearly closed, had went extremely wide, this made my mum look as though she had a fright, on the right hand side of her face. Her other eye, although still a normal shape, still looked disoriented. I stayed with her and stroked her head. Eventually, both eyes normalized and her clammy skin had disappeared, however, she remained grey in colour.

I emptied the commode, which was half full – a major bowel movement. I tried to lift my mum up onto the commode, however, her body was still limp so I could not lift her. I then tried putting the sling for the full body hoist on my mum, this made my mum slip further off the commode. Because of this, I had to manage a controlled fall onto the floor. I felt terrible, worried, anxious and sad.

I lifted my mum from the floor using the full body hoist and placed her back on the commode, she still looked ill. I took her through to the shower and began showering her. I heard a noise, the carer arrived – thank god!

The carer helped me to finish showering my mum, we put on her clothes and then put her in her wheelchair. Although my mum was still grey looking she was beginning to respond better. I decided I would still take my mum to the day care centre. The carer and I hustled and bustled my mum into my car – I was thinking maybe I should have kept her at home……….. I dropped my mum at the day care centre and I explained what happened to my mum this morning and I asked for them to telephone me if they felt my mum needed to go home. The time is 12.00pm

My mum has had similar turns, although, this was the worst one I have seen yet. In the past she has normalized and has managed to function at her normal level.

After I had dropped my mum at the day care centre I went to the local supermarket and picked up a few messages for my friend. I then went to my friends to drop her messages off. It is now 2.00pm

Home time.

I arrived home and cleaned the house, I did not have a lot of time. At 3.15pm I left to collect my mum from the day care centre. They told me that my mum was not great in the morning, however, she perked up in the afternoon and was singing and swinging her arms to music. I was happy to hear this.

I took my mum home and the lady from the private care firm was waiting for me. We get my mum out of the car and take her into the house.

My children arrived home. I needed to rush,as I was taking my daughter to a horse riding lesson and she needed to be there for 4.45pm. I gave my son instructions and explained what happened with his gran that morning, I told him to call me if he was worried about gran and I go over emergency procedures if anything were to happen. I left with m daughter. I was worried. I felt bad. I was running late.

My daughter and I arrived at her horse riding lesson.

I called my son.
I called my son.
I called my son.

My daughter completed her lesson.

My daughter had a disco at her school starting at 7pm, she quickly changed into other clothes and off we went……. we arrived at her school at 6.30pm. I dropped her off and I drove to the local chip shop, I bought my son and my mum a chippy and then I went home. I gave my son his chippy and fed my mum hers. I grabbed a bowl of cereal.

The carer had arrived whilst I was out, so I needed to change my mum myself. I got the standaid out of the shed and I used it to help me, whilst I changed my mum into her pj’s, I put her to bed.

It’s now 9.30pm and it was time for me to go and collect my daughter from her school disco. I collected her and she said that she had, had a lot of fun. We went home and we all went to bed. I slept like a log.

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