All well, more or less. We are in the throes of handing over from one carer to another. The one assigned here can’t stand my cold, cavernous house so she is going away and we are sitting here waiting for someone else. It’s a pity, as the one who’s leaving seems congenial.
Knitting progresses, still very slowly.
Thank you for your comments. You’re right that food is important, and right in your guess that I won’t have a microwave. I have started making lists, so far without much success. The balance seems in favour of staying here, especially because CAT weighs heavily on that side. As well as food.
Helen and I are planning to visit a care home at the end of the month, delayed by the need for transportation to get me down the external stairs. It takes two men. I keep looking at websites. The trouble is, as I think I’ve said, that they are all or mostly skewed towards dementia.
Wordle: a funny one today. Either you got it or you didn’t. I needed five, and was joined at that score by Thomas and Mark, the cleverest of the clever. Rachel needed six. Roger, Theo and Ketki, on the other hand, came home with threes. We haven’t heard from Alexander yet.
Another option (still not cat friendly) is 'very sheltered accommodation ' of the type where my father lives. At his, people live in self contained flats (1/2 beds). There are 24 hour carers on site, optional dining room for lunch. He gets his own breakfast and supper which we shop for, a carer comes in every morning to make his bed, clear up and check he's OK. When my mother was alive they came 4 times to get her up and bathed and dressed, etc. As my dad becomes trailer (he's a wobbly 94) we could pay for more care, to make breakfast and supper, take home down to lunch etc, assist with personal care.
ReplyDeleteSorry, the above is Kirsten. The only thing they don't do is nursing. Half the flats are social services funded, some, like his, are shared equity, do he owns 75%, the association owns the other 25%. It is completely wheelchair friendly, my mother buzzed around the flat and building in an electric chair.
ReplyDeleteI am sorry you have to switch carers - is your place really that cold and cavernous? I suppose if you are from a very warm place it might seem so. My wordle skills have been poor this week, one six and the rest fives...
ReplyDeleteIt's a complicated situation, isn't it? I know for my mom, she missed the welcome opportunity to downsize at a convenient time because of my dad's reluctance, so remained in her home. Her beloved dog and cat were with her and gave much comfort and contentment. There's much therapeutic benefit from the simple presence of loving four-legged family members.
ReplyDeleteOh dear! I am wondering if I should get on the next plane and come and look after you and CAT. I could avoid the heat wave here and you could stay there! The other Cat
ReplyDeleteThat's an interesting point about temperature in the home. Government guidelines refer to a minimum recommended temperature of 16 degrees C for an internal working environment. Which is fine if you have warm clothing and are able to move around to generate warmth. I keep my house at 16 but I wear thermals under my regular clothes, and a woolly sweater over everything. Online information is that the ideal living room temperature (for health) for an older person is 21 degrees C. My mother was very keen on this and had cheap but effective little thermometers in all her rooms. She found her arthritic hip was less painful in a warm environment.
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Sorry to hear about your predicament. When a relative of mine, still sound of mind but a little unsteady on her feet, needed to go into a care home, she was lucky enough to get into a new build (she even met the mayor on the day they opened). She picked the corner ground floor flat, which had a perfect spot for stashing her mobility scooter in the corridor, and a view over the communal patio. She had two cats with her and outlived one of them, we had to rehome the other when she passed. The place was like a hotel inside, with dining room / cafe etc, and they regularly ran events. I was very impressed with it.
ReplyDeleteThat sounds like the retirement villages run by Richmond. There is one near us, at Letcombe Regis in England. But there, if you can't walk at all and/or are at risk of falling in the night, you need to go into the "care home" part - which just has individual rooms - as opposed to the individual flats part. It all seems very complicated in terms of where one falls on what we might call the scale of dependency. Some of these up-market offerings are also phenomenally expensive......good luck to you, Jean, in identifying somewhere which meets your needs and also your wishes!
DeleteThat place, of Steel Breezes, seems it might do double duty as a draw for more visitors for the resident within. Sometimes people are reluctant to visit because of dreary a atmosphere, especially with little grandchildren who w. Hope this becom
ReplyDeleteSorry…who would be both beneficial to the resident within and to the child itself. I remember having to visit a nursing home with my two year old in a somewhat unsanitary environment. It was a constant vigil to keep her off the questionable furnishings, and I eventually rebelled. Yours obviously would not be like that - nursing homes are for the sick which you are not - but still the draw of a cafe and such might bring more frequent visitors for those with very few relatives.. Hope this will be a trend.
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That was Chloe.
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