Without doubt the biggest thing that happened while we were away was the ongoing plan for Mum.
As our main lovely carer, Valentina, resigned some time ago to focus on her jewellery shop, I’ve spent the last 6-8 weeks advertising for new carers, online and round the local shops, rejecting the crap candidates, interviewing a few and had finally found a good potential lady, living in Wimbledon Village, to work with the other 2 remaining carers. A new plan was at last in place.
Mum, in the meantime has been at Yoakley House, a Kent care home near my brothers house in Ramsgate/ Margate. I visited her there before we went and she spoke well of the nice food, comfy bed, friendly staff, her tv and the activities. But all the time, thinking she would be going home in a few weeks.
Very unexpectedly, while I was in Spain we were suddenly offered a permanent room there. Surprising as it only has about 30 rooms and the waiting list is 150 people! I think a combination of them having met her and knowing she is an easy person to look after, several people higher up the list turning down the space for whatever reason and that Rick is a local GP and knows one of the managers there personally may have swung it…
I never thought she would be happy to stay but – and I still need to check this with her face to face – she seems to like it there enough to make it worth becoming a permanent thing. The biggest upsides are the activities which keep her more perky than she is at our house, where she is often bored. She really did sound much brighter on the phone than she has done in ages. And I think the daily visits from Richard have really helped. The downside, it’s a care Home, not a actual home, and we now need to make visits happen frequently enough to keep her feeling loved. (It’s a 200 mile, 4 hour drive round trip for me).
I spoke to her from Spain and she did say she would be okay to stay there as the room might not come up again within a year or more.
So, I shall be taking more clothes, pictures etc down there this week and we can double check she is happy before moving the rest of her things there / into storage.
It's a very, very big change for us too, as Mum I've looked after her in her own flat for a number of years, and she has now lived with us for over 6 years. And much as having carers in the house all the time is an arse, having Mum there has always been a pleasure. It will be very odd to empty her room and redecorate… and I suspect I will start to hear ghost noises of her squeaky walking frame going down towards the loo in the night or the sound of the Pointless theme tune emanating from her room around 5pm….
Here’s hoping she is indeed happy, busier, perkier and continues to be well looked after at Yoakley. And, once I know that she truly is, and can rest assured a bit more, here’s to a whole new chapter for us too. Fingers crossed x