Update on MIL.....
...forgive me peeps for the long post...i'm in need of letting off steam...feel free to ignore.....
My friends here will know from my posts these past 2 years of my MIL's declining health and the family's struggles to get her the care she needs. To summarise....she has demetia and vascular issues that resulted in her having her left leg amputated last September. Shes been as good as housebound since. No physio, no promised electric wheelchair. Her ramp and reclining chair were paid for by family as social care felt they wern't a necessity.(???) She has carers call on her 4 times a day to change her, dress her, make her a meal, but most days she no longer gets out of bed. Hubs calls every day on his way home from work and we call up twice on Saturdays and 3 times on Sunday.
The care package doesn't work as well as it should....hence we go as often as we do to do essential jobs like putting the bins out, cleaning the kitchen and seeing what shopping she needs and picking up meds from the chemist.
2 months ago, one of the carers managed to tip mum on to the floor from the stand they use to move her from room to room. If used correctly, this should be impossible. Mum wasn't injured as such, but spent 5 hrs on the floor waiting for the ambulance ( hubs went to sit with her but was advised not to move her). This led to the social services removing the equipment and replacing it with a more modern electronic one...but....the care agency staff had not been trained to use it resulting in mum more or less being bedbound until the new hoist could be ibstalled. So for 6 weeks she was sat in bed never exercising her good leg, never baring weight on it.
She was taken into hospital 4 weeks ago with the expectation they would remove her other leg. It is now fused at the knew so she will never be able to bare weight on it again. Also her stump from the previous op is dreadfully painful. The bone is almost sticking through the skin. They told us they would operate on the stump to make it more comfortable for her.
Mum was in hospital for 10 days then they changed their minds and decided to send her home having had no treatment at all. The decision had been made by mum and the family, but the consultant told us mum had expressed a desire to keep her leg so they wetent going to put her through an op unless completely necessary. We were govsmacked. We told mum what had been said, yet she denied she said she wanted to keep her leg. Because of her dementia, she often forgets conversations, yet, when 'capacity' tests are carried out, they always tell us she has capacity...which means her wishes are followed, regaurdless of the consultations with the family.
So.....she came home... in more discomfort and pain than ever. Our GP and district nurses are appaulled she was sent home as she is. GP tells us today she was perscribed a stronger painkiller...but she hasn't received any. The district nurse took pics of her stump....which she is certain is infected.
Anyway, today completely out of the blue, the hospital rang telling ys to get her to the hospital on Friday...the are going to operate on her stump!
Unbeliveable!! Shes only been home a week!! Getting her to the hospital isn't straightforward. Can you believe, they wont provide transport, so we have to book an accessable taxi which us very expensive( not an issue) but we usually have to book at least a week in advance.. so fingers crossed its available. Also, neither hubs or I can get the day off to go with her with a days notice......and her daughter ( a three hr drive away), can't come coz she has a netball match Friday night......
I could scream!!!!!
My friends here will know from my posts these past 2 years of my MIL's declining health and the family's struggles to get her the care she needs. To summarise....she has demetia and vascular issues that resulted in her having her left leg amputated last September. Shes been as good as housebound since. No physio, no promised electric wheelchair. Her ramp and reclining chair were paid for by family as social care felt they wern't a necessity.(???) She has carers call on her 4 times a day to change her, dress her, make her a meal, but most days she no longer gets out of bed. Hubs calls every day on his way home from work and we call up twice on Saturdays and 3 times on Sunday.
The care package doesn't work as well as it should....hence we go as often as we do to do essential jobs like putting the bins out, cleaning the kitchen and seeing what shopping she needs and picking up meds from the chemist.
2 months ago, one of the carers managed to tip mum on to the floor from the stand they use to move her from room to room. If used correctly, this should be impossible. Mum wasn't injured as such, but spent 5 hrs on the floor waiting for the ambulance ( hubs went to sit with her but was advised not to move her). This led to the social services removing the equipment and replacing it with a more modern electronic one...but....the care agency staff had not been trained to use it resulting in mum more or less being bedbound until the new hoist could be ibstalled. So for 6 weeks she was sat in bed never exercising her good leg, never baring weight on it.
She was taken into hospital 4 weeks ago with the expectation they would remove her other leg. It is now fused at the knew so she will never be able to bare weight on it again. Also her stump from the previous op is dreadfully painful. The bone is almost sticking through the skin. They told us they would operate on the stump to make it more comfortable for her.
Mum was in hospital for 10 days then they changed their minds and decided to send her home having had no treatment at all. The decision had been made by mum and the family, but the consultant told us mum had expressed a desire to keep her leg so they wetent going to put her through an op unless completely necessary. We were govsmacked. We told mum what had been said, yet she denied she said she wanted to keep her leg. Because of her dementia, she often forgets conversations, yet, when 'capacity' tests are carried out, they always tell us she has capacity...which means her wishes are followed, regaurdless of the consultations with the family.
So.....she came home... in more discomfort and pain than ever. Our GP and district nurses are appaulled she was sent home as she is. GP tells us today she was perscribed a stronger painkiller...but she hasn't received any. The district nurse took pics of her stump....which she is certain is infected.
Anyway, today completely out of the blue, the hospital rang telling ys to get her to the hospital on Friday...the are going to operate on her stump!
Unbeliveable!! Shes only been home a week!! Getting her to the hospital isn't straightforward. Can you believe, they wont provide transport, so we have to book an accessable taxi which us very expensive( not an issue) but we usually have to book at least a week in advance.. so fingers crossed its available. Also, neither hubs or I can get the day off to go with her with a days notice......and her daughter ( a three hr drive away), can't come coz she has a netball match Friday night......
I could scream!!!!!
