Mum was finally moved from the hospital in Dewsbury to the Queen Elizabeth Rehabilitation Centre on Eastmoor, at the end of last week. She was given a room there much quicker than we'd expected as there were several people ahead of her on the waiting list. The centre seems very nice, bright and cheery and mum has a bedroom with a small tv mounted on the wall.
The rehabilitation centre aims to encourage mum to regain a little of her mobility after being bedridden for almost two months. Having said that, she is still in bed and unable to leave it without some serious assistance and a great deal of pain. At 91 years old, getting over the problems caused by the long hospitalisation is going to be a big ask. She is suffering from low blood pressure at the moment, which is an additional worry. Also still not eating very much so has lost a lot of weight and is very weak.
The Queen Elizabeth Rehabilitation Centre seems like the best place for her at this point in time. It has a full-time, 24 hour nursing staff in attendance. We've been visiting her daily, as usual, with just a day or two off for me to attend my own hospital appointments.
As I've mentioned in my previous journal entry, the rehabilitation centre is located on Queen Elizabeth Road on Eastmoor Estate, where I grew up in the 1950s and '60s. My parents and I moved there from my grandmother's house, (Marriot's Buildings,) when I was just three years old.
We moved into a brand new ground floor flat on the Estate, No 28, Conistone Crescent. The flat still exists and is literally only a couple of minutes drive from the rehabilitation centre where mum now is.
When we left the centre after visiting her yesterday, I drove Emi the short distance to Conistone Crescent to see the old flat where I grew up. I've taken Emi there previously but wanted to show her how near it was to the place where mum now is.
It was twilight when we drove from the centre to Conistone Crescent, a golden/turquoise light somehow adding to the sense of nostalgia I have about the area. My childhood was, in the main, a happy one and my memories of living at 28 Consistone Crescent are populated with warm and gentle images. Christmas, in particular, was a magic time for me there as a child. Wonderful, happy memories of Decembers spent in the flat on Eastmoor with mum and dad and my younger brother Ian. And here we are, mum and I, the last surviving members of the original 1950s Nelson family, (in less than perfect circumstances, sadly,) back on Eastmoor Estate after so many years have passed, reminiscing and remembering...
I'm hoping, (and for what passes as praying in my virtually religion-free life,) that mum will regain some of her health and physical comfort over the next few weeks and will eventually be able to return to her home. She will clearly need some sort of care package putting in place then, but we will try to deal with that when the time comes.
Whilst on the subject of December and Christmas: I need to find enough time to compose and record a piece of music and create a video to accompany it for my traditional Dreamsville digital Christmas card. It may not be possible to achieve this year, due to the ongoing trips to Wakefield and other duties, but we'll see. Even buying, writing and sending domestic Christmas cards will be difficult this year, one way or another.
Meanwhile, the UK general election looms on the 12th December. Those who vote entirely on the basis of 'Brexit' will, I predict, be making a fatal mistake. Brexit, in my opinion, is the least of the problems affecting the UK right now. The Conservative government has caused ordinary people so much suffering and trouble and its poisonous, overlong tenure needs to be ended once and for all.
On this morning's Andrew Marr BBC tv interview, Boris Johnson came across as a fool and a charlatan. A mouthy, 'bull in a china shop' man attempting to bluster and blunder his way through and around pertinent questions, questions which he clearly had no ability to answer. His seemingly popular appeal totally baffles me. Are people really so gullible, so ill-informed, so easily taken in? I've heard interviews with 'people on the street' who are planning to vote for him, but merely because he's 'a character' and wants to sever ties with the European Union. I can only hang my head in despair and disbelief. What a joke...(well it would be if it wasn't so tragic.) Let's hope that this empty headed buffoon and all his pathetic, self-serving ideas will bite the dust once and for all. Let's end this nonsense...
Hope your Mum soon improves. I know what you are going through as my Mum was bed ridden for two years before sadly passing away in February this year.
Know full well the rigors of elder caregiving. The worry. The endless decisions. The sleepless nights.
Just this past Friday marked one year since my mother-in-law passed. We’d cared for her 24/7 for over 3.5 years. The US system is… lacking. She’d spent the previous year in & out of skilled nursing centers. But continuing that direction meant we would have had to bankrupt her. Spend down all her assets to where Medicaid would take over. We elected to take her home.
So it was a bit melancholy around here this past weekend. Just the two of us to ourselves, thinking about those who have left us.
Warm thoughts to you & Emiko. And please tell your Mum that I’m…
' It was twilight when we drove from the centre to Conistone Crescent, a golden/turquoise light somehow adding to the sense of nostalgia I have about the area' .... I keep being captivated by this.
Light and shadow, observe the view Burnt sienna, powder blue Paint a picture, of me and you Burnt sienna, powder blue
Glad to hear your mother's in a better place.
All good wishes to Mrs Nelson Bill. Alison and Peter