Monday 12 February 2018

Did I have my hair done?

Susan's mother made the move to her new home - the care home. She repeated throughout the arrival how kind everyone was and with the family photos displayed and a familiar painting on the wall the room looked like home. A brand new TV provided the home comforts ready to watch the news programmes.
As she had been a hairdresser a highlight was planning the Monday hair appointments. Week one would just be a shampoo and set to test the perm solution with a perm the following Monday. Repeatedly Carol said how she MUST get her hair done. " It is such a mess". On week 2 Susan arrived and admired the perm. " No" said Carol " I don't think I have had it done yet". Susan reminded her that she had on the previous Monday. The urgency on her arrival had clearly diminished with the passing of time.
Susan asked the staff if they would discuss with her mother what she would like to do each day. They advised her that they would find out about her interests, but they found that with memory loss Carol was unlikely to remember what she had told them in the morning. Or even what she would like to do. Susan giggled. To have the advice from the staff at the home was proving to be a real comfort as well as entertainment.

Susan remains confident in the care for her mother but also appreciates a full night's sleep. A device in the home means the office know when Carol is out of bed and they go and put her back. It means she sleeps less in the day as she has had a full night's sleep.

Carol continues to repeat her praise for the staff and is delighted that a bottle of sherry is stored to enable her to have an early evening glass.
Mid January she did ask Susan to take her back to her home for Christmas. Susan replied - "But we've only just had Christmas."  "Have we?" asked Carol. Confirmation that the passing of time is no longer measured in quite the same way. The 4 weeks Carol said she will be there for looks like being longer without too much trouble.