Oh my goodness ... mom is recovering the 'real her' ...

[Pixilated]

Neighbour and best friend went to visit ... and for the first time, mom asked for her smokes.

Uh-oh ...

N/BF told her she is not allowed to smoke in hospital. Mom said she'd had a smoke a couple of days ago, which a "kinder neighbour" had brought to her ...

Mom also said her knee feels fine and has told her nice doctor that she can go home now because she has N/BF and Other Neighbour/Good Friend to help her. Um... just a couple of problems with that ... first of all, N/GF is nearly 10 years older than mom (although, not to be cruel, if you put them side by side, you'd think N/GF is the younger of the two ...). And secondly, during this same visit, mom had slid down in the bed and couldn't get re-adjusted even with N/BF's help. It took two nurses to get her situated more comfortably.

And thirdly, of course, although I can't think of a polite way to say this (to mom), N/BF and ON/GF have their own lives and cannot spend their days hanging around mom's house waiting to help her. I will be there as of next week, but at her current level of mobility, it would still require a second person to help her with any mobility matters at all. Add to that the fact I am not trained in providing mobility help ...

This bodes for some not-good scenes in the foreseeable future.

[csquared]

Quoth Pixilated

Add to that the fact I am not trained in providing mobility help ...

Good point. You should talk with the doctor/nurse/staff and get a few pointers.

[Pixilated]

Pointers won't help, I'm afraid. She can do so very little to move herself around, even on the bed, that any mobility help absolutely requires two people. Even if I were fully trained, I could not do it alone, not without risk of injury to both mom and myself.

[Raveni]

Quoth Pixilated

And thirdly, of course, although I can't think of a polite way to say this (to mom), N/BF and ON/GF have their own lives and cannot spend their days hanging around mom's house waiting to help her. I will be there as of next week, but at her current level of mobility, it would still require a second person to help her with any mobility matters at all. Add to that the fact I am not trained in providing mobility help ...

I think that's a conversation that you may need to have with her doctor first. He might be able to refer her to some services that will help with that. If she can't function without multiple helpers, she shouldn't be home alone.

[Pixilated]

To be honest, I'm leaving the medical consultations up to my brother and sister, both of whom are experienced in the health field. They keep me in the loop and explain the lingo to me when I don't understand it (which is often).

You are quite right about her inability to function without multiple helpers meaning she can't be home alone for any length of time. And while Canada's pretty generous in its health care, the level of help she would need to go home at all is well beyond anything the state offers. Mom's savings would vanish within 4 to 6 months and she'd be right back where she is now (assuming a longterm care bed doesn't open up in the meantime).