THE Prepping thread - a new beginning :)

mrs-moneypenny

Thinking of you thriftwizard and hope an answer can be found and that your mum is getting good care where she currently is.
Pineapple hope you managed to get your dog to the vet today and it is now comfortable.
Still in the aftermath of decorating here, I have managed to sort candle stash out and have lots of scented but need some plain ones for justin(case)

westcoastscot

Thriftwizard I may be too late with this suggestion, but please ask for a discharge planning meeting for Mum. It should be a multi-disciplinary meeting with you attending too, where you get to express your concerns, ask for questions and a written care plan for Mum when she returns home.
Good luck, WCS

pineapple

Thriftwizard and GQ
I used to work in sheltered housing and have come across virtually bed bound tenants existing on 2 or 3 carer visits per day, their emergency call button, a warden check and a family visit if they were lucky! Mind you - that was usually down to individual choice if they did not want to go into a home. The last carer would feed, wash and dress and put to bed at tea time!
As said there is supposed to be a care plan when leaving hospital. But though you want to do your thing, don't underestimate the demands on yourself (or indeed the keenness of authorities to rely on your input ).

Sometimes people go into care temporarily and sometimes this morphs into permanent care.
There is also such a thing as extra care sheltered housing where there is usually a 24/7 staff presence.
https://www.independentage.org/information/advice-guides-factsheets-leaflets/extra-care-housing
http://www.housingcare.org/elderly-uk-assisted-living-extra-care-housing.aspx
Btw the British Legion can provide some help to ex forces personnel. I believe (but not 100%) that this extends to widows etc. I used their adaptation and handyvan services for my tenants
http://www.britishlegion.org.uk/veterans-and-families/

DigForVictory

Thrift wizard - thinking of you. Do tell children to pick & freeze blackberries, help cook, clean, support you?! And yes, bring noodles...

Pound cake... Dribbling happily at the memory. Ate some at Black Country Living Museum & was gently dragged/towed away.

Y'know how prepping is the right mindset, skill set & then kit? Well, husband just bought shoe lasts in sizes to fit all 5 of us, and some leather cutters (look like foot shape cookie cutters to me). On a car boot. I'm not sure if this is prepping or just a vigorous yearning to stick it to The Man, but lads are lugging two boxes of hardcore footwear making gear to the car. And yes, he has got sizes up from where the lads are presently. Ulp.

The names for this winters storms are out. I almost look forward to meeting Storm Barbara! (The full list of the names is: Angus, Barbara, Conor, Doris, Ewan, Fleur, Gabriel, Holly, Ivor, Jacqui, Kamil, Louise, Malcolm, Natalie, Oisin, Penelope, Robert, Susan, Thomas, Valerie and Wilbert.) Apparently it is to help us improve our preparedness...

craigywv

hi all soorry to hear about your families who are sick/ill hope they all get better also your dog pineapple,by the way the yorkshire puds turned out lovely i heated the dripping or whatever the white block fat is called until it spat at me when i pored the batter in.................................recipe in recipe book.................only tried and tested get to be put in their ..under the name of pineapples yorkies................thinking maybe in years to come whoever ends up with my book will think i have lost my marbles making pineapple flavoured yorkies thanks agan xxx

thriftwizard

Thanks, Pineapple; Mum's already in a block where there is "close care" technically available, and yes, they're there in an emergency, & they are all without exception lovely ladies, but all they can do is call an ambulance. And in theory we could pay for her to have longer care slots than the two 15 minute slots she already has, but in practice, living in a retirement area, they are stretched very thin as it is and it might well take weeks for such slots to become available.

I did get to talk to a junior doctor yesterday; they think they've found an obscure infection they can treat, so she will be in there for a few more days. Then it will be either community hospital (one of which is here in this town; I hardly dare cross my fingers that they'll have a space) or a nursing home geared up to providing physio & rehab. It's still a complete unknown whether she'll regain the use of her legs, but she is looking much better and more alert. This afternoon I'll have the conversation with her about whether she would like to move to a house with us where she could have an annexe of her own. My housekeeping's a bit on the hit & miss side... mostly miss! But I'd be very relieved to have her nearby, and would be able to make sure she's getting decent quality food and care, and our company whenever she'd like. The chef where she's living now left over a year ago; one of the helpers has been cooking for them (50-odd covers) Polish-style since, and Mum's been binning a fair number of the meals & eating biscuits instead...

thriftwizard

Update: she has regained the use of her legs. So it's home tomorrow, or maybe Thursday. I can't be there tomorrow, I'm taking DS3 back to uni to do his MA, but she's looking forward to going home!

milasavesmoney

TW that is wonderful news!

GreyQueen

So pleased for you and your family, thriftwizard.

thriftwizard

Thanks, everyone, but news of her impending release has raised a prepping issue - if they send her home today, there's no food in her fridge! I took it all out at the end of last week, when we were being told it was going to be a long haul.

That said, if I think about it, there should still be some eggs, and a tin of beans in her storecupboard. I'll need to ring the managers & check that they haven't reassigned her care slots; we're still paying for them, so they shouldn't have, but I know how desperate for time they are... No way will she be able to make her own supper yet!