Yesterday was a much better day - oh the ups and downs of it all! Perhaps the bad day on Thursday was due to Lor and Emily's departure. They made it home safely by supper time last evening.
I was rather aprehensive about going into Mom's room yesterday morning but when I arrived she was sitting up waiting for me and her breakfast. What a pleasant surprise.
When I went up at lunch time the community liaison nurse met me in the hallway on my way to Mom's room, wanting to discuss the transfer to Jubilee Manor. This was the first I had heard of any transfer. She had been in to see Mom and Mom had asked that I be included in the discussion.
Since the amalgamation of facilities under the Interior Health umbrella there have been some changes in bed allocation and while Jubilee Manor used to be only an intermediate care facility with residents who could manage their personal care and make their way to the dining room for meals, they now have a few palliative care beds with pretty well all of the capabilities of an acute care hospital except perhaps IV medications.
All of the rooms are private ones. And one of the biggest draws for Mom is that she knows most of the staff from the days of visiting Aunt Nellie at Mount St Francis. After the Mount closed most of the staff transferred to Jubilee.
So we had a discussion and Mom was fairly agreeable with the move and she was interested in seeing the room that she would have . I told her that I could go up tomorrow and take some photos of the room for her. After Lois (the nurse) left, Mom showed her level of anxiety by asking me if I could have the rest of the afternoon off to be with her. That was arranged and when I returned to her room she wanted me to help her see if she could walk a few steps. I think that this was due to the fact that she would want to be able to move around at Jubilee. We did that and then I suggested that, if she felt up to it, why not go and take a look at the room. To my astonishment she agreed. Rather than give her any time to change her mind we made the arrangements.
I put her into a wheelchair and took her to the lobby and went to get my car. When I was wheeling her to the door Valene, one of my co-workers, offered to help. As we were putting Mom into the car she showed a bit more of her anxiety by asking Valene if she could come too. Mom said that while she felt confidence in my abilities she would just feel more comfortable with 2 people along.
Valene, bless her heart, is the Office Services Supervisor and has the ability to take the time and agreed. Now I know that she has more work than most 2 folks there but her heart is just that big!
Away we went - Jubilee Manor is a couple of miles from the hospital, right in town. Mom has been involved with the auxiliary and knows the facility but not really the rooms. When we arrived we were greeted by several staff that we know, the room is quite nice.
On our way back to the hospital I asked Mom if she would like to take a drive out towards our house to see the spectacular display that the wild sweet peas are creating right now. I suggested that we could drop Valene off at the hospital so that she could get back to her ever-increasing mountain of work. Mom invited her to come along and again she agreed.
This little trip only added about 10 minutes to the outing but Mom was pleased. I think it made her feel a bit more normal.
The move would take place on Monday as Mom is receiving IV antibiotics each day until then. And she has not given a definite decision at this time. But she has had an outing!
She was pretty tired when we returned to the hospital so I went back to work while she slept, then more of my incredible neighbours invited me for dinner. The only thing is that I have to eat and run back to the hospital. That certainly puts the pressure on them but I truly enjoy the break. And there were the lovely flowers that are at the top of this post waiting for me when I got home from work.
I slept very well last night.
Today is the next day.
