It was now mid October 2013. Mum’s leg continually cycled through improvement and then decline – purely because of lack of consistent care.
Mum was sleeping a lot more. Sometimes she was in one of the ‘dreaded’ chairs. When she had first come to the home she had said to me “please don’t let me end up in one of those” – and now she was sometimes in one.
Dr Ego would sometimes visit – as usual he would breeze in with efficient nurse Wendy – he would chat, be charming and make himself important while Wendy would have a look at Mum’s leg. He told me he had been looking at Mum’s heart records and that there was some serious problems and this was what I was seeing……..
What?? I told him I knew all about her heart problems – I had been to every appointment and we had consulted with the surgeon. Her heart valves were doing fine with medication and it was much better than operating – the surgeon had told me. I had no idea what Dr Ego was going on about.
I said to him “Well I will make an appointment for her with the cardiologist”. He hesitated – and then said it would probably be a good idea – but what I was seeing was heart issues. I wasn’t convinced… but I made an appointment.
I talked to Lee – she wasn’t convinced either. She said to me “We have to get her out of here” – but we had nowhere to go. At that time all the nursing homes were full. I was going to enquire about 24 hour care at home – but Lee said she would talk to the manager once more – about what they could do to give her better care. She said the next best option was hospital.
At this point I was thoroughly confused…. and exhausted.
The manager came to see me while I was there. He said he would arrange to have extra one on one care for her. I was so relieved – she was a handful physically and mentally. It was difficult now to take her out – we would go for walks to the duck pond up the road – but sometimes she would panic when we went out.
The cardiologist appointment came up – we’d had some tests done before the appointment – I had to book a disabled taxi to take her so Mum could stay in her wheelchair. We arrived at the doctor’s rooms and I said to Mum I hoped it wasn’t too much for her – she said ‘I enjoy these little outings!’. So finally we got to see her specialist – she seemed to wonder why I was there. I told her what Dr Ego said. She said to me ‘Her heart isn’t the problem – the latest test shows no change whatsoever in the valves – I suggest you just take her back – leave her be’.
Soo….. I think I was in some state of shock …. all this running around….. I had believed what Dr Ego had said – he was obviously good at spinning any yarn. I realised Dr Ego was a complete idiot and conman. Maybe I’m a bit slow – I’m too trusting – he was charming to his patients – but did nothing but take their money.
Dr Ego and Stan should have been hung, drawn and quartered!!!
The dementia patients weren’t the ones who were crazy!!
COMING UP – THE DOWNWARD SPIRAL
IF YOU ARE NEW TO THIS STORY, PLEASE START AT THE BEGINNING HERE – Part 1 – An Introduction
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