That was actually a helpful conversation for a change !

[CMOTDibbler]

Mum has been picking through her tablets, and not taking some of them for invented reasons. But then gets the effect of not taking them . Dad is distressed about this, esp in the context of her suicide talk (which seems to have gone again)

I can't be there to decant tablets and make her take them. But, I found out that Boots do a scheme where they will sort all the tablets into dose time (breakfast/lunch/tea/bed) and blister pack them and put into a 'book' with the days on.

Phoned their pharmacist to see if their branch could do it, and he was so nice and helpful, said 'oh, of course no problem, when your dad pops in next I'll make sure I talk to him about it'.

Dad is v relieved, and can just tell her to take what is in there, no hoarding/avoidance possible.

My mil has these really straightforward, for the rest of us, she simply can't seem to work it out so her neighbour has to dispense them (but she is ? Alzheimer's so frequently can't work out what day it is etc)

Mum doesn't know what day it is frequently, but dad is OK. Mum has temporal lobe dementia, so she has problems with processing information, planning, and memory. If something is very consistent, then she is better with things, so hopefully will settle into it as a scheme.

Oh that's good - its such a simple idea but could make a world of difference in helping your dad care for your mum.

Yes I was thrilled when I discovered these - posted about them a couple of months ago .
Lots of main pharmacies do them - Day Lewis ,Lloyds .
Why on earth no HP ( or chemist ) ever mentioned them to me ,I. Do. Not .Know.

Especially as it relieves you of the worry of remebering to keep asking for repeats .

Two points - I have to check them as the pharmacy has made 4 dispensing mistakes with them so far .
And I have to cut the blister pack up into 7 individual strips and dispense them daily to my mum as she has such poor vision and dexterity that she kept opening the wrong blister .

Bless him, the pharmacist phoned dad up yesterday to talk to him about it ! Dad v impressed, and popped down to have a chat, saw the packaging etc and pharmacist has made them an appointment next week to arrange it all.

Mr Patel at Boots in Wallingford, you are a wonderful man !

Could Mr Patel pop over to ABC Pharmacy in Bellenden Rd SE15 and show them how it's done ?

You know ,complicated things like cutting tablets in half and only putting the half in the blister ,counting the correct number of diuertics ,adding a drug that's been prescribed in the last few weeks ?

Thats really bad Ginger. TBH, mum and dad have been well looked after throughout by the pharmacy - they are both on huge numbers of medications of all types, and they keep an eye on new drugs, give them more info on them etc.

If all their medical professionals were so good, life would be a lot less stressing though ! Currently waiting on results of dads foot xrays to see if he has bone erosion, mum seeing about knee replacements next week, more diabetes stuff for dad, still no memory clinic appt for mum, and more. Dad v upset as pain clinic letter said mums accomodation was 'wholly unsuitable'

Oh for heavens sake @ "wholly unsuitable " >
Have a word .

Sympathise about appointments - I'm now photographing my mum's tophy/gouty fingers as I just know that when her rheumatology appt finally rolls around ,her hands will probably in a remission phase and they'll wonder what the fuss is about .

Thing is, its actually not that unsuitable - they have a downstairs loo and shower, double handrails to get upstairs. But as she doesn't understand whats said to her, she doesn't respond correctly/truthfully. I have just managed to persuade dad that he must go in with her, and he must say exactly what the truth is.

When complaining to PALS, that giving people with cognitive problem (diagnosed in same hospital) important clinical information over the phone with no written backup or check of understanding was bad practice, they told me I should attend with her. I pointed out I lived 80 miles away, worked ft and had a small child, so maybe that wouldn't work, and didn't they have any way of making sure staff knew that someone was deaf, had communication issues, didn't speak english well, etc etc. Oh no, they don't have that . They've spend £10 million on an electronic record system that fails at the first step of knowing how to talk to someone.

Mum went in, and happily agreed to it ! Dad thought she would fight it, but seemed quite happy with the scheme, so she'll start in 2 weeks.

In bad news, Mum had her diabetic check this week and had lost 2 stone in 6 months. She's eating less and less .

thats good shes happy with it

Still didn't work for my ma in law ... She fiddled and emptied them all

Sigh

Theres always around these things isn't there Fortunatly Dad is there to 'move it somewhere safe', and having met the 'very nice young woman' whose job it is to make up the packs, he wouldn't let her hard work get undone