Hi
I’m here looking for help formulating a plan and for any tips/ advice 😵💫
I am an only child, I live overseas, no other relatives, I have LPA in place.
My Mum is 84, lives alone and probably for the last 4 years has been developing memory issues which have got progressively worse.
Her short term memory is now very poor.
She had a stoke in February and while she is physically recovered; her cognitive/ memory issues have become a problem.
On a routine post stroke check up the Dr noted her as "vulnerable”, noticed memory issues and put a referral in to the memory assessment clinic.
Unfortunately, the referral was rejected and we were advised to request a re-referral 6 months post stroke to be able to get a clearer idea of her issues (fair enough).
In the period following her stroke I have found managing her meds a challenge. She gets obsessive about them and when organised in a dossett box, she was double dosing because she didn't know what day it was. I have now got a time lock pill dispenser in place.
I have a "Myhomehelper" device in place but despite updating with with numerous reminders and diary entries etc she doesn't seem to engage with it; it serves only as a digital photo frame. She still chooses to look at the paper calendar on the wall. She pours over letters/lists etc for ages but they don't register.
She has 3 very good friends/neighbours that look in on her daily but I am conscious that they have their own families, are not spring chickens themselves she is not their responsibility.
Yesterday, she was taken for an appointment to have a heart monitor fitted. I had expected her to resist but she went with it and when I called her afterwards she seemed happy enough with it.
I had a message off her neighbour this morning telling me she had called very late last night distressed and confused; she couldn't find her meds, she had nothing in to eat (She'd had her meds at 9am and she had been shopping the day before). She'd taken the monitor off ..... she "couldn't be doing with it". It's also possible that she had been out in the garden with her green bin 🥴
I am going back to the UK next week, I have asked the GP surgery if they can make the re-referral to the memory clinic "early" ahead of the 6 month post stroke period to perhaps get her an appointment while I am in UK. They have agreed and have done this. Whether it will be acted upon remains to be seen and is up to the triage team.
From my early research it would seem a diagnosis is a first and significant step in our journey to a plan for support.
I'm here to ask if there is anything else I should/can do to start to get some support to keep my mum safe and fed so I am not relying upon her friends and neighbours.
My Mum does not own her own home, has no savings or investments, has a state pension and a few small workplace pension payments per month.
Sorry for the lengthy post
Thank you