Fun & Games

We saw a tiny bit of snow on our way to Stoke last week...

And it certainly was cold...

The Trent & Mersey Canal was frozen.

Especially in the marina at Festival Park...

Some of the boats are residential & I thought we were tough...

Bebe.

The main reason for our visit...

She refused to attend her appointment at the memory clinic, which resulted in me acting as referee & splitting up Mother & Son before WW3 broke out... She does have a point - why should she go along to be humiliated by questions she can no longer remember the answers to? And what will come out of going? Drugs to help her memory? Doubtful. Just a figure on a form to say whether her memory loss is unchanged or has got worse... 

Who are we to force her to do something she doesn't want to do? 

Sime feels it's important to be regularly assessed & so her care can be adjusted accordingly & I kind of agree, but if I was in Bebe's shoes - I probably would refuse to go too! 

So she didn't go & Sime cancelled the appointment...

And we went to the pub instead...

Where Sime drank non-vegan beer... Tut tut!

And was an all round silly bugger...

We did have a vegan meal though - vegetables, with vegan stuffing & vegan gravy!

We were so hungry we forgot to take photos, but it was good...

It turned out that Bebe had an infection in her left leg & none of the carers had noticed that water seemed to be gushing out of a sort of graze (I couldn't look, due to my squeamishness), but her trouser leg was soaked & Sime's face said all I needed to know on investigating! So a trip to an urgent care centre followed, where she was prescribed 2 lots of penicillin tablets & a large plaster... Can you believe that the doctor didn't even arrange for her leg to be cleaned & dressed? Instead, Sime had to do it & the plaster wasn't really big enough! Is this normal NHS practice these days? If she'd gone to the Mevagissey Surgery, she wouldn't have left without been treated properly. We are so lucky to have such a caring surgery - the male doctors still shake hands with each patient & they all come & get you personally when it's your turn to go in. My Nan was treated with so much respect there when she lived with us, we couldn't fault them. So it is such a shock to see how different the service is in a city. Sime has had to fight with Bebe's surgery to get a nurse to visit her at home & make sure her leg is dressed properly. 

How many vulnerable, elderly people are out there without family or friends to fight for them? 

It's scary!!!

Compromising supper in our hotel - all vegan, but the shop bought food is all in lots of plastic & the houmous has oil. We ran out of our own food, so this was the next best thing...

Our lovely view...

We saw Grandad Gerry & Nana Stip-Pep too, who haven't been well either - but it was lovely to see them.

We also managed to tie up some loose ends around Bebe's care package & Lasting Power of Attorney, so that's a weight off Sime's shoulders, but who knows what's around the corner for Bebe - we talked to her again about moving in with us & she said she'll think about it. Just hope her leg heals well & things run smoothly for a while...

Just before setting off for home...

It's good to be back!

Kay & Sime xx