Friday, March 31, 2006

Plan C--Or Is it Plan D?

I had to go to Ocean View to dress my mother again, arriving this time at 7 am.
When I got there she was wide awake in bed and had removed her flannel nightgown, lying naked in her bed and wanting to get up.
By the time I got her dressed and straightened up her room and left at 9:30 am, I had decided we couldn't have any plan where some mornings she had a private caregiver and other mornings she depended on the Ocean View staff. It would be too confusing.
I will have to count on Ocean View to get her up, dress her, and take care of her all mornings until 2 pm, except on Sundays, when I dress her and take her to church.
I called the agency to ask Ana to ask Connie, whom I had just fired from her evening shift as of April 1, to keep the evening shift after all, working 2-10 pm Tuesdays and Thursdays and 5 pm-11 pm Mondays and Fridays, and 5 pm to 5 am on Wednesdays (to total 40 hrs. per week).
That way at least Mom's evening routine will stay the same, and I can relax knowing Connie had arrived.
The only worry is what to do with Mom's energy after breakfast, from 9 am to noon, and after lunch if she was not sleepy. The Ocean View staff will try to make her sit in the group activities in the common area, throwing a ball or listening to a story or maybe singing.
But Mom hates that. It reminds her that she is institutionalized with other people, many of whom are even less mentally competent than she is.
I can try to get them to let her go back to her room and sit in her recliner in front of her tv, where she likes to spend most of her day, napping and chatting with a caregiver. But with no caregiver, they will be nervous about leaving her there, thinking she might try to slide out of her chair or do something else unsafe. They also believe she should join in with the others in the group activities, even if she doesn't like them.
Ana called Connie, and Connie agreed to continue to work her normal shift.
I went to see her in the evening to confirm this plan.
The week ends with the third new plan for caregiving work hours.
And with me again scheduled to work tomorrow morning at 6 am, as well as Sunday.

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