Wednesday 6 January 2010

We had an impromptu excursion to the podiatrist in West End - the hospital one was on leave and Mum's feet were getting sore. Interestingly not only are the nurses "not allowed" to cut nails in hospital, the podiatrist said he is not allowed to cut fingernails! Despite having every right to deal with toes which I would think are far more tricky. We then came back to Mum's flat at Dorchester St for an hour or so - left in pristine condition by Kaye and hung out for a while. Mum negotiated using the flat's toilet quite well and also the stairs in and out of the side entrance - with a fair bit of support and supervision. I think the suggestion from the OT as of yesterday is they try moving her to the Potter Centre - the Mater's Rehab Unit for a bit and then aim for home discharge with more supports.

I am going to go and do a remote locum in NSW for a fortnight so will leave Brisbane on Saturday and not return until ~ the 24th. In the meantime Louis will be here and a brief visit is planned from Sally and Robin (Mum's brother and sister). This does mean there won't be much blog action for a while but if she is moved to a different bed or discharged to home I will post this so people know where to look for her. If you are a Brisbane based person I urge you to spend some time with her - she is up for it now and the mental stimulation will be good. Supported short walks are also good. She is quite motivated to try to improve her strength and mobility. Overall her mental state is quite a bit improved and we have explicit instructions from the psychiatrist to challenge negative thoughts and false beliefs as soon as they come up.