17/06/22 Dad adventure to meet his MP, Mum's vaccination adventure.
This is more of a Mums grand vaccination adventure than Dads. Dad, being over 75, has had 4 vaticinations for Covid. Mum can not get the 4th because she is not old enough. This has got my Mum concerned, as it leaves the question of what happens to Dad if she becomes ill. Even a slight decrease in Mum's ability would impact on Dad, who does need 24/7 attention. He does not eat or drink without copying someone. The morning care call for half an hour would carry on.
Any respite or care home would not want to admit someone who has had close contact with Covid. And, if there was a room available in a home, he would be isolated. This would mean someone would have to isolate with him. He tends to wander to look for Mum when left on his own, and needs constant help to eat, drink, wash etc.
If he was in hospital, all the same problems will occur, Dad would need 1:1 attention all the time. This is not really what the hospital set up would be for anyway.
We have really tried to get Mum the 4th jab. Rang the GP, the Covid helpline, Walk in clinics. Tried to get it privately too. All avenues where saying that it makes logical sense for her to have it, however, it just was not possible under the Gov. guidelines. So the next step was to ask the Gov what to do. Hence requesting for a surgery with our MP, Sarah Dines.
The meeting was in Hathersage, about 30mins away. I came to pick them up, as I entered the house I was greeted with the discussion though of how to sit on the toilet and what to do on the toilet. Life with dementia does quickly come down to the nitty gritty of basic need! You can't be shy about these things!
Dad was very unsure about where we were going. He had the normal questions
“Where are we going”
“to talk to your MP Dad” I don't think he knew what a MP was.
“What's that?”
“We are going to talk to a lady Dad”
“Does she know we are coming”
“yes”
“Where are we going, does she know the way?”
“Its a Hathersage”
“Is it far? Do we have enough petrol?”
We have 50 minutes to get there, find a parking spot, get Dad in and out of the car. Nothing can be done quickly. It takes a bit of pushing from Mum and pulling from me to get Dad to the car. Its amazing how nimbly he can get into the car compared to Mum (don't tell her I said that) as long as he works out it's best done leg first, not head first.
When in the car the questions actually stop! He is looking out the window at the buses and lorries and trees. To say that he has walked all over the Peak Park all of his life, you have to wonder if he remembers any of scenery at all.
He did get excited when we passed any petrol station.
“We could be petrol from there”
“We have enough petrol today Dad, don't worry”
We park a short distance way. It takes a moment to get out of the car. Dad is not sure about walking, but its not far to the centre Hathersage.
Sarah listens to our story. Asks about Dads history. Sees that Mum is missing out on singing and other social activities since she is worried about contact with Covid. She talks about contacting the relevant Gov. departments and Sajid Javid MP. She understand just how important partners who care for loved ones are, and that the care workers are also so important too. Dad is worried that our car might disappear. They get him a cup of tea which he drinks, its a hot day! We thank Sarah for her time, and suggest that she comes to Winster carnival.
Dad wants to make sure the car is still where we left it. He likes the journey back down the A6. We get him to day care in time for his lunch, Mum goes home for a sleep.
