Wednesday 27 May 2020

A little bit of good news...

Day 65

I spent the morning at my Mum's house, making sure her bank accounts were OK and going through the Attendance Allowance form with her, so we can get Dad the benefit that he's entitled to. I tried to get as much done as I could and while I was there, I took a call from our solicitor about Lasting Power of Attorney. This can be done online but I phoned him yesterday to see if he could help. Unfortunately, his fees were exorbitant (for the two of them he was charging almost £700!) so I decided to make a start online where it's about £82 for each request.

We have been using this particular solicitor for decades and he was always a bit pessimistic and nothing had changed, I'm afraid! Dad and I once went to see him when we were selling the business and I came out in floods of tears! He warned that the process could take months but there's nothing we can do. At least Mum can still make decisions about things, which is a relief and I dare say my Dad can as well.

Back home I enjoyed lunch with Sophie in the conservatory and we made use of the leftover roasted veggies from yesterday to make a tortilla, which was delicious. Keith and I popped over to the pharmacy in the afternoon to get a list of my Dad's medication for the Attendance Allowance form and then I did pretty much the same as yesterday - tried to get things done so we can sort everything out. I am hoping to be back at work in a few weeks and then I will have a lot less time to help my parents!

Vince and Sue from next door arrived home today, which gives me hope that this lockdown situation is easing. They have been in Australia for the last three months visiting their daughter and had their original flight postponed from the middle of May. I know it sounds silly but I thought that when they returned it would be a bit like being back to normal!

We also heard that Mike has an interview on Friday at a golf club in Kettering so that was very hopeful indeed! Let's keep everything crossed he's successful!

After Sophie finished work we tortured ourselves again by watching the lottery winners picking out fabulous homes in Florida and then I prepared dinner - the cold meats, new potatoes and salad that we should have had on Saturday evening!

2 comments:

WendyAnne said...

It’s a shame your parents might have to go into a care home Janie as they are very very expensive for what you get.My late father in law went into one in one of the villages in Northamptonshire and it cost £720 a week five years ago and no way was the care he was given worth the amount of money being paid out each week for a very tiny room.He was only there for a few months before he sadly passed away but that short time cost over £20,000.All right he was nearly 96 so had had a good innings but his health gradually went downhill and after being rushed into hospital over one weekend he was gone within three days.Sorry to worry you but please think carefully in whatever you and your parents decide to do...Wendyx (From the village on top of the hill)

Janie said...

Hello Wendy - thank you for getting in touch! Sadly, although I would love to see my parents back at home together and independent, their house at the moment is just not set up for my Dad to come back, even with a live-in carer. He is at very high risk of falling over again and has been assessed as needing 24 hour care. My Mum is not keen on having someone in the house with her, even though she has got on very well with the carer and she is lovely. We are looking at different places and it has to be somewhere my parents will love and feel comfortable in. I did expect this to happen at some point in the future as they both have Parkinson's Disease, but I am sad it has happened when they are both quite young. Thank you again for your comment - I really do appreciate hearing from you xxx