Facing facts...

Day 64

Keith and I went over to pick up my Dad's medication this morning and I had to queue for ages at the pharmacy. Everything takes so much longer these days! We went over to Mum's, and Keith looked at the strimmer battery for her so that was another little job sorted out.

Binty wanted to pop to her bank at the Weston Favell Centre, so after dropping Keith back off at home, we drove to the shopping centre and while Binty did her banking, Mum and I went to Wilco's to get some bits we needed.

Before heading back we dropped the medication off at my Dad's care home and I enclosed a letter to him about both of them going into a care home when his rehabilitation ends in a few weeks. We must really get things sorted out this week as I'm fed up with worrying about what's going to happen, how they're going to pay for the care and what's going to happen to the house. The worry is keeping me awake at night, so not very pleasant!

Back at Mum's house I asked her about an appointment she'd made at a care home in Kettering and we looked at how to get there on Google maps. It's on a brand new residential estate as you enter the town from the A43 and although it looked easy to get to, the reality was somewhat different! What put us off was that it's on a part of the estate that's still being built, so I didn't think I could get down the road that was blocked by machinery. We must have gone along every stretch of the road and could see it in the distance, until we finally went back to where we started and I asked the builders if we could use the road!

We were welcomed into the building, asked to wash our hands and use sanitiser and then we had to wear masks throughout our visit which were hot and uncomfortable. It was a warm day today so I feel for anyone having to wear them full-time in this weather!

We were shown around by a lovely lady and we had a chat about fees and annuities which I hadn't heard about before. The fees were £1085 a week so pretty hefty, especially for the two of them! Before we left we were given a bag with all the information we needed as well as little bags of Haribo sweets, a pen, torch and a notebook. No wonder they charge so much!

I dropped Mum back and then sped home where I spent the afternoon printing out an Attendance Allowance form for my Dad and doing other jobs for them. Keith and I popped to the Co-op at Brixworth halfway through the afternoon, where we kept being told it was only one member of a household allowed in, even though I was shopping for items to give to the Food Bank this evening and Keith was shopping for us! Have I said how glad I will be when this comes to an end and we don't have people barking orders at us?

Going to see the Care Home made me feel a bit emotional today and I felt very sad that my parents, who over the years of running their business have paid out tens of thousands of pounds in income tax, VAT, National Insurance contributions (for their staff) and business rates, will now have to sell their house to pay for their care. It will mean that I won't receive any inheritance from them, something they desperately wanted to do.

Watching a programme about lottery winners buying property in Florida made me feel even worse so it was quite an emotional evening in our house! We will just have to try and win the lottery ourselves!