Planning for discharge

I've just got home after te meeting at the hospital with the Social Worker - where I had Steve to support to me. As ever I have come home with craving for chocolate. I am sitting here now and I could just burst into tears. It isn't that the meeting went badly or that anything really upsetting happened - thats just the effect visiting Edna has on me.

The meeting went OK I think. There was te usual questions about what Edna can't and cannot do which she answered more or less honestly. She even said that having meals on wheels was a major help. The only major disagreement was when the nebuliser was being discussed. Although at one point she dud say she had found problems managing them, for most of the time when that was being discussed she insisted she could manage to use the nebuliser. I think she is confusing a number of things. First of all she thinks managing the nebuliser means just putting the mask on, plus I realised during a later conversation she was remembering the time nearly 2 years ago when she had a nebuliser for 14 days when she was being assessed by the Lung Function clnic.

She got a bit upset after the social worker left when we were discussing the nebuliser issue, also when I refused to bring her in some cold meat to make a sandwich. the conversation then got very confused and it seemed that everyone else on the ward has family bringing them in ecatly what tey want to eat and ' I just want to know I can have things to eat when I want them' Guilt trip or what!

She did say somethings during the meeting that surpised me. She admitted to being 'browned off' As one of the questions she had to answer was 'Have you sufferred a bereavement' they can guess that she probably is depressed. I have to trust that they are used to interpreting information given given by old ladies with a degree of dementia. But I dont trust them. That is soemthing I share with Edna. She doesn't trust anyone - me included. And I feel bloody useless as a result.

When she was asked where she wanted to go from hospital she made it clear she wanted to go back to Fosters. But she also said she would like to get out more and maybe go to a club. She even said she knew one or two (not sure that is correct) But I know she wont make the effort even to go down to the common room.

She did (to be fair) say that I had offerred many times to take her out in a wheelchair but she had refused.

This time I got given a form to fill in as a carer. I dont know if that is a good thing or a bad thing . I think I got it because I do her shopping.

All we can do is wait and see what happens . I have to bebhonest and say that is clincially they feel she needs nebulisres, Fosters is not going to work unless they can get medically trained carers who can do the nebuliser for her.

The meeting could have gone a lot worse than it did - so I suppsoe I ought to feel hopeful - but I dont