This last week has been truly awful - for me at least. On Monday, the Perrins Manager breezed into Colin's room and announced that "she was giving me a heads up that they would have to move Colin sometime due to the impending work to refit the bathroom next door. The noise would be too much for Colin". She could not say when the work would start or how long it would take. She talked about moving him to West Wing and so I said we would talk again nearer the time. However having had a few words about the accommodation in West Wing, which is a secure dementia nursing unit, I asked the Manager to show me the room she had in mind. It was ground floor, dingy and airless. The only part of that wing which has been refurbished is the corridor cum kitchen and the show rooms! There are currently four residents and one carer on at a time. There is practically no noise and so, with Colin's sight loss, he will think he has been abandoned (he does now when there is no one around) and this causes him extreme stress. As the consultant Ophthalmologist said, Colin needs audio stimulation otherwise it is like being in a torture cell. We have tried radio and music, but both seem to irritate Colin and that might be because they get in the way of him hearing his environment. Also the bathing facilities are not appropriate for Colin's needs despite the managers telling me they are, the carers tell me otherwise. Which on reflection is probably why I and the previous Manager chose the location of the room as it is now.
On Wednesday things got worse. Both managers tried to harass me into agreeing to move Colin to that room. They could not or would not find him a room on the floor where he is currently situated. Then the real reason for wanting to move him emerged - complaints about the noise he makes. Well, he will be shouting all the more in West Wing. Some work has already been done in the bathroom, which incidentally the wall of which only shares a few inches with Colin's room, and that banging etc didn't seem to disturb Colin at all. He is not disturbed by the fire alarm, the vacuum cleaner, the kitchen refit work, other residents shouting or their TVs. What frightens him are the staff shouting at each other in the corridor outside his room - he thinks they are shouting at him.
I have made contact with the neuro nurse for help to get some liaison with CHC, who are visiting in a weeks time. But even on Friday, both managers together tried again to force me to agree or they would make a judgement call i.e. ignore the fact I have POA for Colin. Following another call from me to the neuro unit, the argument change. Management are now "compromising" and will see in the first week of work whether this disturbs Colin. I don't want to see Colin disturbed in any way and so another room on the same floor would have been OK. But West Wing is another matter entirely.
I have generally not touched on the challenges of each day, but regular visitors will know that Colin does get distrested, and usually this is about toileting and not wishing to embarass himself in front of his visitors. He will get distressed when he can't follow what's going on, too many people talking at once is confusing despite some visitors thinking it a great thing!
And if all this is not enough, my washing machine gave up the ghost in the middle of a hot wash, the tumble drier wouldn't dry and the silly woman who drove into my car back in March won't admit liability and so I am having to issue court proceedings.
Life is just great isn't it.
Jane