My mum is in hospital & we were told last weekend that she has untreatable (secondary) cancer in her stomach. It’s now just a question of managing her symptoms & keeping her as comfortable as possible for whatever time she has left. The doctor said hospital isn’t the best place for her & that a nursing home or care at home would be best. My brother & I have already taken it in turns to care for Mum at home for 2 years & we are both exhausted. I have a demanding job as well as 2 children & a husband who have seen very little of me. My mum is very conscious of this & wants us to bring in professional help now. The doctor said they’d put in place a “Gold Standard Care Plan” to support Mum, involving dieticians, district nurses, MacMillan, GP etc but absolutely nothing is happening. No phone calls, no-one to see Mum to assess her needs, no follow up of any kind. She’s just sat there in a hospital bed feeling very weak & poorly. I’d really welcome any general advice on the order in which things happen re. Care plans, how long it all takes, is it better just to go ahead & arrange our own (self funded) care, is care in the home better than residential care etc? I just don’t know where to start. My mum would prefer to be at home but Im worried about her being on her own between carer visits, at night etc. She’s happy to try residential care & see how that works out. Any words of wisdom would be gratefully received. Thank you
