Salad Dodger
Legendary Member
- Location
- Kent Coast
(Sorry to start a thread with such a rotten subject, at a time of peace and goodwill to all. But it's a practical question that I need help with......)
My mum, who is 87, has been diagnosed over the weekend as having quite advanced stomach/bowel cancer. It's not exactly a surprise, given the symptoms she has been displaying over the last few weeks. She was due to have a CT scan early in the new year, but then last Monday she had a fall at home, ended up in hospital, and the CT scan was brought forward.
My question, to anybody who has been through this kind of event with a member of their family, is:
What can we expect to happen next, in terms of care provision? (Obviously, the hospital will need to get her as well as they can in the short term, but they will want to move her on somewhere, to release her bed for someone else). Can we expect the hospital to find her a place in another hospital/institution, or will they expect her to go home, which is not viable in her present condition? Or will they expect her and the family to choose a care home to send her to?
We will be seeing the "palliative care" team sometime soon. They deal with these issues, and I would like to know what sort of questions to ask, or what stance to take when meeting them. It's an area which my wife and I have never had to involve ourselves in, and I feel like we are about to start playing a kind of game without any real understanding of the rules .........
Any input from anyone who has been in a similar situation would be gratefully received, as we prepare ourselves to do battle with the bureaucracy of the NHS and Social Services!
My mum, who is 87, has been diagnosed over the weekend as having quite advanced stomach/bowel cancer. It's not exactly a surprise, given the symptoms she has been displaying over the last few weeks. She was due to have a CT scan early in the new year, but then last Monday she had a fall at home, ended up in hospital, and the CT scan was brought forward.
My question, to anybody who has been through this kind of event with a member of their family, is:
What can we expect to happen next, in terms of care provision? (Obviously, the hospital will need to get her as well as they can in the short term, but they will want to move her on somewhere, to release her bed for someone else). Can we expect the hospital to find her a place in another hospital/institution, or will they expect her to go home, which is not viable in her present condition? Or will they expect her and the family to choose a care home to send her to?
We will be seeing the "palliative care" team sometime soon. They deal with these issues, and I would like to know what sort of questions to ask, or what stance to take when meeting them. It's an area which my wife and I have never had to involve ourselves in, and I feel like we are about to start playing a kind of game without any real understanding of the rules .........
Any input from anyone who has been in a similar situation would be gratefully received, as we prepare ourselves to do battle with the bureaucracy of the NHS and Social Services!
