Bit by Bit

Old age does not come itself and I have to say bit by bit I am beginning to feel like I am getting there. In the last six months I feel if it is not one thing it is another. First off was a full blood screening which showed a possible issue with my kidneys, thankfully that proved not to be the case.   I have had my hearing checked, and as I have a problem, I was away for an MRI scan yesterday.  I have had my eyes tested, and a deterioration in my vision with new glasses. I have had to spread a sample on my bowel screening test kit, not to mention a mammogram to check for anything untoward there, and so far really I have faired quite well. Then of course there are my feet feet have a problem and I use insoles.

checks have been made on various parts of my body

But all these tests are relatively easy to do, but not all issues that creep up on us can be tested for, or in some instances nothing much can be done to stop the advancement of time.

I work in a hospital and see the effects of illness on people. Some illnesses can be made better with modern medicine, but sadly not all. I also work out in the community during the week with elderly people, a lot of them eighty plus.

I have watched some of them over the years as they have become a bit more frail in their body. One lovely old lady, we will call her Nancy,  that I visit as a friend who still has her faculties about her but has had one set back after the other in the last few years.She is eighty four. She fell and broke her hip and ended up in a private care home to recoup. She later fell and broke her arm and so went back again. This year the wee soul has had a series of chest and urine infections and really has not been keeping well at all. So she made the brave decision at the end of March to apply for a permanent place in the private nursing home and two weeks ago moved into her own wee room.

Happy 80th

Some of these people I have known for a few years and for all their bodies still seem to be doing well sadly they are developing signs of Dementia. Lets call one Doreen, she is now ninety four and will be ninety five next month. She is doing remarkably well for her age, Her family made her give up driving at eighty seven, she was just not safe to be on the road at that point. She still manages up and down the stairs and gets to coffee morning with the other residents but she spends a lot of her time confused. Her family have carers coming in to her three times a day, but she does not seem to know who these people are. One of their tasks is to put her hearing aids in for her, but sadly she does not always know where she has put them, They have hot meals delivered for her at lunch time, but some days she is not aware she is suppose to actually be eating it. She pops in to visit her neighbour but forgets she has popped in and will maybe visit Christine twenty times to ask her/tell her the same thing. This gets tiring for Christine as she herself is eighty four.  It also gets worrying for the family who do not live locally. Her family are now looking into placing her in a nursing home closer to them so that they can be on hand to help out when possible but more importantly to know she has the care and attention she needs when they are not around. She has gone beyond what a warden can offer.


This ageing is inevitable, and there is no hard and fast rules to say at what age this will happen. Every one is unique and  some people manage a lot better than others. I have always told my children that when I no longer can live alone safely that they are not to burden themselves with me, they are to choose me a nice nursing home. But what defines nice? What should they be looking for? More to the point what should they be looking for to avoid?

In the UK 85,000 people are living with Dementia of some sort, some of them are capable of living at home with the proper care and support and others are not. This is where organisations like Barchester Healthcare come in. They have put together a great information guide on what to look for when you choose a care home for people living with Dementia. The staff are trained on how best to support the individual which helps reduces their stress and support their well being.

Staff within our Memory Lane communities receive training to help them to support people living with dementia in our care homes.  They spend time learning about the different types of dementia that the person may have and how they might best support each resident through person centred approaches as well as learning about a range of interventions that may help to reduce any distress and promote well-being.

I want to go somewhere that has a homely feel, that is not clinical, somewhere I would get a warm welcome with staff who enjoy their day and get more out of the experience than it just being a way to earn money. I know I work in a hospital, and yes it pays my bills, but I enjoy what I do, I enjoy the banter with the customers and I like to think I brighten their day with a smile or a squeeze of a hand, or doing something simple like spreading jam on their slice of toast for them. This is what I will be looking for when the time comes.

What would you be looking for when the time comes for you or your parents?


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