Mathilde Matejowsky born 19-Mar-1923 died 12-February-2012

About the last 16 months of her life.

New page not much here yet.

Page started 28-Nov-2012.
The is not a fun page to write or is it fun to read.
I've been putting it off and choose today to start because two years and one day since I got a call from the people monitoring her call alert button.

Verandah incident.

I found mum on her verandah crying for help. She was on her back with her legs kicking in the air. She thought she was falling even though she was already on the floor.
Her feet and legs were blue.
She did not have a history of fits or seizures but it look to me like she was having one.
I rolled her on her side and she began to settle down. Presumable seeing the ground showed her she was stationary and not falling.
Somehow I managed to speak to the monitoring service - I think they rang mum's phone to see if I'd arrived. They called and ambulance.

The ambulance arrived in maybe 10 minutes and they took mum to Ipswich hospital along with her supply of pills.
I didn't follow immediately and got a call from one of the doctors asking what happened before I left to see her. They reported she was confused and wanted to know if this was normal.

I should explain mum was born in 1923 and was 87 years old when this happened. She'd been living alone for about 10 years as my father died in 2000. She had trouble walking and fell quite a few times but rarely hurt herself beyond getting bruises. The exceptions were when she broke her wrist on the front steps and also the time she fell backwards through the plate glass front door.
Mostly she would find a way to pull herself up on something but this time she crawled around for several hours (her estimate) before pushing the panic button she usually worn around her neck.

Mentally she was mostly managing but had bad days when she really couldn't think. She was also prone to badly mix when things had happened. She would be convinced an event from month ago had happened last week. She would also complain I hadn't visited for weeks we I'd been shopping with her the day before. I'm not sure if she confused the timing or simply couldn't remember the visit.

She would also tend to become difficult at the end of our shopping trips and we'd sometimes get into arguments at that point. I don't think she remembered those fights.

Hospital - one.

The hospital seems to have improved since the time I spent there when my father was dying but my opinion declined again over time.
There seems to be very little wrong with mum except for a urinary tract infection (UTI).
She also was found to be low in vitamin B12 (I think).

The hospital social workers swung into action and had her assessed for a low care "Community Aged Care Package" aka CAPS.
It was thought she could return home and we signed up for a "transition package" - basically mum would have rehab at home along with some extra home help.

Email to Jayd 28/nov/2010

She will be in a while longer. She has elevated levels of troponin. This usually indicates heart attack but I doubt it and so do the doctors.
They have rightly said she can't just go home and fall over again. She will have physio and be assessed for extra home care.
I think we are still talking days not weeks.

by eddie

Links.
http://www.agedcareaustralia.gov.au/internet/agedcare/publishing.nsf/Content/CACP-1