June 15, 2012
-
trip continued
Friday morning when we got up, we helped grandma with her medicine and had a little breakfast. Around lunch time we loaded into the rental car and drove over to see her nursing home. My mom and I had not been to see this one, and wanted to get a feel for where she was staying. I guess I don't really know what to say about it. The outside was very nice-bright and cheery with lost of garden and courtyard areas for the residents to be able to sit outside. The inside was clean, and the staff was very friendly. Lots of the residents had lots of decorations hanging from their walls and had their rooms decorated nicely. There are two patients to a room, and the rooms are split down the middle with a hanging curtain, just like in a hospital room. My grandma's side was.... depressing. Up until just recently, she had been unwilling to accept that she might not be able to go home for awhile, if at all, and so she had refused to allow any pictures or any personal effects to be added to her room. So it just sort of looks sad and depressing, and reminded me of a jail cell. Of course, as with most nursing homes, there were some patients sitting around in their wheelchairs, unable to really communicate or anything, and when passing by a couple of the rooms, I could smell the scent of urine. Overall, though, it wasn't bad, and I did like the staff. The nurses seemed really very friendly, and they seem to get quite personal with the residents, which is nice. My grandma took her little dog when we went to visit, and all the staff knew the dog's name, even though she hadn't been there before, so I assume that she talks about the dog frequently-and they did remember that, so that was nice.
After that we drove through a neighboring town just to sight see, and then returned home. That was more than enough of an outing for grandma, so she took a nap. Actually, I took a nap too, and my mom read her book.
That evening we just stayed in and had a pizza for dinner, and visited until later into the night. We sorted through a handful of things that my grandma was wanting to sort out. That was sad and brought up a lot of memories and a lot of story telling was done.
Had a hard time falling asleep that night, so I read my book later into the night, and finally fell asleep. I finished the Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood. I didn't really like it very much.
Hmm...think that was all for day 2.
Comments (2)
It seems sad and depressing even with some of their decorations and pictures. My mil wanted to go into the nursing home after my fil died. She had friends there and the staff was very friendly. There was just something sad about how so many of the residents just sat in the wheelchairs in the hallway and said nothing! She seemed happy there until she died. Will's brothers and sister thought it was because she still had all her faculties.
Maybe she will make the adjustment at her own pace and do some decorating for her room. If they can get her to participate in some activities it might get her in an upbeat spirit.
Comments are closed.