(35) A BIG DAY - MUM SIGNED FOR HER NEW UNIT

A BIG DAY - MUM SIGNED FOR HER NEW UNIT

"Ladies.... I'm signing."

The big day when mum signs for her new Independent Living Unit.

Done! Documents Signed, Sealed and Delivered.
The commitment is made!

After her respite, mum came home adamant she was not ready for the stage of hostel living. "It was full of old people" she said. We had a case management meeting and an offer was made for an Independent Living Unit which is attached to Strathdon Community Aged Care. She will have her own two bedroom unit, someone will come in and supervise her morning personal care, and then once a week she will have help with housework or shopping.


Mum's unit is one of 8 in a building detached from Strathdon Aged Care, but situated within the complex grounds. Hers and 3 others are upstairs, and accessed from a raised car park so there are no stairs to negotiate. It faces a verdant cul de sac - with established gardens belonging to the neighbours as a view. She has a lovely large L- shaped balcony for her beloved flower pots. Her lounge faces a large treed area and opens out to a panoramic open view. Her dining room is next to the kitchen which has all modern fittings as the unit is only 4 years old. There is a large bathroom with all the support rails for frail people. Then there is a medium sized bedroom which mum has chosen for herself and a larger one for us or Loretta when we visit.
Lots of storage too.

It will be freshly painted, the curtains went off for dry cleaning and today the carpets were steam cleaned. Mum's helper Georgia, who is a brilliant housekeeper, is going to give it a spring clean. Starting tomorrow we will be moving into the bathroom, kitchen and bedroom knick knacks in. On Wednesday the removalists will deliver the big furniture.

We have to hire some furniture to keep Mum's house livable for us until we leave on the 16th December. In the meantime we finish packing mum's items to be moved this weekend (we've already done half) and then once she's moved into her unit next Wednesday....... We start a new phase....It's heads down and bums up to get everything out of the house to prepare it for sale/auction.

It's not only an emotional time for mum, it's been our family home too, and mine for about 25 years. Boo Hoo. But the incentive is that the quicker we get it ready, the quicker we can get back to our lives, our husbands and our own homes.




Mum is so happy. Strathdon Community has been her primary case management service for the past 7 years. She has so many friends there and when we went to inspect another unit to get an idea of the quality of the unit, the lady told us that she thought mum would fit in nicely into the unit's family atmosphere. The others we met today all seem very nice. SO!! mum will have old friends and new friends there. Today she had 4 people she knew from the Strathdon staff come to visit. They, all promising to take her to lunch or have their own with her whenever she feels lonely. They are exceptionally caring.

The best thing is that the Community Aged Care Centre offers a lot of services – the most important being a 24 hour nurse on duty. There is also podiatry, day care, therapy, hairdressers, kiosk – you name it – it’s there. Also there are 2 major shopping areas close by. Mum already seems happy about going there. She is independent but has services on site if she requires them. Also if her health deteriorates, she will be moved from the independent living unit to the hostel then to the nursing home, all on the same complex and without us having to return to find other staged alternatives every time. We'll visit when we can - not in emergencies only as has been the case in the past.

Mum can go for walks in the quiet safe neighbourhood. She will also plan to go out with her friends to the nearby shops, local restaurants or cafes. We have about 4 sets of friends living within a 3 minute drive from her place, and one of her carers who is also a friend is 5 minutes away. Pammy has already put her hand up to take mum to her house to enjoy their lovely native garden with native birds - it's a street away from mum's new local shopping centre.




We have applied for a phone connection and as soon as it is installed. You can ring her on 9877-6369. She does ask that people ring before calling in. By next weekend we should have mum totally settled and then the massive job is ahead of us. In amongst all of that, we have George arriving and Mya's and his birthday. We're having a Pirates and Mermaids party. Fish and chips for party food to go with the maritime theme. Our little girl will be six!!!!! Life moves on.