Update

Thanks to everyone who commented on my last post about Mum. It’s easier to update from here than to respond individually, though I’d like to if I had more time.

She will be seeing the doctor again today and my sister will bring up the issue of eating and drinking. I don’t think that for the next couple of days it will be too much of a problem, because finally Mum remarked her mouth was dry and managed to drink some squash, so hopefully she is at least beginning to get some liquid in her, albeit not enough. She has lost quite a bit of weight and can’t afford to lose much more, but if necessary, she will just have to go back in to hospital and be fed through an IV. We don’t want that, obviously, but the strain of visiting on a daily basis is frankly less on my sister than the stress of watching Mum slowly starve and dehydrate, even if she herself is not fully aware of it.

The logistics of the situation mean that while she is not on her own for prolonged periods, other than a six hour period on Fridays, there is no one at home all the time to try the ‘little and often’ option of feeding and drinking. I really don’t know how we’re going to square this circle and keep Mum at home. I don’t know if it can be squared.

I worry that the best case scenario is that Mum will end up in a home, which I think might finish her off. My sister is worried that Mum has quietly given up and is content to just fade away. I’m not convinced, but I don’t see her every day.