A stroke and a granny annex!

My mum who lives in the annex next to us had a stroke over a year ago but it was very scary….

I don’t know on the scale of strokes how serious it was and looking around the stroke unit there were people in a really bad way, she was lucky I guess having not too serious symptoms but life had definitely changed for her that moment.

Initially you are scared because you don’t know what is going to happen, she did not know where she was, lots of memory loss, and they do a test on her skills and her score was nearly zero!

Over a number of days however (if treatment is quick we found out) a patient can start to get better and she started to return to her old self.

We were asked after about a week in hospital if she would you like to be part of the early release scheme.

Now initially I thought this was just a way to get a bed back but it proved to be a really good system as the hospital encourages people to get back to their old life as soon as possible it can help their recovery.

After talking it through with them we said yes but I am not sure if mum lived alone the following would have been possible.

Whilst she was in hospital it was easy for us to clean her annex, get some flowers, stock up the fridge and our kids made welcome home banners generally get things ready for her.

Now you could have done all that if you didn’t live together it was just incredibly easy and stress free living so close to each other to get things ready.

Once home there were lots of things we could do which wouldn’t be possible if she had still lived in the bungalow on her own

Safety mums ability to walk had really changed, she was very unsteady on her feet, needed a stick, help getting in the car and generally around.

Access to the annex had been made with a ramp so easy to get in and out, lessening the risk of falling

Door openings were all made as wide as possible helping her move around

Bath removed and a level tray shower had been installed easy for her to use and the shower controls were out of the shower area to turn on and of without getting in the water

Grips were on the wall of the shower to help steady her

Getting out into the garden was safe as decking ran from the patio door onto the level lawn and there were sticky foot pads to help prevent her slipping

The kitchen had be laid out with everything at or above waist level so she could get to things…

But the main thing is we were around, I think we added that level of comfort for her knowing someone is near.

Whilst at home the hospital arranges for a series of visit spanning 6 weeks to assess and aid recovery and these are for another post but for now the recovery continues and we are close to help, if she lived alone I think the story would have been very different.

Oh now a year on she has made a good recovery, changed in a number of ways but still good and I am glad she is near us – a benefit of the annex

Thanks

David