Hi guys,

As some of you know, my mum has been very ill for a little over a month now.

She managed to battle her way out of the last infection and was discharged on Wednesday afternoon. Later that night she was struggling breathing and taken to A&E.

Before she was seen she suffered a seizure in my arms when I got up there which was a horrible experience leaving dad very upset. Once they had dealt with this she was quickly assessed to find she had hospital acquired pneumonia and possibly another infection. A senior doctor told me to make any calls to family quickly as she was very ill.

So my brother legged it down from Yorkshire overnight to be with her.

From the assessment they decided to keep giving oxygen, nebuliser treatment and antibiotics. We were then transferred to a respiratory ward as the doctors believed we needed oxygen at home despite her discharge previously not requiring it.

Very sadly the consultant has seen us today and advised antibiotics aren't doing much and mum is just too frail to keep fighting these infections off. So we had to decide whether to keep her in hospital, and move a bed into her room, or take her home. She wants to go home so that's what we are doing.

The doctor can't really say what time she has but he believes it is likely very short. She is medically ok to leave and we are just hoping the processes to move her to palliative care, and transport, won't mean that changes and we can't get her back.

I'm thankful my brother was here for this to help with dad as well as spend time with mum. We were up all night so he stayed at ours. It was an exhausting 24hrs in many ways. I just hope he can see her again yet as due to work he has had to go home ready for work and can't come back for 4 days. But realistically we know there is a chance that she will pass before this.

The doctor reassured us she won't be in pain, will have oxygen support and he believes she will likely just slip away. We are all praying that is the case and she can pass peacefully in her own home with us around her.

Naturally dad is in pieces. We knew it was getting near but hoped for more time at home first. I was hoping we could get her out in the garden for a last time but it's very unlikely now.

I'm keeping things together by getting on with things and keeping mum happy with the small things like applying cream to her legs and having a laugh. I showed her some pictures of our deceased dog which she enjoyed. But it hits me when I do things like this post and sometimes seeing her so vulnerable.

I thought it best to let you know as I've received a lot of very much appreciated support from some of you guys on here. It's hard to even type this but I wanted you to know.

All the best and thank you.


Terry