Another bouquet for EveryDay's Whitley Bay Care Team.

EveryDay's Whitley Bay Care Team Praised

Angela McDine, Care at Home Manager for the Whitley Bay area recently received a letter of thanks from another grateful family whose Mum had been supported at home by the EveryDay Care team.

Jill said about her letter when we asked her permission to share it – “It’s nice that it doesn’t just get filed away and that others might benefit from it and I will be forever grateful for the help and support you and the carers gave over the years, it bought Mum the maximum time possible to spend at home as she wished”.

Letter of Appreciation
Dear Angie,

I wonder if you would kindly accept this letter of thanks for all you have done for Mum and in support for me over the last few years. Please would you pass on the following to all the members of the team involved in mum’s care:

As you all know I recently had to make a difficult decision to move Mum into residential care after many years of trying to support her living at home as her dementia tightened its grip.

In the end it was quick; a phone call from Tara (Care at Home Team Leader) saying she felt that Mum needed more care than even the four visits a day, the enabling and day centre trips could achieve . An assessment from the psychiatric social worker overseeing her physical and mental states and finally, a call from Mum’s neighbour at just before midnight last Monday to say she had been out wandering again – she made it down to Broadway somehow, in the dark – amazing.

Respecting Her Wishes
Still, it was a hard decision and I kept wondering if there was more I could or should be doing to respect what I knew were her wishes, because she had said to me so very many times that she wanted to stay in her own home. Mind you she also wants to live to be 100, and receive her telegram from the Queen; that’s out of my hands too.

I want to record my depthless thanks to you, also Tara, office staff whose names I don’t know but who kindly passed on messages and of course, the carers, these are some of the names but I know there are others: Trish, Joan, Claire, Clare (now left), Phil, Jordan (Claire and Jordan thank you for the notes you left on the kitchen table on mum’s last day at home, I managed not to cry, but only just).

Your care, compassion, humanity and professionalism have blown me away and I am almost lost for words to describe my feelings.
Here’s how it is, as best I can describe it:

There is so much fear, hatred and ignorance around – or so it seems if you pay attention to the news and not enough to what is going on closer to home. There is also sorrow at the cruelty and pain that Alzheimer’s is inflicting on us. However, I sit, grounded, with Mum in the lounge at Solway Avenue, the home of my birth, peaceful other than the TV, and my memories echoing quietly around; hers are falling silent.

The doorbell rings and in breezes a purple-uniformed smiling person. “Hiya, how’re you doing Joyce?” Cheerful chatting and Mum’s face lightens and brightens, her tinkly laughter sprinkles round the room. “A cup of tea, something to eat perhaps?” Mum always appreciative – “Oh go on then, just a small piece, I have to look after my figure you know…”

More laughter, more brightness. Some quiet bustling, tablets appear and are washed down with more tea, or a glass of water. Clinking from the kitchen, the dishwasher or perhaps washing machine, clothes airing fragrantly in the dining room. The Hoover whirrs away. The rustle of shopping bags, the hum of the microwave.

More chatting – mum – “I don’t know, I can’t remember, I’m getting a bit [she taps her forehead] you know” More laughter, “Oh we’re all getting like that!” Then “OK Joyce, I’ll be back later, see you soon” and off goes the purple tunic to lighten another life somewhere nearby, and another, and then another.

You do an amazing job. It’s not just a job though, you are amazing people.
I’m just about to finish a PhD in compassion in healthcare, so I feel as though I can say that I know what I’m talking about. This is far more than being a carer; it’s caring through and through, from the heart – it runs through you like a stick of rock and I send you all my love and profound gratitude as well as my heartfelt good wishes to you, your families and loved ones.

Jill, and Mum xxxxx

Flower photograph by jessie daniella on Unsplash