Hello, I am very new to this group.
A rough guide to my situation.
My husband and I of sixty two years, have a good and strong marriage and relationship, we have four children, who sadly live in Australia, where we lived for many years.
We live in an independent living flat in Newport Isle of Wight, where we are happy, having all important things local to us like hospital doctors and shops.
I am my husbands carer, as he is to me too, he is 88 yrs old, and has a few medical problems like atrial fibrillation, high blood pressure, low sodium and a large umbilical hernia.
His major problem is his urethral long term catheter,( he cannot have a superpubic put in due to the low sodium,) which he’s had in for four and a half years, this really gets him down at times, having to keep an eye on it at all times, so he lives with stress and anxiety constantly, ( so consequently, no holidays anymore, as we used to ) he was on Warfarin a few years ago, but came off it because of the constant bleeds and always ending up at A&E. But recently due to a district nurse while doing a regular catheter change , damaged his urethra, by putting it in incorrectly causing very heavy bleeding ending up in A&E for hours, (she was suspended for this ), this experience has caused him extreme trauma and anxiety, especially not knowing if the damage caused is long term or not !!!.
The last few days have been extremely exhausting for both of us with a great deal of lack of sleep, because he was bleeding on and off for two days, had three washouts in all and a change of catheter too due to blockage, now he is very very confused , maybe from low sodium , because of this it’s a fine balancing act, because he needs to drink more when bleeding or has an infection , but that in turn creates sodium being washed out with the urine, he now is very confused, and I find myself snapping at him at night , through my own lack of sleep, but then feel bad, because I know it’s not his fault, I do not cope well with lack of sleep.
Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated, I have many craft hobbies, go to the pool and shops occasionally. Thank you for reading .
Welcome to the forum. I’m the other side of the Solent. Are you getting any help from Social Services? Claiming any disability benefits?
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Without prompting , three links which may be assistance here … once we know more :
Needs assessment :
The Care Needs Assessment Explained | Age UK
Carers assessment :
Carer's Assessment - Advice and help for Carers | Age UK
( Both AGE UK … for quality and ease of reading. )
CHC / NHS Continuing Healthcare :