Hi
My mother has acute myeloid leukaemia and is 77 years old. Her condition is incurable and terminal. This is because they consider her too old to get a transplant. She is surviving on chemotherapy to reduce the leukaemia cells. The leukaemia and the chemo together are knocking her back. My sister and myself together are now looking after her 7 days a week. Going in to see her, do the shopping, help her dress if needed and doing all the cleaning and washing and most cooking. We take her to all doctor and hospital appointments. We keep her house clean and her clean and tidy. We both keep our mobiles next to us at all times, as there have been some occasions where she has had to go in to hospital. The trouble is she tells everyone she is fine and the nurses and consultant she is doing very well. They believe her. I can’t believe they don’t realise the chemo makes her so sick and weak, she can barely move or eat and that she can’t be left alone. It’s so frustrating when the medical staff and my mother seem to be colluding in this fantasy. She can’t bend down to put her socks on, cut her toenails, take lids off things. All they see is my mother clean and smartly dressed walking in to chemo with my sister. They can’t be that naïve surely. We hoped to get attendance allowance and yet despite giving her only a few weeks to live at the first diagnosis, they are reluctant to say she needs help. Her own doctor who hasn’t seen her for over 5 years in person, says the same thing. Still alive are you and good for you type thing over the phone. My sister and I feel really let down and isolated. We won’t leave my mother alone as she has a cataract too and gets confused, but the lack of help is very disappointing. Anyone else had similar?