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| Me and Lilian 2010, photo by Laurette's photography |
After a recent fiasco when the nursing services forgot
to organise a substitute carer for me, we decided to look at other options.
A local service, Strand Dienssentrum, was recommended to us
and Karin went to investigate. This service
centre is situated around the corner from us and is run without profit for the
community. Karin came back very
impressed with what they had to offer; a tea garden, daily meals which can be
delivered, a hairdresser, foot care, transport to shops, and a nursing/caring
service.
We made an appointment and the nurse who runs the service
came to see us to discuss my current needs and what the options were to run my
caring more seamless. The option we all
liked best was to send my current housekeeper/cook/unofficial carer on a carer
training course. During the time she is in training one or two other carers can then be trained to take care of me. They can then serve as substitutes when
Lilian is ill or on leave.
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| Lilian the cook in action |
Lilian, who is very proud of her newly acquired cooking
skills (taught my moi), was very keen to further her education to be trained as
a carer. I was very lucky to get Angie,
who cared for a local MSA patient for 3 years, as a substitute. She was shown the ropes by Lilian before her
course started to make the transition as easy and stress free as possible for
me.
Lilian, who still helps out on Saturday mornings, came in
beaming with pride with the good results of her first test. The course is in English, which is a bit of a
problem for this dominantly Afrikaans speaking lady, so she left armed with my
Afrikaans/English dictionary to help with translations. Her uniforms are hanging ready for when she
starts the practical side of her training at a retirement home soon. In a couple of weeks I'll catch her pride smile on camera when she walks in here fully trained and in uniform.
Although Angie is taking good care of me, her cooking skills
are not so hot. Because of my back
problem I am no longer able to sit for long stretches in the kitchen to train
and supervise her. Until Lilian’s return
we’ll have to make do with ready cooked meals from Woolies, depend on the
occasional pizza delivered by Mr Delivery, meals cooked by our son on weekends,
and braais (barbecues) by hubby and friends.
I think we’ll manage!
