Self Care is so Important

Boris says

We're back home after the most amazing holiday and back to walking on our favourite common once more

The holiday was to give mum some much needed respite from caring for her own mother since her stroke in April

Photo Description:- Boris sitting on grass on the common looking very content wearing his grey collar with a rose gold buckle. Behind him in the distance are the trees and a beautiful clear blue sky with a few white clouds

It's been a very stressful time since it happened and has been making mum so unwell, both physically and mentally to the point she had to go back to her Doctor about her mental health

Mums mental health is not something we've openly talked about on this blog, but it's a big part of who mum is, to find out more check out mums old blog Me, Myself and I here

It's also a big part of why I originally trained to became mums assistance dog, but sadly I had to retire early due to my own battle with Arthritis

Photo Description:- Boris and Eko racing around through a pool of seawater on the wet sand at Low Tide after having just jumped one of the wooden groynes, stretching out behind them is a practically deserted beach on a very warm day

The sun, sea and sand at East Wittering was the perfect tonic for both mum and I, once again I was able to enjoy nice long runs playing with Eko whenever the tide was out, not once did I go lame on holiday racing around on the soft wet sand

Photo Description:-  A wet Eko and Boris standing side by side on a pebble beach with the sea in the background at High Tide

It brought mum so much pleasure to see me enjoying my walks once more, chasing around after Eko and not being in pain, although **whispers as mum has the ears of a bat** it was a bit tiring as my fitness for running isn't what it once was, but I didn't care as it was just so much fun

It's bitter sweet to be home once again, but we all feel so much better after taking some much needed time out away from the stress of everyday life, it's also great to be back on our own common again

Dawn says 

Can't believe I slept in until 1145 this morning with all the racket from the building site going on behind us

Trouble is I have a lot to do at mums today, it's shopping day with dad, bed changes as well as sorting out where a substantial cheque has disappeared too

Surrey County Council sent the statement for mum's carers backdated to July direct to mum, who then wrote a cheque to pay it and sent it off without the payment slip, instead of SCC sending the statement direct to myself as arranged along with paying for the carers by Direct Debit

Then whilst I was away they sent another statement to mum saying said amount was still outstanding, thankfully mum didn't understand where it said "cheques not accepted at PO" and waited to rant at me about her cheque not being accepted

So  a long time was spent on the phone yesterday and eventually I finally got through to the lady that mum had phoned that morning and had a rant too about her cheque not being accepted

 

Poor lady had no idea which account mum was ranting at her about and mum couldn't or wouldn't give her the account number. I explained mum was under strict instructions not to give personal information out over the phone, obviously I meant to incoming callers in case it was scammers

But mum took it quite literally about handing out her personal information, which I guess is good that she remembered it, but a tad confusing to this poor lady that mum had phoned 

I was able to smooth that all over with said lady who was very understanding, it now states even more clearly on mums account that everything comes direct to me and not to mum

I'm starting to notice mum is having serious memory problems, whether it's because of the stroke or because it's happening naturally I'm not sure, but we're seeing the stroke specialist in a few weeks and I'm going to insist on going in with her to speak to him about it, obviously if her memory deteriorats any more in the next couple of days then I'll get her to her GP in case it's a UTI

The good news is I handled it OK and not feeling stressed out by it, just somewhat peeved off with SCC and thinking I may need to remove mum's cheque book from her closely guarded handbag at some point

Although it feels so wrong to even think like that, as kids my brother and I were never even allowed to touch her handbag without permission to hand it to her, plus I don't like the idea of violating the one thing she still has that's private to her

Thankfully mum has no access to the Internet so at least I don't have to worry about online scams targeting her

When walking Boris yesterday I bumped into my best friend from school, it was lovely to catch up again, although time was short as we both had somewhere else to be, it made my day 

My break away for a week in East Wittering has really helped me to see that it's really not worth making myself so unwell about things I can't control

I'd also like to say a massive thank you to my brother, he's been my absolute rock thoughout all this since mum's stroke and we talk most days, well I rant and he listens, then he helps me to see things differently, plus he's sorted out so much behind the scenes to take a lot of the pressure of me and I couldn't do this without him

It must be so much worse for him being stuck abroad because of Covid, having to listen to me ranting at him most days, keep telling me that I need to take a break and me ignoring that advice 

I've not once considered how worried he must be by it all and how I've probably affected how he's feeling because he's not been able to get back due to Covid restrictions in his area of France

My brother is like my dad, one of the nicest people you'll ever meet who helps others without a thought for himself, I wish I was more like my amazing brother

Boris & Dawn 

xxx

This post is linked too:-

My GBGV Life - Meeting New Relatives

Random-osity - Late Summer

Brian's Home - One Med Down two too go

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