Mum’s home!

Back in the real world

Well, that was a bigger blogging break than I was expecting to take! After Mum went into hospital, our time was totally absorbed with organising care and support for her – and in the midst of all that were my daughter’s year 12 formal and  exams.

Well, exams are over now, and we finally took Mum home last week, so I think I might be safe to poke my nose out and see what’s happening in the real world!

Of course, I haven’t been so locked away that I haven’t had a chance to eat some fantastic meals during that time. With some half-written posts and a pile of photos waiting, I’m really not sure where to start, so I’ll just dive in with some of the food we ate back in September, when Vegan MOFO was still going on.

Tempting Mum to eat

Back in late September, Mum had been discharged from hospital but still needed a lot of help each day. Luckily I have 4 siblings, so we arranged a roster so that someone would be with her 24 hours a day.

She was feeling pretty weak, had virtually no appetite and was losing weight, so we took on the challenge of trying to tempt her to eat…anything!

My lovely niece came over to Mum’s place and cooked up a huge pot of delicious vegetable soup. It filled Mum’s house with the delicious, healing smells of lovely organic vegies and miso. I didn’t get a photo (or a taste) of it, but it smelled delicious, and Mum loved it. The rest of us had to stop ourselves from sneaking a bowl for ourselves!

I made an asparagus “rice dish“…it was originally supposed to be risotto, but didn’t end up much like risotto at all, so I refused to call it that. It tasted good though, especially with chopped avocado and cracked pepper on top, and she ate a few small bowls of that.

I tried to tempt Mum with some of her favourite treats, including Botanical Cuisine cheese and dessert and a Vegan Teahouse chocolate brownie. But she seems to have lost her sweet tooth, so we were happy to help her with the brownie and pudding. 🙂

We were happy to help her eat these!

Grand Final feast

Then there was the day of the AFL Grand Final, when we switched on to watch Tom Jones and Ed Sheeran, but talked right through the football. Apparently it was a really boring match, so we can’t be blamed.

While it was on, we feasted on Botanical Cuisine cheese on water crackers, artichoke hearts, olives, dolmades…

…and (my Grand Final staple) vegan sausage rolls made using the recipe from Where’s the Beef. They’re always a winner, and my sister copied down the recipe to take home with her.

Vegan sausage rolls from the Where’s the Beef? recipe.

Tempted by Dr Oz

The following day, we were watching Dr Oz and he was talking about the perils of a high fat diet.

He’d probably be upset to know that his segment didn’t really have the effect he intended. When Mum saw a close-up image of someone eating greasy hot chips, she suddenly said, “Gee I’d love some chips!” I was off to the local shops for chips before she changed her mind.

Not the healthiest food, I know – especially for someone who’s supposed to be on a low-fat diet! But it was the first time she’d shown any interest in food, so I wasn’t going to miss the chance to get some calories into her!

Back home and stronger than ever (well…maybe not EVER)

Unfortunately, after 12 days of round-the-clock shifts, we were all getting stressed and exhausted, and Mum still wasn’t quite ready to take care of herself. She finally had to choose between staying with one of us or going into respite care. She chose respite care. (Not sure if we should have been insulted, but it was a good choice.)

After 4 weeks of relaxing, eating, exercise classes (the first time someone has thrown a ball to her in years!) and making new friends, she’s ended up stronger and fitter than she’s been in years, and is now very happy to be back in her own home.

Yesterday I spotted one of her spiky therapy balls (or ‘pimply balls’ as she calls them…!) and I bought it as a present for her, so she can keep exercising at home. And right now I’m going over to throw it at to her. 🙂

So, that’s what I’ve been doing. If everything remains normal, I certainly won’t leave it 7 weeks till my next post! It’s nice to be back.