Update on Jenn
I went to visit Jenny at Rehab today and discovered that she'd been moved to Belmont Hospital! This is the second time this has happened, when jenny was moved and I only found out later. The worker there told me "Oh, we don't notify the friends or family when we move them".
Apparently she was moved last Friday and the ward she's in now is a temporary one they put patients in until accommodation is found for them at a nursing home. Luckily I was able to catch a 363 bus from John Hunter all the way to the other hospital (although it was a 1 hour trip, and I was bus sick for most of that).
When I got there I found her very despondent. This time around she was in a room of four, had a TV to watch, but was next to another woman who was constantly saying things like "oh god" and "the pain", "oh oh" and "nurse". Jenn said she does this 24 hours a day, making it difficult for her to sleep. Also, she's scheduled to be transferred to a nursing home in Waratah next Thursday. Jenn wasn't too keen on that, and said that her mother was just "dumping her" somewhere so she could be forgotten.
Once again it's very difficult for me to know the truth of the matter. Last time I visited I ended running around on a fool's errand, for something that she'd already arranged with rehab. She claims that her mother now has 'power of attorney' but that she never signed it away, and that her G.P. (who just happens to be gay) is gutless and afraid to get them to give her the correct medication because they will "come down hard" on him. It was so hard just to visit her. She is extremely bitter and blames her mother for being in her current situation.
How? Allegedly her mother injured her back when he mishandled her when attempting to assist her to transfer from wheelchair to bed. I've been there on a weekend when her mum's been over and she was struggling to assister and complaining about her back. But according to Jenn she never asked her to do anything and could have managed until her back went. Also, when she arrived at Rehab, she was listed as "low maintenance" and left marked as "high maintenance" which she blames on being bed ridden and ignored. Once again, it might be true, not true, or somewhere in between - I can't tell.
I was utterly drained when I left and caught buses home. I said while waiting for the bus "Help me Goddess, send me help". I think I really do need to find that safe harbour I mentioned in my Sahmain contemplation.