19)The goalpost at my wit's end has moved.

A blog about myself, the daughter of an extreme hoarder, who fell on Christmas Day 2025 and broke 3 ribs. He’s still in hospital thinking he can come home soon... He's 95 with terminal oesophageal cancer, kidney function issues, asthma, diabetes and skin cancer.  Meanwhile I’m running around like a blue-arsed fly, trying 'make things safe' at his house as he wants to come home. The paramedics said it was their duty to report the house situation, citing safeguarding concerns. He tells me on every visit not to throw anything out and he has an uncanny ability to know if anything’s missing. 

I have a job and family of my own. Slowly but surely, I’m losing the plot.

A wind up clock I found in the hoard. 

 

Friday 6th Feb 2026

Went to the house after I finished work, to collect a lot of large items which needed to go to the skip - old duvet, 1970's bar fire, a load of Radio Times magazines from 2001 onwards, an old weighted blanket of Ant's, a broken chair, a whole stack of cardboard, 9 old paint pots where the paint had turned into a block of solid matter, a tin of quality street from 2018... you get the picture.

An item we had found under a pile was the clock above.  I have no idea about antiques but I think if a collector wanted this (It's a wind-up clock), it would be best not to touch it.

Freddie stank of the hoard but the tip was closed so he'd have to go on the drive for the night and I'd get rid of it in the morning.

I rang the hospital Friday to see what the result of the camera down the throat found. I was told they weren't able to fit him in Friday - it would have to be done on Monday. He had also missed his ears being syringed though as the camera was deemed more important. Neither were done.

Ant visited dad on Saturday so I gave myself the weekend off. This is the time of year I usually reward myself for surviving another year by flinging myself down a mountain all week. All my ski friends have, kindly sent me MANY photos to remind me just what I'm missing. Cheers guys!

I usually book in about September, however due to dad's diagnosis, I thought it best not to book this year until the last minute. I'm happy to go alone or with friend/s. Then when he had the fall on Christmas Day, I gave up the idea as I thought he would need care when he came out. Of course I could have gone on any of the past 6 weeks since then as he's been safe in the hospital. That's the name of the game - keep thinking he will be allowed home any day... and putting my life on hold. Also going round to tidy the house on all my spare days off, with no actual goal, no guidelines and nobody to help.

I visited him on Monday 9th Feb 2026, after work. He has finally stopped hallucinating about the local lake being poisoned by his joint of out of date ham and killing all the fish, swans, geese and ducks. He has stopped the one about the FBI chasing him. He has stopped the thing about the BBC wanting to do a documentary about him and he has stopped about the new patients being recruited by the FBI to 'earn a few bob' to spy on him.  He is almost back to 'normal'. I use the word loosely.

He is still asking me to have his earwax removal booked in as he missed it on Friday.  I rang them this morning and they said the next appointment is in March and they couldn't book him as he was down as a no show. I explained the circumstances and finally they got me a cancellation for 24th Feb - 2weeks time and told me if he missed it again they would take him off their records.  I guess that even though he is in hospital and the ear place is in the same building, I will have to take the day off work, drive 14 miles round trip to make sure I take him myself from the ward to the outpatients dept.