Back from the Cold

Hello bolggers!
Been a while, hasn't it? After the traumatic events back last September, I returned from a break in Munich to Israel. My mother was out of the clinic by then, both parents installed in their apartment, now with a carer, a young, sweet natured Philipina who proved utterly useless - she had not a clue how to run a household, and although very eager to do right by her charge, she really wasn't up to the task in hand. My mother was now taking her medication, albeit under protest, making life almost unbearable for my dad mainly, and she wouldn't speak to me, to my brother in-law, and very little to anyone else.
Only after I've returned to the UK, and very gradually, things started to improve. Both my sister and I had our reservations (still valid today) but there was no denying she was improving. Taking her medication nightly with no trouble (according to my dad at any rate), they now had a new carer, a Thai woman, Hebrew speaker, seemingly very experienced, and although she is there for my dad's benefit, effectively she runs the household for both of them. But my mom likes her and they seem to get on a lot better than I expected.
I still have the occasional nightmare, always featuring my mom, and my primary fear that she will rebel again and refuse to cooperate and take the medication. My last visit was in January 2009, for just over a week. My mom was completely back to her normal self (I know, that's not saying much...), a little more subdued, possibly because of the medication, but she was sweet and loving to me, and even told me she loved me at some point, quite out of the blue.
Right now I don't yet know when my next visit will be. I now stay at my sister's (so much better than staying with my parents, it has to be said), which still keeps me at a short distance from them - some 15 mins by car (door to door that is).
I'd like to thank my friends who gave me heaps of support at times of crisis: it's very difficult to understand or even fully empathise with mental issues in the family, a subject so taboo people would rather sweep it under the rug. I am as guilty as the next guy. But I found to my astonishment these so-called mental problems are so commonplace, and yet we largely refer to them in archaic terms, or wrong terms and generally write the sufferers off as a lost cause. I also found that once you've experienced it, and after the initial shock (helped by one's ignorance), it gets easier to understand it and to slowly steer life back to normal, or as nearly as possible.
Hopefully my future updates will incorporate some fun and humour!