Chapter 20 - Days Gone By
I woke in panic this morning, hearing her cry out. Had she fallen? No, in the dim light I saw her form in her bed; dreams can sound so real.
As I look back a few days in our little note book I see a pattern at night - bed around midnight, then up at 1:30am, 3am, 5am, sometimes an extra trip to the toilet, sometimes she sits in the lounge or the back room for an hour or so, sometimes reads, sometimes restless needing to shuffle about. She regularly takes an hour or so of sleep each afternoon, although such pleasure can upset nightly slumbers.
Saturday after rising around 11:30am she was able to accomplish most activities without assistance. Without prompting from me she decided to take an extra Sinemet CR dose at midnight to aid her through each night, so now her meds are spaced every six hours and we continue to space our meals well clear so that medication absorption is not impaired by protein intake.
Sunday was a good day with a puzzling end to it. In the morning she surprised me by showering & dressing for church without any assistance at all. After church I had a "stall" at the mission fair where I showed a Power Point Presentation (how else does one do these things?) from my laptop & extra monitor so she sat in the truck patiently because her meds were due. Around 3pm we went shopping, noticed that the ladies hair salon was almost empty of customers so she boldly entered & had her hair trimmed. The hair dresser talked 90-to-the-dozen so I wondered how she ever grew a large basket ball shaped stomach. Early evening we popped next door to have some papers witnessed, a bit of a chat & and an obligatory red. Then about 11:30pm she appeared at the door of my dungeon to say that "I feel as if nothing is working", she was a little glassy-eyed, a bit "dippy". She said her balance was OK. I feared a repetition of the hallucinations & memory loss she experience at the clinic down south. We went to bed to go through what has become our normal routine.
On Monday she was able to shower but called for assistance to dry & dress. Even so by mid morning she was in reasonable condition to spend an hour or so down at the Cottage. We have a copy of John Coleman's book - "he says playing loud music helps a PD patient walk better." So I rummaged in my junk cupboard to find the portable CD player (the one returned by the cops over on the West Coast after some sod had pinched it by smashing a side window of the car while parked in a motel basement carpark). I thought "marching music!" so found something containing bagpipes I thought may be appropriate. Ear-pieces in her ears, she pranced up & down the back patio until a track of an Irish jig became too much for her. Comments about 4-4 time & the like confused me. A CD of Gospel music was a little more suitable. I perambulated behind for some dozen circuits about the patio until she tired of it. She told me that evening that the muscles in her upper left arm are painful; have been that way for a few days, although did not warrant comments each time I had asked about any pain.
Today, Tuesday, off to KYB while I went to the Cottage. Then to KMart to find a cheap MP3 player to replace the CD fossil which cost some $300 a few years ago. Expecting to pay about $100, I was studying the specs on the sides of boxes when she said "What's wrong with that Batman one for $39.95?" Nothing at that price. It displays the Batman logo (the one that I am unable to perceive as anything more than a mouth wide open displaying those epiglotis [spell checker failed me here] things) on the case. Never played with these gadgets before so once back home the new toy was quickly filled with the Gospel CD tracks (note that this is a back-up copy only) for her to use while walking the patio for almost an hour while I read a book.
Life becomes monotonous but you have no need to read this, you know?
As I look back a few days in our little note book I see a pattern at night - bed around midnight, then up at 1:30am, 3am, 5am, sometimes an extra trip to the toilet, sometimes she sits in the lounge or the back room for an hour or so, sometimes reads, sometimes restless needing to shuffle about. She regularly takes an hour or so of sleep each afternoon, although such pleasure can upset nightly slumbers.
Saturday after rising around 11:30am she was able to accomplish most activities without assistance. Without prompting from me she decided to take an extra Sinemet CR dose at midnight to aid her through each night, so now her meds are spaced every six hours and we continue to space our meals well clear so that medication absorption is not impaired by protein intake.
Sunday was a good day with a puzzling end to it. In the morning she surprised me by showering & dressing for church without any assistance at all. After church I had a "stall" at the mission fair where I showed a Power Point Presentation (how else does one do these things?) from my laptop & extra monitor so she sat in the truck patiently because her meds were due. Around 3pm we went shopping, noticed that the ladies hair salon was almost empty of customers so she boldly entered & had her hair trimmed. The hair dresser talked 90-to-the-dozen so I wondered how she ever grew a large basket ball shaped stomach. Early evening we popped next door to have some papers witnessed, a bit of a chat & and an obligatory red. Then about 11:30pm she appeared at the door of my dungeon to say that "I feel as if nothing is working", she was a little glassy-eyed, a bit "dippy". She said her balance was OK. I feared a repetition of the hallucinations & memory loss she experience at the clinic down south. We went to bed to go through what has become our normal routine.
On Monday she was able to shower but called for assistance to dry & dress. Even so by mid morning she was in reasonable condition to spend an hour or so down at the Cottage. We have a copy of John Coleman's book - "he says playing loud music helps a PD patient walk better." So I rummaged in my junk cupboard to find the portable CD player (the one returned by the cops over on the West Coast after some sod had pinched it by smashing a side window of the car while parked in a motel basement carpark). I thought "marching music!" so found something containing bagpipes I thought may be appropriate. Ear-pieces in her ears, she pranced up & down the back patio until a track of an Irish jig became too much for her. Comments about 4-4 time & the like confused me. A CD of Gospel music was a little more suitable. I perambulated behind for some dozen circuits about the patio until she tired of it. She told me that evening that the muscles in her upper left arm are painful; have been that way for a few days, although did not warrant comments each time I had asked about any pain.
Today, Tuesday, off to KYB while I went to the Cottage. Then to KMart to find a cheap MP3 player to replace the CD fossil which cost some $300 a few years ago. Expecting to pay about $100, I was studying the specs on the sides of boxes when she said "What's wrong with that Batman one for $39.95?" Nothing at that price. It displays the Batman logo (the one that I am unable to perceive as anything more than a mouth wide open displaying those epiglotis [spell checker failed me here] things) on the case. Never played with these gadgets before so once back home the new toy was quickly filled with the Gospel CD tracks (note that this is a back-up copy only) for her to use while walking the patio for almost an hour while I read a book.
Life becomes monotonous but you have no need to read this, you know?
posted by Kilpike | 9:14 pm
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