Chapter 21 - A Night to Celebrate

Last bight she dispensed with all the pillows I used to prop her into an almost sitting position in bed the night before, after settling comfortably. She had suddenly realised that she was tipping toward the window side of the bed. She wasn't from where I stood. But at 12:30am I wasn't arguing. My theory has been that she needs to sleep on her back as much as possible to apply balanced forces on her lower spine & hips; since she spends too much time laying on one hip or the other, usually the right, while unable to reposition herself during the night. For example, should her feet protrude from beneath the sheets she is unable to draw them in again. I think they protrude when her legs sometimes strain into an extended & rigid position. Most of yesterday she had the sensation that she was losing her balance, although at times she was able to walk well, especially with the MP3 player. We almost failed to attend the fortnightly quilting group at our village hall because of her balance feelings but at 7pm she felt reasonable so we went.

Anyway, returning to last night. She was asleep on her right side before 1am. The only time she woke was at 6:20am, almost half an hour late for her meds. As far as I can tell from my notes, last night was the first time since late February that she has slept without interruption of any sort!!!!! I went back to sleep and when I rose at 8:30am she was having breakfast. And while I was in the shower she was nimble enough to don a dressing gown to answer the door and accept the delivery of a large box of anti-oxidant pills (we are spending more on these than food lately). Then she returned to bed where she remains sound asleep at 10:30am.

A ray of sunshine. We are thankful.