Chapter 41 - An Average Week
Last Sunday was a surprise for me. At 11:15am she suddenly appeared at the door of my dungeon saying she would shower. Half an hour later I went to check on her progress. She had showered, was fully dressed & doing her hair!! Although we had missed church I thought we needed to escape the house so I convinced her we should go to that market she had hoped to visit after church. So 40 kms later we arrived there to have lunch on the remaining sausage, pieces of bacon & eggs on stale rolls to be found in the kitchen of the small country hall where the market was held. I swapped my egg for a piece of her bacon. Other than the food scraps there was nothing to buy. We returned to town for some grocery shopping. An early evening to bed at 9:30pm and asleep by 11pm concluded what had the beginnings of a horrid day for her but turned out otherwise.
Then followed a week of normality. The usual stiffness, arm aches that are subsiding, sleeplessness, restlessness. Tuesday she made it to KYB. All day Thursday she had a headache although that night she considered good because she was able to turn in bed several times without assistance. Normally she calls out to me to help her out of bed so that she can get back in laying on her other side. Wednesday evening she lacked ability to proceed with her quilt at our hall, although a pleasant outing for her. Friday an appointment to have her toes attended to by a chiropodist.
Saturday was a bad day, after sitting in a chair for 2 hours she was able to go to bed and sleep at 4:30am. At 7:45 she sensed she was laying "across" the bed (she wasn't) so needed to rise & get back in. She rose at 10am, restless and stiff. Her legs stiffened to such an extent when she sat that her feet lifted off the floor. Her whole body had the shakes. She felt over medicated so decided to skip her midday meds. I am unsure whether doing so showed any results in her later activities. She is able to rise & walk without difficulty. She decided not to shower, just dressed instead so we could walk briskly around the village. That seemed to unwind her. By 4pm she no longer felt she "needed to jump out of her skin" but remained very shaky. Then we walked the village again. To bed early and sleep by 10:30pm, but she spent over an hour on a chair very early Sunday morning. At 8am her right hip ached so rather have her rise to get back into bed the other way I rolled her from one side to the other. She seemed comfortable as I went for a shower. She was calling out as I returned 15 minutes later. Her body was "twisted", in pain, unable to move. I helped her up. She was unable to lay down again. Had to keep rising from a chair to move around. After a little breakfast she was able to shower and dress herself, too late for church. We walked to our hall to attend a Red Cross luncheon.
Have I described how she gets into and out of bed? Sometimes she is able to do so without help. She shuffles to a position at the side of the bed, a position from where her head will be on her pillow. She places her hands on the bed to balance. With much effort she lifts her right knee, leaning forward a little to rest it on the bed. Sometimes I need to lift her leg high enough. With effort she forces her right knee toward the middle of the bed. Now leaning on the bed with her hands she slowly topples forward, landing on her right shoulder. With luck, her body falls into a comfortable position, because she is now unable to move her legs. They lay as they fall, like a tree. Should her feet protrude over the edge of the bed then that is how they stay. I will push them further onto the bed if I am present and awake. Usually she is able to grasp the doona and pull it up. She then grabs the bed pole and pulls her upper body forward until her right shoulder is correctly positioned. Too much dragging herself about using the bed pole causes her arms to ache. Even though she sleeps on satin, she is unable to wriggle for that final degree of comfort. As you would. Try it some time, just fall into bed and see how long you remain comfortable without wriggling your feet, twisting your shoulders, rolling your hips ever so slightly to remove that last little bit of discomfort. Then try to sleep. Stay like that for several hours. When you need to turn, get out of bed to do it. Her problem is not insomnia as many people think when they compare her sleepless nights with their own.
About half the time when she can't get out of bed without help then she calls me. I draw back the doona, pull her legs as a pair (they remain stuck together, it takes effort and some pain to separate them) to the edge of the bed so that when she loops her arm around my neck and I stand upright she is drawn to a sitting position with her legs over the side of the bed. Not a recommended OHS technique. Then her slip-on shoes are fitted, as she needs these for balance. When I think to use it, I loop her lifting strap around her torso and lift her into a standing position. Her feet will be close together so she needs to concentrate to spread them before walking otherwise she tends to sway too much. Once stable she is able to shuffle, if not walk, away. I puzzle that her legs are so useless when horizontal in bed yet they are able to support her to walk when upright.
Early this Monday morning, about 2am, she woke me. Her arms were folded across her chest. She was not able to untangle them. Her arms were cold. I grasped them and felt resistance. A little force and her arms relaxed, came undone. "That's better" she said. This bothers me. Are her arms developing a rigidity similar to her legs? Or as a result of skipping her midday meds on Saturday? When the alarm woke us for 7am meds I checked with her that this had not been a dream, even though I had written it in my little notebook.
Then followed a week of normality. The usual stiffness, arm aches that are subsiding, sleeplessness, restlessness. Tuesday she made it to KYB. All day Thursday she had a headache although that night she considered good because she was able to turn in bed several times without assistance. Normally she calls out to me to help her out of bed so that she can get back in laying on her other side. Wednesday evening she lacked ability to proceed with her quilt at our hall, although a pleasant outing for her. Friday an appointment to have her toes attended to by a chiropodist.
Saturday was a bad day, after sitting in a chair for 2 hours she was able to go to bed and sleep at 4:30am. At 7:45 she sensed she was laying "across" the bed (she wasn't) so needed to rise & get back in. She rose at 10am, restless and stiff. Her legs stiffened to such an extent when she sat that her feet lifted off the floor. Her whole body had the shakes. She felt over medicated so decided to skip her midday meds. I am unsure whether doing so showed any results in her later activities. She is able to rise & walk without difficulty. She decided not to shower, just dressed instead so we could walk briskly around the village. That seemed to unwind her. By 4pm she no longer felt she "needed to jump out of her skin" but remained very shaky. Then we walked the village again. To bed early and sleep by 10:30pm, but she spent over an hour on a chair very early Sunday morning. At 8am her right hip ached so rather have her rise to get back into bed the other way I rolled her from one side to the other. She seemed comfortable as I went for a shower. She was calling out as I returned 15 minutes later. Her body was "twisted", in pain, unable to move. I helped her up. She was unable to lay down again. Had to keep rising from a chair to move around. After a little breakfast she was able to shower and dress herself, too late for church. We walked to our hall to attend a Red Cross luncheon.
Have I described how she gets into and out of bed? Sometimes she is able to do so without help. She shuffles to a position at the side of the bed, a position from where her head will be on her pillow. She places her hands on the bed to balance. With much effort she lifts her right knee, leaning forward a little to rest it on the bed. Sometimes I need to lift her leg high enough. With effort she forces her right knee toward the middle of the bed. Now leaning on the bed with her hands she slowly topples forward, landing on her right shoulder. With luck, her body falls into a comfortable position, because she is now unable to move her legs. They lay as they fall, like a tree. Should her feet protrude over the edge of the bed then that is how they stay. I will push them further onto the bed if I am present and awake. Usually she is able to grasp the doona and pull it up. She then grabs the bed pole and pulls her upper body forward until her right shoulder is correctly positioned. Too much dragging herself about using the bed pole causes her arms to ache. Even though she sleeps on satin, she is unable to wriggle for that final degree of comfort. As you would. Try it some time, just fall into bed and see how long you remain comfortable without wriggling your feet, twisting your shoulders, rolling your hips ever so slightly to remove that last little bit of discomfort. Then try to sleep. Stay like that for several hours. When you need to turn, get out of bed to do it. Her problem is not insomnia as many people think when they compare her sleepless nights with their own.
About half the time when she can't get out of bed without help then she calls me. I draw back the doona, pull her legs as a pair (they remain stuck together, it takes effort and some pain to separate them) to the edge of the bed so that when she loops her arm around my neck and I stand upright she is drawn to a sitting position with her legs over the side of the bed. Not a recommended OHS technique. Then her slip-on shoes are fitted, as she needs these for balance. When I think to use it, I loop her lifting strap around her torso and lift her into a standing position. Her feet will be close together so she needs to concentrate to spread them before walking otherwise she tends to sway too much. Once stable she is able to shuffle, if not walk, away. I puzzle that her legs are so useless when horizontal in bed yet they are able to support her to walk when upright.
Early this Monday morning, about 2am, she woke me. Her arms were folded across her chest. She was not able to untangle them. Her arms were cold. I grasped them and felt resistance. A little force and her arms relaxed, came undone. "That's better" she said. This bothers me. Are her arms developing a rigidity similar to her legs? Or as a result of skipping her midday meds on Saturday? When the alarm woke us for 7am meds I checked with her that this had not been a dream, even though I had written it in my little notebook.
posted by Kilpike | 8:29 am
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