Chapter 45 - Take up Thy bed ...
Somewhere around 2am Wednesday I sat up rigid in bed. A scream from her. I expected the worst. But no, just a night mare, more snuffles & whimpers while she remained asleep. Half an hour later she woke to tell me she was slipping out of bed. She wasn't, but sleeping on the slippery sleeping bag on a narrow (but firm) mattress on top of her king-size single bed base may have given her that sensation and was probably the cause of the scream earlier.
Then on Thursday morning she washed her hair under the shower. That is always a strain for her. Doesn't like sitting on a chair under the shower while washing herself. The result was sciatica like pains (not so, as our Bowen friend around the corner explained during her visit there in the afternoon; other muscles, other nerves) across the small of her back extending down the fronts of her legs. She needed help drying & dressing. We were on our way to another PD group meeting down at the club at 10:30am. She persevered an hour & a half sitting at a table (such positions present a barrier to her, stressful) for a constructive meeting, which concluded as she needed her meds. We walked, she hanging tightly on my arm, down to the newsagents to buy her puzzle magazines. Then a little before two we walked around for a Bowen session that removed the pains down her legs. That night she went to bed at 9pm!! However,10:30pm turned her, 12:15am sat her up for meds, 1:15am call from her to turn her & as a consequence needed the toilet, 3:30am helped out of bed so she could get back in to lay on her other side (sometimes just turning her doesn't work), 7am Friday alarm for morning meds, 8:45 rose for toilet and finally got up for the day without backache although a little soreness near Bowen contact areas. An average sort of night and maybe the harder mattress from the van is useful. We have been looking for mattress data on the net. Friday a pleasant day, including a tough walk around the local park where the roses are. But that night she sat on the side of her bed for 30 minutes around 1am deciding that the van mattress tilts slightly due to the wider base it rests upon. So I moved the van mattress to the middle of the lounge room. She slept until her Saturday 7am meds, rose at 8:30 with no kick-in, then slept between 10 & 11am then a shower after which she needed dressing help. During the afternoon she felt worn out after 4 loads of washing (she says I don't do washing, dusting or toilets - we all have our own skill repertoire). That night at 10:30pm she was back on the larger mattress on the lounge room floor, the theory being that she would feel easier on a larger bed that had firmer support beneath, ie, a concrete floor. But an hour later she woke with shakes, aches in her left hip & leg, culminating in her feeling that she was in a "hole". So she returned to the small mattress on the floor. At 1am she called on the CB radio she was stuck attempting to roll to her other side. We gave up. So the larger mattress was returned to its base in the bedroom where she slept until 5:45am Sunday, rising with a backache for the loo. Back to bed, wake for 7am meds and needed help to rise at 8:15am without aches. After a shower she needed a little assistance to dress for church where we arrived on time. She sat through the service with bad shakes, needed help to stand to go for communion after which we left for some grocery shopping. We arrived home just in time to leave for a noon-time lunch with friends just around the bend (geographically that is) to welcome new neighbours. We left there late in the afternoon with just enough time to spare to drive to other friends who put on a dinner party with us and several other people we only knew by sight. And from there we arrived back home at midnight. Is this self inflicted punishment or not? I'm sure it would be were it not for such very pleasant friends & great food, plus a little red fruit juice. I suspect by the end of the evening (if not earlier) I was speaking too much & too loudly. She seemed surprised that she weathered the day so well, saying that sitting down all day & evening helped. Asleep on her usual bed in the bedroom until 5:45am this morning for toilet, then until her 7am meds. Up at 7:45am with cramp-like pains in her legs, then returned to bed to sleep in which state she remains at 10:15am.
So where are we with bed experimentation? I dunno. It's so hard to control the variables.
Another day, another week ..............
Then on Thursday morning she washed her hair under the shower. That is always a strain for her. Doesn't like sitting on a chair under the shower while washing herself. The result was sciatica like pains (not so, as our Bowen friend around the corner explained during her visit there in the afternoon; other muscles, other nerves) across the small of her back extending down the fronts of her legs. She needed help drying & dressing. We were on our way to another PD group meeting down at the club at 10:30am. She persevered an hour & a half sitting at a table (such positions present a barrier to her, stressful) for a constructive meeting, which concluded as she needed her meds. We walked, she hanging tightly on my arm, down to the newsagents to buy her puzzle magazines. Then a little before two we walked around for a Bowen session that removed the pains down her legs. That night she went to bed at 9pm!! However,10:30pm turned her, 12:15am sat her up for meds, 1:15am call from her to turn her & as a consequence needed the toilet, 3:30am helped out of bed so she could get back in to lay on her other side (sometimes just turning her doesn't work), 7am Friday alarm for morning meds, 8:45 rose for toilet and finally got up for the day without backache although a little soreness near Bowen contact areas. An average sort of night and maybe the harder mattress from the van is useful. We have been looking for mattress data on the net. Friday a pleasant day, including a tough walk around the local park where the roses are. But that night she sat on the side of her bed for 30 minutes around 1am deciding that the van mattress tilts slightly due to the wider base it rests upon. So I moved the van mattress to the middle of the lounge room. She slept until her Saturday 7am meds, rose at 8:30 with no kick-in, then slept between 10 & 11am then a shower after which she needed dressing help. During the afternoon she felt worn out after 4 loads of washing (she says I don't do washing, dusting or toilets - we all have our own skill repertoire). That night at 10:30pm she was back on the larger mattress on the lounge room floor, the theory being that she would feel easier on a larger bed that had firmer support beneath, ie, a concrete floor. But an hour later she woke with shakes, aches in her left hip & leg, culminating in her feeling that she was in a "hole". So she returned to the small mattress on the floor. At 1am she called on the CB radio she was stuck attempting to roll to her other side. We gave up. So the larger mattress was returned to its base in the bedroom where she slept until 5:45am Sunday, rising with a backache for the loo. Back to bed, wake for 7am meds and needed help to rise at 8:15am without aches. After a shower she needed a little assistance to dress for church where we arrived on time. She sat through the service with bad shakes, needed help to stand to go for communion after which we left for some grocery shopping. We arrived home just in time to leave for a noon-time lunch with friends just around the bend (geographically that is) to welcome new neighbours. We left there late in the afternoon with just enough time to spare to drive to other friends who put on a dinner party with us and several other people we only knew by sight. And from there we arrived back home at midnight. Is this self inflicted punishment or not? I'm sure it would be were it not for such very pleasant friends & great food, plus a little red fruit juice. I suspect by the end of the evening (if not earlier) I was speaking too much & too loudly. She seemed surprised that she weathered the day so well, saying that sitting down all day & evening helped. Asleep on her usual bed in the bedroom until 5:45am this morning for toilet, then until her 7am meds. Up at 7:45am with cramp-like pains in her legs, then returned to bed to sleep in which state she remains at 10:15am.
So where are we with bed experimentation? I dunno. It's so hard to control the variables.
Another day, another week ..............
posted by Kilpike | 9:16 am
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home