Chapter 68 - Worried
Last Sunday we missed church, well 15 minutes late we drove into the car park full of vehicles. She declined to enter a crowded church to be jammed onto the end of a pew. So we U-turned & did some shopping instead. We would have been at church on time even though we rose late, even though she needed help drying after her shower & with dressing, except her back was "thick" and difficult to straighten so she was relieved with an application of the TENS machine for 15 minutes.
We had dinner at the club with a large number from our village then afterwards at our hall for New Year celebrations. We left a little before midnight; her meds were due. Not tired, wide awake, she went to bed at 1am.
On Monday family were passing through on their way to holiday on the Apple Isle. She had volunteered morning tea for them. It was good to see the kids briefly. Then to our village's "First of the Month" lunch in our hall. Will this social whirl never stop? Early evening she declared that "I feel best since last Thursday."
She showered & dressed herself on Tuesday. After lunch we drove to the Upper-crust town in the highlands to look at mobility scooters. There was only a small range at the outlet there; she test drove a couple until drizzly rain forced us inside. The man intends to get in on spec a 4 wheel version of the only suitable small scooter he had. But his price is a bit high & we may not return. Some coffees at the arches place on the return trip.
We attended the small quilting group restarted for the new year at our village hall on Wednesday evening. She was not really up to attending, had no work she could take that she was able to cope with; even so, I encouraged her to go to have social contact.
Thursday saw us attempting a mango ice-cream project promised for a Saturday lunch at our friends around the bend (geographically speaking). Kitchen activities cause her to stoop, her back gives her hell. I stepped outside to place the garbage bin on the street, spent a few minutes talking to the bloke across the street. Only a couple of minutes without my CB radio around my neck. I returned to find her crying, not knowing where I was, in pain in her chair. Then we failed to follow instructions for the ice-cream machine, the liquid froze, the bowl would not turn, so the thing had to be washed & re-frozen. Left for Friday.
She showered on Friday and needed some help dressing. In the afternoon the ice-cream was made. The damned machine has something wrong with it to cause it to jam, so we had to hold it together by hand - 15 minutes is a long time when waiting. We have entered a bad cycle where both of us have been going to bed around 1am. This night I flaked around 10am, then lay awake for several hours early morning.
In the kitchen on Saturday morning I found the tell-tale signs that another bowl of ice-cream mixture had been made. Sometime around 1am I learned when she woke. For the first time in ages she needed to sit in her shower chair to shower. I left her alone in the bathroom, made sure I had my CB radio with me and retired to my dungeon to read what is going wrong with the world. Discovered that MS have some useful tools available, began downloading then realised I had heard nothing from the bathroom. I entered to find her sitting in her chair beneath the shower, unable to reach either her towel or her CB. She was upset. I dried her while she hung for grim death onto the towel rails. In the bedroom she clung to the wardrobe shelves while I dressed her. Do all males have trouble with that harness-like object called a Bra? She giggled while telling me "That piece goes to the bottom on the outside." She returns to seriously hanging onto the wardrobe shelves. Dressing finished I helped her to her chair where she finished drying her hair in the towelling pointed hat (the shape of the helmets used by racing cyclists). Lots of instructions about what to put away.
Visiting our ex-next-door-neighbour in the retirement home just before Xmas has focused her attention on what will happen when I "go". Uppermost in her mind is the lack of privacy, how she will cope without her own facilities in a private bathroom, needing assistance with showering, drying & dressing. And the cost of battery-hen accommodation. For her sake I hope I do last at least a little while longer.
She is worried; most unlike her.
We had dinner at the club with a large number from our village then afterwards at our hall for New Year celebrations. We left a little before midnight; her meds were due. Not tired, wide awake, she went to bed at 1am.
On Monday family were passing through on their way to holiday on the Apple Isle. She had volunteered morning tea for them. It was good to see the kids briefly. Then to our village's "First of the Month" lunch in our hall. Will this social whirl never stop? Early evening she declared that "I feel best since last Thursday."
She showered & dressed herself on Tuesday. After lunch we drove to the Upper-crust town in the highlands to look at mobility scooters. There was only a small range at the outlet there; she test drove a couple until drizzly rain forced us inside. The man intends to get in on spec a 4 wheel version of the only suitable small scooter he had. But his price is a bit high & we may not return. Some coffees at the arches place on the return trip.
We attended the small quilting group restarted for the new year at our village hall on Wednesday evening. She was not really up to attending, had no work she could take that she was able to cope with; even so, I encouraged her to go to have social contact.
Thursday saw us attempting a mango ice-cream project promised for a Saturday lunch at our friends around the bend (geographically speaking). Kitchen activities cause her to stoop, her back gives her hell. I stepped outside to place the garbage bin on the street, spent a few minutes talking to the bloke across the street. Only a couple of minutes without my CB radio around my neck. I returned to find her crying, not knowing where I was, in pain in her chair. Then we failed to follow instructions for the ice-cream machine, the liquid froze, the bowl would not turn, so the thing had to be washed & re-frozen. Left for Friday.
She showered on Friday and needed some help dressing. In the afternoon the ice-cream was made. The damned machine has something wrong with it to cause it to jam, so we had to hold it together by hand - 15 minutes is a long time when waiting. We have entered a bad cycle where both of us have been going to bed around 1am. This night I flaked around 10am, then lay awake for several hours early morning.
In the kitchen on Saturday morning I found the tell-tale signs that another bowl of ice-cream mixture had been made. Sometime around 1am I learned when she woke. For the first time in ages she needed to sit in her shower chair to shower. I left her alone in the bathroom, made sure I had my CB radio with me and retired to my dungeon to read what is going wrong with the world. Discovered that MS have some useful tools available, began downloading then realised I had heard nothing from the bathroom. I entered to find her sitting in her chair beneath the shower, unable to reach either her towel or her CB. She was upset. I dried her while she hung for grim death onto the towel rails. In the bedroom she clung to the wardrobe shelves while I dressed her. Do all males have trouble with that harness-like object called a Bra? She giggled while telling me "That piece goes to the bottom on the outside." She returns to seriously hanging onto the wardrobe shelves. Dressing finished I helped her to her chair where she finished drying her hair in the towelling pointed hat (the shape of the helmets used by racing cyclists). Lots of instructions about what to put away.
Visiting our ex-next-door-neighbour in the retirement home just before Xmas has focused her attention on what will happen when I "go". Uppermost in her mind is the lack of privacy, how she will cope without her own facilities in a private bathroom, needing assistance with showering, drying & dressing. And the cost of battery-hen accommodation. For her sake I hope I do last at least a little while longer.
She is worried; most unlike her.
posted by Kilpike | 8:55 am
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