Chapter 93 - A Brief Holiday

A brief holiday north for her to see her Aunt; for me a break from the routine commitments of everyday retirement. Although we had planned to be gone by about 9am in the hope of visiting grandchildren briefly, a disturbed night, pain requiring the TENS machine before and after I dressed her following her shower delayed us by a couple of hours so we only called at friends on the way through Big Smoke, grabbing some junk to eat soon after leaving home.

She had booked a motel special of 3 nights including breakfast and 2 evening meals. We arrived at dusk. The left lens fell out of my glasses onto the counter at reception. I was charged the price without evening meals, then when I queried about the restaurant I learned there was none, the RSL club was near. Although supposedly with disabled facilities, the only evidence of that was a rail in the shower and near the toilet. A step at the front door and a change in level between carpeted & wet areas. I suppose that meets minimal regulations.

I talked her into walking to the RSL but we walked in the wrong direction so by the time we returned she was mildly done in, so I drove looking for fish & chips, only finding a pizza franchised outlet where I bought two woeful excuses.

Next day, Monday, we met her Aunt at the shopping centre near her place; then two sisters and a cousin arrived by bus off a train. Being almost lunch time, we sat at a table in the food hall in a position where the Aunt could position her mobility scooter. Adjacent to where the cleaning lady parked her cleaning cart; not very salubrious yet with plenty of room for the 6 of us. Food and talk until time to drop the sisters & cousin at a nearby railway station for their return home.
Then over to a distant cousin's place where we ate well, talked about health problems (we all have them) and I futilely attempted to interface a mobile phone to the man's PC. She suffered a frightful freeze in the narrow toilet room that had smallish white & red tiles on the floor; she entered the room then (not being a bloke) was unable to turn around to seat herself, she called for help, she thought she was falling as I assisted her to turn & pull her pants down in the confined space. The stress made matters urgent of course. Then she needed help to restore her clothing, none too easy in a space intended for only one person. We returned to the motel much too late around midnight.

Tuesday saw us by ourselves at another shopping centre where we spent lumps of money on some necessities. One was the DVD "A Prairie Home Companion" which she had set her mind on after we missed it in the theatre, although the film probably missed our town; viewed later on the laptop (the motel lacked appropriate replay equipment) she was disappointed and I thought something was lacking from the film - a Lake Wobegon monologue. After lunch back to the Aunt's for a couple of hours to chat (I slept) then the RSL Club in the evening. Followed by a bad night; she in the collapsible white plastic chair with arms we carry, from 3:45am due to lower back pains. She says the fault of the motel bed.

On Wednesday we returned home; only pausing once for fuel. During the afternoon she went to bed for two hours. She says there is no place like her own bed; it supports where pains develop.

This morning she showered & dried herself before needing two applications from the TENS machine. Two because the batteries were almost flat. She was challenged about attending her physio group because of lingering pain. Fortunately she did, for a stepping exercise minimised the pain. At this moment she has been sleeping for about an hour.

Chapter 92 - The Easy Things

"I'm impressed with the ease that you do that" she said as I sat on the edge of my bed, lifted my legs, pivoted on my bum then rolled onto my side, pulling up the doona as I did so. She lacks any fluidity of motion getting into or out of bed. I have already described how she shuffles to about centre of the side of her bed, then with much effort she lifts her right knee as far as possible toward the centre of the bed then tumbles onto her right side. Should she fall on the bedclothes she is unable to extricate them from beneath her. Often I need to assist in raising her right knee to the level of the bed before pushing on her foot to force her knee toward the centre of the bed. Getting out of bed is more difficult and requires much effort from her to pull on the bed pole to bring her body as close as possible to the bed's edge so that she can lower her legs over the side in order to tilt her body upright. She is unable to move the lower half of her body at all, is unable to push on the mattress with her feet, unable to take the weight of her bottom ever so slightly to aid in sliding in bed, although the satin strip does help. However, she is often forced awake when her legs stiffen out straight to protrude her feet over the edge of the bed. That forces her to get out of bed & back in again, because she is unable to withdraw her legs no matter how hard she tries, and if I push her legs toward the middle of the bed they seem to settle in an unnatural position which causes discomfort. Out & back in seems the only solution, crazy as that may seem.

She had to skip her second physio appointment because our local PD group meets on Thursday mornings. She attended the next week. An hour & a half of exercising. Afterwards she surprised me when we did a little shopping; she walked quite well; almost strode along the footpath from shop to shop, and later that evening we walked the village.

Then last Saturday night we ruined her stability by attending a birthday event for a neighbour, held at a Chinese restaurant where we had eaten before. She did not eat very much, rather cautious after the problems at Xmas, and drank lots of water while there. At home during the night she had to rise at least 3 times, not for the toilet, but in an attempt to ease pain in her legs from tremors that prevented her being comfortable in bed. Also thirst. She needed my assistance to rise then return to bed. She walked the house a little. She was unable to quench her thirst. I had eaten much the same as she had, albeit with a glass of red, without feeling thirsty at all. She was unfit to attend church as a consequence on Sunday. Since then she has been very shaky. Chinese restaurants are now declared off limits. In looking back, she has had at least three, maybe four bad periods after eating Chines food, at first we failed to associate PD problems with Oriental cuisine.

Today she was able to cope with the physio exercises. Immediately after that she had her hair cut; something she had postponed for over a year. She is strange with short hair again after all these years. At least she will no longer need to comb & tie back long hair each morning; an activity that has given her a lot of pain. Her fear of sitting & trembling in a hairdresser's chair had discouraged her for a long time, yet the young girl who performed the task was not troubled by the tremors. Back home after a stressful morning she was listless and tired with a headache. An attempt at going to bed failed after she was unable to be comfortable. She has been watching one of her favourite movies. That reminds me, yesterday we went to the theatre to see the movie about Jane Austin. I even bought a box of Malteasers, although she would have preferred Jaffas. Perhaps next time.

Chapter 91 - Until Today

Since my last post matters have been so ordinary and regular that I have often forgotten to enter daily details in my little spiral notebooks. Until today.

Last Tuesday we kept the appointment with a local hospital physio who evaluated her standing sitting and walking. Even a rough & ready version of the "stand, walk, turn, walk & sit" timed test so loved by the institution down south. The physio gave her tips on how to stand from a seated position - feet back, hands on knees, head forward over knees, the usual things, but she seems unable to easily place her centre of gravity forward enough to make the procedure work. She was placed into their regular "falls" group that meets on Thursday mornings. So her first opportunity was going to be missed because I had planned to be in the Big Smoke for a reunion lunch; but I cancelled that because I have not been feeling the greatest, so she attended for an hour & a half physio session while I sat in the sun reading a good book. We expected her to some aches & pains which failed to eventuate. That evening we walked the village.

Friday she cleaned the cupboard in her bathroom and even did a little embroidery. Saturday we had a visit from a very distant cousin of hers. Sunday was church with communion. Monday she mentioned feeling rather slow. We both went to bed around midnight rather than an hour earlier now that her routine has changed with no midnight meds.

Now today things went downhill. Started well. As for quite awhile, she showered & dressed herself; I can't remember when I last had to help, not long ago I suppose but it doesn't come to mind. She attended KYB in the morning then a little shopping. When passing the landmark cafe in this town I suggested lunch. We enjoyed a cheap conventional lunch. Back home again she sat reading until a little after 2pm she said "I feel tired. I need to lay down." To bed to sleep until 3:45pm. She came over quite hot and opened the sliding door next to her favourite chair. While she had been asleep a friend rang to ask us to come around to see his latest "toys". Normally she enjoys visiting these friends but not this afternoon when I suggested going. She was too shaky. Today she has been very stooped yet without pain; ages since she used the TENS machine. Anyway, when I returned half an hour later she said her tremors were subsiding. After we were glued to the TV set watching the budget broadcast & the following interviews she was unable to rise from her chair. Even when trying hard to follow the physio's instructions. Her tremors were bad. "I can't concentrate and shake at the same time." I held out my hands to help her up. She just stood there; frozen but shaking. "I can't find my feet." Some few seconds later she shuffled forward, off to check emails. Several times today I have been needed to adjust her clothing after a toilet trip. In trying to accomplish this herself her right thumb has become very painful once more.

Maybe during the past week we had done nothing to upset her equilibrium. During a few short shopping visits she held onto my arm. She has not used the scooter since our last visit to Hot Air City. Yesterday I placed an on-line order for $250 of alternative medicine products because her stock was running low. Do they help? Damned if I know; we can only try. I did not proceed with planning a cruise around the Long White Cloud early next year because suitable disability-friendly cabins had long since been booked. Perhaps a cruise toward the end of 2008 or later.

So what changed yesterday? My training tells me at least one parameter in her life changed to cause today's symptoms. What was it?