Chapter 95 - Home Again

We've been home for a few days now after a short (geographically & duration) caravan trip. Five small towns a few hours drive away. The longest time driving was 3 hours coming home in the rain last Wednesday. I didn't bother unhitching the van at all in 10 days. There was no need. We had no interest in sight seeing. Each van park was only a few yards from a shopping centre so we had no difficulty buying groceries. At the second town she stocked up on clothes from her favourite store; they offered her a seat to ease her back pains while I flashed my Visa. Right from the beginning her back and hips gave her trouble. Her bed in the van is not as kind to her as it once was. And sitting on the in-built upholstered van seats, posture twisted to watch TV in the rear corner of the van did not help either. Most of our time in the van was spent reading or TV & videos because of wet weather or frost. At least one small fan heater was warming the van 24 hours each day. Perhaps we sat in frosty sunshine no more than a few hours. When her back pains became severe I set up one of our collapsible chairs in the middle of the van. However in the confines of the van passage from front to rear sometimes made reaching the loo a problem so I bought a "director's" chair for her; much easier to set up & to collapse, as well as providing a much better seating posture. Each van park had a disabled toilet room (no, not a room with broken facilities !) which she was able to use, although she always showered in the van. A van toilet is a must during rain, frosts & dark cold nights. We stayed 2 nights at each van park, exiting by about 9am and arriving at the next about 10am since the distances were so short. And this meant we had 2 days in each town as well. My type of vanning, especially when I did not need to unhitch, although connecting & disconnecting hoses is less than pleasant on winter mornings.

She regularly needs help drying and dressing each morning. Quite often she is unable to rise from a chair, to the extent I don't like being absent from her for too long in case she is caught short. Now that winter is here she has a lot of trouble putting on jumpers & coats; they tend to bunch across her shoulders while her arms are half way into the sleeves and she can only stand there until I discover her predicament.

In all, we enjoyed our time together, as one must in a van during wet weather. Not like we are now that we are at home, she in her sunroom (knitting jackets for African kids) while I am out in my dungeon. I was surprised to discover we laughed together in the van, unusual because I suppose we don't laugh much when we are together alone at home. A sorry thing that I need to travel in cramped conditions with her to feel closeness. As her caring physician says, she has a very expressive face for a Parky. A shame that she has little mobility from the waist down.

At one point she said "I will have to get better so I can look after you in your old age." I really hope so.

Chapter 94 - A Few Notes

In my last chapter I forgot to mention an interesting example of how she views her surroundings. As I often do when we take short overnight trips, on our recent excursion north I had forgotten to pack an extension cord to power my CPAP machine from the usual single power point that one finds located far from the bed in the far corner of a motel room. So I had to reposition my bed for the night and returned it before breakfast the next morning. In doing so, I dislodged her bed at an angle to the wall, maybe 100mm on one side, it wasn't square to the wall. On coming out of the bathroom she realised the crookedness of the bed's position, froze and demanded that I correct it. The same has happened at home with smaller pieces of furniture that I have dislodged while cleaning or whatever. She never used to be bothered by such matters.

This morning as she sat on the side of her bed at home she asked for help to rise. She was not sitting squarely on the bed, her legs were at an angle of maybe 20 degrees to edge. Without assistance she was stranded there.

The reason she was in that position was because she had sat up after I had her lay on the bed for me to place drops in her eyes - well, near her eyes. A few weeks ago the optometrist gave her eye drops because her eyes were very dry; another consequence of PD causing less frequent blinking. The optometrist had commented that her eyes were very "tight". I have to agree; I failed when I attempted to pull back her eyelids to apply the drops, I would have hurt her had I continued pulling at her eyelids. So the only way to overcome the problem is for her to lay on her back, drop drops on her eyelashes and leave her to blink a little. Enough enters the eyes to be helpful.

After her hour & a half of physio each Thursday she walks almost briskly. I only wish we were pain loving people that love to exercise. We both need exercise; she for her PD and me because I feel age creeping into my joints (pretty well everywhere).

Several weeks ago she decided to take extra Inderal, originally prescribed to reduce tremor a long time ago. So in addition to the Inderal she takes with Sinemet CR at 9am & 7pm, she takes another Inderal at 2pm and another around 2am or thereabouts when she wakes. She thinks her tremors are less. I would like to believe that the tremor of her chin has reduced.

I notice that she is stooping more and even when seated in her favourite chair reading. I have thought her asleep at times when her head has been hanging well forward, yet she was reading a book on her lap. At least watching TV keeps her head more erect. Sometimes she totters along with a small toe stepping walk while stooped after rising from her chair.