Chapter 187 - Much Activity

We were in Hot Air City for two nights this past week when a I had a cataract operation on my left eye. We stayed at the same motel as we did last August. A room opposite the one we had last time, plenty of space, especially in the bathroom equipped with hand rails. There was a two-tier bunk bed as well as a queen sized bed that we slept in. She would not sleep on the lower bunk because she could not tolerate having the bed above over her and of course she had no chance of climbing to the upper bunk. So we shared the queen sized bed so that I could lay on one end of her satin sheet cover to keep it in place, since it is a little too short to be tucked in on both sides. I was quite surprised at how vigorous her tremors are while she is awake; almost violent, I suspect they have intensified.

We travelled to and from the Eye Hospital by cab, from which she had only slight difficulty getting in & out of, although she always sat on her favourite piece of old black plastic. She acted as my "carer", although it was I that needed to collect medications from a chemist shop on the way back to the motel. The evening of the operation we had room service, then for breakfasts and the next dinner we ate in the restaurant where she had little difficulty serving herself, for it was a buffet establishment.

On our return trip home I decided to take a side road to a small country town where I wanted to photograph some buildings. She stayed in the truck while I did so and before we drove on I bought her an ice cream for the morning was hot. Seeing a sign post to another town down a side road I decided to take the short cut; unfortunately for her half of the 34kms had a gravel surface. By the time we were back on the bitumen her hands were stiff, with white knuckles, from holding the grab handles so tightly, even though I drove the length of the hilly & winding road at no more than 40kms.

She has needed to use the TENS and the treadmill to lessen leg & back pains several times since our return. I suspect her need is due to many hours of concentrated effort assembly two quilts for our beds. These she commenced several years ago when she was unable to do much with her hands.

We disappointedly saw the movie "Old Dogs" yesterday.

Chapter 186 - Just Another Year/Decade

I think I mentioned that long before Xmas she began embroidering fridge magnets, then dozens of Xmas cards, then made several aprons and embroidered them and in the new year a small quilt for her sister followed by another to match the one (her first, made years ago when we were over West) she places on my bed. She is now dressing a doll, about 500mm high, bought a long time ago. Too long at these activities causes lots of back & leg pain, so it seems important that she daily do her 30 minutes of Wii Fit. We missed a couple of sessions on Thursday & Friday so yesterday the pain drove her to spending a short time on the tread mill and on going to bed she needed the TENS. Our enthusiasm for Wii Fit has waned; although we both find the half our of exercise very beneficial.

The last time she saw our GP we told him that she had stopped taking Lipitor and that the pain & tingling in her hands & arms had faded away. He was unconcerned, although he referred her for a blood test by March to ensure all is OK including cholesterol. Her coccyx no longer troubles her and she does not bother with her special cushion when in the truck. She often has bruising on her rear, arms & legs that I don't think I have mentioned before; just one of those things seemingly always been characteristic of her and without remembered causes. Apart from the Lipitor, her meds have not changed as far as I know.