Chapter 198 - A Cruel Morning
I don't write much any more. Don't know why. She continues to have good days, bad days, some in between.
For several days now I have tried to encourage her to write in the desk diary kept on the kitchen bench top a subjective measure of her leg pains; 0 for no pain through to 10 for extreme. She has shown little enthusiasm for doing this. Yet this morning, hunted from bed by pain, she immediately wrote "10" against 08:30am and wanted to use the treadmill. We both shuffled into my sewing room (where the treadmill is kept); me shuffling backwards leading her by hand as she shuffles forward. I noted that on foot did not pass the other, her knees did not bend, her feet never left the floor. I thought she was not going to be able to lift her foot onto the track of the treadmill. Commencing at 0.1 KM/hr and gradually increasing to 3.5, I wondered what the difference was between her shuffling her feet painful and almost striding, still painfully on the treadmill. After about 5 minutes she was able to step off the treadmill, and walk, if short of striding, away.
The highest pain level she recorded on previous days was 7.
She made herself some micro-waved rolled oats for breakfast and returned to a baby's quilt she has been making. She decided against taking a shower just then. At 10:00am she recorded a pain level of 8 and wanted to treadmill again. I always help her on and off, and stand close while she is on the machine.
At 11:00 she took the Madopar HBS and soon after thought she should shower. Pain level was 4 but she was very stiff. She called me on the CB to help her after showering. I needed to dry her in the bathroom. Sitting on the side of her bed she was unable to lift her feet off the floor to place them in her incontinence bloomers while holding them. So I had to kneel down to hold the bloomers so her feet would work. She needed help even then pulling up bloomers & slacks and some help with bra & top.
She rang for an appointment with our doctor, but there are none available until next Wednesday week. She needs new meds prescriptions and to discuss the ineffectiveness of Madopar HBS and the resulting leg pain.
By 12:00 noon her pain level was 0 but she was very stiff and shuffled her way to the toilet, from which she had difficulty rising and needed my help to pull up her bloomers and slacks.
Sometime mid-morning I on-line ordered some batteries and hardware for my metal detector. I went out to speak to her, saying, "I shouldn't have postponed doing that", meaning that I should have ordered the parts earlier in the week. She jumped to the conclusion that I was inferring that I had not used the metal detector in a long time (years actually) because she was not in a condition to travel with me to use the metal detector. She sobbed "I am sorry for being a burden to you."
Well, a shit of a morning can only improve.
For several days now I have tried to encourage her to write in the desk diary kept on the kitchen bench top a subjective measure of her leg pains; 0 for no pain through to 10 for extreme. She has shown little enthusiasm for doing this. Yet this morning, hunted from bed by pain, she immediately wrote "10" against 08:30am and wanted to use the treadmill. We both shuffled into my sewing room (where the treadmill is kept); me shuffling backwards leading her by hand as she shuffles forward. I noted that on foot did not pass the other, her knees did not bend, her feet never left the floor. I thought she was not going to be able to lift her foot onto the track of the treadmill. Commencing at 0.1 KM/hr and gradually increasing to 3.5, I wondered what the difference was between her shuffling her feet painful and almost striding, still painfully on the treadmill. After about 5 minutes she was able to step off the treadmill, and walk, if short of striding, away.
The highest pain level she recorded on previous days was 7.
She made herself some micro-waved rolled oats for breakfast and returned to a baby's quilt she has been making. She decided against taking a shower just then. At 10:00am she recorded a pain level of 8 and wanted to treadmill again. I always help her on and off, and stand close while she is on the machine.
At 11:00 she took the Madopar HBS and soon after thought she should shower. Pain level was 4 but she was very stiff. She called me on the CB to help her after showering. I needed to dry her in the bathroom. Sitting on the side of her bed she was unable to lift her feet off the floor to place them in her incontinence bloomers while holding them. So I had to kneel down to hold the bloomers so her feet would work. She needed help even then pulling up bloomers & slacks and some help with bra & top.
She rang for an appointment with our doctor, but there are none available until next Wednesday week. She needs new meds prescriptions and to discuss the ineffectiveness of Madopar HBS and the resulting leg pain.
By 12:00 noon her pain level was 0 but she was very stiff and shuffled her way to the toilet, from which she had difficulty rising and needed my help to pull up her bloomers and slacks.
Sometime mid-morning I on-line ordered some batteries and hardware for my metal detector. I went out to speak to her, saying, "I shouldn't have postponed doing that", meaning that I should have ordered the parts earlier in the week. She jumped to the conclusion that I was inferring that I had not used the metal detector in a long time (years actually) because she was not in a condition to travel with me to use the metal detector. She sobbed "I am sorry for being a burden to you."
Well, a shit of a morning can only improve.
posted by Kilpike | 11:32 am
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