Chapter 216 - Better Times

Thursday at 6AM she began taking one Sifrol ER per day. There have been no side effects that she has noticed. The rest of her meds remain as reported in the last Chapter. I have gained the impression that her Off times have decreased and are not beginning as abruptly. She has not been requesting the treadmill for the last few days, until this morning after "laying too long in the one place in bed" when she decided to use it about 7AM & stayed walking on it for 6 minutes, and that relieved some pain she felt in her central back. She has not experienced the shudder, the need to lay down, feeling of "someone walked over my grave" for quite a few days. For the last few mornings she has not needed help to dry after showering or help pulling on her pants. The weather has not helped her; she continues to sweat profusely, so much so that her arms often look wet and her hair is wet & actually drips. She is not going to the loo as often (maybe that's why there have been few cries for help?) even though she drinks litres of water each day; last Wednesday I had to buy a cask of water because she had emptied the one left in position in the kitchen. Even though the weather has been hot she completed two wall hangings for herself during the week. Fortunately her hands are little impacted. She studiously completes her puzzles each week and mails off the results. On Thursday afternoon she had another Bowen session and I suspect this is minimising her pain & discomfort, even though at least a day is needed to recover from the effects of "being kicked by a horse". I can't bring myself to take more detailed daily records I once used to; to do so invades her integrity as well as depressing me, yet I feel I should keep track of the number of times she calls for help etc etc for this record to be more meaningful.

A little later: After writing the above I went to the kitchen to make another cup of tea. In checking on her I found her asleep on her bed, fully dressed, she has showered. Maybe those sudden feelings of a need to lay down are happening more often than she says. I will let her sleep until her next meds time when she will probably wake any way.

10AM. This time when I checked on her she was stirring. I helped her up & to her favourite chair. She said that she had had a slight headache before showering so took some Panamax then after showering she began to feel very tired, as if she closed her eyes she would drop off asleep, so she dressed herself, layed down & slept. She seems a little groggy, a trace of the headache remains. Surprisingly, she had left her trolley out near her chair before having the shower, although she took the CB with her to the bathroom then to the bed. I roused on her for not calling me as she must have been in danger of falling. After getting up she walked OK to her chair. The morning is cool and I opened the doors to allow fresh air through the house; even so, she needed chilled water from the fridge.

In checking on her again she seems subdued. She says she has not felt like this for the last few days. She has a feeling to "meditate" & she needed assistance to rise from her chair to the trolley. A few nights ago she made an urgent response to tummy pains and was pleased she had reacted quickly to the need.