Chapter 228 - Thinking Positively for a Change
Four times between 2430 and 0130 last night she told me this morning - that's each 20 minutes. Using the commode in the bedroom is now the accepted procedure, no longer a slight embarrassment. One or other of us empties it each morning, just routine. Some days ago she had an overnight dose of diarrhea and she was very pleased to be able to use her bidet on the toilet. So was I. I spoke to our chemist about those testing sticks often used by doctors & nurses for quick tests of urine. A packet of 50 was ordered for me. They are yet to be used because each morning I forget to scald the commode pot before taking an early morning sample. We realise that the testing sticks may not be as sensitive as a culture preparation at pathology but we will gain some reassurance. Wednesday a week ago we went to Southern Highlands Town to do some shopping; left at 10000, returned home at 1600 and had some junk food for lunch - in all about 3 hours driving, walking around a department store and lunch WITHOUT requiring a loo!! Yet like last night, 20 minute intervals at other times! I think it a cunning bacteria that behaves like this. She continues taking cranberry pills & yoghurts.
We went to that department store because she had seen advertised on TV some "side sleeper" pillows that seemed to be an expensive ripoff for about $60 plus postage. I found what seemed to be the same thing advertised on-line from the other side of the Pond for about $20. The pillow in question has the shape of a sea horse and has a hole into which one's ear is placed. Anyway, we found several standard looking pillow for side & tummy positions for about $16 (bought one of each & I'm using the tummy one) then discovered boxes containing the TV advertised model, $60 of course. So it went into the trolley as well.
Although she continues to use the funny side sleeper pillow I am unsure whether it has been of much benefit to her. Time will tell, as it does with so many of the experiments we try. Her first difficulty with the side sleeper pillow was that her feet gradually moved sideways to protrude over the edge of the bed. She blamed that on her satin draw sheet but I pointed out that she tends to move her lower back away from the pillow (it curves down the back), resulting in her body rotating diagonally across the bed (interrupted here when called on the CB to do up her bra strap but she refused to be playful ;-( to cause her feet to stick out. Just as when years ago when I became amorous ..... She pretends to not understand me, although our cleaning lady (more a girl in her mid-forties) thought my comments quite funny.
I am not pestering her to use the treadmill, although like this morning, she asked to use it as soon as the rose about 0830, half an hour before her meds time. She asks because I must be close at hand for safety. I only wish there was some quantitative method of measuring pain. How does a sufferer know that conditions are becoming better or simply a matter of acclimatisation? When asked this morning she was only able to say "I think so" that her pain was lessening. She seems to be mentioning leg pain less, although she often yelps when a cramp spasms down her lower legs. This happened at the shopping centre yesterday, and I can imagine such suddenness & sharpness causing stumbles & falls.
She asked why we bought the "Circulation Booster" (a TENS machine for both feet) some months ago. We can only guess that for relief of pain. Not sure. Perhaps I noted the reason in this blog. Anyway, she has taken to using it immediately prior to getting into bed each night. At first she complained that the stimulation was not happening. I remembered the directions that said the feet should be rubbed with a moisturising cream prior to using the machine. So each night now I gently rub some cream into her feet. This in the long term will have a benefit on the dry, cracking skin around her heals.
Last Wednesday back to Southern Highlands Town for lunch with one Ugly Sister & Co (a loo visit before leaving the club). The monthly local PD Group meeting the Thursday before. Occasional shopping. A string of appointments this coming week.
She is in the middle of constructing another quilt. In the design some triangles/squares suggest ribbands interleaving and I was surprised that she was unable to see where she had misplaced some of the pieces, destroying the effect. This happened several times before all the pieces were stitched together. I on-line ordered the four volumes of "Letters & Numbers" for her, the books from her favourite TV show. She is quite competent with the puzzles, although at the moment she prefers the word exercises. I read yesterday that a researcher is suggesting that dopamine replacement therapy (read levadopa/Sinemet) impacts one portion of the brain to reduce movement problems but also overloads a closely related part of the brain where cognitive problems are the result.
We need clouds sometimes to see that the sun shines.
We went to that department store because she had seen advertised on TV some "side sleeper" pillows that seemed to be an expensive ripoff for about $60 plus postage. I found what seemed to be the same thing advertised on-line from the other side of the Pond for about $20. The pillow in question has the shape of a sea horse and has a hole into which one's ear is placed. Anyway, we found several standard looking pillow for side & tummy positions for about $16 (bought one of each & I'm using the tummy one) then discovered boxes containing the TV advertised model, $60 of course. So it went into the trolley as well.
Although she continues to use the funny side sleeper pillow I am unsure whether it has been of much benefit to her. Time will tell, as it does with so many of the experiments we try. Her first difficulty with the side sleeper pillow was that her feet gradually moved sideways to protrude over the edge of the bed. She blamed that on her satin draw sheet but I pointed out that she tends to move her lower back away from the pillow (it curves down the back), resulting in her body rotating diagonally across the bed (interrupted here when called on the CB to do up her bra strap but she refused to be playful ;-( to cause her feet to stick out. Just as when years ago when I became amorous ..... She pretends to not understand me, although our cleaning lady (more a girl in her mid-forties) thought my comments quite funny.
I am not pestering her to use the treadmill, although like this morning, she asked to use it as soon as the rose about 0830, half an hour before her meds time. She asks because I must be close at hand for safety. I only wish there was some quantitative method of measuring pain. How does a sufferer know that conditions are becoming better or simply a matter of acclimatisation? When asked this morning she was only able to say "I think so" that her pain was lessening. She seems to be mentioning leg pain less, although she often yelps when a cramp spasms down her lower legs. This happened at the shopping centre yesterday, and I can imagine such suddenness & sharpness causing stumbles & falls.
She asked why we bought the "Circulation Booster" (a TENS machine for both feet) some months ago. We can only guess that for relief of pain. Not sure. Perhaps I noted the reason in this blog. Anyway, she has taken to using it immediately prior to getting into bed each night. At first she complained that the stimulation was not happening. I remembered the directions that said the feet should be rubbed with a moisturising cream prior to using the machine. So each night now I gently rub some cream into her feet. This in the long term will have a benefit on the dry, cracking skin around her heals.
Last Wednesday back to Southern Highlands Town for lunch with one Ugly Sister & Co (a loo visit before leaving the club). The monthly local PD Group meeting the Thursday before. Occasional shopping. A string of appointments this coming week.
She is in the middle of constructing another quilt. In the design some triangles/squares suggest ribbands interleaving and I was surprised that she was unable to see where she had misplaced some of the pieces, destroying the effect. This happened several times before all the pieces were stitched together. I on-line ordered the four volumes of "Letters & Numbers" for her, the books from her favourite TV show. She is quite competent with the puzzles, although at the moment she prefers the word exercises. I read yesterday that a researcher is suggesting that dopamine replacement therapy (read levadopa/Sinemet) impacts one portion of the brain to reduce movement problems but also overloads a closely related part of the brain where cognitive problems are the result.
We need clouds sometimes to see that the sun shines.
posted by Kilpike | 9:25 am
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