Chapter 250 - Becoming a Dangerous Habit

Yesterday she fell again in her sewing room, fortunately not striking anything on the way down, although she has bruises on her behind & aches all over. She had me rub Ice Gel on her bum going to bed last night. As on other occasions, no warning, no dizziness, no sensation of falling. Just finds herself on the floor, gets herself up then maybe tells me about the event later. We have an appointment to see the doctor next Friday.

After learning that an old friend of mine had a heart attack and was in intensive care in a hospital up the 4 lane, we paid a visit last Friday afternoon; well, only me really, she stayed in the truck. On the return trip she was on the verge of having a panic attack. That town is some kms off the highway and on a winding 2 lane road with some open country & much development. So we stopped for a BigThing & stuff for half an hour then she was calm enough to continue home. And by that time the sun had set so driving was easier for me anyway.

We were to attend a village party for a couple celebrating their 60th but today she cancelled out of it to avoid congestion & rickety chairs at the restaurant. Meanwhile she has been knitting scarfs & is now back into doing some embroidery for more fancy pillows. And her puzzle magazines of course.

Chapter 249 - More Frequently

After finishing my Lumosity exercises this morning I thought to see whether she was OK. The bathroom door was shut , the sound of the shower from the other side. So I collected the kitchen rubbish then went to the bedroom to collect her bundle (her used incontinence pants) and found the small plastic bin we keep in the bedroom for tissue scraps on its side and, well, smashed. Yes, smashed! Wondering what on earth had broken it I went into the bathroom where she was happily soaping herself under the shower.

"What on earth happened to the bin?"
"I had another one."
"You mean another fall?"
"Yes, it just happened."
"You didn't realise you were falling?"
"No, I just found myself on the floor and got up. My arm is a bit sore, the one that has been aching."

She continued showering.

I collected the rubbish & the broken bin and took the lot outside to the garbage.

A surreal experience. How soon before she suffers serious damage?

Chapter 248 - Aches Here & There

All yesterday she had an ache in her left shoulder and arm, from the time she rose. I thought little of it until I saw her holding her shoulder in the evening. She had taken no pain killers & was not all that eager to place heat bags on the areas. I found both, heated them several times and also after she went to bed. In the early hours of this morning she asked me to heat them again. Late in the evening she wondered out loud whether she was having heart problems. This morning there is no pain. I hope it was due to the way she was laying in bed the night before.

There are no bed poles on her bed now. Although each pole is only a few cms in diameter, she believed that the poles were distorting her mattress, thereby causing her discomfort. Although I argued that such a small deformity was unlikely to effect her, I removed them anyway. There have been no problems voiced about her getting out of bed, although she took one for use in the motel we stayed in for 2 nights last weekend on the outskirts of Big Smoke.

Last Wednesday we lunched with our friends from the south-west at a small town 45 minutes from here. As with the trip north on the weekend she seemed happy to be travelling along the highway, only occasionally mentioning the number of trucks on the road.

The dentist re-scheduled her appointment for 12:30 rather than 14:30 last Thursday for the convenience of another patient coming from a distance. She was happy to agree to the change, yet when I parked at the dentist's downstairs doorway she was unable to leave the vehicle. I advised the receptionist that she needed to wait 10 minutes before being able to leave the vehicle. Perhaps the chair lifts up the stairs had scared her; I did not ask. The re-scheduling must have confused both of us because we forgot to attend our monthly PD group.

She finished a time consuming crazy quilt last week then began making a collection of small pillows; embroidered of course, and have now been given away. She continues attending her Tuesday "sheltered workshop", I suspect looking forward to mixing with others, most of whom I suspect make her feel cognitively able to face life's little chores. I think she continues doing her Lumosity exercises and regularly does a form of Tai Chi before I get up of a morning.