Chapter 257 - Some Changes

A week ago yesterday (Saturday) I developed a sore throat. After a week of coughs, sneezing, blood streaked snot, weakness & dizziness I saw a doctor yesterday, he prescribed an anti-biotic. I spent most of today watching TED Talks on my TV in the lounge room, typing this blog is the first attempt to do something on-line since Friday. She has been very scared that she will catch my disease, doesn't really understand that the viral infection was gone days ago.

Although I shouldn't have been driving, I took her to her GP appointment on Wednesday for the results of her HOLTER test of several weeks ago; he said there was nothing untoward in the results. Of course while she wore the monitor she experienced none of the fuzzy vision episodes. I have tried to have her record each instance but I'm unsure whether she has. We asked the GP how she should eliminate the Deralin 40mg she has taken for a number of years, as requested by her neuro in Hot Air City; he gave her a script for 10mg Deralin which she should take 2 only at a time in place of the 40mg. I asked what symptoms may we see from the reduction & he replied "Increased shakes & possibly head aches".

She began taking the 2x10mg Deralin from yesterday. Although I noticed no change, she said her head was shaking more than usual. As the day wore on her head became "tight" and a strong dull headache developed. By bedtime she was sure that a panic attack was on the way. In my own sickness I attempted to calm her down and she had an average night. All today the back of her neck has had a dull ache. She monitored her BP up to 160/90 but then it dropped to her usual levels of around 130/75.

Her meds are as follows:

0800  1x Sifrol 1mg
          1x Stalevo 250/200
           2x Deralin 10mg (this & Deralin doses below had been 1x 40mg)
           1x Crestor
           1x Astrix 100mg

1200   1x Stalevo 250/200
            2x Deralin 10mg
            1 Caltrate 600mg

1600    1 Sifrol 1 mg
            1x Stalevo 250/200
            2x Deralin 10mg
            1x Vitamin D 1000iu

2000    1x Stalevo 250/200
             2x Deralin 10mg
             1x Magnesium

2400     1x Sifrol 1mg
             1x Sinemet CR 200/50
             2x Deralin 10mg

There are probably other notes to record in this blog but I lack the stamina, this is the second day I've skipped my Lumosity exercises.

Chapter 256 - An Alarm

We both had a bad night, hers was probably normal, I have a sore throat etc and have been taking the usual over-the-counter relief concoctions in mugs of hot water so rose several times for the loo during the night. Each time, we passed, one going the other returning. I had spent most of the night with an ear bud listening to Radio National as a means to sleep. Somewhere near 6AM she said to enable the speakers on the T-Hub so she could listen as well. About 7:30 I woke; her bed was empty. A tone woke me as I drifted into sleep again. Damn, I thought, how did the alarm get set in the T-Hub? It sounded again a minute or two later. As I thought evil things about the T-Hub I heard her voice calling plaintively. I found her seated on the shower chair in the bathroom. "How long have you been here?" "About an hour." She had been unable to pull her pants up; her bum was ice cold. She had been pressing the door bell alarm button I had mounted on the wall behind the toilet at least 2 years ago as a precaution against her becoming stuck on the loo, the bell part is mounted on my bedside unit, some cms from my face. I had forgotten what the door bell sounded like; this is what I thought was an alarm on the T-Hub. I must react more quickly next time.

During the week she called me on the CB radio, I was in my dungeon. I found her hanging onto the fireman's pole in front of her loo, slacks around her ankles, incontinence pants partially pulled up. She frequently says that she is scared. Her feet seem to be freezing more often lately. Usually frozen close together as she desperately hangs onto any object withing reach to stabilise herself. Whenever I query her, she says she does her few Tai-Chi exercises each morning at her favourite seat; I am still in bed then. I doubt she exercises enough. I try to have her on the treadmill as often as possible, but I forget and she always seems to be "off" when I suggest the exercise.

Recently she has suffered extra pain and stiffness on Wednesdays following her sheltered workshop visit on Tuesday. So last week she convinced them that she needed to regularly rise and walk from the chair that she and the other participants sat in for most of the day. Once before when she wished to walk one of the assistants had to accompany her, for safety I suppose but grounded in insurance claims of course, even though she has to use her walker (she walks nowhere on her own without a walker, her house "trolley" with shelves for her meds & stuff while inside our house or her stepping out walker which has a seat & can be used as a wheel chair). The staff must have seen the sense to her request so she was able to perambulate up and down the hallway at her leisure whenever she wished, without having a dog's body in tow. She was without the extra pain on Wednesday.

Up in Cane Toad Country my 91 year old mother fell out of bed & was admitted to Emergency. I was phoned at midnight by a hospital doctor telling me that although there had been slight bleeding inside the skull they wanted to send mother back to the nursing home, where she was placed in Palliative Care because it was thought this was the last furlong. Mother was last reported sitting up in bed, eating well, and offering abuse to the nursing home staff. Anyway, this placed me in a bit of a quandary; I decided I would not travel up there to see my mother in an un-conscious state and then what to do about a funeral?

Option 1. Since we arranged an ACAT assessment some time ago she will be able to enter respite at a nursing home while I make a trip up North, although I have no idea of the logistics of arranging such care at short notice. Perhaps I should suss this out by talking to people at the nursing home she attends for day Respite, that I call her "Sheltered Workshop".

Option 2. A friend around the corner says she will sit with her whenever I'm out but that is clearly impossible should I be away for a couple of nights. Even if someone lived-in for a few days I doubt she would be at ease. There are personal situations none of us wish to expose until there is no other choice.

Option 3. Take her with me, either driving or flying up there. Both are stressful for her, motel beds & toilets are uncomfortable and dangerous for her. Sitting in confined spaces for hours lead to much pain & cramping. Also I'm getting beyond driving so far in 2 days, even if we allowed 3 days so that she could enjoy a rest day.

Option 4. Drop her off at an Ugly Sister's place then I continue to Big Smoke airport. She fears houses with steps, rugs, small unfamiliar bathrooms, dangerous showering conditions, and getting into embarrassing situations in the middle of the night, even ignoring what can happen during the day.

Option 5. I will not visit my mother again no matter what happens, even her funeral. I have alluded to this to my siblings but I must positively state it so that there is no doubt about my intentions. This is my chosen option.

On Wednesday we left late for a lunch at the club in the town up the 4 lane. Usually she shows signs of stress once I exceed 90k's but this time didn't murmur while I sat on 110k's!

She had been making knitted handbags for her sheltered workshop but today has returned to one of her quilt projects.

At our PD group last Thursday a woman raised the issue of communicating with her PD farmer husband when he was out & about in the paddocks. When I mentioned CB radios they replied they didn't like the trucky language they were blasted with on the CB's they had. I attempted to explain the CTCSS (Continuous Tone Coded Squelch System) option on our hand-held CB's; without much interest being shown.

She made an appointment to see the podiatrist; she hadn't had her toe nails trimmed for months. He found a wart beneath the big toe nail on her right foot and removed it.

Chapter 255 - Washing

I don't usually post again so soon. In yesterday's I forgot to mention a couple of things and she just called me on the CB; she needed help.

Sitting in my dungeon on this cold morning with the door shut I would not have been able to hear her call for help from next door in the laundry. After hanging some of her clothes on hangers her left leg suddenly cramped so she needed help to take the clothes from her hands so that she could return  to the chair she keeps in the laundry. I took the clothes and hung them in her side of the wardrobe in our bedroom. I had already taken the dirty clothes basket out to the laundry for she had decided washing needed to be done. She usually washes on Fridays although I suspect our generation remain programmed to believe that Mondays are the days to perform such religious duties. I never volunteer to do the washing; it's important (I believe) for her to still have control over these mundane chores, although more often than not I hang the clothes on the line(she has difficulty raising her arms so high), usually forgetting to bring it in before the rain or evening falls. Neither of us irons clothes any more, fortunately for us the modern generation don't seem to bother either, but then I don't look too closely. She sits somewhere to fold down the towels & the like (including my undies and socks, although some time ago I through out my menagerie of socks & bought 21 pairs of black socks, all the same type, so that sock matching - a great waste of time - is not required), and hangs whatever is appropriate on hangers.

Several weeks ago her bidet seat broke where a crack had developed on the underside of the seat. After some difficulty I found a glue suitable for the type of plastic and although a reasonable repair I realised that such was not a permanent fix. Some problem with the supplier up in Cane Toad State not wishing to supply me with the parts as he only wanted to sell to a licensed electrician. By searching the cloud I was cunningly able to locate an outlet in Big Smoke for a different re-badged brand for what was actually the same bidet; and for less than half the price and delivered the next day! Took me half an hour to fit the replacement seat (it has seat heating & occupant detection built in so involves some cable connections). I sent the bloke up north an email telling him of my success, sod him! I suspect people think that having a bidet is a form of quirky luxury, but they must try to complete their toiletry with their hand sinister rather than their hand dexter, unless of course they are predisposed in that direction or are ambidextrous. Especially for a woman, a less than well designed machine in some areas, prone to UTI's.

We find that her needs cycle over several months. For instance like suddenly needing the commode again for a few nights, although I think I can return it to its hiding place in the other bathroom ( the one to which I am relegated). For the last few nights she has needed her wheat/rice bags heated in the microwave for application to her back or shoulders to relieve pain, although perhaps it's a bit chilly to apply the Ice Gel.

Chapter 254 - Harder Times

Monday last week she had a Holter monitor fitted, wore it for 24 hours and it was removed the following day. We have had no calls asking her to visit the GP so I presume the measurements were acceptable. During the 24 hours she experienced no noticeable events, although in the days preceding the test her blood pressure dropped on several occasions to 92/63 according to her wrist BP monitor and then on Sunday 1st July while we attended our First of the Month Lunch at our village hall (we feel we should attend to swell the numbers, only 5 others were present & we see so little of other residents these days) she experienced an event when her vision was "fuzzy" and "distant" - very difficult to get a good description of her experience.

She seems to suffer extreme lower back pains after attending her Tuesday Day Respite, possibly because she has to sit for too long in an unsuitable chair. So much so that last Wednesday & Thursday I was repeatedly called on the CB to help her rise to walk to the toilet & the like. And when she does get her feet moving her steps are so small she hardly makes any progress. I encouraged her onto the tread-mill which at the very slowest speed helps her relax a little. Unfortunately, effort is required on my part to have her use the tread - mill. She does not object to using it, but she never volunteers, and when I suggest doing so, usually her meds are "off", because that of course is  when her movement difficulties are worst.

One night she was in so much pain getting out of bed that I brought the commode into the bedroom again  to save her walking to the loo. Even then I found difficulty in pivoting her onto the commode due to her pain. She used the commode for two nights then she was able to go to the bathroom. One night she rose 5 times and I feared another UTI, but loo visits have returned to only 2, 3 at the outside, each night.

We have opted out of meeting friends at clubs in other country towns as we were in the habit of doing lately, mainly due to her not being up to travelling. On the other hand, I am not pushing to have these day trips because on the return trip from seeing the neuro at Hot Air City a couple of weeks ago felt so tired I had to pull into a rest stop & sleep for about half an hour, and we were only about 15 minutes from home! Anyway, next Wednesday we are scheduled to meet the Ugly Sisters at the club up the 4 lane for lunch. Just to get out & about we went to the local club to have coffee yesterday afternoon as well as to buy her puzzle magazines, which she religiously works through each week. Although she intermittently continues with Lumosity exercises, she diligently completes all the puzzles in "That's Life" and "Take Five" each week, although it is a long time since she won a prize of any sort.

She continues to produce handcrafts at a great rate, now knitting ladies handbags (she lines them in matching fabric) from the cheap knobbly balls of "wool" that have appeared in all her favourite junk shops. The incomplete crocheted rug from Day Respite was pulled apart, reconstructed, sewn back together then crocheted a border around it. I think they were impressed with her efforts.