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.
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.
posted by Kilpike | 11:31 am
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