Chapter 299 - An Average Week I Suppose
The week began with her opting not to attend physio at the hospital at 2:30pm on Monday. She lacked confidence in her stability and balance to go, so she rang the physio.
On Tuesday she was happy to go to respite.
Then Wednesday was her appointment for her second monthly B12 injection. In chatting to Dr Flower the matter of leg pains and tingling was discussed, Dr Flower emphasising the need for exercise to assist with circulation and joint lubrication (I think that was how she spoke) and I chipped in that we had a pedal machine which she does not use very much. Of course, she denied that. Then we lunched at the club before returning home. Later that day I found her using the pedals with some difficulty because the feet of the machine slip on the wooden floor. Thinking to myself that a strip of carpet beneath the pedals may keep them in position, I went for a tape measure. When I returned she said to me "Maybe it wouldn't slip so much if there was a piece of carpet underneath." Great minds! From the attic I retrieved a piece of carpet we had used in the caravan. Now with one end of the carpet piece beneath her TV chair and the pedals positioned at the other, the pedals no longer slip around. She seems to be using them more frequently and for longer periods.
Sometimes she says her feet are "numb", as last night in the middle of a DVD movie, when she needed wheeling to the loo in her "public" walker (with the seat) because she was not confident to walk with her trolley (One tire on the wheelchair was flat, sometime since we last used it.). And some nights she wakes me when her feet are numb for assistance to get onto the commode. I'm unsure whether "numbness" was mentioned to Dr Flower, in attempting to say everything, some matters are not given enough emphasis. I must monitor the frequency of the "numbness".
Twice this week we have walked around the village (half kilometre?) although yesterday she only managed the hall and back.
Our experiment with coconut oil was cancelled. Perhaps she took too much too quickly because she blamed the oil for loose bowels that persisted for several days, to the extent that she has not wanted Metamucil in her evening glass of fruit juice for some days now. That is a form of incontinence she wishes to avoid. So do I. Dr Flower suggested coconut water or milk, described as "yummy" but I doubt that would have the appropriate dietary effect.
She has finally experienced the cold weather, sometimes mentioning the chill and happy to have the oil heater on and the doors shut to the TV room. And she does not complain about the heat from the ceiling as we go to bed, although she is keen to have me switch it off before we go to sleep.
I overheard her telling someone that we can fly down to Pivot City for our grand daughter's wedding near the end of the year. Later she took some convincing that even if we flew down, we still need a vehicle at both ends, also the difficulties of taking a walker, maybe a wheel chair etc etc with us. She contacted the motel next door to the reception room but was disappointed to learn only a queen size bed was available and no rails in the bathroom, in other words, most disability unfriendly.
Her meds schedule for this current week:
On Tuesday she was happy to go to respite.
Then Wednesday was her appointment for her second monthly B12 injection. In chatting to Dr Flower the matter of leg pains and tingling was discussed, Dr Flower emphasising the need for exercise to assist with circulation and joint lubrication (I think that was how she spoke) and I chipped in that we had a pedal machine which she does not use very much. Of course, she denied that. Then we lunched at the club before returning home. Later that day I found her using the pedals with some difficulty because the feet of the machine slip on the wooden floor. Thinking to myself that a strip of carpet beneath the pedals may keep them in position, I went for a tape measure. When I returned she said to me "Maybe it wouldn't slip so much if there was a piece of carpet underneath." Great minds! From the attic I retrieved a piece of carpet we had used in the caravan. Now with one end of the carpet piece beneath her TV chair and the pedals positioned at the other, the pedals no longer slip around. She seems to be using them more frequently and for longer periods.
Sometimes she says her feet are "numb", as last night in the middle of a DVD movie, when she needed wheeling to the loo in her "public" walker (with the seat) because she was not confident to walk with her trolley (One tire on the wheelchair was flat, sometime since we last used it.). And some nights she wakes me when her feet are numb for assistance to get onto the commode. I'm unsure whether "numbness" was mentioned to Dr Flower, in attempting to say everything, some matters are not given enough emphasis. I must monitor the frequency of the "numbness".
Twice this week we have walked around the village (half kilometre?) although yesterday she only managed the hall and back.
Our experiment with coconut oil was cancelled. Perhaps she took too much too quickly because she blamed the oil for loose bowels that persisted for several days, to the extent that she has not wanted Metamucil in her evening glass of fruit juice for some days now. That is a form of incontinence she wishes to avoid. So do I. Dr Flower suggested coconut water or milk, described as "yummy" but I doubt that would have the appropriate dietary effect.
She has finally experienced the cold weather, sometimes mentioning the chill and happy to have the oil heater on and the doors shut to the TV room. And she does not complain about the heat from the ceiling as we go to bed, although she is keen to have me switch it off before we go to sleep.
I overheard her telling someone that we can fly down to Pivot City for our grand daughter's wedding near the end of the year. Later she took some convincing that even if we flew down, we still need a vehicle at both ends, also the difficulties of taking a walker, maybe a wheel chair etc etc with us. She contacted the motel next door to the reception room but was disappointed to learn only a queen size bed was available and no rails in the bathroom, in other words, most disability unfriendly.
Her meds schedule for this current week:
| WEEK 10 Commencing Friday 21st June 2013 | ||||||
| Friday 21st | ||||||
| 06:00 | Sin 100/25 | Sin CR 200/50 | Deralin 40 | Comtan 200 | Sifrol 1.5 | Vit D 1x1000 |
| 10:00 | Sin 250/25 | Deralin 40 | ||||
| 14:00 | Sin 250/25 | Deralin 40 | Sifrol 1.25 | Vit C 2x500 | ||
| 18:00 | Sin 250/25 | Deralin 40 | Comtan 200 | Vit D 1x1000 | ||
| 22:00 | Sin 100/25 | Sin CR 200/50 | Deralin 40 | Sifrol 1.5 | Mag 500 | |
| Saturday 22nd | ||||||
| 06:00 | Sin 100/25 | Sin CR 200/50 | Deralin 40 | Comtan 200 | Sifrol 1.5 | Vit D 1x1000 |
| 10:00 | Sin 250/25 | Deralin 40 | ||||
| 14:00 | Sin 250/25 | Deralin 40 | Sifrol 1.25 | Vit C 2x500 | ||
| 18:00 | Sin 250/25 | Deralin 40 | Comtan 200 | Vit D 1x1000 | ||
| 22:00 | Sin 100/25 | Sin CR 200/50 | Deralin 40 | Sifrol 1.5 | Mag 500 | |
| Sunday 23rd | ||||||
| 06:00 | Sin 100/25 | Sin CR 200/50 | Deralin 40 | Comtan 200 | Sifrol 1.5 | Vit D 1x1000 |
| 10:00 | Sin 250/25 | Deralin 40 | ||||
| 14:00 | Sin 250/25 | Deralin 40 | Sifrol 1.25 | Vit C 2x500 | ||
| 18:00 | Sin 250/25 | Deralin 40 | Comtan 200 | Vit D 1x1000 | ||
| 22:00 | Sin 100/25 | Sin CR 200/50 | Deralin 40 | Sifrol 1.5 | Mag 500 | |
| Monday 24th | ||||||
| 06:00 | Sin 100/25 | Sin CR 200/50 | Deralin 40 | Comtan 200 | Sifrol 1.5 | Vit D 1x1000 |
| 10:00 | Sin 250/25 | Deralin 40 | ||||
| 14:00 | Sin 250/25 | Deralin 40 | Sifrol 1.25 | Vit C 2x500 | ||
| 18:00 | Sin 250/25 | Deralin 40 | Comtan 200 | Vit D 1x1000 | ||
| 22:00 | Sin 100/25 | Sin CR 200/50 | Deralin 40 | Sifrol 1.5 | Mag 500 |
Added Monday 24th June: I must add the following before I forget all about the event. Yesterday, Sunday, we went to lunch at the local club. On a grey cold damp day the club was quite pleasantly cosy. We didn't rush, the place crowded so service was slow, but we didn't mind. We discussed the trip for the wedding later in the year, coming to an agreeable plan. She may be content with the motel, next door to the reception place, even though the rooms lack disabled facilities; we find many motels have unsatisfactory disabled facilities anyway. I ordered sweets and coffee prior to her 2pm meds and we enjoyed them from about 2:30pm. On the way out 1/2 an hour later we detoured via the disabled toilets, then to the shopping centre to stock up with life's necessities. "You'll be quicker without me" so she remained in the vehicle while I went into the supermarket.
By 4:30pm we were home again, she to read a book in the TV room, me to pack away groceries before going to my dungeon to watch a series of TED Talks about the human brain. While in the middle of one talk the phone rang; I let it ring, hoping she would pick it up. Eventually I paused the talk, answered the phone to discover it was her ringing me from our "Bat phone" (our name for our VOIP connection) "Can you come and help me?" she asked. I found the rest of the house in darkness; rain was falling outside, no light through the windows, the time about 5:45pm. I switched lights on to go to her. "Why did you ring?" I queried. "You didn't take your radio with you, I can't get up from the chair to go to the loo, or to switch on the lights so I had to use my torch (she usually has a small LED torch on her trolley) to locate the Bat phone to ring you!" So I asked "Why didn't you switch on the room lights as it was getting dark, surely you couldn't see to read?" "I wasn't reading, I had fallen asleep."
In a small house, only separated by 2 rooms and a passage, I am concerned that we can find ourselves in a hazardous situation so easily. Yet I am pleased that her cognitive abilities gave her a solution to her difficulty. Says he checking his pocket for his CB radio.
posted by Kilpike | 11:03 am
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home