Chapter 307 - Some Stress
On Monday afternoon she saw Dr Flower. The appointment was for 3pm; we sat there patiently until about 3.45pm Dr Flower saw us and queried whether we were to see herself. The receptionist seemed to have left us out of the electronic queueing. I showed Dr Flower the pictures of her blotch feet. She felt her feet to check there was feeling in the toes then prepared a plan for her to have 2 visits to see the Dapper Podiatrist (who she sees regularly anyway, with an appointment next week) and 3 visits to see the Happy Physio (who treated her some years ago when she had fallen and tore the ligament in her left leg). Monday evening she went to bed at 7.45pm.
Tuesday was respite at the sheltered workshop. During the afternoon she and the rest of the group were taken on a walk around the paths of the establishment; about 1/2 an hour. Towards the end of the walk both her legs began to burn badly. That evening she went to bed at 8pm. She continues to repair crocheted rugs for the stall, keeping her fingers active, although I am sure she requires more effort to concentrate on her activities as each afternoon progresses. She complains that with the 1/4 hour delay in each medication time that she is OFF much longer, up to 2 hours before meds time I'd say. Perhaps she should return to the old schedule but I'll leave that up to her to decide.
I stressed her on Wednesday when I found her placing her purse back into the safe. She had needed it to tell a caller to her mobile phone from TGS/TSA, a sleazy marketing organisation representing Telstra, her Medicare number in order for enough points to be given a $5 discount on her mobile phone. I yelled at her that she must never ever give such information to unsolicited callers. I rang the organisation several times, getting lost in their queueing system, and I think it may have been a "genuine" call, before ringing Telstra itself to be told that such a "discount" was not possible because we had a "bundled" account with all available discounts applied anyway. Anyway, I sent a complaint email to Telstra so I had something in black and white. But how can such numbers be retracted? I can only hope there are no identity consequences to this experience now that we have been exposed as vulnerable old farts. The voices were foreign, the number in WA, but where on earth the call centre was is anybody's guess. Although our land line is on the "do not call" register, it seems her mobile wasn't.
Thursday she saw the Happy Physio to whom we spoke about pretty well everything to do with her problems other than her feet. The Happy Physio was the one that helped her most of all when she was experiencing panic attacks, this was brought up in the conversation, I had forgotten, and that explains why she breathes loudly through her nose often when she is OFF and pushing her walker to and from the bathroom, or when getting in and out of the vehicle. Also, the happy Physio reinforced the idea of taking pain killers regularly to get on top of some of her difficulties; suggested she use the pedals for 10 minutes each day, once under power, once powered, so that her legs experience variability in exercise. She hasn't really started the pedalling regularly; reacting when I suggest the pedals with comments such as "I can't do everything at once" or "I can't do it when I'm not up to it"; she prefers hand crafts to wasting time on exercise when she is ON. Anyway, the power cord is now velcro'ed onto the body of the pedal machine to remove a hazard and it sits on a larger mat held in place by the weight of her old chair, the one she used before we bought the recliner. Most of the appointment was used discussing incontinence and nocturnal usage of the commode. She was advised to practise some delay and pelvic floor exercise to delay each event. Surprisingly, since then she seems to be using the commode maybe twice between 11pm and 6am. Yet I seem to be rescuing her more frequently off the loo during the day. Somewhere in the conversation she mentioned her fear of travelling south for the November wedding.
Tuesday was respite at the sheltered workshop. During the afternoon she and the rest of the group were taken on a walk around the paths of the establishment; about 1/2 an hour. Towards the end of the walk both her legs began to burn badly. That evening she went to bed at 8pm. She continues to repair crocheted rugs for the stall, keeping her fingers active, although I am sure she requires more effort to concentrate on her activities as each afternoon progresses. She complains that with the 1/4 hour delay in each medication time that she is OFF much longer, up to 2 hours before meds time I'd say. Perhaps she should return to the old schedule but I'll leave that up to her to decide.
I stressed her on Wednesday when I found her placing her purse back into the safe. She had needed it to tell a caller to her mobile phone from TGS/TSA, a sleazy marketing organisation representing Telstra, her Medicare number in order for enough points to be given a $5 discount on her mobile phone. I yelled at her that she must never ever give such information to unsolicited callers. I rang the organisation several times, getting lost in their queueing system, and I think it may have been a "genuine" call, before ringing Telstra itself to be told that such a "discount" was not possible because we had a "bundled" account with all available discounts applied anyway. Anyway, I sent a complaint email to Telstra so I had something in black and white. But how can such numbers be retracted? I can only hope there are no identity consequences to this experience now that we have been exposed as vulnerable old farts. The voices were foreign, the number in WA, but where on earth the call centre was is anybody's guess. Although our land line is on the "do not call" register, it seems her mobile wasn't.
Thursday she saw the Happy Physio to whom we spoke about pretty well everything to do with her problems other than her feet. The Happy Physio was the one that helped her most of all when she was experiencing panic attacks, this was brought up in the conversation, I had forgotten, and that explains why she breathes loudly through her nose often when she is OFF and pushing her walker to and from the bathroom, or when getting in and out of the vehicle. Also, the happy Physio reinforced the idea of taking pain killers regularly to get on top of some of her difficulties; suggested she use the pedals for 10 minutes each day, once under power, once powered, so that her legs experience variability in exercise. She hasn't really started the pedalling regularly; reacting when I suggest the pedals with comments such as "I can't do everything at once" or "I can't do it when I'm not up to it"; she prefers hand crafts to wasting time on exercise when she is ON. Anyway, the power cord is now velcro'ed onto the body of the pedal machine to remove a hazard and it sits on a larger mat held in place by the weight of her old chair, the one she used before we bought the recliner. Most of the appointment was used discussing incontinence and nocturnal usage of the commode. She was advised to practise some delay and pelvic floor exercise to delay each event. Surprisingly, since then she seems to be using the commode maybe twice between 11pm and 6am. Yet I seem to be rescuing her more frequently off the loo during the day. Somewhere in the conversation she mentioned her fear of travelling south for the November wedding.
posted by Kilpike | 11:05 am
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