Chapter 414 - Wearing On
"How have you been?" she was asked by the Wild Dog care lady this morning, just arrived to assist her with showering and dressing. "I had an operation on my back" she replied, to which I responded too quickly "That was last October; you've just had Botox injections in your leg." Was that a sign of cognitive decline? Do others notice and say nothing?
We drove to West Beer last Sunday afternoon, partly to avoid traffic (it was worse) and to ensure a parking spot close to the hospital accommodation block. Claimed one of the two disabled slots which was fortunate because next morning I was told the adjacent car park was to be barricaded while a multi-story car park is built. I left the car there until we left for home on Tuesday. Accommodation in the lodge is cramped, especially with the wheel chair. The disabled shower/toilet room is at the far end of the building; fortunately we had no competition for its use at 0630, 2200 and once at 0230 when we met a bloke with a towel over his arm, saying he had locked himself out of his room. After switching on lights in the corridor I showed him the notice about phoning security and found a wall phone in the communal lounge for him to use; then I hurriedly pushed her wheel chair into our room.
We dawdled around the hospital cafeteria until her appointment at 1430 for Botox injections into the calf muscles of her left leg. Six injections with a very long needle. The only sensation she experienced was tingling toes on one injection. Dr F. was there to observe. He was very interested that her legs were shaking like mad. He asked for her to have a bolus then after some 20 minutes he imagined her shakes had diminished slightly so asked for another bolus while he attended to other matters. On returning he thought there had been another reduction in shaking. I mentioned that the stress of having the injections had made her shakes worse and that she routinely began shaking by mid afternoon. Anyway, she suffered no ill effects from the injections.
Next day we dawdled in the Hospital again, meeting an Ugly Sister for a coffee before going to Dr F's rooms, firstly for her right leg to have a nerve conduction study before seeing DR F in his room. He seemed on the verge of agreeing for us to run her pump 24x7 once again when he left the room (to consult with others?) before returning to suggest a plane of increasing the pump flow rate from 4.4 ml/hour to 4.8 immediately, then a month later to 5.0 then another month later to 5.2 until her next PD clinic sometime in June. I told him that her legs don't shake each morning from the time the pump is attached at 0600 until about 1130, as observed on that morning while having coffee with her sister. When I said I will video her at hourly intervals after she stabilises with each dose change he seemed disinterested, as did one of the PD nurses last year when I suggested doing so. This time they are going to see the recordings! As a reference, I videoed her on Thursday before increasing the flow rate to 4.8 on Friday. I have noticed no changes in her behaviour since then.
On Wednesday I called at the local hospital to see the physio about the cast for her left leg; an appointment was made for April 4th. Perhaps I have imagined that her left foot has shown signs of being flatter on the floor since the injections.
A month or so ago she decided she needed to plant some snow peas in our raised garden bed. Now she finds she is unable to chew and swallow the peas either raw or cooked. She has been hand sewing many decorated hand towels, giving the to Wild Dog respite for sale
This current weekend being Easter there was no respite for her. On the previous Saturday she had tummy problems, requiring a change of incontinence pants during the day. Once home again at 1600 she was in a mess and needed to shower. I had her skip several Movicol doses and since she has mostly one a day. No further problems.
We drove to West Beer last Sunday afternoon, partly to avoid traffic (it was worse) and to ensure a parking spot close to the hospital accommodation block. Claimed one of the two disabled slots which was fortunate because next morning I was told the adjacent car park was to be barricaded while a multi-story car park is built. I left the car there until we left for home on Tuesday. Accommodation in the lodge is cramped, especially with the wheel chair. The disabled shower/toilet room is at the far end of the building; fortunately we had no competition for its use at 0630, 2200 and once at 0230 when we met a bloke with a towel over his arm, saying he had locked himself out of his room. After switching on lights in the corridor I showed him the notice about phoning security and found a wall phone in the communal lounge for him to use; then I hurriedly pushed her wheel chair into our room.
We dawdled around the hospital cafeteria until her appointment at 1430 for Botox injections into the calf muscles of her left leg. Six injections with a very long needle. The only sensation she experienced was tingling toes on one injection. Dr F. was there to observe. He was very interested that her legs were shaking like mad. He asked for her to have a bolus then after some 20 minutes he imagined her shakes had diminished slightly so asked for another bolus while he attended to other matters. On returning he thought there had been another reduction in shaking. I mentioned that the stress of having the injections had made her shakes worse and that she routinely began shaking by mid afternoon. Anyway, she suffered no ill effects from the injections.
Next day we dawdled in the Hospital again, meeting an Ugly Sister for a coffee before going to Dr F's rooms, firstly for her right leg to have a nerve conduction study before seeing DR F in his room. He seemed on the verge of agreeing for us to run her pump 24x7 once again when he left the room (to consult with others?) before returning to suggest a plane of increasing the pump flow rate from 4.4 ml/hour to 4.8 immediately, then a month later to 5.0 then another month later to 5.2 until her next PD clinic sometime in June. I told him that her legs don't shake each morning from the time the pump is attached at 0600 until about 1130, as observed on that morning while having coffee with her sister. When I said I will video her at hourly intervals after she stabilises with each dose change he seemed disinterested, as did one of the PD nurses last year when I suggested doing so. This time they are going to see the recordings! As a reference, I videoed her on Thursday before increasing the flow rate to 4.8 on Friday. I have noticed no changes in her behaviour since then.
On Wednesday I called at the local hospital to see the physio about the cast for her left leg; an appointment was made for April 4th. Perhaps I have imagined that her left foot has shown signs of being flatter on the floor since the injections.
A month or so ago she decided she needed to plant some snow peas in our raised garden bed. Now she finds she is unable to chew and swallow the peas either raw or cooked. She has been hand sewing many decorated hand towels, giving the to Wild Dog respite for sale
This current weekend being Easter there was no respite for her. On the previous Saturday she had tummy problems, requiring a change of incontinence pants during the day. Once home again at 1600 she was in a mess and needed to shower. I had her skip several Movicol doses and since she has mostly one a day. No further problems.
posted by Kilpike | 9:37 am
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