Chapter 447 - Changes in Sleep Pattern

On most afternoons for the last couple of weeks she has asked to go to bed, usually for an hour, sometimes 2 hours. Although not severely dyskinetic, she complains that her legs are uncomfortable and painful, eased by raising her legs onto her recliner and resting them on a pillow. She mostly wakes refreshed from the afternoon sleep and is dyskinesia free. Combined with being put to bed at 7PM when she sleeps almost immediately, rarely watching TV, and if she does, she falls asleep anyway, means she wakes early between 4AM and 5AM, tossing and turning, switching her wall fan on and off, causing me to wake early, of which I am feeling the effects. And I hate rising in the dark, daylight saving must end soon; she goes to bed while the sun is still up and I begin the day in the dark. One thing I am unable to tolerate is a flow of air swishing across me at regular intervals from her remotely controlled wall fan; in the gloom she tends to press the "swing button" and seems unable to start the fan without pressing "swing" as well, then she stops and starts the fan repeatedly. I have highlighted the "swing" button with Texta but still she is unable to avoid it. Such petty things loom large causing irritability.

Soon after 6AM each day I replace the Duodopa cassette, change the flow rate from 2.0 to 4.9 mL/hr (the rate at which she performs best during the day, as far as I can tell) and apply Ganfort and AZOPT drops to her eyes. Until recently she dozed again after these actions but now she tends to remain awake, sometimes being content to remain quietly in bed while I do a half hour of treadmill exercise while watching a DVD lecture. Then after I shower and dress I help her to the loo on the Sara, trying to have her ready on the commode for when the Wild Dog person arrives to shower her. Having her ready too soon or too late tends to be stressful.

Just after 9AM this morning we went down town. Coffee after buying her some magazines, a wander around KMart, then half an hour in a bag shop for a new handbag for her, followed by a few minutes in a clothing store for a jacket for me, all followed by a slow voyage through the super market. Back home again with all the shopping put away allowed us a lunch by 2PM. She enjoyed the outing whereas I was rather worn out and light headed from pushing the wheel chair. Unsure of our relationship, the woman in the bag shop awkwardly queried whether she was my mother, I replied "No, my Dearly Beloved". I'm unsure whether she caught what the woman said. A few years now since someone voiced such a comment.

Dr H., the doctor we saw about the colonoscopy  (but is now unable to do the job due to an accident, another will do it instead) wrote a script for a blood test concerning her thyroid readings. The test was done early in the week and on Thursday we were asked to see our GP about the results. Our GP was away so another saw her. He saw no concern in the results, telling us that the figures were the same for the past couple of years. Next day, Friday, Dr H.'s nurse rang about the results, puzzled that the GP was unconcerned about the results, then saying Dr H. would deal with the matter. The stand-in GP did say that the thyroid can impact constipation. I did not speak to the nurse, I may ring back tomorrow.