Chapter 529 - Just Sleeping
Her bouts of "sleep" have become quite a worry. Last Tuesday I coerced her to attend the local Dance for PD. Although she was not completely lucid she agreed to going so I went through the usual steps, wheel her into the bathroom to clean her teeth, then lift/slide her from the wheelchair onto the loo, place a water bottle, her phone, tissues, a $2 coin for morning tea, make sure a comb is already in the bag, then return to the bathroom to lift/slide her back to the wheelchair. Then to the car in the garage to use the slider board to slide her onto the front seat. I seat belted her in. I dropped the coin between the front seats. Grovelling about beneath the seats I failed to locate the coin but I did slice the back of my left hand. I went looking for a band-aid and another coin. By the time we arrived late at the church hall she was quite groggy; when asked she did not want to leave the car. Since she would probably be unable to leave the car if I drove straight home, I drove to the hardware store to buy a networked watering system then home at 1100. Back home again I left her in the car with the windows down and the seat reclined. At 1140 she was awake but sluggish and unable to remember having been driven to the church hall and the hardware store, although I spoke to her at both places.
On Wednesday I had an appointment to see our GP for some of my problems. I mentioned that I was considering driving her to the hospital the following day, waiting until she blanked out then telling the hospital staff that I was unable to remove her from the car. He agreed when I said this action was a little unethical. He agreed. He also agreed that I could bring her down to the surgery to be observed the next morning. I did so. We arrived at 0910 and shortly afterwards the doctor had a look at her, then had us wait in another room. At 0945 she was out to it. The doctor examined her and said "She is sleeping". Her blood pressure was OK, pulse OK, oxygen level OK, breathing regular. So home we went since she was disinterested in having lunch down the street. By 1105 she was asleep on her bed, waking at 1240.
The Exelon patches are being replaced each morning after breakfast. One fell off following a shower, another fell out of her night dress, so I applied a piece of tape over the patch then noticed that the patch still tended to lift off the skin. So I now now apply two pieces of tape in the form of an X over the patch and now the patch is kept in contact with the skin at all times, which must improve the absorption of the medication. So from yesterday on I expect to see consistent effects, if any, from the Exelon. One of the side effects Dr F warned me about was drowsiness but her rapid dropping off to sleep had been occurring prior to Exelon.
I bought two of Amazon's Echo Spots so I can monitor her condition. Except for being mounted in a fixed position it is effective. So I have ordered some hardware to mount one Echo Spot onto her wheel chair and a battery pack to provide power. I am becoming used to speaking commands to "Alexa". One benefit for her: I only need to say "Alexa play Elvis" to have the little device do just that. Since she finds gospel music pleasant I asked for gospel music to have it supply just that; those modern church songs singing about what amounts to "sexual passion" for a saviour. So I told Alexa to play George Beverly Shea; songs from our 1950's youth. Maybe later I'll ask for the Seekers and similar.
Recently we were having a meal at the Soldier's Club once each week, the last was on 15th August when she enjoyed a "Vego Pizza". She has rejected offers to go down the street for shopping or meals this week.
A week ago she began knitting a rectangle (I think with no goal in mind other than to be busy) until she had at least 200mm knitted of thick wool using large needles. Then I found her with a knotted tangle. "Something went wrong" she said as she attempted to retrieve small lengths of wool from the tangle, winding each into small balls. She has returned to pinning wadding on the rear of some fabric squares with the intention of making a quilt. I'm so sad to see her doing this as I remember what she was once able to do.
On Wednesday I had an appointment to see our GP for some of my problems. I mentioned that I was considering driving her to the hospital the following day, waiting until she blanked out then telling the hospital staff that I was unable to remove her from the car. He agreed when I said this action was a little unethical. He agreed. He also agreed that I could bring her down to the surgery to be observed the next morning. I did so. We arrived at 0910 and shortly afterwards the doctor had a look at her, then had us wait in another room. At 0945 she was out to it. The doctor examined her and said "She is sleeping". Her blood pressure was OK, pulse OK, oxygen level OK, breathing regular. So home we went since she was disinterested in having lunch down the street. By 1105 she was asleep on her bed, waking at 1240.
The Exelon patches are being replaced each morning after breakfast. One fell off following a shower, another fell out of her night dress, so I applied a piece of tape over the patch then noticed that the patch still tended to lift off the skin. So I now now apply two pieces of tape in the form of an X over the patch and now the patch is kept in contact with the skin at all times, which must improve the absorption of the medication. So from yesterday on I expect to see consistent effects, if any, from the Exelon. One of the side effects Dr F warned me about was drowsiness but her rapid dropping off to sleep had been occurring prior to Exelon.
I bought two of Amazon's Echo Spots so I can monitor her condition. Except for being mounted in a fixed position it is effective. So I have ordered some hardware to mount one Echo Spot onto her wheel chair and a battery pack to provide power. I am becoming used to speaking commands to "Alexa". One benefit for her: I only need to say "Alexa play Elvis" to have the little device do just that. Since she finds gospel music pleasant I asked for gospel music to have it supply just that; those modern church songs singing about what amounts to "sexual passion" for a saviour. So I told Alexa to play George Beverly Shea; songs from our 1950's youth. Maybe later I'll ask for the Seekers and similar.
Recently we were having a meal at the Soldier's Club once each week, the last was on 15th August when she enjoyed a "Vego Pizza". She has rejected offers to go down the street for shopping or meals this week.
A week ago she began knitting a rectangle (I think with no goal in mind other than to be busy) until she had at least 200mm knitted of thick wool using large needles. Then I found her with a knotted tangle. "Something went wrong" she said as she attempted to retrieve small lengths of wool from the tangle, winding each into small balls. She has returned to pinning wadding on the rear of some fabric squares with the intention of making a quilt. I'm so sad to see her doing this as I remember what she was once able to do.
posted by Kilpike | 11:09 am
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