Chapter 551 - Planning to Avoid Corona
After being showered on Monday she wished to return to bed where she remained for about an hour. When she rose she did not wish to attend the speech therapy group so I rang with her apologies. That night I decided to not give her chocolates to eat on going to bed and during the night and since then she has not needed to return to bed, so I presume there may be a link between high calorie food during the night and her need to return to bed each morning.
She attended Dance for Well Being on Tuesday morning. That may be the last for quite some time because the organisers decided later in the week to discontinue such groups in light of the spreading Corona Virus. On returning home she began destructing the Peace Lily again; I found her with soil over her hands and one the floor with several small leaves. I later walked her around the village in the wheel chair and while we chatted to another resident she began pulling at a thread on the brim of her sun hat until a thin wire stiffener was dislodged. I must try to repair the damage before she wrecks it completely.
I attended a Carers' Meeting for an Enduring Power of Attorney presentation during my respite hours on Wednesday and as a result contacted our Hot Air City advisers to clarify our Enduring Power of Attorney and Guardianship documents. They are in order; I was confused by both documents (two for each of us) being drawn up in the ACT for use in NSW. In the ACT the one form titled "Enduring Power of Attorney" is used for both Attorney and Guardianship but in NSW two forms are used; so the NSW form was used for Power of Attorney but the ACT form, with Power of Attorney provisions crossed out, was used for Guardianship. There must have been logic applied to doing this but it escaped me. I really must finalise our Advanced Care Directives to have all this bumff out of the way.
On Friday she had an appointment at the optometrist, this time we went with slider board and hand grip belt for her waist. I only needed the latter to move her from her wheel chair onto the reclined bench so that her eyes could be examined using the optical machinery. The optometrist was puzzled by the inconsistency of the results, which may be due to the patient's condition and being vague in answering "Is this better, the same or worse?" questions and multi-focals may have been prescribed but cheap glasses of 2.5 magnification should be satisfactory. The optometrist seemed surprised when I produced a Mills & Boon that she is able to read without glasses at all. Anyway, her eye pressures were 12 and 13, even after dilator was applied, and the maculars were OK.
She seemed in a slight stupor yesterday morning as I got her out of bed before the Wild Dog carer came to shower her; I thought she may be entering on of her coma like phases but it passed. In the afternoon she decided the carpet at the bottom flanges of the sliding doors of the built in wardrobe was "rotten" when she discovered that when she abraded the carpet hard enough to bring the pile to the surface as fluff (in her terms "dirt") she found thin strings appearing which she tugged at until they needed cutting off. The only way to prevent further damage was to wheel her out to the back room to the TV. I pushed the carpet edge back beneath the flange.
In light of the Corona Virus I sent an email to middle management at Wild Dog Carers asking what procedure would be implemented if either of us developed cold/flu symptoms. The reply was diplomatic but not very specific other than staff have been told not to report for work with any cold-like symptoms, they are following guidelines, will help with sourcing if we need supplies such as toilet rolls. We decided that we will cancel my 5 hour Respite sessions each Wednesday since my sitting in either of the clubs or coffee shops reading New Scientist and novels maybe too much social contact. So yesterday I sent an email to Wild Dog Carers to cancel the service. We had intended to go to Kmart this morning to buy her some bras and a pair of reading glasses but decided we should stay home. Coincidentally, a sister rang her about meeting at the club up the 4 lane again but she declined. I then sent them an email saying why we are minimising our social contact in such public places. We are neither scared nor in a panic; just that we are vulnerable in that she is disabled and dependant upon me and when either of us is infected with anything causing the slightest signs of the sniffles we will be in a precarious state. For instance, if I am ill unable to take care of her where does she go other than residential care?, and if Corona is the cause, isolation comes into play. I doubt that Wild Dog Carers will don HazChem-like gear at our front door to attend to her needs. So we raise the drawbridge early.
She attended Dance for Well Being on Tuesday morning. That may be the last for quite some time because the organisers decided later in the week to discontinue such groups in light of the spreading Corona Virus. On returning home she began destructing the Peace Lily again; I found her with soil over her hands and one the floor with several small leaves. I later walked her around the village in the wheel chair and while we chatted to another resident she began pulling at a thread on the brim of her sun hat until a thin wire stiffener was dislodged. I must try to repair the damage before she wrecks it completely.
I attended a Carers' Meeting for an Enduring Power of Attorney presentation during my respite hours on Wednesday and as a result contacted our Hot Air City advisers to clarify our Enduring Power of Attorney and Guardianship documents. They are in order; I was confused by both documents (two for each of us) being drawn up in the ACT for use in NSW. In the ACT the one form titled "Enduring Power of Attorney" is used for both Attorney and Guardianship but in NSW two forms are used; so the NSW form was used for Power of Attorney but the ACT form, with Power of Attorney provisions crossed out, was used for Guardianship. There must have been logic applied to doing this but it escaped me. I really must finalise our Advanced Care Directives to have all this bumff out of the way.
On Friday she had an appointment at the optometrist, this time we went with slider board and hand grip belt for her waist. I only needed the latter to move her from her wheel chair onto the reclined bench so that her eyes could be examined using the optical machinery. The optometrist was puzzled by the inconsistency of the results, which may be due to the patient's condition and being vague in answering "Is this better, the same or worse?" questions and multi-focals may have been prescribed but cheap glasses of 2.5 magnification should be satisfactory. The optometrist seemed surprised when I produced a Mills & Boon that she is able to read without glasses at all. Anyway, her eye pressures were 12 and 13, even after dilator was applied, and the maculars were OK.
She seemed in a slight stupor yesterday morning as I got her out of bed before the Wild Dog carer came to shower her; I thought she may be entering on of her coma like phases but it passed. In the afternoon she decided the carpet at the bottom flanges of the sliding doors of the built in wardrobe was "rotten" when she discovered that when she abraded the carpet hard enough to bring the pile to the surface as fluff (in her terms "dirt") she found thin strings appearing which she tugged at until they needed cutting off. The only way to prevent further damage was to wheel her out to the back room to the TV. I pushed the carpet edge back beneath the flange.
In light of the Corona Virus I sent an email to middle management at Wild Dog Carers asking what procedure would be implemented if either of us developed cold/flu symptoms. The reply was diplomatic but not very specific other than staff have been told not to report for work with any cold-like symptoms, they are following guidelines, will help with sourcing if we need supplies such as toilet rolls. We decided that we will cancel my 5 hour Respite sessions each Wednesday since my sitting in either of the clubs or coffee shops reading New Scientist and novels maybe too much social contact. So yesterday I sent an email to Wild Dog Carers to cancel the service. We had intended to go to Kmart this morning to buy her some bras and a pair of reading glasses but decided we should stay home. Coincidentally, a sister rang her about meeting at the club up the 4 lane again but she declined. I then sent them an email saying why we are minimising our social contact in such public places. We are neither scared nor in a panic; just that we are vulnerable in that she is disabled and dependant upon me and when either of us is infected with anything causing the slightest signs of the sniffles we will be in a precarious state. For instance, if I am ill unable to take care of her where does she go other than residential care?, and if Corona is the cause, isolation comes into play. I doubt that Wild Dog Carers will don HazChem-like gear at our front door to attend to her needs. So we raise the drawbridge early.
posted by Kilpike | 12:07 pm
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