Life after Death Sentencing

Movement for 7/6/08:

• After awakening, Mom chose to move into the bathroom for bathing using the walker. I followed her closely with the wheelchair. She made it about halfway to the bathroom from the bedroom before sitting in the wheelchair. I asked her why she decided to sit. She replied that her legs "still felt shaky." My assumption is that they felt shaky after her long sleep.
• No more substantial movement, other than transferring to and from the wheelchair, until after breakfast. She decided she wanted to walk, aided by the table and chairs, to the banister in order to enter the living room and sit in her rocker. This is the second time this week she's decided to do this. She did well all the way and descended the stairs slowly and carefully without a problem. Once she was on the living room level I assumed she wanted me to wheel her to her rocker but she brushed the wheelchair aside and walkered to her rocker. She had a bit of trouble trying to decide how to turn her walker in order to seat herself. I helped her out, here, by moving the walker out of her way and offering my arms as steady "banisters", which she took.
• No more substantial movement except for transferring to and from the wheelchair, except that, as usual, she climbed the two steps out of the living room and into the foyer on foot on her way into her bedroom for a nap.
• When she arose from her nap she decided to walker into the bathroom instead of being wheeled in. She walkered all the way. I also reinstituted the "stretch, drop shoulders, wiggle hips" routine we go through whenever she stands. She did very well with this, even let go of the bathroom counter when she was hip wiggling.
• No more substantial movement except for transferring into and out of the wheelchair and descending the two steps into the foyer until just before bedtime. She decided to walker to the banister along the steps leading from the living room into the foyer. Once she was up the steps, she decided to walker from the banister into the bathroom. As usual, I followed her closely with the wheelchair.
• Once we were finished in the bathroom, although I strongly advised her to consider allowing me to wheel her into the bedroom, she decided she wanted to walker the distance. Despite some difficulty managing the bathroom doorway, she did very well. At the bedside, instead of offering my arms as intermediary banisters I talked her through the process of turning with the walker in order to back up to the bed before sitting. She did very, very well.

    Today has involved the most and the most substantial movement of any day since her arrival home so far. I always make it clear that she has the choice of allowing me to wheel her to her destination. Today, I guess, she felt much more secure moving herself around.
    Although she complained about the "iffiness" of the walker once earlier in the week, she hasn't since, even though I've questioned her about it. She has, though, mentioned that she wishes it had a seat. Although two wheeled walkers with seats are rare, they are available, so this is the type of walker I'm going to find and purchase for her. Tonight I also realized that I need to pay attention not only to the adjustable height of the walker but its width, as well. Not only will a somewhat narrower walker, if available, be easier for her to negotiate through the bathroom door, I think her natural arm spread could use a slightly narrower stance.
    She is, by the way, finally staying closer to the walker than she was with the four wheeler. Tonight we talked about "the old, red walker" and she admitted that it had a tendency to "get away" from her. She likes the two wheeled style better. So do I. It seems to not only be easier for her to stay with them, but she does not pooh-pooh the idea of using a walker anymore.
    Once, today, in the evening on as we discussed her trek from her rocker to the bathroom, she asserted that she would walk from the rocker to the banister unaided. I squelched that idea. I told her that I didn't yet have confidence in her traversing any area that didn't offer easy hand holds and the only other mode, besides using a walker or the wheelchair, would be to use me as a walker. She chose using me. I laughed and said, "That wasn't a possibility I was giving you, that was just a mode, but I'm not making that one available to you. Believe me, using me would be worse than using the walker!" She not only understood, she surveyed my arms, outstretched in example as I was denying her their use, and she said, "I see what you mean." Good!
    She showed improvement, today, in transfers. I've been having trouble with her turning at her knees in order to position herself for sitting rather than turning with her feet. I coach her incessantly during seatings but she's been stubbornly ignoring me. Yesterday I scolded her during one particularly dangerous looking knee turn that if she didn't stop that technique she would "blow out her right knee," the one that was, previous to the evening of 5/14/08, incredibly iffy. Today with only slight reminding she was mostly conscientious about turning with her feet. I also impressed upon her, during an early transfer turn, today, that it is easier to turn with one's feet if one straightens one's knees. This is when her turning problem crops up: She invariably lowers herself to sit before she's turned her ass parallel to the chair seat. Today this bit of mechanical coaching kicked in.
    Each time she walkered, today, besides congratulating her and expressing my genuine delight in each walkering accomplishment, I asked her, after every trek, if it was "hard". She said, "No," looking surprised that I would ask, every time. She does get winded when she moves; I don't expect that to change. I dial her up to 4/lpm, though, when she's on her feet. This helps her catch her breath quickly and easily after a walkering session.
    Later.