Sunday, July 20, 2008
Monsoon Muddle
Movement for 7/20/08:
- Of all the monsoon days we've had, so far, today has been the worst, according the Mom's perspective: Muggy, gray, rainy, cool. Even before Mom was aware of what the weather was "outside", I could see her resistance to the day in the way she sat on the bed...as though she was being weighed down by the day. Her right knee is "iffy" today, which has happened only briefly since she returned from the rehab facility; it just didn't want to hold her up. She did manage to ambulate, slowly, from bedroom to bathroom under her own steam. Her knee seemed to be "better", in the sense that although it bothered her when she stood, it didn't bother her as she walked. She stood well during torso bathing and fecal cleaning, too. But, once "out of the gate", her right knee decided it had had enough, I guess. Halfway through the kitchen she sat back in the wheel chair. Transferring from chair to chair at the table was difficult. She managed under her own steam to the dinette banister and took the stairs with aplomb but began to fall apart while walkering to the rocker. It wasn't far so she persevered even though I followed right behind her in the chair. When she approached the rocker she seemed confused about how to maneuver into it with the walker "in [her] way". I pushed the walker away and became her much more responsive walker for the obviously difficult sit down. We still have the walk into the bathroom and bedroom for napping. I'm curious to see how that plays out.
- Without asking, I wheeled her into the bathroom and bedroom for her nap, although, when I mentioned I was going to use the ramp instead of having her take the steps, she insisted on taking them. She was pretty iffy on them.
- We began the evening as a wheel chair evening...including using the ramp to get into the living room. She and I both noticed, though, that she was transferring well. She also perked up a lot after eating dinner. When bedtime arrived, which was around 0130, she felt confident and fit enough to take the steps, even though I insisted on wheeling her to them. From that point on she walked under her own steam into the bathroom and bedroom. As well, she stood at the sink to brush her teeth, which I wasn't expecting. So, although I had wondered, earlier, if this day was going to be a preview of things to come, I guess we're not there, yet. The weather forecast is telling me that we've got a good week or more, though, of days like today, so I'm expecting at least a few more days like today, if not every day while the monsoons are entrenched.
# posted by Gail Rae @ 17:24 email...
...this post
...this post 