Sunday, September 21, 2008
Diffcult Day
Movement for 9/20/08:
- I'm writing this the day after, so I'm scouring my memory for what happened. I recall that she walked to the bathroom and the dinette table, both at her request. She did okay, although I was really concerned that she wasn't going to make it all the way to the table. She did, though. The rest of the day was wheeling, all the way. She winced a lot, talked about the pain in her bicep, and discovered a new pain in her forearm, although her shoulder didn't seem to be bothering her. I was anxious to try to get her moving and scolded her, lightly, I think, although she may have had a different impression, since she was clearly not up to much, yesterday, even though she was awake a lot (well, relatively speaking.
- In the evening she was clearly very tired. She walked to the bathroom after her nap but was wobbly, at best. At one point I asked her if she thought she could make it and she said she wasn't sure. I kept the wheelchair close, but she made it. The rest of the night, though, was wheeling. Several times during the day during transfers, I had to remind her that I was not going to pull her up, because that would hurt her arm more than if I didn't. She agreed that it would, but was not happy. She also resisted leaning waaaay over while sitting in order to transfer her weight to her legs before rising, even though I asked her repeatedly if it hurt her anyplace and she replied that it didn't. I think she was telling the whole truth. Late in the evening I had an extended conversation with her about the fact that she didn't injure her legs or back or hips, she injured her left arm. I told her I understood that she uses her arms for balance and security when she walks so, of course, some pain was going to be involved, to which she indignantly, surprisingly, responded, "Well, it's not that much."
"Okay," I said. "Then we need to get you on your feet, again. You're legs are losing their strength." They are.
She just glared at me.
It was a hard day for both of us.
# posted by Gail Rae @ 19:25 email...
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