Monday, September 15, 2008
Getting Mom Up Was the Big Problem
Movement for 9/15/08:
- Once I was able to rouse her, although she's been slow all day and took a three hour nap as well as all that night sleep, she moved fine. No wheelchair so far. She complained a little about her "iffy" right knee coming into the living room from her nap, but nothing major.
- Life turns on a dime, that's for sure. She did well, but was slow and iffy, walking and walkering, at her insistence, all evening, all the way up to her normal move into the bathroom just before bed. Then, walkering on her way to the foyer steps, just past her rocker she lost her balance and collapsed to her left, falling into the coffee table. She knocked the bejesus out of her left bicep, so she wasn't able to hang on to my neck with that arm, thus, it was impossible for me to pull her up with me as I rose from a full squat. We called the non-emergent paramedic squad. They checked her out and although they felt that she probably hadn't broken anything, as the squad leader said, "I don't have X-ray eyes, M'am; do you want to go to the hospital and be checked out?"
Of course, she refused. I don't think this was necessary, either. We'll discover, tomorrow, how bad it is. I don't think anything's broken, though.
Thus, our bedtime routine was changed, a bit. The squad moved her to her wheelchair. I wheeled her into the bathroom. It was here that we discovered that Mom wasn't going to be able to rise out of the chair without considerable left arm pain, even though she was trying not to use it and I was helping her. So, the paramedics suggested that we move her into the bedroom, upon which they held her up while I changed out her underwear and lifted her from the wheelchair to the bed.
At that point, with many thanks, they left. I gave her 650 mg of acetaminophen with a croissant and a cup of decaf coffee. The four of us (including the kitties) visited while she relaxed and ate.
Both Mom and I got the idea that, since she usually sleeps on her left side, it might be a good idea to reverse her bedclothes for tonight, at least. Turns out, though, she couldn't get settled comfortably on her right side, so we switched her back. She found a position for sleep that allowed her left arm to relax so it wouldn't hurt. She asleep, now, at 0223, 9/16/08 as I write this; The Little Girl is sleeping with her, for observation and healing purposes.
While she was eating her croissant and drinking her coffee, we brainstormed ideas about how to allow her some mobility tomorrow, even though I'm sure we'll be using the wheelchair most of the day. The mobility will be for purposes of transfer from bed to wheelchair and back, wheelchair to toilet and back...and, if our technique works and she wants to try, to the dinette chair and the rocker. I'm not sure how we'll do her bathing, but we'll figure out something; maybe have her lean on the walker while I wash her groin. Something will come to us in the nick of necessity; it always does. We figure it'll be an interesing day, at least. We're good at negotiating what seems like the impossible, so neither of us are thrown by this.
# posted by Gail Rae @ 23:08 email...
...this post
...this post 