Monday, September 22, 2008
Just One of those Days
Movement for 9/22/08:
- All "morning" Mom has been very iffy on her feet. I'm not sure why. Her right leg, in particular, has been buckling. She's been grabbing on to just about everything, including me, for security, so I decided that the entire day would be a wheelchair day, after her walk into the bathroom for her bath, which was very scary for me, not her. The grabbing business, though, created a huge problem. At one point, in the bathroom, she decided to grab onto the towel rack to hold herself up. Actually, it's been very sturdy and she occasionally uses it for this, but, today, as soon as she reached for it over my shoulder (I was holding her up in order to pull her underwear and slacks up) I sensed trouble. I harshly and quickly cautioned her to "Let go, it's not going to support you! Let go! Let go, I've got you!!!!" But, she didn't, and her Iron Woman grip snapped the thing out of the wall. So, now, we've got a home repair contractor coming tomorrow to replace it with a legitimate grab bar. I imagine it will take a couple of days to actually complete the job. As well, I discussed a few other security improvements in the bathroom and the company will scope the area out and see what they can do. I know, I know, this is something we should have done a long time ago, but, you know, everything was working well, has been working well for years the way it is, so we just didn't. Anyway, that's one good thing that came out of it. Otherwise, though, the incident scared both Mom and me and we've been very, very touchy with each other. I delivered a little "You Got to Listen to Me" sermon, something she doesn't often do, even when I'm sure she can hear me. She took offense at my suggestion that I know, better than she does, of what her body is capable. I don't blame her for taking offense, but I'm right about this. Whether she's moving or not, she always thinks that she's much more ambulatory and flexible and strong than she is. Well, except for her arms. She's right about the strength in her arms. But, when her legs aren't working, they aren't strong enough to support her by hanging on to things. Long, low, loud sigh. I have no idea what's in store for the rest of the day. I guess we'll see.
- She made it into the bathroom after her nap on her own two feet. She seemed fairly stable, too. I decided, though, that we should use the wheelchair out to the living room. We continued with wheeling for the rest of the night. She used the spit bowl for brushing her teeth, although she wasn't happy about it. She insisted she could stand at the sink for teeth brushing, but I didn't think it was a good idea. She also wasn't able to lift herself with her rocker arms enough for me to pull her slacks down over her butt for leg rubbing. She was, however, sober in her remembrance of the towel bar incident, so I was able to direct her regarding how to hold onto me for purchase while I reached behind her to pull her slacks down. We were able to do a leg rubdown. She's missed this. So have I. I suspect her slight lower leg edema will disappear shortly, now.
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