Life after Death Sentencing

Movement for 8/7/08:

• Mom awoke with a bit of a kink on the outside of her left foot. I "examined" her and asked her several questions about it. It sounded to me as though she might have a bit of a cramp due to the way she sat up out of bed. We did a couple of things to try to ease it:
  • I massaged it;
  • I had her straighten her leg, as I believed it was probably being generated from her knee or her hip;
  • I had her lay back down, get into her usual just-before-rising position, then rise up again.
  All these eased it a bit but, just to make sure she didn't fall, I insisted (and, believe me, I had to insist), that we use the wheel chair to the bathroom. By the time we finished her bathing, though, the cramp was gone, she'd forgotten about it and she walked out to the dinette using environmental support...and singing!
• Although she awoke from her nap on her own she was pretty foggy. Once again, I suggested the wheel chair. This time I didn't have to insist. We used it out to the rocker and she clearly was a bit iffy in transfers. By the time our evening ended, though, she was spritely, moving well and made it back to bed using the walker, taking the steps and using environmental support to the bathroom.

Movement for 8/6/08:

• No wheel chair use today. She was slow, particularly when it came to getting up off the bed, but was sure she could walk and walker "on her own" and she did, just very slowly.
• I noticed, in the evening, that she stood and sat particularly well with a surprising amount of control. I was pleased to see this, as she usually struggles to stand, even though she refuses all but the most minor of help, and usually drops to a seat rather than sits.

Movement for 8/5/08:

• I don't remember much about her movement for today. This was the day the Hospice RN arrived so I awoke her a bit earlier than she's been used to. As I recall, she did all right but was a bit iffy in the morning, although she made it to the toilet on her own steam. I do recall using the wheelchair to get her to the kitchen, though. I recall giving her a choice, because I wasn't sure, myself, if she could make it to the dinette on her own, and she chose the wheel chair. From there on out, though. She didn't go into the living room after the RN's visit, as I recall. She asked to take a nap immediately after. I allowed this. She made it to bed under her own steam, though.
• It seems to me that she revived in the evening. I had guessed that the problem might be slight dehydration again and had pushed fluids in the morning. She performed her usual movement routine in the evening, no wheel chair necessary.

Movement for 8/4/08:

• Movement is fine and normal, today. No wheel chair, so far. Late arising, again, because we had a very late bedtime this morning. Had a little trouble getting her to take a nap but discovered it wasn't because she wasn't ready for one, it was because she wasn't sure she wanted to "get up and move". She did well, though. I offered the wheel chair. She refused it with disdain and walkered, stepped and walked just fine. I expect this evening to be the same.
• She went an extra mile after her nap, today, much to my pleased surprise.
  • First, she roused on her own and when I discovered her, a few minutes before I was due to awaken her from her nap, she was in the hall, past the bathroom, headed toward the kitchen where I was doing last minute preparations for dinner.
  • Second, when she stood to have her slacks pulled down so I could remove them in order to rub her legs down she went into a full stand, supporting herself with the rocker arms. This was really a surprise, as she hasn't done this for, hmmm, I'm not sure how long. Usually she just raises herself enough so I can get her pants past her butt, then drops back into the chair.
  • Third, she insisted on pulling her underwear down on her own before seating herself on the toilet. I've been stepping in on this duty because I wasn't sure she could maintain her balance on her own in order to do this, since it requires her to let go of all supports, but apparently she can.
  I'm not sure why she's suddenly coming into her own physically, again, nor how long it will last. I'm wondering if it has something to do with her refusal of her second breathing treatment just before her nap. I'll check with the Hospice RN on this. I can't think of anything in the treatments, though, that would place restraints on her movement. Maybe she just got a burst of energy from the weather cool down, which, actually would be unusual for her, since the humidity hasn't changed. Whatever. We'll go with it as long as it lasts. Maybe, I'm thinking, she's ready to try getting into the car, again. We might try another outing later on this week.

Movement for 8/3/08:

• She slept about 11 hours, considering that we stayed up very late last night...she until 0300 this morning. Although she walked into the bathroom with environmental support, she was none too spry on her legs and expressed doubt, once again, that she would be able to make it all the way to the toilet, although she did. I'd been racking my brain all morning over why she might be getting successively weaker. Finally, as I was looking at her sides as I took off her pajamas I noticed: She was noticeably more dehydrated this morning than usual; even the skin on her sides showed dehydration wrinkling, which they usually don't. I'm sure, I thought, that she'd been receiving the same amount of liquid during the day as usual. Then, I realized, she's been sweating at night and during her naps...so she's losing more water than usual and I haven't been increasing her fluid intake in order to make up for it (and, of course, she isn't asking for more fluid...she never does). So, I started pushing fluids right then. By the time she'd finished breakfast she had consumed a full glass more than is usual by that time. She had no problem walking around the table and down the dinette steps with environment (and my) support. She used the walker from the dinette steps to the rocker.
• In fact, she hasn't used the wheel chair for the rest of the day, although, as usual, I've had it handy. She even has been finding it slightly comical that I've been anxiously asking, each time she's "fixing" to stand and move, if she wants the wheel chair or if she can walk "on her own".

   She's been noticeably and progressively stiffer over the last few days, too, but that has disappeared (except for her normal stiffness) with the added fluid. What a difference proper hydration makes!

Movement for 8/2/08:

• I think the heat is getting to her, as it is to me. She made it into the bathroom after awakening but expressed concern, about halfway, that she was going to be able to make it. I followed her with the wheel chair but she never used it. She did, however, opt for the wheel chair to the table for breakfast after having some difficulty remaining standing during groin washing. I was relieved she suggested it because I was going to insist that she use it. Although she felt she would be able to walk from her walker to the foyer steps on her way in for bathrooming and her nap, I was reluctant to allow her this. I even used the ramp on the stairs. She was disgusted with me, though, and insisted on walking under her own steam into the bathroom and into the bedroom for her nap. She did pretty well.
• After her nap, though, we used the wheelchair exclusively after she "ambulated" on her own to the bathroom. Some of her drop in energy might have been from the heat...some of it from the fact that I wasn't handling the mugginess and heat of the day very well. I didn't hold her evening use of the chair against her, in fact, I was relieved that she chose to use it.

    We usually only have a few days (always in a row) when the heat, here, is unable to be modified in our house and both of us wish that we had central air conditioning. Yesterday and today have been those days. With any luck, according to the weather cast, 8/3/08 should start a run of cooler, rainy days during which the house will remain habitably reasonable, temperature-wise. Although I can't be sure until we see how her day goes on 8/3/08, I suspect she'll have more energy (certainly I do) and will recover her determination to walk or walker everywhere. If she doesn't, I'll assume her weakness is due to something else.

Movement for 8/1/08:

• The day started slow but she moved on her own, depsite her slowness. I asked her, probably to her distraction, if her right knee was bothering her, if she was feeling unusually stiff, if she was having any pain. She answered, "No," across the board. She also stayed up for about 5 hours before finally deciding to take a nap, at about the time I decided, at the very least, that we needed to change her underwear, again.
• Good evening, although she was wobbly enough on her legs that I insisted that we use the wheel chair to get her to her walker. After that, though, except for the stretch between the walker and the foyer steps, over which she decided to use the wheel chair, she "ambulated" well all the way to bed.