Saturday, November 8, 2008
A Few More Steps Forward
Movement for 11/7/08:
- The spirit was willing, but of course, Mom's spirit is always willing. Today, Mom's legs were more willing than they have been, too. Although she chose the wheelchair to get from the bedroom to the bathroom in the morning, by the time we were done with her bathing, the last part of which through which she stood and stretched admirably, she was ready to walk, slowly but surely and with much assist, to the dinette. She also walked around the table and down the dinette steps into the living room, although she was unsteady enough so that I decided to substitute a short turn in the wheelchair to the rocker, rather than having her use the walker. She was fine with this. We both opted for the wheelchair into the bathroom pre-nap but she walked from the bathroom to bed.
In the evening she was waaaay too iffy on her feet to have her walk from the bathroom to the banister and, from that point on, we used the wheelchair, even from bathroom to bedroom in the evening. However, she stood well to have her pants pulled down for leg rubbing. Transferring, overall, went fairly well, depending on how her legs were doing.
Friday, November 7, 2008
Easy Does It
Movement for 11/5 - 11/6/08:
- I haven't had a lot of time to get back here over the last few days, which have involved mad errand running, a visit from the Hospice RN and me taking some occasional stupor breaks here and there. Overall, though, these two days were mirror images of one another. Although I'm not seeing all the signs of infection fighting in Mom, she has been weaker than usual. Both days she was valiantly sure she could maneuver on her legs when she awoke for the day and both days she was very iffy, so the rest of each day were wheelchair days. Thursday was "better" than Wednesday, overall. Her appetite in the evening on Wednesday was poor and she was unusually tired all day. However, she perked up on Thursday, transferred better than she had the day before, was up longer, a full 9 hours which is about her average and seemed to feel better overall. As well, her blood sugar levels went back down to their normal range and her appetite has returned. I'm not sure whether anything specific has been "wrong". Could just be a short spate of those "bad" cancer days through which we've been slogging. I'm also thinking that adding the garlic supplement over the last few days may have kept these days from developing into something more challenging.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Odd Day
Movement for 11/4/08:
- First of all, Mom's down for the night before midnight. That's unusual. Even though she asked for the wheelchair to move from the bedroom to the bathroom for bathing, she was not hard to rouse and decided she'd try walking into the dinette, using environmental and my support and did well. She never made it out to the living room, though. She had a back ache from sitting in the kitchen chair too long (we played Sorry, something we haven't done in a long time, after breakfast). She opted for the wheelchair into the bathroom for pre-nap preparations and into the bedroom for her nap. The rest of the day was a wheelchair day, although she transferred well and with leg strength that surprised me. Her energy level was very low, though. Oh well. We'll see how she does tomorrow.
New Plateau Established?
Movement for 11/3/08:
- Today's movement was pretty much a repeat of yesterdays, with a few changes. She felt pretty unsteady upon arising and opted for the wheelchair into the bathroom for her bath, but was confident enough by the end of her bath to walk (with environmental and my support) to the dinette and then from the dinette, down the foyer steps to the rocker, using the walker from the bottom of the steps to the rocker. However, she opted for the wheelchair into the bathroom before napping; walked, though, from the bathroom to the bedroom.
When she awoke from her nap, she walked into the bathroom but was clearly iffy, so I opted for the wheelchair from the bathroom into the living room. On the way to bed, she opted for the wheelchair all the way to bed. Hmmm...I guess we actually used the wheelchair more today than yesterday. - It seems appropriate to note that she's been using O2 when sitting most of today and yesterday at 5/lpm, because, when I dial her back to her usual 4/lpm her breathing is obviously labored.
Sunday, November 2, 2008
No Ground Lost
Movement for 11/2/08:
- Even though Mom's day started late and was preceeded by a few very slow, mostly wheelchair days, today it's as though we're back to the plateau, all movement proceeding normally: Walking with a problem (using environmental and my help) from bedroom to bathroom, bathroom to dinette, dinette down the dinette steps, walkering to the walker; nothing different than usual. Good. Maybe she needed those easy days just as much as I needed them. More later.
- it may have been a Plateau "morning" but it was a wheelchair evening. I gave her the choice of wheeling or walking/walkering at each juncture and she made the choice. I'm not sure why she's wanting to use the wheelchair more, but I trust her judgment. Nothing else seems to be affected except her level of energy.
Three Day Update
Movement for 10/30 - 11/1/08:
- These last three days have pretty much been the same. Mom's been tired, for the first 1.5 days she seemed to be fighting a cold. We used the wheelchair more than usual, although not exclusively; she walked going to and from the bathroom and bedroom and, on Friday, across the dinette and down the steps to her rocker, although I judged her a little too iffy to use the walker to the rocking chair, so we used the wheelchair for that short space. She was relieved about that. Ironically, on the one day that she was feeling better, I was feeling emotionally iffy and decidedly un-touchy, so I opted for the wheelchair almost the whole day, because it allowed me to come into physical contact with her as little as possible. I just wasn't up to handling her as much as I usually do. This mood had started on Friday, but I persevered and ended up being very grouchy, so much so that Saturday I decided, better to create a little physical distance (which lead to a little emotional distance, too, which Mom noticed but she took in stride) and not be so grouchy. It seemed to work. She did, however, walk across the dinette down the steps and did well. She probably could have done well walking her usual walk-paths the whole day, but I needed, desperately, to not be handling her so much.
