Not exactly a fun-packed week for Mum, but it was somewhat fulfilling....
Aside from the typical week at St. Anthony's, Mom has found a new nemesis - the new resident! According to Mom (and some staff), this lady has quite a salty mouth on her! Yes! As I entered this morning, Mom was telling her, "You need your mouth washed out with soap!" Later she told me some of the things the newbie said, which I won't repeat. You can ask Mom, yourself!
So, the RLC wasn't able to make it this week, due to scheduling and family difficulties (<sigh>)...
However, my brother and his wife, freshly invigorated from some jaunty travels, hied themselves down from Seattle way for a visit.
They took Mumsy to the Broadway Cafe near Lloyd Center, which they enjoy - but the music this time, was different, and it made the environment a little too much for Mom...but she was able to settle in.
At lunch, she ordered wine - the 9 oz size. Apparently, even at St. Anthony's, this has been the call - 9 oz of wine, and she will eyeball the glass to ensure she gets it. Somehow, though, she demanded this at lunch which confused the waiter. My brother tried to explain it to Mom, and somehow the problem was resolved...but at St. Anthony's she demands a large glass (one that will hold 9 oz) and will refuse anything smaller. Where she installed this idea is beyond me!
At St. A's, they told me she demanded the 9 oz glass, as well, and if they tried to substitute a smaller glass she would pelt them with verbage they would rather not hear; so, they give her the large glass to ensure she has her 9 oz.
At dinner, which was really a great time out for me, Tom & Peg told me her demeanor was blank (tick off the box for the symptoms), and that she just sat in her room gazing out the window with all the lights off. Mom does enjoy talking about books and going about reading them, but when the book is in her hands it closes (if it even opens) and is shifted to her dresser or a countertop pile, where it remains until a weekly archeologist brings it out. <sigh>
They did report she was sparky and rather lucid-seeming, though. She had energy! This was good news.
Friday she had her massage, perhaps her last, in the afternoon.
Today, I went to pick her up for Mass. I was a bit early, wondering if she'd even be up. With the time change, though, she was up and had already eaten when I arrived. We determined we were going to Mass, and then she went in her room to talk, first.
She explained she wanted to move back to her house in Portland where her family was, and that I was the only one who could make that happen. I stated we were already in Portland, but she nixed that by telling me we were in something that was Portland-y, but it wasn't really Portland. Okay.
She wanted to be near family and to take care of her mother. Then she demanded to know where her mother was; knowing that the truth was simple, but not the right venue, I told her she was galavanting around the country visiting people and relatives. She thought this rather odd, and that she couldn't be visiting my Aunt Keiko in Boulder as Mom believed she had moved to Hokkaido, Japan, after my uncle's death. <sigh>
Well, finally we saw the clock, and it was not in our favor. So, she shoo'ed me out so she could put on some different clothes.
At long last, she allowed me back in the room and she had on her Mexican dress top and white pants. We needed, still, to put on her stockings, which we did. However, as I was finishing one of the stockings, she called out, "Unbury the Baby! Unbury the Baby!" I looked up in bewilderment. She said it again, "Unbury the Baby! Unbury the Baby!"
"What on God's Green Earth are you talking about?" thinking she'd gone off her rocker in a split second and there may be no returning to any normalcy.
"You have my baby toe covered by the sock! (they're open toed) Uncover it! It needs to breathe!"
"Whew! You had me there for a second, Woman!"
So, I pulled the stocking back a little and uncovered the little toe.
I thought about keeping her other little toe covered as I put on the other sock, but realized it wouldn't be as much fun.
Mom really hates having her feet tickled.....but she squirms really well.
We went to Mass and afterward she was relieved to go home, as she wasn't feeling too well.
This was good, because she was going to have dinner with the other brother this evening, and this gave her time to eat lunch and take a nap (even though she dozed quite a bit at Mass!).
Well, she was still a bit tired at dinner. She allowed wine in regular wine glasses and there was no sniping about stinginess of the pour.
She went from topic to topic, sometimes we were the fill to continue the discussion and other times - well, she does have continuity and reality issues to put it mildly.
It was a wonderful evening and aside from her telling both my brother, Larry, and myself, that we were ABC's (Arguments for Birth Control), it was quite peaceful and genteel. Wonderful food, which she relished, as did I. She remarked, as we were driving back to St. A's, that they were such a good match, and Kathleen was really a marvel (this is quite the turnaround from just two years ago!). She was quite content, but very tired.
We left shortly after the meal, as she was quite weary after having such a good day. I'm also sure she's not sleeping that well at night, as the disease causes RBD (REM Sleep Behavior Disorder) which causes her to waken frequently at night, although she's completely unaware.
I bid her a goodly night and she to me and then I left. But, before doing so, she requested I open the windows to her room as she felt the room to be too stuffy. After I did, I turned to leave and she walked to the windows and said, "Who opened the windows? Someone's been in here!"
I reminded her of her request not 3 minutes prior. She denied the event. I took a good healthy breath, told her I loved her, and left. A very good day.
Mom is tired already, and it's not even lunch time!
Aside from the typical week at St. Anthony's, Mom has found a new nemesis - the new resident! According to Mom (and some staff), this lady has quite a salty mouth on her! Yes! As I entered this morning, Mom was telling her, "You need your mouth washed out with soap!" Later she told me some of the things the newbie said, which I won't repeat. You can ask Mom, yourself!
So, the RLC wasn't able to make it this week, due to scheduling and family difficulties (<sigh>)...
However, my brother and his wife, freshly invigorated from some jaunty travels, hied themselves down from Seattle way for a visit.
They took Mumsy to the Broadway Cafe near Lloyd Center, which they enjoy - but the music this time, was different, and it made the environment a little too much for Mom...but she was able to settle in.
At lunch, she ordered wine - the 9 oz size. Apparently, even at St. Anthony's, this has been the call - 9 oz of wine, and she will eyeball the glass to ensure she gets it. Somehow, though, she demanded this at lunch which confused the waiter. My brother tried to explain it to Mom, and somehow the problem was resolved...but at St. Anthony's she demands a large glass (one that will hold 9 oz) and will refuse anything smaller. Where she installed this idea is beyond me!
At St. A's, they told me she demanded the 9 oz glass, as well, and if they tried to substitute a smaller glass she would pelt them with verbage they would rather not hear; so, they give her the large glass to ensure she has her 9 oz.
At dinner, which was really a great time out for me, Tom & Peg told me her demeanor was blank (tick off the box for the symptoms), and that she just sat in her room gazing out the window with all the lights off. Mom does enjoy talking about books and going about reading them, but when the book is in her hands it closes (if it even opens) and is shifted to her dresser or a countertop pile, where it remains until a weekly archeologist brings it out. <sigh>
They did report she was sparky and rather lucid-seeming, though. She had energy! This was good news.
Friday she had her massage, perhaps her last, in the afternoon.
Today, I went to pick her up for Mass. I was a bit early, wondering if she'd even be up. With the time change, though, she was up and had already eaten when I arrived. We determined we were going to Mass, and then she went in her room to talk, first.
She explained she wanted to move back to her house in Portland where her family was, and that I was the only one who could make that happen. I stated we were already in Portland, but she nixed that by telling me we were in something that was Portland-y, but it wasn't really Portland. Okay.
She wanted to be near family and to take care of her mother. Then she demanded to know where her mother was; knowing that the truth was simple, but not the right venue, I told her she was galavanting around the country visiting people and relatives. She thought this rather odd, and that she couldn't be visiting my Aunt Keiko in Boulder as Mom believed she had moved to Hokkaido, Japan, after my uncle's death. <sigh>
Well, finally we saw the clock, and it was not in our favor. So, she shoo'ed me out so she could put on some different clothes.
At long last, she allowed me back in the room and she had on her Mexican dress top and white pants. We needed, still, to put on her stockings, which we did. However, as I was finishing one of the stockings, she called out, "Unbury the Baby! Unbury the Baby!" I looked up in bewilderment. She said it again, "Unbury the Baby! Unbury the Baby!"
"What on God's Green Earth are you talking about?" thinking she'd gone off her rocker in a split second and there may be no returning to any normalcy.
"You have my baby toe covered by the sock! (they're open toed) Uncover it! It needs to breathe!"
"Whew! You had me there for a second, Woman!"
So, I pulled the stocking back a little and uncovered the little toe.
I thought about keeping her other little toe covered as I put on the other sock, but realized it wouldn't be as much fun.
Mom really hates having her feet tickled.....but she squirms really well.
We went to Mass and afterward she was relieved to go home, as she wasn't feeling too well.
This was good, because she was going to have dinner with the other brother this evening, and this gave her time to eat lunch and take a nap (even though she dozed quite a bit at Mass!).
Well, she was still a bit tired at dinner. She allowed wine in regular wine glasses and there was no sniping about stinginess of the pour.
She went from topic to topic, sometimes we were the fill to continue the discussion and other times - well, she does have continuity and reality issues to put it mildly.
It was a wonderful evening and aside from her telling both my brother, Larry, and myself, that we were ABC's (Arguments for Birth Control), it was quite peaceful and genteel. Wonderful food, which she relished, as did I. She remarked, as we were driving back to St. A's, that they were such a good match, and Kathleen was really a marvel (this is quite the turnaround from just two years ago!). She was quite content, but very tired.
We left shortly after the meal, as she was quite weary after having such a good day. I'm also sure she's not sleeping that well at night, as the disease causes RBD (REM Sleep Behavior Disorder) which causes her to waken frequently at night, although she's completely unaware.
I bid her a goodly night and she to me and then I left. But, before doing so, she requested I open the windows to her room as she felt the room to be too stuffy. After I did, I turned to leave and she walked to the windows and said, "Who opened the windows? Someone's been in here!"
I reminded her of her request not 3 minutes prior. She denied the event. I took a good healthy breath, told her I loved her, and left. A very good day.
No comments:
Post a Comment