The Week Ending 02/01/2015

A birthday rose for Mom from Nadya

What a week.
What a year!

Last year at this time, looking back, Mom was able to arise in time for Mass.  This meant early Saturday nights for me, and early Sunday mornings to deal with everything that needed be done before fetching her.

Now, not so much.

Mom is sleeping in later.  She tended to be quite the early riser (but, too, she did tend to sleep in before at her house, and this increased...) unless she'd spent the evening playing FreeCell into the wee hours (sometimes until 5 am!).

She dallies in her eating.

She is hoarding cups and placing them in her refrigerator and cupboards.   Last year she kept certain mugs in her cupboard, and this was fine.

Watch your silverware - she may believe you are a source at replacing what she's misplaced, or what's been returned to the kitchen at St. A's.  This is still the same as last year...Whatever is causing her to believe she has the need is far beyond my comprehension.

Do Not Plan on Carrying On a Conversation with her - it might last a few moments, then ricochet in a new direction every few sentences or words.   Last year we could easily distract her from her train of thought, but now it's easier, as most trains derail much quicker, only to be replaced  by new ones.

She may latch on to a phrase you've used and that will become her strand for chat, even though it has nothing whatsoever to do with the topic you've been talking about.  And, then, there is her fallback of reciting her favorite poem (Longfellow's "A Psalm of Life").  

Today, though, Mom complained of being woken at a very early hour - 9:30 am!  She stated that she had breakfast in her bedroom with some of the other ladies in her cottage (no, that's quite far from the truth).

She was whisked away, being that she was all ready to fly, soon after my arrival.  She was given some meds, took the regular pills, then attempted to stuff her vitamin C gummis into her pocket.  I told her that would only create a mess, so she put them in her glasses case, where she kept a table knife, glasses, and a very not-so-good-looking tissue.  What was I to do....

We departed, and she was in good spirits.  I reminded her of our doctor's appointment tomorrow, and she wanted to know:
1)  Which doctor;
2) The purpose.

I explained that she would see her regular physician for the pain she was experiencing on her right side, and also in her pelvic region.  She agreed about the latter pain, but stated, quite adamantly, the other pain didn't appear very often, and was more a bother.  We'll see.

WE walked to the car, and she shuffled.  Upon entering the car, she began to complain of the pain on her right side (she explained that she was missing some ribs, but wasn't sure how they were extracted), and her leg (again).

We arrived at Jean's, where she and Connie were awaiting us.

Connie, Jean, and Mom..Their Chapter of the RLC

What a delightful conversation those three had!  I made lunch, and they discussed books, politics, and family.  There had been a funeral on Friday for someone known by both  Connie and Jean's families, but Mom and I were both unfamiliar with them.  It was an interesting conversation, nonetheless.

While Mom was seemingly together, not all she imparted made sense.
I showed her the photos that Nadya had sent via email, and she stated that she had never been to Orcas Island.  I also showed her the snap of the birthday rose.  Mom then remarked that Nadya's birthday was nowhere near Orcas Island.  There we go.  A perfect example of her thinking!

Mom and Nadya on Orcas Island several years ago

Later, I took Mom home.  She actually ready after 40 minutes of the visit!  But we had yet to sup.  After she ate her ice cream and caramel sauce, and took her meds with it, we were off.

She was weary but content.  She was left to read a couple of new magazines I brought her, and a letter from her dear friend, Addy.  The letter was quite a treat!

Tomorrow comes the doctor's visit...WE shall see what we can discover.