Lively. She was lively today.
The staff tried, again, to have her bathe, but her stubborn nature refused. This makes it over a week. When I arrived I tried, telling her it would be rude to be quite so fragrant for the good doctor. She scoffed.
"I'll not have people guarding me and watching me in the shower!" she exclaimed. "I deserve some sense of privacy!" The truth is that no one is even about when she bathes. They just check the shower and towels to ensure she has used them. But then, paranoia is a symptom...
So, withholding ice cream and trying just about every sneaky device they could have yielded nothing. Nada. Rien.
She was looking quite charming, though, in her vivid blue tee. This was quite the change. She was waiting for lunch to be served when I arrived, and the aide hurried out to fetch it so we could leave on time. Mom ate and took her medications very nicely.
As we were preparing to depart, Mom wondered if she should bring a jacket. She was told it was quite warm out and that we needed to go. She quickly followed me out of the building without question. I'm finding that lingering and waiting for her to make a decision doesn't work. If there's a way for her to go out "The Doors" then she's more than willing to go.
As we drove she asked about my nephew, Damian, and whether or not he'd left for Seattle yet. I asked for more information. She stated that he and his mother were there for a visit yesterday and she would be surprised if he had already left. I assured her he had. She mulled this over as we drove.
We came to a 4-way stop. I stopped. The other cars went through from the sides. Mom decided it was a good time to chastise me for stopping at all. Reason and rationality had no effect. Thank God she doesn't drive!
At the doctor's she sat quietly reading (she appears to be the only one at St A's who does read) as I filled out the paperwork.
We went in and the doctor came in for his visit.
He asked Mom the date. She told him it was sometime in January, year one. She stated it was Winter. He smiled and told her the correct answers. Mom gave him a look of cynicism. He then asked her if she knew what this was (as he pointed at his watch). Mom told him it was a time thing. She knew the strap and buckle, and the face she knew, but she didn't know the word 'watch'. She gave him another look when he named it for her.
Next, he ran her through some exercises which she did with more difficulty than the times before. She was slower, and she had great troubles closing her eyes and keeping them closed as she performed the activities per his instructions.
She walked well for him, except that she didn't stop when he told her to; rather, she began opening doors to rooms that held other patients. Whoops! A good thing he has a sense of humor.
He and I spoke in private for a minute or two (I can't tell, but Mom appeared outside the doorway window somewhat rapidly. We went over some issues I see coming up for her and he stated that she's doing pretty well, and we've got a great team working with her. This was wonderful. There really wasn't much significant change he saw, but he did review the DNR and I stopped him from speaking with Mom about bathing (I didn't want to hear her rant about the embarrassment in the car on the way home. He did ask me questions in her presence, but she kept interrupting telling me I was wrong and I had bad information, so I requested the private chat without interference).
We left and headed for Mickey D's for her milkshake (strawberry). I dropped her off in her room and headed to the store to buy some supplies for her.
Upon my return, I bumped into Mo (Morena) the woman who does Mom's physical therapy.
She told me Mom has not been doing the bike very often. She finds it difficult to get the rhythm and power for the pedals. But, they've been walking. That's good news. She stated that it's been tough to convince Mom to get up out of her chair, but when she does she's hardly resistant. More good news.
I was also given a copy of the sleep monitoring for Mom from a couple of months ago. I wasn't all that surprised, to be honest, until I crunched the numbers:
There are 168 hours in a week.
If one were to sleep 8 hours a day one would sleep about 34% of the week.
That means that 66% of the week is wakefulness for the majority of the population.
However, Mom is awake 35% of the week.
That means she is asleep 65% of the week - the complete opposite of what we might consider the norm.
Surprised?
Her sleepiest day she slept 20 hours.
Her most active day she was awake for 13.
Could it have been the weather? From my understanding not much has changed. This is pretty typical for her. And, knowing that LBD causes great tiredness and feelings of somnulence this brought no shock.
A day of some revelations and solidifications.
The staff tried, again, to have her bathe, but her stubborn nature refused. This makes it over a week. When I arrived I tried, telling her it would be rude to be quite so fragrant for the good doctor. She scoffed.
"I'll not have people guarding me and watching me in the shower!" she exclaimed. "I deserve some sense of privacy!" The truth is that no one is even about when she bathes. They just check the shower and towels to ensure she has used them. But then, paranoia is a symptom...
So, withholding ice cream and trying just about every sneaky device they could have yielded nothing. Nada. Rien.
She was looking quite charming, though, in her vivid blue tee. This was quite the change. She was waiting for lunch to be served when I arrived, and the aide hurried out to fetch it so we could leave on time. Mom ate and took her medications very nicely.
As we were preparing to depart, Mom wondered if she should bring a jacket. She was told it was quite warm out and that we needed to go. She quickly followed me out of the building without question. I'm finding that lingering and waiting for her to make a decision doesn't work. If there's a way for her to go out "The Doors" then she's more than willing to go.
As we drove she asked about my nephew, Damian, and whether or not he'd left for Seattle yet. I asked for more information. She stated that he and his mother were there for a visit yesterday and she would be surprised if he had already left. I assured her he had. She mulled this over as we drove.
We came to a 4-way stop. I stopped. The other cars went through from the sides. Mom decided it was a good time to chastise me for stopping at all. Reason and rationality had no effect. Thank God she doesn't drive!
At the doctor's she sat quietly reading (she appears to be the only one at St A's who does read) as I filled out the paperwork.
We went in and the doctor came in for his visit.
He asked Mom the date. She told him it was sometime in January, year one. She stated it was Winter. He smiled and told her the correct answers. Mom gave him a look of cynicism. He then asked her if she knew what this was (as he pointed at his watch). Mom told him it was a time thing. She knew the strap and buckle, and the face she knew, but she didn't know the word 'watch'. She gave him another look when he named it for her.
Next, he ran her through some exercises which she did with more difficulty than the times before. She was slower, and she had great troubles closing her eyes and keeping them closed as she performed the activities per his instructions.
She walked well for him, except that she didn't stop when he told her to; rather, she began opening doors to rooms that held other patients. Whoops! A good thing he has a sense of humor.
He and I spoke in private for a minute or two (I can't tell, but Mom appeared outside the doorway window somewhat rapidly. We went over some issues I see coming up for her and he stated that she's doing pretty well, and we've got a great team working with her. This was wonderful. There really wasn't much significant change he saw, but he did review the DNR and I stopped him from speaking with Mom about bathing (I didn't want to hear her rant about the embarrassment in the car on the way home. He did ask me questions in her presence, but she kept interrupting telling me I was wrong and I had bad information, so I requested the private chat without interference).
We left and headed for Mickey D's for her milkshake (strawberry). I dropped her off in her room and headed to the store to buy some supplies for her.
Upon my return, I bumped into Mo (Morena) the woman who does Mom's physical therapy.
She told me Mom has not been doing the bike very often. She finds it difficult to get the rhythm and power for the pedals. But, they've been walking. That's good news. She stated that it's been tough to convince Mom to get up out of her chair, but when she does she's hardly resistant. More good news.
I was also given a copy of the sleep monitoring for Mom from a couple of months ago. I wasn't all that surprised, to be honest, until I crunched the numbers:
There are 168 hours in a week.
If one were to sleep 8 hours a day one would sleep about 34% of the week.
That means that 66% of the week is wakefulness for the majority of the population.
However, Mom is awake 35% of the week.
That means she is asleep 65% of the week - the complete opposite of what we might consider the norm.
Surprised?
Her sleepiest day she slept 20 hours.
Her most active day she was awake for 13.
Could it have been the weather? From my understanding not much has changed. This is pretty typical for her. And, knowing that LBD causes great tiredness and feelings of somnulence this brought no shock.
A day of some revelations and solidifications.
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