Tuesday, April 20, 2004
Last night, while watching...
...Cell Dogs: Kit Carson on Animal Planet, a good three hours after she'd eaten dinner she suddenly upchucked the dregs of it while sitting in her rocking chair. She was trying to catch it with tissues. At first I thought she was coughing up phlegm although I thought this odd because she hadn't been congested for a few days. Then, from the sound of what she was doing, I realized it wasn't coughing. I secured a bowl, a warm moist washcloth and coached her to lean over the bowl (even after I brought the bowl and the washcloth, her automatic reaction was to vomit into her hand). In two episodes about a half hour apart, she cleaned out what was left in her stomach. She felt "fine" both before and after the episodes. I fed her some Milk of Magnesia, the antacid dose, not the laxative dose, even though she insisted she didn't need it. No, she did not vomit up any blood. I checked.
I'm not sure what caused the episodes. We had Quick Beef Stroganoff, a concoction I make for her when I want to elevate her sodium levels so that she'll retain more water. She's been dehydrating quickly over the last few days and we've been eating fairly healthy, too. As well, those pumpkin muffins promote regularity (to put it mildly). We have this recipe, oh, I'd say about once every two to three weeks. Neither of us ate any of the elk stuff so that wasn't it. I can't think of anything unusual we've eaten.
This morning she awoke a little before 0800. She had to eliminate. I consider it a plus that her body signaled her to Rise and Obey. She insisted she was feeling fine but, "awfully tired" and that she was going back to bed. She had already experienced a typical watershed so this morning I discovered the "instant" way to disinfect and dry the plastic sheet on her bed: Glass Cleaner. Although I continue to smell its relentless cleanliness out here over an hour later, it does the trick in a pinch.
Last night we watched Cheaper by the Dozen, the new one. I knew she'd love this movie. She has always said that she has wished that she and Dad could have had "dozens" of kids. It brought back a lot of energizing memories for her. Throughout the movie she'd say, "Now, your father and I did that..." or, "that's what your father and I thought," and I'd stop the movie and we'd talk about our family, how we were created, how we operated as individuals in a unit and as a unit of individuals. When the movie was over she was not ready for it to end. This one's a keeper; I'll be buying a copy of it.
During the afternoon (yes, yesterday was a low key movie day...it kept Mom up and moving, except for a short nap soon after breakfast, after she had beaten me in 3 rounds of Sorry) we also watched House of Sand and Fog. I expected a somber movie and I wasn't sure how Mom would react. She has to be in the mood for a "serious movie". She was riveted and I was blown away. Later, when we were talking about the movie I realized she didn't register that the Iranian couple committed suicide after their son died. She thought they were, with the victim of the county, in an artistic repose of grief. She was very taken by the belief structure behind much of what was said within the Irani family, mentioning that, "We should see if we can find a book to read on Islam."
Her body may be weak and she may not yet have enough confidence to completely rely on it (perhaps at her point in life confidence in one's body is a precious commodity or the confidence one has is that it will fail) but her attention to her environment continues to gratify me.
I have an acupuncture treatment, today. A book club meeting is also scheduled which means doing Mom's hair, to which I'm looking forward. It's a relaxing time for both of us. Petting a relative is probably as soothing and beneficial as petting a pet. I wonder if any studies have been done on this. I don't want to go to the book club meeting tonight, though, primarily because I just don't feel like gearing the entire day toward preparing to take my mother there, especially the psychological part. Most of the time it's worth it but today I'm tired and suffering a little, acupuncturally speaking, and I'd like to be able to kick back when I return from my appointment. I can kick back with Mom but I can't kick back at the book club. I don't know what I'll decide. Depends on how the day develops.
Later.
I'm not sure what caused the episodes. We had Quick Beef Stroganoff, a concoction I make for her when I want to elevate her sodium levels so that she'll retain more water. She's been dehydrating quickly over the last few days and we've been eating fairly healthy, too. As well, those pumpkin muffins promote regularity (to put it mildly). We have this recipe, oh, I'd say about once every two to three weeks. Neither of us ate any of the elk stuff so that wasn't it. I can't think of anything unusual we've eaten.
This morning she awoke a little before 0800. She had to eliminate. I consider it a plus that her body signaled her to Rise and Obey. She insisted she was feeling fine but, "awfully tired" and that she was going back to bed. She had already experienced a typical watershed so this morning I discovered the "instant" way to disinfect and dry the plastic sheet on her bed: Glass Cleaner. Although I continue to smell its relentless cleanliness out here over an hour later, it does the trick in a pinch.
Last night we watched Cheaper by the Dozen, the new one. I knew she'd love this movie. She has always said that she has wished that she and Dad could have had "dozens" of kids. It brought back a lot of energizing memories for her. Throughout the movie she'd say, "Now, your father and I did that..." or, "that's what your father and I thought," and I'd stop the movie and we'd talk about our family, how we were created, how we operated as individuals in a unit and as a unit of individuals. When the movie was over she was not ready for it to end. This one's a keeper; I'll be buying a copy of it.
During the afternoon (yes, yesterday was a low key movie day...it kept Mom up and moving, except for a short nap soon after breakfast, after she had beaten me in 3 rounds of Sorry) we also watched House of Sand and Fog. I expected a somber movie and I wasn't sure how Mom would react. She has to be in the mood for a "serious movie". She was riveted and I was blown away. Later, when we were talking about the movie I realized she didn't register that the Iranian couple committed suicide after their son died. She thought they were, with the victim of the county, in an artistic repose of grief. She was very taken by the belief structure behind much of what was said within the Irani family, mentioning that, "We should see if we can find a book to read on Islam."
Her body may be weak and she may not yet have enough confidence to completely rely on it (perhaps at her point in life confidence in one's body is a precious commodity or the confidence one has is that it will fail) but her attention to her environment continues to gratify me.
I have an acupuncture treatment, today. A book club meeting is also scheduled which means doing Mom's hair, to which I'm looking forward. It's a relaxing time for both of us. Petting a relative is probably as soothing and beneficial as petting a pet. I wonder if any studies have been done on this. I don't want to go to the book club meeting tonight, though, primarily because I just don't feel like gearing the entire day toward preparing to take my mother there, especially the psychological part. Most of the time it's worth it but today I'm tired and suffering a little, acupuncturally speaking, and I'd like to be able to kick back when I return from my appointment. I can kick back with Mom but I can't kick back at the book club. I don't know what I'll decide. Depends on how the day develops.
Later.
