Thursday, August 26, 2004
I'm jazzed, so I thought I should put in a few paragraphs about why.
Damn, we've had some good days lately and today is rolling out to be another. Her blood glucose is doing good [Yes!]. She's doing her therapy exercises with me and she's really paying attention and working hard [Yes!]. She's alert and interested in what's going on around her and, with very little protest, is accompanying me everywhere [Yes!]. I have to keep as focused an eye on her as before, maybe even more than before. Now that she's looking around and noticing her environment she's liable to do things like the below mentioned Depends-Instead (of sponges) incident, or a mustard incident I'll be mentioning later. We continue to be joined at the hip even more than before but it's not a drag because she's using her walker and finding out that it's pretty interesting to be out and about.
Today, instead of doing all her walkering in one place, we went on three errands together, giving her a chance to rest between spurts, thus preserving her back. At the first she said, "I'll just stay in the car while you go in."
"Nope," I said, "not an option anymore. You need to move, lady, period. When you're with me and I get out of the car, you get out of the car, even if it's a short trip. Everywhere I go, you go now. It's good for you. It's good for me. Unless you're laid out on a stretcher in traction or in a cast you're going to be up and at 'em."
She tried the "Why?" ploy on me this morning, too, when I awoke her.
"You know better than that, now, Mom," I said, giving her mind the benefit of the doubt. "I'm not even going to dignify that with an answer. It doesn't deserve it."
She gave me that, "you're treading on thin ice, there, girl" look, but she was out of bed only a bit more slowly than lately. At any rate, when she lags and the reason isn't any more legitimate than that she'd like to spend the rest of her life in bed, I simply remind her that I can "whup" her up and out any time I want. The mere "threat seems to do the trick even though she never remembers that I can do this.
She also had a bowel movement today, one that clogged the toilet, which tells me that despite my problems with controlling her hydration level (about which I will soon be preparing an extemporaneous essay on my soon to be launched companion essay site) we're back on schedule with regularity [Yes!].
A few days ago she mentioned that she'd like to spend more time outside in our yard [Yes!]. This morning I suggested we do her therapy exercises outside but she observed after poking her nose out, that it was still a bit too windy and cool for her (we've had a dry low moving through here for the last few days. I trust her to know when it's too blustery for her.
She's napping, now. Tonight is Spirit of Tomato Pie night. It's usually a good TV night, as well, from her perspective. Two of her favorites are on, CSI: Las Vegas and Without A Trace. There's also a good selection of "women's movies" on the women's channel. I can never remember which one it is but I can always tell by the names and descriptions of the movies. So, she's got her evening set. We also have one more set of leg exercises to do (she's supposed to do two sets a day). With this session I'll add the two I came up with yesterday which I hope will help strengthen her knees. We purchased some sweat pants for her yesterday. I need to hem those tonight. We also need to draft and sign the letter for change of address for her non-public stock holdings, the ones from which we get dividends. Saturday we're planning on going down to Mesa to pick up whatever mail we might be collecting there (our yard man tells me so far there's been none) and begin packing out some of the stuff there. If all goes well, even though we haven't yet sold the place and there aren't yet, any takers, we'll be doing that for the next four Saturdays until we're clear to reinstate forwarding at that address.
We haven't yet found the time to play any games since she's been home or read because, I'm pleased to report, I've been keeping her on the move [Yes!]. There are a few kinks, but even those are easily negotiated, now.
Yes! I'm jazzed!
Later.
Today, instead of doing all her walkering in one place, we went on three errands together, giving her a chance to rest between spurts, thus preserving her back. At the first she said, "I'll just stay in the car while you go in."
"Nope," I said, "not an option anymore. You need to move, lady, period. When you're with me and I get out of the car, you get out of the car, even if it's a short trip. Everywhere I go, you go now. It's good for you. It's good for me. Unless you're laid out on a stretcher in traction or in a cast you're going to be up and at 'em."
She tried the "Why?" ploy on me this morning, too, when I awoke her.
"You know better than that, now, Mom," I said, giving her mind the benefit of the doubt. "I'm not even going to dignify that with an answer. It doesn't deserve it."
She gave me that, "you're treading on thin ice, there, girl" look, but she was out of bed only a bit more slowly than lately. At any rate, when she lags and the reason isn't any more legitimate than that she'd like to spend the rest of her life in bed, I simply remind her that I can "whup" her up and out any time I want. The mere "threat seems to do the trick even though she never remembers that I can do this.
She also had a bowel movement today, one that clogged the toilet, which tells me that despite my problems with controlling her hydration level (about which I will soon be preparing an extemporaneous essay on my soon to be launched companion essay site) we're back on schedule with regularity [Yes!].
A few days ago she mentioned that she'd like to spend more time outside in our yard [Yes!]. This morning I suggested we do her therapy exercises outside but she observed after poking her nose out, that it was still a bit too windy and cool for her (we've had a dry low moving through here for the last few days. I trust her to know when it's too blustery for her.
She's napping, now. Tonight is Spirit of Tomato Pie night. It's usually a good TV night, as well, from her perspective. Two of her favorites are on, CSI: Las Vegas and Without A Trace. There's also a good selection of "women's movies" on the women's channel. I can never remember which one it is but I can always tell by the names and descriptions of the movies. So, she's got her evening set. We also have one more set of leg exercises to do (she's supposed to do two sets a day). With this session I'll add the two I came up with yesterday which I hope will help strengthen her knees. We purchased some sweat pants for her yesterday. I need to hem those tonight. We also need to draft and sign the letter for change of address for her non-public stock holdings, the ones from which we get dividends. Saturday we're planning on going down to Mesa to pick up whatever mail we might be collecting there (our yard man tells me so far there's been none) and begin packing out some of the stuff there. If all goes well, even though we haven't yet sold the place and there aren't yet, any takers, we'll be doing that for the next four Saturdays until we're clear to reinstate forwarding at that address.
We haven't yet found the time to play any games since she's been home or read because, I'm pleased to report, I've been keeping her on the move [Yes!]. There are a few kinks, but even those are easily negotiated, now.
Yes! I'm jazzed!
Later.
