A Quiet Day

We had a fairly early start this morning (5am) which was solved by offering a cup of tea in bed and allowed me to have a bit more duvet hugging.

Once the day got going she was very quiet and didn't actually leave her bedroom until nearly midday, just sat or lay on the bed sometimes talking, sometimes rocking, sometimes at the window knocking but little or no distress.

She's eaten well today - toast and jam, corned beef crispbake and baked beans, cake, chicken thigh, mash and carrot and turnip. Not huge portions of course, but nearly as much as a toddler would eat. Enormously satisfying for me though. It's 18:30 now and she is ready for bed, I hope she doesn't fall out again. Another night another problem swallowing her tablets, if this continues I will have to ask if I can crush them into something - apple sauce or yoghurt (Angel Delight? Butterscotch only mind you. The one true Angel D)

Recently food and drink tend to go all over the place so today, after two full changes of clothes (one was a whole mug of coffee, the other was just beans/mash/cake/tea) I have ordered a new cup with a spout and a tabard to wear at the table. Hopefully that will help a little with the laundry overload.

Tomorrow is day centre day and an email from Barry today tells me that he's requested a second day for her which will be marvellous and he's also organised a week in respite from next Friday (10th) which is equally marvellous. That takes us to the 18th Feb which is practically Spring.

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Very cold here today with a light scattering of snizzle (snow + drizzle = snizzle) so we didn't venture out of the door. Well, I say we. I dashed to the post office to get Betsy's pension for her but that was it. So... no outside opportunities for my photos today. I did this instead :)

Monday Calling

Hello hello hello!

I had a lovely weekend away, but why is it always over so quickly? We went here on Saturday where I took a nice photo of a swan and some narrow boats etc. and then out and about on Sunday where I didn't take a great photo of the beautiful medieval Ashleworth Tithe Barn because I'd forgotten to put the memory card in my camera and had to rely on the rubbish camera on my phone...

Back home this morning. Ma seems quite wobbly today and Peter says he's encouraged her to use her zimmer frame over the weekend. Hopefully she'll use it properly now rather than carrying it around... She is rambling a lot at the moment, making little to no sense and is a bit on the agitated side but seems content enough to get up off the sofa, take a couple of steps then go and sit down again.

It's been a struggle to get her to eat half a sandwich for lunch and I need to go and get some supplies in so a trip out in the car is looking likely. Daunting, but likely. Not sure how easy Ma will be.

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My cousin has had surgery to repair his carotid artery. He is still critically ill, naturally, but it's a step in the right direction. Thank you for all the messages, prayers and kind thoughts. Very much appreciated.

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No trip out on account of Ma confusing a slice of coffee and walnut cake for the house phone (which didn't ring and wasn't even in the room) and shouting 'Hello?!?' into it for some reason. I didn't think she was really up for a trip to Tesco Hell. We had a slight hiatus when taking her night meds and it took nearly two glasses of water to get them down. I've mentioned before how much Ma 'loves' water, so you can imagine how easy that was. Then to top it off, an hour after going to bed she ended up on the floor again. Pete did mention that she'd fallen a few times this weekend and this falling out of bed thing is becoming a bit of a regular occurrence. Maybe a call to the GP might be an idea. If nothing else it always pops my wrists out a bit trying to get her up and too much of that is really not good.

Early bed for me I think. Wasn't awfully well yesterday and still not feeling great today.

Did manage a quick blip though.

What do you mean addicted?!?

Weekend 27/01

After being so lax about blogging this week I'm now off elsewhere for the weekend. I'll lose my good blogger's badge at this rate. Ma is fine this morning after a good night, she's a bit sleepy but otherwise ok. Quite useful actually as I race around hoovering, mopping and generally pretending to be good at housework.

Potato arrives this afternoon and takes over until Monday. No news about my cousin yet I'm afraid but please keep the prayers going, it is very much appreciated.

Fear not, I shall have my camera with me so lots of annoying links to stuff when I get back.

See you on the other side my lovelies.

Thursday Catch-Up

I cant believe it's Thursday already! I've been very lax this week on the blogging front, so... where were we?

Tuesday

So the 'keep Ma awake until a decent bedtime' plan worked quite well in the end. It was nearly 8 before she went to bed and disregarding a couple of attempts to party the night away, she slept through the night.

We were up at a reasonable time, breakfasted, showered and managed a trip to the post office early doors before the Vicar arrived at 10:30. He is a Chaplain to the Sovereign and it putting together a photographic history as a gift to HM for her jubilee - literally a one off publication. He's tracked down photographs of every Chaplain from the reign of King George V onwards and needs someone to help catalogue and input the data on each one *dons Librarian hat*. It sounds dull but is actually quite fascinating and many of the photographs are fabulous! We've got one on a camel, one in a racing car etc. Anyway, we focussed on that for around three hours and Ma dozed on the sofa. Clearly her new medication is having an effect in the mornings.

By 2 o'clock we'd both had enough data crunching and Ma was beginning to stir so Hugh dashed off (that man never strolls anywhere) and I sorted food etc. then eventually we went for a short drive, mainly to get us out of the house in some fresh air for a little while. One of us was very reluctant.

Operation KMA didn't work so well this time. I couldn't keep her upright with eyes open so gave in at 6 and tucked her up. Then again at 6:45, 7:20, 8:30 etc. She did eventually settle at around midnight.

I photographed an iris for my blip. Love the colours.

Wednesday

Day centre day. So off she went at 10:30.

I shopped, snoozed and photographed an egg.

Yes I know it isn't normal but my goodness this photography thing is addictive. Eggs are tricky to do as it turns out but I think I got a reasonable shot in the end. I must learn how to use the photo software stuff though, that way bigger and better insanity lies.

The bus arrived at 17:05, I presented her with her tea which she couldn't work out how to eat (sandwiches, Blue Riband, yoghurt), but I think a lot of it was tiredness because I'd manage to get her to hold the biscuit only to watch her slide sideways with her eyes shut, bless her. So in bed by 17:30 and not a peep until 07:30 this morning.

An egg blip. Here's the best of the other ones I did.

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Thursday... Well, we had a good night overall and this morning was slow and fairly quiet. Ma was very sleepy again, even after she had been through the shower and had some breakfast. I shoved a colour on my hair (and waited until it started smoking.... I need to be blonde OK? Just let it go). Then I did some desultory hoovering and waved a cloth around. Barry came this afternoon and we discussed dates for rolling respite and it looks likely that it could start fairly soon. After he left we had a quick out and about in the car.

Did you do any blithery for the stamps?

Shall we get a fly going up?

I think I’d better do it when the port was there don't you?

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Came home, phone rang. Awful awful news about my cousin David. If you pray, please do so for him.

Sorry

I'm really sorry I haven't posted an update for a couple of days. I think I've had a bit of blog fatigue.

We are both fine, the new drugs have thrown us into a bit of a spin routine-wise so when I would normally be updating the blog I am shoe-horning Ma back into bed for the umpteenth time.

It's now 23:43 so a proper update tomorrow. I promise.

Here we go again - a very short update

Monday morning dawned. I say this with certainty because I was wide awake when it happened. This would be because Ma crashed about all night not settling in bed for any longer than 5 minutes at a time. Today she has dozed frequently but not for any prolonged period and therefore I am feeling a bit knackered.

My plan to keep her awake until 7:00 by turning the TV up has worked so well it's stirred her up to the point where she is pacing, shouting at people on the television, cushion worrying and door rattling. So not going to settle any time soon and I'm not rushing to get her to bed, it might pay off with a decent night in the long run. I can but hope!

She's eaten everything today - not a massive amount admittedly - but without any battles.

Every cloud.

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Today's blip and here's the others

Ps. I've corrected all the other Blip links so they should show the correct photograph for that day.

Weekend 21/01

Well I'm still not flavour of the month and have the bruises to prove it.

The morning started just after 5 with her banging on the front door. I made a cup of tea and eventually persuaded her back into bed after a bit of pushing and shoving (her not me!). When I came back down at 7ish she was fast asleep but the apron was missing from the kitchen - I keep the keys to the patio doors in the pocket so couldn't let the dog out until I found it. Eventually tracked it down to the back corner of the pantry but no idea what she was up to.

Breakfast was received in sulky silence and she refused to get up until 12:45 when I made her scrambled egg on toast. I had to cut it up for her as she seems to have lost most of her cutlery skills now.

Peter phoned so naturally she now asks me every five minutes when he is arriving. Next Friday is the answer. And seems a very very long way off after the 14th repetition already. She was all fluffy with him on the phone, very dismissive about me (which I do find quite amusing) and seems to think that he won't have all the doors locked when he's here next week. Steep learning curve then.

Repetitive behaviours continue. We are on a five minute cycle at the moment which includes banging on the door/trying the handle, asking if we are going now, offering me a cushion, putting the foot stool on the table and waving at the neighbours blank wall. When I suggested a trip out this morning she refused to go so I don't think it's actually about going out just a general feeling of restlessness.

I've collected her new medication and we start the additional tablets tonight. They are to help with the hallucinations and have quite a sedative effect I understand so it will be interesting to see how we get on. It could be a very quiet Sunday!

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Double blips today. Yesterday's is here and today's is here

Today's was part of the ongoing 2012 challenge where a different topic is posted each week. This week it is Disguise, and that is what I came up with.

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Sunday

Last night went well after a small fall out of bed early on. No injuries and she was clearly affected by the drugs so went back to bed happily enough and slept through until half seven. Impressive snoring at one point too!

Today she has been a lot calmer than of late and although still trying the door occasionally, nowhere near as often as yesterday. The random sentence construction is the same and an obsession with trying to sit on tables seem to be the highlights of today. Oh... that and eating things. Not a massive amount but less of a battle than usual.

As I type it's 21:45 and I'm off to bed as soon as Birdsong has finished. She's been up three times already but as ever I'm hopeful that this won't continue.

Today's blip

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It's now 11:28 and she's been up every 5 minutes in the last 45 so possibly not quite the night I was hoping for. It's amazing. Seroquel, Zopiclone and Epilim would flatten me! 

Crunchie Required

Another Friday dawns. Sorry I missed yesterday, it was quite a stressy, messy day with Ma on the whole. We went to Slattery's for a 90 minutes chocolate demonstration which was fascinating and then afternoon tea which was delicious. I think the demo was roughly 80 minutes too long for Ma though. She started off well but gradually slipped down in her seat to the point where I was worried she'd end up under the table. I showed absolutely no restraint with the afternoon tea which I think was justified because Ma didn't eat any of it.

When we got home she was very restless and continued to be so for the rest of the evening and into the small hours.

We are off to see the Dementia consultant for a three month review in a minute where I'm hoping to talk to Barry about setting up rolling respite for regular (hopefully monthly) weekends off.

More later.

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That was, without doubt, one of the worst mornings I've ever had since coming here. We set off ok and Ma was quiet on the journey into town. When we got to the car park there weren't any blue badge spaces so I had to get a ticket and I told Ma to stay in the car because it was raining quite heavily. Naturally she ignored me and tried to get out while still wearing her seat belt. This started a massive massive mood swing which began with her refusing to get out of the car. By the time we'd walked the 15 yards to the clinic door she was actively fighting to get away from me. Once in the clinic she didn't want to sit next to me, look at a magazine or talk to me. She preferred to hiss and spit and pinch whenever she was prevented from going out of the door/into the (occupied) consulting room etc. The rage on her face was frightening and really upsetting. During the consultation she was clearly very 'off' me but we got through it and in some ways her behaviour helped illustrate how she can be.

The upshot is that we are now on the community round so I won't have to drag her to the clinic any longer they will come to us instead, an increase in one medication and the introduction of another to help quell the hallucinations and therefore hopefully help her to sleep. Also the rolling respite idea has been raised again and I'm seeing Barry about that next week. Essentially it is a week of respite every 5 weeks (I think that's right). Marvellous.

We followed this with a trip to the supermarket. I know I was asking for trouble but we really needed food. I think I could've won Supermarket Sweep. Luckily the local Morries is only small so I could keep an eye on Ma stubbornly standing in the crossing aisle, turning her face away from any food suggestions as I flashed up and down.

Then to the doctor's surgery to drop off the new meds instructions where once again she was unable to stay in the car for two minutes. And finally back home. Where she is now dozing in the chair in front of The King's Speech.

I feel a little wrung out.

Messers P & G may arrive early this evening.

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Oops I forgot to link to yesterday's blip

You will be relieved to hear that it's lashing down outside and rather windy so you are saved from yet another droplet photo. It was hard enough yesterday - everytime I found one the ruddy wind blew it away! However, this does mean it's likely to be food. Very close up food.

Pffft!

So today was going to be me and Lily and a day filled with fresh air, nature and the muted beep of my little camera.

I had my coat on as soon as Ma was out of the door, Lily dancing with excitement at the sight of her lead and my pockets filled with the essentials: bank card, camera, phone, glasses. We jumped in the car and... it refused to start. It did this in Cornwall on the day I was coming home but I managed to get it started in the end. No chance today. RAC came and got it going but said it needed repairing (some valve thing) so we took it to the Ford garage and then the nice man brought me home to wait for a hire car.

I'm not complaining about the service at all, everyone was extremely helpful and things were sorted as quickly as possible, but I really really wanted to spend some time outdoors. Oh well. There's always next week.

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Ma came home in a garrulous mood which is fine so long as you don't try and decipher what she's saying, I find nodding and mhmm-ing is the best route with the odd comment when you can. She's definitely more hyped up after a day out which tends to lead to a more disturbed night and some of the more bizarre behaviours turning up. Tonight she was undressing anywhere and everywhere. However she did eat ALL of her takeaway tea from Pinfold - a full round of tuna sandwiches ('I hate tuna') a Blue Riband and a cup of tea. Sadly the orange was a step too far for slightly loose dentures.

I managed to keep her up and entertained until 6.30 and she is now in bed. I can hear her talking though so it could be a tricky night. On the otherhand she might be so tired she'll sleep through. You just cannot ever predict it.

Tomorrow we are off to Slattery's for a chocolate demonstration and afternoon tea with the Dementia Café crew. Can't wait.

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Today's blip which isn't a panoramic shot using a wide-angle as promised due to very rubbish weather and a broken car. It is rather pretty though :)

Here's the thing

At the moment my life is one long Two Ronnies sketch. We are both in the same room but reading from different scripts. And one of us secretly chopped up their script and threw the bits in the air. When asked a question or making conversation they dip their hand into the bag and trot out a string of unconnected words.

As a comedic device it is unfailingly successful but woe betide me if I don't give the right response or lose my sense of humour.


*leaves room with throw, tries front door, returns without throw*

You've left your blanket Ma

What blanket?

The one you took out of the room

Well she'll be here in a minute with the other girl

Your knees will be cold without it

*sobs* You hate me don't you?

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Potato is home and phoned this afternoon. Naturally this hasn't stopped the endless questions about where he is but at least I can now say that he'll be here a week on Friday.

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Today's blip

As it is my day off tomorrow I promise to go outside and take something using a wide-angle panoramic lens!