Sunday
I was grateful to find Mom up and having gone to breakfast. But it didn’t take too long before it became apparent she wasn’t quite running on all 8 cylinders. She started by telling me she just got back from the dentist, and was laughing that the dentists’ daughter had actually fixed her broken tooth. Of course, the daughter was about 6, in second or third grade, and was about the same size as Heather…….okay! I asked her how she got there, and she was quite convincing that she’d walked from 5th street, and they’d just finished up about 20 minutes ago! She didn’t want to drop it—-we kept coming back to the dentist story every few minutes. I gave her some Christmas gifts, and she seemed to enjoy opening them. I reminded her I had money from my sisters, so she had a guilt-free cache of mad money for when she wanted something special. I repaired and rehung the wall quilt. She couldn’t remember pulling it down, and was sure someone else had taken it down on her. I put all her new ‘stuff’ away, and eventually took her down for lunch. They were having prime rib for lunch! I hope she enjoys it. I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas.
Monday
I found Mom dressed and in her wheelchair this morning, but sound asleep. I really had to shake her to get any response at all, and then it was a mumbled, non-sensical reply. I found a whole stack of clothes folded on her chair, and went about putting them away, again. I moved Mom into the living room with me, but she just couldn’t hold her head up. I tried for another 20 or 30 minutes, but she never did respond. One of the staff came in and told me Mom had been up all night, which seemed to fit what I was seeing. She woke Mom and asked her if she would like to go to bed, and Mom said she was in bed…… The staffer left, and a few minutes later I asked Mom if she wouldn’t be more comfortable lying in bed. She said yes, but she thought it was time to get up….. I told her if she was sleepy, she would be better off lying down and getting some real sleep instead of being half asleep in the wheelchair. So I eventually got her to lie in the bed. I took off her shoes, tucked her in, since she was cold, and told her to have a good nap before lunch. I had nothing left to do in her room, so I updated the staff and left. I sure hope she gets back to normal soon.
Tuesday
Today turned out to be a pretty good day. Mom was up and dressed when I arrived. She’d had a shower, and had been down for breakfast. She was in the bathroom when I arrived, so I changed the linens on her bed and tidied up her room. When she was done and joined me in the living room, she was upbeat and lucid. We talked all morning about family, and she remained awake and alert all morning. It was a huge relief to finally have a decent day. She was happy when I left her at noon.
Wednesday
Mom was up and dressed this morning, but in yesterday’s clothes. I have my doubts that she’d really gone to bed last night. But she was in a good mood, and had gone down for breakfast this morning. She seemed pretty lucid, and we talked for quite a while before things started to slip. She started staring at her hands and arms, complaining about the veins in her hands and the wrinkles on her arms. Then she pulled off Dad’s watch, handed it to me, and told me to put it back in the box, it really didn’t go with her outfit. When I told her she’d been wearing it since Dad died, she scoffed at me, saying it certainly wasn’t attractive, and didn’t even fit her! (I’m not sure if this is regression or progression—–I think it has always looked clunky and out-of-place, but she’s always had a sentimental attachment to. I was shocked for her to figure out at this point that it was unattractive on her!) She put it back on and pulled it back off at least five times. So I finally took it when she reached it out to me, and put it in my own pocket. I was afraid if I didn’t she’d throw it away as soon as I left! That seemed to settle it for a while, but then she started looking at her hands again, complaining again about the big veins, etc. Then she mentioned that her wedding rings wouldn’t even come off anymore, and proceeded to yank them off her finger! She said she only wanted to see what was inside of them, but again she decided they didn’t look good with the veins on her hands……but she put them back on and at least didn’t try to get rid of those! She mumbled something about wanted to change something so it would match—-not sure what it was, but she couldn’t clarify it. I believe she was concerned that her green shirt and pants didn’t match her blue veins—-seems to be the main topic for today! She did have some nice moments. Angie had sent her a nice Christmas box, and she had a lot of fun opening each thing (immediately eating a couple of turtles 
). She really enjoys opening new boxes! She eventually dropped off to sleep and napped until lunchtime. When I woke her for lunch, the first thing she said to me was ‘touch me again and I’ll kick you through the door’. I hope she was just waking up from a dream, since I hadn’t done anything that should have made her mad. She seemed a little confused when I took her to lunch, but was cheerful and seemed okay when I left.
Thursday
I’m not sure what I feel about today. Mom was sitting in her wheelchair when I arrived, but still in her nightgown, staring out the window. She was friendly, but detached, and asked me several strange questions. I’m cold, am I naked? Who am I? Where am I? I noticed her sheets where wet, so I knew she, too, was wet. I got out a fresh set of clothes and encouraged her to go into the bathroom. She told me she already put on fresh underwear and socks, but I assured her, no, they were from yesterday and it was time to change. While she was thinking that over, I changed her bed and went back into the bathroom to help her. When I finally got her on her feet to transfer to the toilet, she realized she was wet and also cold, so getting her to get out of the soiled clothes wasn’t a problem. Lynn called once I got Mom settled on the toilet, so I answered the phone and left Mom to her own devices. By the time I got back to her, she actually had gotten dressed, and seemed much clearer. It appears that most of her confusion could be blamed on simply just having gotten up. She was much more lucid once she came out of the bathroom. We chatted for a while, and sure enough she DID ask me if I knew where her watch was—-she was missing it. I took it back out of my pocket, and she promptly put it back on her arm. I guess it didn’t clash with the veins in her hands today I noticed several things were missing from her living room again, but didn’t have any way to thoroughly look for it without upsetting her. (Specifically her picture of the 4 of us, and one of her pillows). I’m assuming she’s tucked them into her new hidey-hole. Someday I’m going to find it, and solve a bunch of mysteries! She did start napping again about 11:15, but at least I feel like she got some sleep last night, so I wasn’t too worried about it. She was joking around when I left at noon.
Friday
I brought Mom a loaf of banana bread today, knowing how much she likes it, as well as some new orange juice. I found her in bed, sound asleep. She wasn’t very responsive, so I went about picking up her room and looking for some of her lost treasures. I found the photo of us buried in her magazine bucket, so I put it back on display. I laid out clothes for today, I sat and read for a while, trying to rouse Mom every 15 minutes, but she just wasn’t having it. I eventually left her there to sleep since I wasn’t sure if she’d been up all night or not. I told the staff she was still in bed when I left.
Saturday
I again found Mom sleeping, even though she’d talk a blue streak every 10 minutes or so to someone I couldn’t see. I gathered from what she was saying she thought she was crocheting something. When I tried to wake her, she’d say something about leave her alone until she figured out what her next stitch was supposed to be. I checked her dirty clothes and didn’t see any from yesterday, so I’m concerned with what’s really gone on in the last 24 hours. I tried to entice her with banana bread. I was able to get her to sit on the edge of her bed, but after 5 minutes she decided she’d rather go back to sleep than get up, and curled back up under the covers. I talked to the staff, and she never did get up yesterday. They said they’d try again to get her up for lunch, and if that failed they’d get her up for dinner for sure. I don’t want her to get too run down. I left her feeling quite concerned today.
