Sunday
Mom was sitting in her wheelchair when I arrived today, and as I walked in she was zipping up her nightgown. I asked her if she was ready to get dressed, and her response was “dressed? I was just going to bed!” Apparently, she thought it was nighttime. But since she was up, I tried to encourage her to stay up for the day. I got out clothes for her to wear, and made her bed. She continued to sit in her chair in a half-dream state, talking about the little girl someone had dropped off and just expected her to take care of. I kept trying to get her to refocus, because I’m sure she was still dreaming, but she stubbornly kept right on complaining about having to take care of this little girl that shouldn’t have been there. I’d gotten her a replacement remote control for her television, but couldn’t get it to work, so today I brought up yet another, and was able to get this one registered for her television. Hopefully she’ll be able to work it, and not lose the remote again. I’m not sure if I prefer Mom sleeping, or in a foul mood. Everything she said or anything she answered me was negative and whiney. She complained about the housekeeping staff ruining all her furniture, running the vacuum into it. She won’t believe me that she’s doing it herself with her wheelchair. She complained about the dirt on the floor, saying ‘they’ made a mess when they brought in new flats of flowers. When I pointed out that no one but her touched her flowers, she argued with me that, no, the middle shelf were hers, but the bottom shelf were ones the staff was bringing in, and they were making a real mess! I pointed out that several newly planted ‘starts’ were sitting on her dresser, and asked if she wanted me to bring them out so they could get help from the lamps. She never answered me, so I eventually just brought them out. She complained that they were crowded and planted wrong,. I just bit my lip and ignored her complaints. She pointed out water on the shelf, which I explained was left from her watering the flowers. I dried up the water, and she continued to pick up the flowers one by one, dumping their excess water onto the shelf and then complaining about the mess ‘they’ made. I dried up the spills three more times, and she still insisted it wasn’t her. She’d been culling out the bad leaves last night, but found a few more that she plucked off the plants, One was stubborn, and she made a huge mess on the floor again. Sure enough, when she noticed it, she insisted once again that someone else had done it. I offered her some banana bread, which she readily accepted (and enjoyed, thank God!), but said I must have cheated the other residents. I told her I didn’t bring every resident a loaf of bread, and apparently that was unfair. I couldn’t win. I asked her a number of times to please wash her hands before lunch, since they were full of dirt from picking at the leaves. She never moved. I eventually took her into the bathroom, and told her to wash her hands so I could take her to lunch. She got pretty huffy, but eventually DID wash them, so at least I don’t have to worry about her lunch!. Lynn called, and Mom seemed to enjoy their chat, but after hanging up Mom asked me if the kids would be coming in for the holidays. I told her Heather had been here, but the holidays were over now, and it was 2012. She didn’t seem able to process that information. Staff told me she’d actually been up for both lunch and dinner yesterday, so that was good. They also said she’d been up really early this morning (around 3am, so I guess I’m not surprised she thought she was going to bed when I was arriving today. I hope she can stay up and get her internal clock readjusted today. She seemed content (if perturbed) when I left at noon.
Monday
Well, Mom was sleeping soundly when I arrived today. I was in and out of her room, as was the staff, and she never even stirred. I didn’t want to disturb her if she was really sleeping that well and, by all appearances, that contentedly. After doing a few things in her room, and reading a little, I left quietly and hoped she’d have a good afternoon.
Tuesday
Mom was still in bed when I arrived. I checked with the staff, and she’d been in bed most of yesterday as well. We weren’t sure if she’d been up during the night or not. I tried to get her up several times, but she just wasn’t responding. I laid out clothes for her day, and picked up her room. I found a number of plants squirreled away in her closet and hidden under her lamp table, so apparently she’d had some kind of paranoid dream and tried hiding her things. She started tossing around a little before 11, so I went in and started talking to her more insistently, trying to get her up for lunch. She was whining about how stiff and sore she was, but if she’d been laying in the same position for almost a day, it didn’t surprise me. I tried to get her legs moving and eventually got her sitting on the edge of the bed. I eventually got her into the bathroom, and quickly changed her bed linens while she was going tot he bathroom. Yesterday I’d made her a new wheelchair cushion and she noticed the difference but I don’t know if that’s good or bad. It’s thicker than the last one (since it looked like a pancake within a month!), but Mom said it was stiff. I guess I just can’t win some days. I tried to distract her by reading her the article about Westclox. It interested her, but immediately took her back in time. She was worried about all the people who worked there, and kept saying it was a good thing she wasn’t working on Sunday, and Dorothy wouldn’t have anywhere to go today….. Oh, well, at least it gave her something new to think about. It was too late to get her a shower before lunch, so I helped her get dressed for lunch. Staff told her they’d been back after lunch for her shower—-I hope she remembers and doesn’t fight them about it. We sat and chatted for a while before I took her down for lunch. She seemed better, but was now focused on ‘getting out of here’ again. Hopefully lunch with get rid of that notion for today.
Wednesday
Three staffers caught me in the hallway on my way into Homestead today to tell me Mom had been up early, had been down for lunch, and had spent much of the morning doing laps in the hallway, setting off alarms trying to get out various doors. Apparently, she was insistent that she get the girls on the bus for school….. I guess she was getting pretty indignant, and they wished me well on encountering her. Since they thought she was still making laps, I went back the way I had come to try to intercept her. I got about 20 feet down the hallway when I heard them calling my name. Apparently they’d encountered her in her room. When I got there, she was in a GREAT mood, and was chatting with those same staff members. She made no mention of the bus, so none of us did, either. She was really bright and interactive, and spent most of the morning talking to me! I was surprised, but relieved, too. It was actually a very good morning. She was happy when I left her at noon.
Thursday
Today made me a little concerned. Mom was in her wheelchair when I arrived. She was dressed, but couldn’t tell me if she’d been to bed, or if she’d had breakfast. She was so tired she couldn’t even give me a complete answer before she fell back asleep. She had to go to the bathroom, but couldn’t manage to stand up long enough to transfer to the toilet. After fifteen minutes of ‘just give me a minute’, I went to get staff to help me. They were able to get her transferred to the toilet and back again when she was done, but she was too weak to do it alone. I tried to engage her in conversation, but she wasn’t tracking. At one point she tried to tell me something, and I was listening intently, but she got halfway through her statement and she fell fast asleep. When her eyes were open, she just stared off into space. When I took her to lunch, I had a tough time even getting her to acknowledge I was leaving. I suggested she might want to take a nap later. It’s like she has no energy reserve at all anymore.
Friday
Today was somewhat better than yesterday. Mom was up and dressed when I arrived. She had been showered this morning. She was apparently interrupted before she completed her morning routine—-her hair was full of VO5, but stood out all over her head. When she didn’t seem to be aware of it, I went ahead and got a comb and combed it for her. I know she wouldn’t want to go out with her hair standing out like that! She seemed fairly clearheaded, and we chatted amiably for well over an hour. Then she started to fade, and I spent the rest of the morning trying to keep her from tipping out of her chair. It really unnerves me when she curls up like an armadillo playing dead—-when her knuckles start to meet the carpet, I startle her back awake and make her sit up. That works for the next 3 to 4 minutes……. Other than seeming tired, she was fine when I left at noon.
Saturday
Mom was up and dressed when I arrived today, but was really drowsy. I brought her two new violets today, so she was busy looking them over. I checked her refrigerator and noticed the freezer was dripping. She’d apparently turned the temperature up so high the freezer compartment was melting. She had an ice cream sandwich in the freezer, and it was basically milk and two soggy cookies…… I cleaned out the refrigerator and made sure I scrubbed down the freezer compartment. I reset the temperature so it wouldn’t defrost again. Mom was in good spirits and chatted with me for a while, but kept dropping off, rolling into a ball. I talked her into sitting in her recliner, and got her legs propped up and her back reclined so she wasn’t in danger of falling out. She slept the rest of the morning until I woke her for lunch. I got her out of the one chair and into her wheelchair, and she seemed happy when I took her to lunch.
