I as sitting on the deck enjoying a beautiful evening after Mary Ann went to bed. The video monitor was out there with me. She started getting up, so I went in to see what she needed. She asked if the police were gone. As confused as I usually am when things come out of nowhere, I asked what they were here for. She said there was a break-in and the copper tree had been taken. That is a large metal wall sculpture that hangs in our living room. Mary Ann was looking at the bedroom wall when she said it was missing.
I told her that the police had not been here, that she must have been dreaming, that there had been no break-in, that I was here the whole time, and that the tree is still hanging in the living room. After we talked a while, she wanted to go out to the living room to see the tree. We did so.
After getting her in bed again, I folded the chair and brought the monitor in from the deck and came back to the computer. She started moving again. This time she said she didn’t want to go to the hospital. I asked her if something was wrong that she thought she might need to go to the hospital. She said “they” told her to get dressed. Then she said, “You know we were broken into.”
She decided to use the commode, but when she got on it, she didn’t need to use it. She started talking in that fast sort of jibberish, but I recognized the word “organization.” I repeated the word and she confirmed that is what she said, but there was nothing connected to the word that either of us could identify. When I lifted her from the commode to transfer her back into the bed, she fainted. After swinging her on to the bed, I eased her into a lying position. I had to try to get her pajama bottoms back up when she came around and was awake again. She wanted to go out into the living room to see what was going on. We went out there and she fainted again.
I asked her if she wanted to sit in her chair in front of the television. I thought that just maybe the television and living room setting might help her hang on to reality until she was tired enough to fall asleep and get through the REM cycle (where the dreams occur) into deeper sleep. Before I could get her to her spot, she sort of fell asleep in her chair. It was apparent that she would not be able to sit up on her own.
I got her back to bed. Since then she had another dream that I was lying on top of someone. All of this has happened in the span of about a half hour. At this rate it will be an impossible night. At the moment she is lying in bed, facing the television watching her very favorite program “House.” My hope is that she will remain engaged in it for a while, just giving me a break so that I can finish this post.
Last night was better than the night before, but not wonderful. She got up early and I set her up in front of the televsion so that I could get a little more sleep. After I got showered and dressed. we took care of her pills, breakfast, got her dressed. During that time, she seemed reasonably connected. We talked more about yesterday morning’s angry accusation. She seemed to have gotten past it, at least at that moment.
Shortly after breakfast, she asked to lie down. She slept for three hours or so. During that time friend Tim came by with a vase of irises for her. Tim is husband to Volunteer Jan. When Mary Ann woke up, she had her usual, fairly small lunch. During the last of the time she was eating, she needed to use the bathroom. After we returned to the table, I got her into the dining room chair to eat the last of the chips and have some Pepsi. Then she just sort of switched off. It was almost as if she had fainted but not completely.
… break to respond to Mary Ann. She now thinks she is in the hospital, wondering what they are going to do to her. Watching “House” may not be helping, but she was concerned about the hospital before that program came on. She wants the television left on.
…back to lunch time today. Since she just switched off, I took her back to bed. She slept a few more hours. She got up long enough for supper, but ate very little. Neither did she want to go out for the Blizzard of the Month at Dairy Queen (Buster Bar Blizzard, fudge and peanuts mixed in ice cream), nor did she even take the offer of ice cream from the freezer. Very soon, she wanted to go to bed again. She was quiet for about an hour before the living dreams fired up.
Since she has slept so much today, she may very well be up and active most of the night. I dread that thought. (I just made a trip to help her to the commode.)
On the positive side, I got some devotional reading done this afternoon as I sat on the deck. Again this evening I had some more quiet time to relax on the deck. Much of the time I was out there, the Mallard ducks were sitting in the waterfall. At one point there was a little drama as the two all of a sudden high tailed it off one way as fast as they could waddle. Soon there was another Drake coming from the opposite direction and heading after them. The next time I went out there was a hen by herself in the waterfall. By the way, the ducks, especially the hens, are almost completely invisible when they are in the waterfall and the greenery and rocks right around it. Even though they are no more than twenty-five feet away and I know they are there, I need the binoculars to differentiate the hen from the background.
The Bluejays and Grackles are constantly busy, with doves and the occasional Cardinal, Robin or Sparrow joining in the activity when I am out there. There is not much variety of birds, but the ones that are there are entertaining. Again, there was a great breeze growing into wind at various times. The sky was bright and blue with a few wispy clouds. The trees are almost in full leaf. The green of the leaves and the newly mown grass has that spring vibrance.
…there she goes again. Just a Tums.
At the moment, as I write, the window in my office is open so that I can enjoy the sound of the wind, the cool air coming in the window and the fairly mild episodes of thunder and lightning. So far very little if any rain has fallen. The volume of the thunder is increasing, as is the number of lightning flashes.
…another Tums. Television off.
I will finish editing and get to bed in hopes that it will help that I am in the room with her — I doubt it.
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May 7, 2010 at 9:37 pm
We too had a “House” episode intermingled with our reality just last night. The “Drs” were pushing a gurney down a hall, they turned a corner and headed straight toward the cameras. At that moment my husband was shuffling by and looked up. Upon seeing the gurney coming straight at him he got startled, jumped back and out of the way. As they turned another corner, my husband looked at me and said with annoyance in his voice, “Did you see that?! They almost hit me!.”
All I could reply was, Good thing you moved.
He agreed and shuffled on to bed.
Kathy