August 8, 2010

Mary Ann: The Energizer Bunny!

Posted by PeterT under Daily Challenges, Help from Others, Information on Parkinson's, Life History, Meaningful Caregiving, Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , |
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That January, Mary Ann could simply no longer care for herself.  I didn’t know what to do.  I needed to work to support us (60-70 hours per week as a Pastor).  We couldn’t afford that many hours of paid help.  It would cost more than my salary. The options simply weren’t there.

Then Margaret came to the rescue.  Margaret was (still is) the Parish Nurse at the congregation I was then serving.  She just started phoning people and before I knew it, there were Volunteers from the church staying with Mary Ann when I was away from the house at work.

After it became clear that she could not do the scheduling task and still continue her work as Parish Nurse, Carol stepped in.  For over six years, Carol scheduled Volunteers for weekdays while I was at work, evenings while I attended meetings and did Counseling, Friday evenings and Saturdays for weddings and retreats, Sunday mornings (I had paid help for the early morning hours), even emergency Calls when there was a serious illness or a death.  At one point there were at least 65 different Volunteers.  Some days had as many as five different people filling two or three hour slots.  I have never figured out how one person could manage all that.  I have nominated Carol for Sainthood.

By February, we had gotten back to KU Med Center, the Parkinson’s Clinic. They had transitioned to a new Neurologist, Dr. Pahwa.  He was able to put together a new regimen of meds that allowed Mary Ann to return to a significantly higher level of functionality.  The bathroom needs and the falling would still not allow her to stay by herself for any length of time.

After a year or so, we entered the two years from Hell.  Mary Ann had often complained of heartburn, since she was taking so many pills (I think 30-40).  At least that is what I thought.  It has always been hard for me to accept that I didn’t pick up sooner on the possibility that it might have been more than heartburn.

On June 30 of 2003, Mary Ann was admitted to the hospital through Emergency with a case of Congestive Heart Failure that came within a hair’s breadth of putting her on a Ventilator.  It was discovered that she had had a number of silent heart attacks.  Two of the three main arteries on her heart were completely blocked.  The surgeon was able to stent a branch of one of the arteries, but that was all.  She had another MI (heart attack) while in the hospital.

Mary Ann always moved into a hospital psychosis when hospitalized, hallucinations, agitation, inability to sleep, trying to get out of bed, pulling at tubes.  I stayed all night every night since the Parkinson’s meds were so complex, the various shift changes made it necessary for me to track what was going on.  The staff needed my help to manage her reactions, day and night.  I had to be there when the various doctors came to check on her or report the results of the endless tests and procedures.

By the end of those eight days, after an entire night of Mary Ann repeating “help me” over and over again, for the second time in my adult life, I broke down in tears.  Gratefully, Son Micah was there to hold me.  When she was released and came home, it was one of the lowest times in our life together.  Everywhere I turned to come up with a solution to how we could go on came up empty — except for Carol and the Volunteers.  They are the only reason I was able to continue in the ministry and we were able to survive.

Almost exactly one month later, she was back in the hospital with another MI and another unsuccessful attempt and getting through one of the blockages.  It was a shorter stay.  She came home again.

For a while after that she was doing better.  We returned to a reasonable quality of life.  It would take more than a little heart trouble to stop Mary Ann.  After a year and a half we even risked going on a week long trip by plane from Kansas to Tucson, Arizona for a retreat for older adults.  We had decided that we were not going to just sit at home and feel sorry for ourselves.  We chose to live as fully as possible given the circumstances.

I still blame the air quality on the plane.  Mary Ann was fine when we left the Kansas City airport but had some congestion when we arrived in Tucson.  By then we were using a wheelchair most of the time.  We joined in the activities, got to visit a wildlife center outside of Tucson.  As the week wore on, she was having some labored breathing.  It was March 10 of 2005. I called an ambulance to take her to the nearest hospital.  On the way, the dyskinetic movements that come with the Parkinson’s medicine were so bad that the tech in the back with her could not keep an IV in her arm.  Mary Ann was flailing around and almost flying off the gurney.

They sedated her when we got to the Emergency Room.  Then they took an X-ray.  When the ER doctor returned he said that all he could see what white where her lungs were supposed to be.  By that time she was completely unresponsive.  When I asked if I should call our children to fly into Tucson, he said yes.  The ER nurse confirmed that — so I did.  I will never forget the feelings I had as I sat alone in that ER room, knowing no one there, having been told she might not survive the night.  Mary Ann had been taken for some other test.  I am now living what I feared that night.

The Kids came, Lisa with baby Ashlyn in tow.  Mary Ann was so agitated that even with me there, they provided a hospital sitter to be in the room also.  Four days later, Mary Ann and I were on a plane home.  She had bounced back from that flirtation with death.

Within one day of a month later, the Ambulance came to out house in Kansas to take her to the hospital again.  She had had a stroke. It was April 9 of 2005. At first her speech was gone and her right arm was virtually useless.  It was not a bleed or a large clot, but a cluster stroke, plaque from her carotid artery broken into tiny pieces, lodged in a cluster in one part of her brain.  With a few weeks in the hospital, rehab, followed by outpatient therapy, she regained almost everything.  She was left with some spatial issues that reduced the control of her right hand making feeding herself more of an issue.

Mary Ann refused to give up.  We continued to have a reasonably good quality of existence in spite of the limitations.  The Volunteers and Mary Ann’s strength of will, kept our life on course.  Also by that time I had come to know a great deal about the diseases that had assaulted her and the medications used to treat them.  I was able to make helpful recommendations to the doctors and monitor her condition daily.  I think my advocacy for her with the medical professionals helped the quality of her life, until finally in the last weeks, nothing I did could stop the inevitable.

Before that inevitable day two months ago came, there was more of life to be lived.  That will come next.

If you want to write a comment about this or any of the posts on this blog, look to the column on the right side of this page, titled “Recent Posts,”  click on the name of a post and you will find a box at the end of that article in which you can write a comment.  Clicking on the title of the post you are reading will accomplish the same thing.  Comments are appreciated.

 

June 13, 2010

Want It Straight or Sugar Coated?

Posted by PeterT under Daily Challenges, Family, Help from Others, Meaningful Caregiving, Practical Tools for Coping, Relationship Issues, Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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I have tried to write about our experience honestly.  To do so has required my revealing the harsh realities of painfully ordinary people.  I could try to create the illusion that we are a saintly household above all the weaknesses and failures and missteps that plague regular folks.  I could try, but this blog is not fiction.  It is too much work to make up stuff and keep it all straight.

I got up this morning after a night of watching her, feeling for her pulse, putting my hand on her chest to be sure she is breathing, getting up and putting my ear next to her mouth to be sure I could hear the breath going in and out.  I was tired and grumpy and angry.  Why does she have to be so stubborn?  Why can’t she just let go?  What a jerk I am to be angry at someone who has suffered so for so long and is now in the throes of dying!  I just can’t stand seeing her weak and vulnerable and in pain.  She would hate it!  She is a proud and strong-willed person, not about to be found to be weak.  I am not angry at her.  I am scared and sad and in pain with absolutely no one to blame.

I suppose I could waste a lot of time and energy being angry at God, but pain and suffering are not God’s idea.  God often gets the blame for the bad stuff (usually perpetrated by people doing the opposite of what He has asked us to do).  God more rarely gets credit for bothering to give us the breath of life and everything we just assume is our right, belongs to us.  I can’t waste my limited stamina being angry with the only One who can actually help both Mary Ann and me as we pass through this transition in our lives.

I wish I could cry, but I think the tears are waiting until this is over.  Every day seems like an entire lifetime.  This morning I was grumpy and angry.  I went to the computer to find that one of the other two in our online Lewy Body Dementia Spouses group at the same stage we are in lost her husband finally this morning.  Here is what I wrote to her:

Doris,
My thoughts are with you.  We are still in that time that has extended beyond the fear of the end to a longing for it to be over.  Rest now from your and Philip’s winding, uphill, exhausting and exciting journey to this point.  I wish you well as you take the best of what Philip has brought into your life, discover who you will become now that he is not with you here, and find joy and fulfillment when finally the pain finds a quiet place to remain as your own adventure continues.
Peter

Somehow reflecting on her loss, helped me regain a bit of perspective.  My anger and grumpiness are just a function of feeling utterly helpless, struggling to accept something I don’t want to accept, already missing horribly someone who has been in the center of my life for decades.  Yes, we could irritate the Hell out of each other sometimes, but that is precisely because we matter so much to each other.

The lifetime lived today included treating sores (none open yet), inserting Tylenol suppositories, cleaning and turning bones stretched with bruised skin over them, administering Morphine before the three times of turning to lessen the pain revealed by her grimacing as we worked on her.

The lifetime lived today included good friend and former co-worker Jim and Joanna, hugs and conversation and prayer.  A full, hot meal appeared at the door, delivered by Shari, member of our little Spiritual Formation group that meets for a couple of hours weekly.  Good Buddy Jimmy came by bearing a gift and concern for us.

Today’s lifetime included moments with Granddaughter Chloe, lots of words and acts of support for one another between Daughter Lisa, Son Micah, Daughter-in-Law Becky.  Today included the return of Son-in-Law Denis and Granddaughters, Abigail (who now wants to be called Abby) and Ashlyn, both full of energy and grateful to be in Mom’s arms again after being gone so long.

In today’s lifetime our downstairs bedroom and family room have become a campground.  It is very good that our small town home has three full bathrooms now that we have finished the downstairs and many people in it.

During this lifetime, the one lived today, fatigue has been a constant presence.  The consensus was that it would be good for me to go into the bedroom with Mary Ann, shut the door and just rest. Grumpy Grandpa is not their favorite family member.  I did so at least three times in this lifetime, today.  It helped.  Nothing can remove the tired with which I woke up, but it helped.

Lifetimes include sunshine and storms.  Today began with rumbling thunder, and moments ago the power went off for a moment, turning off the computer and the oxygen machine.  Needless to say, both are working again.

This day’s lifetime will now continue into the night.  At least intellectually, I have determined that it is not necessary for us to be awake and with Mary Ann at the moment of her death.  We love her and she knows it.  We have cared for her and doted on her for days.  Micah asked Lisa how long she has been here.  It has been eleven days that this watch has been going on.  It actually started two days earlier. We would love to have the privilege of surrounding her at that moment.  It is, however, not necessary for me to try to stay awake all night checking her breathing.  While I know that intellectually, we will see if knowing that has even a shred of influence on my insides and my actions.

If you want to write a comment about this or any of the posts on this blog, look to the column on the right side of this page, titled “Recent Posts,”  click on the name of a post and you will find a box at the end of that article in which you can write a comment.  Clicking on the title of the post you are reading will accomplish the same thing.  Comments are appreciated.

 

June 12, 2010

What Happens Right Away?

Posted by PeterT under Daily Challenges, Family, Help from Others, Hospice, Meaningful Caregiving, Practical Tools for Coping, Relationship Issues, Sources of Strength, Therapeutic Activities | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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That was the question Son Micah asked.  He had not been with us at the time Hospice Social Worker Kristin answered some of those questions.  In forty years of ministry, I have become painfully aware of the process.

We will call Hospice.  The Nurse will come and make the declaration.  We will have all the time we want with the part of Mary Ann we can see, though life has left for another place.  The Nurse will call the Funeral Home to come and take pick her up to begin preparing her for the service.

We will begin going down the list of folks to notify.  I will not put anything on Facebook or the Blog until we have connected with as many as possible of those whom we intend to notify by phone or email.

When the funeral home vehicle arrives, we will send with them the dress, a picture to help them in their holy task of preparing her for viewing.  Once the Funeral Home folks have left, we will conclude the contacting, and try to begin processing what has happened.

We will set an appointment with a Funeral Director for the next day.  There will be an obituary to work out.  We will go over the plans we made many years ago.  Since we have those plans in place, we will not need to go to the casket room and make all sorts of decisions. They are already made.  We will need to write a check for the opening of the grave site into which the ashes will be placed the day after the service here.

One of the things I did today was work out a proposal for the flow of the service, the hymns and readings.  That job is normally left to the Pastor who will do the service.  Pastors are trained to do that, equipped to do that and experienced in doing it.  Since I served as a Pastor for forty years, Pr. Jim is willing for me to have input.  I finalized the hymns we prefer and did what I have done hundreds of times before.  I put them all together into a traditional Lutheran Funeral Service — admittedly, one with a little more music than usual.

It felt good to put that service together.  It did not feel good that the service will be for Mary Ann.  I couldn’t bring myself to actually write her name into the proposal I sent to Pr. Jim and Director of worship Young.  It just felt good to do something, something I know how to do.  Everything else is so completely out of my control, many of the things I am doing with Mary Ann are new to me, we don’t know from one moment to the next what will happen — it just felt good to accomplish something I am actually equipped to do.

We are all getting tired.  Sleep is tough to come by.  I get up at various times during the night to put my hand on Mary Ann to see if she is still breathing.  I wake up in the wee hours of the morning and just lie there, thinking and trying to doze a little.  The kids downstairs sleep fitfully, listening for my footsteps — reassured when they hear them and there is no pounding on the floor for them to come up.  Actually, I will also push the button Mary Ann used to push to get my attention when she needed me.  It is an electronic battery operated wireless doorbell system.

When I went out to run a couple of quick errands late this afternoon, Mary Ann’s breathing acted up, there were some odd and distressing movements, so the kids called and I came back quickly.  I appreciated that they called right away.  She seemed to settle down, but her breathing continues to be very shallow and a little less steady than it has been.  Otherwise, we remain in a holding pattern.  We keep hoping she will let go. It clearly is harder and harder on her when we move and shift her to avoid the bed sores.

Nurse Emily came and delivered some more briefs and adhesive pads for the red spots to keep them from becoming open sores if possible.  She reassured us that we are doing a good job of caring for Mary Ann.  When I asked about it, she said that when we see her in pain, it is better to give her the low dose more often than increase the dose.

I spend a lot of time talking with Mary Ann when I go in to be with her. I have talked about how fulfilling our life together has been.  Whatever we have done, we have been given the gift of wonderful children who have married good people, and produced beautiful, vibrant, healthy Grandchildren, filled with potential.  We could hardly ask for more.   It seemed odd when I realized that I fell in love with her shortly after I turned 19.  I am 67 now.  When I mentioned that to my Daughter, Lisa said she couldn’t remember back to when she was nineteen.  Mary Ann and I have had a lifetime together.  I have said that I have no regrets.  As I think about it, I do regret that we didn’t hug more.  She is too fragile for me to do it, but I just want to hug the stuffings out of her.  (There are no stuffings left to hug out of her — she is skin and bones.)

Don and Edie (and Son Zach) came by to drop off some orange sweet rolls — very tasty.  Don and Zach spent a little time with me talking about how to deal with the pump problem in the waterfall, the Calcium buildup.  Later, Volunteer Coordinator Mary brought by a Tuna Casserole, some of which we enjoyed for supper, along with leftovers from last night’s dinner.

In the evening, I ventured out for the fifteen minutes it takes to get a cup of coffee at PT’s and return home.  One of the owners, the one who travels to visit the locales and the farmers all over the world from whom they buy the coffee beans was there.  Jeff has a wonderful and caring relationship with all those with whom he works to provide the best coffee possible.  I have interacted with him on occasion since we arrived here in 1996.  He handed me his card and told me to call him if we need coffee brought to the house tomorrow.  He would arrange for it or do it himself.  Home delivery is not one of the services coffee shops provide.

Terry, one of Mary Ann’s three friends from childhood phoned this morning to check on her and wish her well.  All three of them and so many others have been checking on her, sending their love, and including her and the rest of our family in their prayers. This is a humbling experience for us — one we, of course, would never have chosen.  It is the capstone of Mary Ann’s life and an experience after which I will never be the same, hopefully a better person for it.

If you want to write a comment about this or any of the posts on this blog, look to the column on the right side of this page, titled “Recent Posts,”  click on the name of a post and you will find a box at the end of that article in which you can write a comment.  Clicking on the title of the post you are reading will accomplish the same thing.  Comments are appreciated.

 

May 29, 2010

They’re Back!

Posted by PeterT under Daily Challenges, Help from Others, Meaningful Caregiving, Practical Tools for Coping, Relationship Issues, Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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Here we go again!  Last night included a number of times up, suggesting that we were cresting the hill on the way back to hallucinations.  During the night, they were not as intense as I expect them to be the next couple of nights (hopefully only a couple) before there is any realistic hope of a break from them.

This morning she started trying to get up very early.  I managed to get her back in bed a number of times until about 7am.  I gave up on that strategy and got her up.

The truth is, I am more frustrated with my reaction to the hallucinations than I am the hallucinations themselves.  I want to become able to take them in stride and respond without getting grumpy.  I apologized for being so grumpy and explained to her that I was frustrated from trying to deal with them for so long and feeling helpless to do anything about them, especially with no medical help from a competent doctor at the moment.  I was a little surprised that she responded in a way that suggested what I said had found a path through the hallucinations to Mary Ann herself.  She seemed to understand what I was saying, recognizing especially the issue of trying to deal with this with no doctor in the picture yet. In fact she managed to describe of whom she was thinking well enough to determine that she was suggesting a local Neurologist whom we have used in the past (when she had a stroke), a doctor we like.  He is not likely to have the specialized knowledge that we need, but it is worth a try.

At the moment, I have not received return calls from two contacts made last week.  I am disappointed, since in one case a nurse from a dementia clinic was supposed to phone with answers to my questions about Lewy Body Dementia.  In the other case, I left a message on an answering machine. The only option from which I have the information I need that would allow us to proceed is the one I find the most distasteful.  It would involve a few days in the hospital.  The hospital has always thrown Mary Ann for a loop.  In each case there was pretty much a psychotic break from which we never really regained the lost ground.

Today, after our conversation, Mary Ann managed to stay seated long enough for me to get a shower.  I gave her the morning pills and got her breakfast.  It was not too long thereafter that she ended up back in bed.  She said she wanted to go to the bathroom, but she fainted to such an extent that I could not get her on the toilet stool.  I put her back in bed and she has been there ever since.  That was around 9:30am.  It is now almost 4pm.

Volunteer Tamara, came at 10am to give me a chance to nap if we had had a difficult night.  The timing was perfect since this was the first bad night in the last five.  When Tamara was with Mary Ann last Monday evening in a regular Volunteer slot, it was obvious to her that I had not slept much either in the prior 8 days of Mary Ann’s intense hallucinating.  She suggested the option of adding a nap time option on Saturday and one other day next week.

Volunteer Coordinator Mary and I are talking about adding a Saturday time slot regularly just for that possibility.  There is no way to be sure when bad nights will come, but having the time to nap or just get away for a while is helpful.  This morning I was able to nap for a couple of hours and also leave the house to do a couple of errands before Tamara was due to leave at 1pm.

While, since Mary Ann has slept so long, I would have been able to nap today, I would not have been able to get out to do the errands.  I could not have known in advance that she would sleep most of the day.

What lies ahead is still unknown.  Of course, that is always true, but there are not even clear expectations.  The pattern from before the increase in dosage of Seroquel was that Mary Ann would hallucinate for two days and three nights, then sleep for two days, then have a transition day during which the most lucid moments came. Then the hallucinating would begin again.  Since this disease is so erratic in its presentation, using the word “pattern” is pretty silly.  It does what it will do when it chooses — and that is that.

…It is about 9:30pm now.  She slept through until about 6:30pm.  She had indidcated that she wanted something to eat, but by the time we got to the table, she was no longer able to speak intelligibly.  I couldn’t figure out what she wanted or if she still wanted anything.  I just held her for a while.  At that point, she couldn’t sit up straight — almost fell off the chair.  I did manage to get her to take some spoonfuls of applesauce.  Finally, she just could not respond in any way.  It was tough to get her from the dining room chair to the transfer chair.

I managed to get her to the bed, but by then it was apparent that there had been some intestinal activity.  She was almost completely limp, but I needed to get her to the toilet stool, cleaned and changed and back into bed.  If last Saturday’s struggle with that task was a 10, this one was a 9.9.  It all got done and she ended up back in bed.  I was physically as exhausted as I was last Saturday.  I was not as emotionally exhausted.  For whatever reason, I kept my cool during this one.  I just did what needed to be done.  I hope some progress has actually been made in dealing with that problem.  Admittedly, I was much more rested today than I was last Saturday.

I settled on the deck for some devotional reading.  It was a beautiful evening, warm, but with a pleasant breeze.  After a short time there, I saw on the video monitor that Mary Ann was moving.  I went in to check.  She was able to speak more clearly.  She wanted to eat something. This time it was some vanilla ice cream with hot fudge and pecans.  After eating, she watched Dr. House for a half hour or so, and has now taken her bedtime pills and gone back to bed.

Today while she was lying in bed, on occasion she would be there with eyes open, talking to people only she could see.  While we were sitting next to one another in front of the television before she finally went to bed, she was doing the same, this time with her eyes closed.

Sleeping all day and having moved into the hallucination cycle leads me to expect a more difficult night tonight than last night.  She appears to be restless at the moment.

…This time it was another trip for #2.  This time it was at least a 9.95 compared to last Saturday’s 10.  She was sort of dead weight thrughout, but including enough involuntary twisting and moving her weight against what I was trying to do as I sought to hold her up, that I almost could not get the task done.  If nothing in this short and chubby body gets broken, pulled or herniated, I am going to be a force to be reckoned with physically.  This is like going to the gym multiple times a day.

I had better close, otherwise I may be writing all night and have nothing left to write about tomorrow — unlikely!

If you want to write a comment about this or any of the posts on this blog, look to the column on the right side of this page, titled “Recent Posts,”  click on the name of a post and you will find a box at the end of that article in which you can write a comment.  Clicking on the title of the post you are reading will accomplish the same thing.  Comments are appreciated.

 

May 28, 2010

Mixed Blessing

Posted by PeterT under Daily Challenges, Help from Others, Meaningful Caregiving, Practical Tools for Coping, Relationship Issues, Therapeutic Activities | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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She was awake for almost half of the day!  I enjoyed having her present with me again.  Her presence included a question about when we would hear the verdict.  One of her dreams, the one to which she woke crying because she had been beaten by a police officer, included a follow up in which we were to go to court.  She was referring to that dream, still confused with reality.  It is what I suspect is part of a series of living dreams that have collected bits and pieces from Law and Order episodes and thrown them into a new configuration.

She was lucid enough to at least hear my suggestion that she is free to take that off her list of worries since it never actually happened and was only a dream.  So far, the hyper hallucinating has not returned.  It certainly seems to be on the horizon.  I thought the hallucinations might fire up last night, but they didn’t.  Since she was awake more of today and spoke of the dreams as if they were still a reality, it seems more likely that the return is near.

The last four days have provided a chance for Mary Ann and I to reconnect a bit.  It is very hard to connect with one another when she is constantly in a world of delusions and hallucinations.  The last few days we have been able to express a gentle warmth with one another, a lingering hug when moving her from one chair to another, a soft kiss while in front of the fridge getting ready to pick out something for lunch. I will miss that when the hallucnations return.  I have a quiet hope that by reducing the Seroquel, the intensity and frequency of the hallucinations might diminish a bit, allowing a little space in between to reconnect.  I hesitate to hope since so often that for which I hope gets lost in the next crisis.

We did get out in the car today.  Mary Ann ate well at breakfast, stayed up for a couple more hours until Hospice Aide Sonya came to give her a shower and do her hair.  Mary Ann was hungry for lunch as soon as that was done. She ate a good lunch with a half sandwich, chips, Pepsi, and Concrete from Sheridan’s that had ended up in the freezer one evening a couple of days ago.  After lunch, I got her into the car and we headed out for some errands.  She stayed in the car, while I ran in and out of three or four places.  It was not long before she was dozing in the car, but at least we were out.

She slept for a couple of hours when we got back, then she got up and ate a small supper.  This seems to me to be the first day in many in which she has eaten three meals, even if the last one was small.

She is back in bed, having taken her pills.  She slept reasonably well last night.  My expectation of a difficult night has increased tonight based on the increase in her activity today and the questions about the dream she has mixed with reality. She also seems restless at the moment.

The good news is that if it is a bad night, Monday evening’s Volunteer Tamara offered to come for a time in the mid-morning tomorrow and the afternoon next Tuesday to provide some nap time options for me if needed.  I was very obviously suffering from lack of sleep last Monday after the 8 day run of intense hallucinations at night as well as parts of the days.

I made a belated phone call to my Brother and Sister-in-Law who had a combined surprise birthday party in conjuction with the Confirmation of one of their Grandsons.  One turned 80 and the other 81. Happily, they are both in good health and as feisty as ever, and they certainly are a feisty pair.  They have a genuine woodland and pond in their back yard measured in acres rather than feet.  Their garden is huge.  The bee hives provide them with honey. When it is cold, wood cut from their and their Son’s property warms them in the wood burning stove.  Two of their Children and three Grandchildren live moments away.

I was disappointed not to be able to travel the ten hours to the surprise party.  My four Brothers and Sisters were together at the party.  Three had come a five hour drive to attend.  As a Pastor, we have lived at various places, none close to our families of origin.  All five of us have discovered more interest in getting together in recent years, but Mary Ann’s and my circumstances have not allowed us to join them very often.  We have a great time when we are together.

For now, it is my intention to try to get to bed earlier tonight in anticipation of what might come during the night.  I suspect the respite is coming to an end.

If you want to write a comment about this or any of the posts on this blog, look to the column on the right side of this page, titled “Recent Posts,”  click on the name of a post and you will find a box at the end of that article in which you can write a comment.  Clicking on the title of the post you are reading will accomplish the same thing.  Comments are appreciated.

 

May 25, 2010

Down, But Not Out

Posted by PeterT under Daily Challenges, Help from Others, Hospice, Meaningful Caregiving, Practical Tools for Coping, Therapeutic Activities, Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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I felt pretty low this morning. She was up some during the night, but not as bad as some nights.   Mary Ann’s dementia was pretty strong.  Her words were still pretty much unintelligible. She insisted on getting up very early.  I was not sure if she would ever calm down.  She was hallucinating and grumpy.  I felt pretty much trapped, barely able to manage a shower and responding to my own call of nature with Mary Ann up and moving. I felt unusually tired, not just physically.

She finally did become more subdued, putting her head on the table as she sat.  She ended up in bed and was only up for a small breakfast and a very small lunch.  At lunch I had to hold her head up to get any food in her mouth.  Later in the day, she was up for a short time when Volunteer Coordinator Mary phoned and brought us Baskin & Robbins ice cream.  Mary Ann ate only a very few spoons of ice cream with me standing up beside her holding her head and upper body up, feeding her while Mary held the cup.  She then pretty much fainted and I took her back to bed.

She has had no supper either.  Once in the afternoon she did get up for a very short time.  She stood up to go in the kitchen to get something to eat and when she got near the bedroom door, she changed her mind and went back to bed.  She has at various times been doing a lot of vocalizing and jerking when lying in bed ostensibly asleep.

I have no clear expectation concerning how she will react to removing the additional dose of Seroquel she had been taking for eight days. This is the second day with only the evening dose. I am pretty apprehensive about the impact of the change.

It is easy to feel very helpless in the face of things over which we have no control.  Losing the care of the doctor on whom we have depended for so long, who has performed veritable miracles with medications over the years, was just another evidence of our vulnerability.

What has happened throughout the day today has provided a glimmer of possibility — only a glimmer, but at least something.  Talking with the folks at hospice, phoning a couple Psychologists in the city whom I know and respect, began to produce some results.  Both Psychologists called back with helpful information, the Hospice Nurse made her weekly visit and had done some checking, the Hospice Social Worker phoned and came over with some helpful information. Then Volunteer Coordinator Mary brought us the ice cream treats.  I am still bone tired.  I don’t know what that means exactly, but it sounds as I feel.

As tired as I feel, there is also the feeling that we are beginning to regain a little control in a situation that is hopelessly out of control.  It may only be an illusion, but if it is, it is a helpful illusion.

At the suggestion of one of the Psychologists, I have contacted a Senior Diagnostics program at a local hospital.  Apparently the Psychiatrist in charge is especially capable of dealing with complex clusters of symptoms and diseases — that certainly is Mary Ann.  The person with whom I spoke on the phone knew about Lewy Body Dementia and seemed to understand that it had to be treated differently from Alzheimer’s Dementia. While a few days in the hospital would be among the last things either of us would choose, at least it is an option.

The other Psychologist gave me the name and number of a Neuro-Psychologist whom he knows well and respects very much.  While a Psychologist is not the one who prescribes the medications, he/she always has a close relationship with a Psychiatrist who can do so.

The Hospice Nurse had talked with their Medical Director, a Physician in Kansas City, about our situation.  She indicated that if we don’t get someone soon, he can make sure we have the medicines we need.

The Hospice Social Worker reviewed the residential options and will do more checking on those.  She provided an idea of costs, indicating the layers from least expensive of having help here at home (of course our preference) to the next layer of small care centers that are in homes with very personal care to the larger nursing homes that accommodate those with dementia.  She mentioned one not far that a Social Worker friend had declared to be wonderful.  A clearer picture of options helps fuel the feeling of having some little bit of power in this situation, some choices.

I also sent the fax to the Neurologist who declined to continue to treat the hallucinations.  I asked if we should still plan on keeping out next appointment in a few months since Mary Ann still has the Parkinson’s, which he has treated for so long.  Then I asked if he would still respond to requests for refills of the medications he has currently prescribed for Mary Ann.

There was one especially interesting sidelight to the day.  Many months ago a request came through the online group of Caregiving Spouses of those with some form of Lewy Body Dementia.  It was from someone in the Chicago area who writes articles targeting Seniors for a Health Insurance provider’s magazine.  The magazine just goes to enrollees in Northern Illinois (if I understand correctly).  When the request came, she was looking for Seniors who did Blogging and had an Illinois connection.  Both Mary Ann and I grew up in Northern Illinois (Aurora).  I responded, but heard no more.

Yesterday she emailed and today interviewed me on the phone.  She had great questions about our situation, how and why I started blogging and what purpose it serves in our situation.  It was just nice to have someone from completely outside our circle spend forty-five minutes paying attention to our situation.  Now that I am not in a circumstances that provide much feedback, it felt good to hear someone who is actually a writer assessing my blog posts in such a positive way.  I have no way to judge the quality of the writing.  I just need to write to get this stuff out of my gut.

When she asked one question, what popped into my mind and out of my mouth was very revealing to both of us.  All through the day I am thinking about what is happening in terms of how and what I might write about it.  I realized that I actually feel as if I am not alone when things happen, especially things that push me past my limits.  Whether or not it is true, I feel as if you who read this are part of what is going on; you notice us; and, judging from the occasional comment, you are concerned about us.  I realize that sounds very self-serving and ego-centric.  It is.  I admit it — but it sure helps.

If you want to write a comment about this or any of the posts on this blog, look to the column on the right side of this page, titled “Recent Posts,”  click on the name of a post and you will find a box at the end of that article in which you can write a comment.  Clicking on the title of the post you are reading will accomplish the same thing.  Comments are appreciated.

 

May 23, 2010

Life on the Border

Posted by PeterT under Daily Challenges, Help from Others, Meaningful Caregiving, Practical Tools for Coping, Therapeutic Activities, Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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One foot is in Juarez, Mexico and the other in El Paso, Texas.  I bring no political agenda to this analogy to where Mary Ann is now living.  She lives on the border between two worlds, one visible to others, the other only visible to her.  There are uncontrolled border crossings with no hope of closing the border and controlling the traffic in the foreseeable future.

In fact, she has one foot on one side and one on the other.  There are not always clear indications which side is which.  She apparently holds dual citizenship.  She is documented in both places.  Some days I think she is only on a temporary visitor’s visa to the hallucination side, residing in reality.  Other days I am afraid that it is a permanent visa leading to full citizenship on the hallucination side of the border.

I took some comfort this morning that Volunteer Jan got to see and hear Mary Ann while she was standing on the border between the hallucination side and the reality side, switching with ease from one side to the other with no cue as to when she was where.  It was, of course, clear when Mary Ann was talking to me where she was standing.  At that moment I was a dozen or more miles away at the Lake, mostly sitting in the van vegetating.

After another night of hallucinations and confusion, she got up painfully early, had breakfast and then crashed just before Volunteer Jan arrived.  After a couple of hours sleeping, she got up, and Jan got her lunch (along with some less pleasant duties — sorry, Jan).  It was then that Jan experienced the multiple border crossings.

By the time I got home about an hour later, Mary Ann was napping with her head on the table in front of her chair.  After a while I asked and she chose to go in and lie down in bed.  I probably should also be napping, but here I am writing this.  It is impossible to work on a post while she is awake.

At this very moment, I suspect the Youth of the congregation are coming to the climax of the musical, Godspell.  I realized that we would most certainly not be able to go together to the evening dinner and performance last night.  I thought we might be able to attend the matinée this afternoon.  It was not in the cards.  Mary Ann’s vacillating between hallucinations and deep sleep just won’t allow that option.  I also am too wasted to enjoy it.  My ministry has always been filled with wonderful relationships with Youth.  I focussed on ministering especially to high school Youth for 18 years of my ministry, including three years teaching at a large parochial high school.

As a result of the importance to me of that ministry, I find great power and joy in experiencing the journey Youth are on.  They experience life as if it were being lived under magnification.  Everything is intense and vivid.  Last year I missed the performance of Godspell.  There are many unbelievably talented Youth in the congregation. I heard a CD of their performance last year.  It was not only powerful because I know and care about so many of the kids, but because is was so professionally done.  Just listening to the recorded musical last year produced a lump in my throat and water in my eyes.  As vulnerable as I am at the moment, it is probably best I am not there.  I might have embarrassed myself.

Decisions have to be made about how to proceed now from here, given our life on the border.  I emailed the online Yahoo group of Caregiver Spouses of those with Lewy Body Dementia about yesterday’s and recent challenges with Mary Ann and my ability to care for her.  The responses came from a thorough understanding of our circumstances since those folks live with this situation day in and day out.  Some have been through and are past what we are now going through.  Some are in the same place.  Some are looking at our situation as descriptive of what is to come for them. They empathized and reflected back the painful reality that I will be no good to anyone if I try to go beyond the limits of what I can handle for too long.

My first intention is to call the Neurologist, describe what has been happening and ask how best to go about eliminating the recently added morning dose of Seroquel.  For a week now, the problem it is supposed to help has gotten measurably worse.  I suspect he might again suggest going to a local Neuro-Psychiatrist to check out other options for medication.  I have little hope that there is anyone more competent in dealing with this particular form of dementia located in our community which is much smaller than Kansas City.

In addition, I will continue to experiment with paid help to see what the best times might be and how much we can afford.  I realize a dementia unit will be many times more expensive than having some help here.  The challenge is determining where the tipping point is that shifts the weight from home to facility.  My physical and mental stamina are a part of what will weigh into that measurement.

…It is now a couple of hours later in the afternoon. The doorbell rang a few moments ago.  It was former parishioner Dave, delivering a rhubarb pie that had been saved back to bring to us from the reception after the production of Godspell this afternoon.  You know, the fact that as I was writing about missing the production and the kids, someone was thinking of us warms my insides. After retiring almost two years ago, it is a comfort to think that while gone, maybe not forgotten!

Mary Ann is still in bed and not interested in getting up.  Her eyes are open, but she wants to remain there in bed.  I hope she is willing to get up for a while yet today.  Maybe she is resting up for a busy night of hallucinations/delusions/dreams mixed with reality.  I certainly hope not.  I did nap for an hour this afternoon, but I do not look forward to being up tonight.

She did get up to have a little applesauce, but has now gone back to bed. She was hallucinating almost constantly while awake in bed and out of bed to the table, while eating, and back into bed.  Enough for now.  Maybe I can try the early to bed option on the outside chance sleep will be possible.

If you want to write a comment about this or any of the posts on this blog, look to the column on the right side of this page, titled “Recent Posts,”  click on the name of a post and you will find a box at the end of that article in which you can write a comment.  Clicking on the title of the post you are reading will accomplish the same thing.  Comments are appreciated.

 

May 22, 2010

Perfect Storm Damages Resolve

Posted by PeterT under Daily Challenges, Information on Parkinson's, Meaningful Caregiving, Practical Tools for Coping, Relationship Issues, Sources of Strength, Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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Can it get tougher?  Apparently so.  Those who read this regularly must be getting awfully tired of hearing about the list of problems Mary Ann is dealing with and my complaining about their impact on me.  I debated even about writing a post today. It was ugly and messy.  My reaction was noisy and complaining.  There was absolutely nothing entertaining about today’s perfect storm of problems converging at one time. There is no resolution in sight.

Each of the elements of this perfect storm by itself is enough for Mary Ann and me to deal with.  I will describe again the ones relevant to this meteorological marvel.

One element:  Mary Ann has had Parkinson’s Disease for more than 23 years.  The medication of choice for Parkinson’s is a form of L-dopa.  The brand name is Sinamet.  That is the only effective medication for providing mobility.  Without it, Mary Ann stiffens and becomes rigid from head to toe.  After years of taking Sinamet, a side effect is wavy involuntary movements of body, arms and legs (as seen when Michael J. Fox is in the public eye).  Those movements are called dyskinesias.  The result is legs twisting together, body shifting one way and another, arms moving this way and that.

Another element:  People with Parkinson’s Disease develop problems with the functioning of the Autonomic Nervous System [ANS), the part of the brain that runs a whole list of activities in our bodies, activities that happen without conscious intervention.  In a small percentage of those with Parkinson’s, the ANS’s ability to quickly constrict blood vessels when they stand up keeping their blood pressure high enough to make sure that the brain gets enough oxygen no longer remains consistently able to do so.  That means the person affected gets dizzy at best and loses consciousness at worst.  Mary Ann has won the unfortunate privilege of having a severe and erratic version of that problem.

Another element:  Again, only a moderate percentage of those with Parkinson’s Disease develop Parkinson’s Disease Dementia.  There seems not to be a clear and consistent assessment of the percent of folks who move on to the dementia. This form of dementia is a form of Dementia with Lewy Bodies.  While there is no good dementia, it is a particularly insidious form of dementia.  More than memory issues, it is about visual hallucinations, delusions of all sorts, and vivid dreams that cease to be differentiated from reality.  There are few available in the way of medications that control the symptoms.  Most that might do so ultimately make the symptoms worse.

Another element:  One of the problems that comes with Parkinson’s is bladder activity.  There is the need for many trips to the bathroom day and night.  Because of the movement problems that come with Parkinson’s, help is needed when using the bathroom or bedside commode.  Another of the problems that come with Parkinson’s is sleep issues, the ability to get to sleep, stay asleep, disturbing dreams that interrupt sleep.  Another problem is that those with dementia often hallucinate most at night.  The combination of those problems is that those with Parkinson’s and those who care for them often have sleepless nights.

Another element:  One of the central non-motor problems with those suffering from Parkinson’s is constipation, intestinal issues.  The ANS not only runs the smooth muscles around the arteries, but the smooth muscles that move food and waste through the alimentary canal.  Those muscles slow reducing the natural ability of the intestines and colon to move things along.  Miralax and Senna are the tools of choice needed for Mary Ann to keep her insides running.  The result is not always orderly when finally there is activity.

Now to the Perfect Storm.  We have had two sleepless nights in a row, hallucinating has gone wild, morning, noon and night.  Just as we headed into the bathroom, the dyskinetic movements kicked in with a vengeance.  Then came the horrifying last element of the perfect storm.  There was soft and nasty matter that ended up spread on her back side and legs from her waste (on shirt) to her ankles.  My job was to clean her while she was popping up (the dementia – no matter how many times or how loudly I asked her to stay seated), fainting again and again, legs twisting and crossing and rubbing against one another when sitting or standing (with me using all the strength I could muster against her leg muscles to keep them apart), again, while trying to clean her up. There was another bout later in the day — not as bad, but not too far from it.

The hallucinations are still continuing tonight.  She has been hallucinating all day.  A short time ago I had two trips into the bedroom trying to convince her that it is time to go to bed, not get up.  Four minutes after the second trip in, finally convincing her that it is dark out, time to be in bed, she got up trying to get ready to go to church.  Last night once I woke to her sitting on the side of the bed yelling “help” and when I sat next to her she said someone was going to rape her.  This morning she woke me as she was sitting on the side of the bed crying, describing her beating at the hands of a policewoman who kept pounding on her.  I am afraid that the images from all those Law and Order episodes are folding into her hallucinations. I have been in at least a dozen times in the last hour or so.

Even though we had difficult nights, the the last two nights, this morning I managed to sleep while she napped for a couple of hours.  The perfect storm came right after that nap.  I was completely exhausted physically and mentally after the major bathroom battle.  Everything hurts, muscles, gut and mind.

These events are hacking at my resolve, my commitment to see this through to the end here at the house.  I am disappointed in my own seeming inability to handle this, but more horrified at the thought of not keeping my commitment to caring for Mary Ann at home.  I don’t want her not to be here, so that resolve is not just for her sake.

I wrote a bit on my dilemma in an email to the online Lewy Body Dementia Spouses’ group (many of whom have had much more difficult situations than mine).  One response was simply this little poetic piece:

who knows who knows
what do you do
when you break your commitment
or it breaks you

For now, I am taking some small comfort that while what happened this morning took me far past my ability to cope, I still did it.  I had to.  I am still alive, in some more pain than I care to have, but alive.  …and, for that matter, so is Mary Ann, alive and clean — still hallucinating in a steady stream.  I doubt there will be much sleep in this house tonight.

One reminder to those who wonder that you don’t hear from me (a retired pastor) glowing words about my faith life making this task easier to endure. Nowhere does there come any promise that life will be easy, that we will feel less pain, experience less frustration, because of our trust in our Maker and the One who healed our relationship with that Maker and the One who inspires us with His Power.  My faith is not weakened by my human weakness.  Instead, the One who does the healing retains the power.  I am all the more grateful that the healed relationship does not depend on my strength, but His.  His strength, my weakness.  That is the heart of the message of the Cross.

If you want to write a comment about this or any of the posts on this blog, look to the column on the right side of this page, titled “Recent Posts,”  click on the name of a post and you will find a box at the end of that article in which you can write a comment.  Clicking on the title of the post you are reading will accomplish the same thing.  Comments are appreciated.

 

May 21, 2010

“I forget there aren’t two of you.”

Posted by PeterT under Daily Challenges, Hospice, Meaningful Caregiving, Practical Tools for Coping, Relationship Issues, Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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I tried to find out what differences there are between the two of me.  She never really said.  Last night was the sort of night that usually begins the hallucination days.  She was in need of help a number of times.  It was not a night when she was up every few minutes with a new hallucination, but we were up more than once per hour.  I expect more intense and frequent hallucinations tonight since they have been so strong today.

I remembered the part about sleeping when she is sleeping during the day after a difficult night.  She never napped today.  Hospice Aide Sonya said that Mary Ann kept getting up as she was trying to give her her shower this morning.  Sonya finally just finished quickly since it was not safe while Mary Ann was so anxious (Sonya’s word).

Mary Ann had gotten up very early, as usually happens when the dementia is firing up.  I was surprised that she stayed seated while I got my shower.  She ate three normal meals today.  Only for very short periods of time did she put her head down.  Almost the entire day, she was in pop up mode, demanding my remaining only a few feet away at all times.  Once when the phone rang, she popped up and ended up on the floor on top of the rolling table that is in front of her chair.  As always, she did not hurt herself.  I had to hang up and phone back later.

Finally in mid-afternoon, I was able to get her into the car so that I could get coffee and then get ice cream.  She is actually safest when seat belted in the car.  That way she can’t pop up, fall and hurt herself.  She stayed in the car during our stops.  This time I got her dish of ice cream (frozen custard) at G’s, fed it to her, and then went back to get mine.  I can’t help her and eat ice cream at the same time.

She was talking lots to people that she saw during the day, none of whom were actually there.  I left the room for a moment and she went to the sliding glass door to let in the dog we don’t have.  She quietly asked if I didn’t want to go out on the deck and talk with Daughter Lisa, whom she said was out there.  Lisa is in Kentucky where she lives with her family.  Once when I had given her a lemon bar, after the first bite she said I was trying to trick her.  Then she said something about my going to or coming back from London.  While I have no idea how the Lemon Bar and London were associated, this time there was an explanation for London coming into her mind.  Right at that moment on television a character on NCIS was talking about going to London.

Mary Ann finally decided to lie down right after supper.  I am so grateful to have a moment’s relief from jumping up and grabbing her gait belt as she went looking for one thing or another.

I got Mary Ann up to change into her bed clothes and take her nighttime pills.  I am going to try to get to bed early tonight in hopes that she will sleep a while before the night time hallucinations get going.  Most times any hopes such as those don’t materialize.  We will see how it goes. She already is appearing restless.

If you want to write a comment about this or any of the posts on this blog, look to the column on the right side of this page, titled “Recent Posts,”  click on the name of a post and you will find a box at the end of that article in which you can write a comment.  Clicking on the title of the post you are reading will accomplish the same thing.  Comments are appreciated.

I am expecting a worse night tonight than last night.  My hope is that she will nap tomorrow so that I can get some sleep then.

 

May 21, 2010

What Do We Do Next?

Posted by PeterT under Daily Challenges, Meaningful Caregiving, Practical Tools for Coping, Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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Medical solutions seem to offer no help, but instead worsen symptoms.  It may be too early to tell.  I hope so.  It seems as if the increase in the medication of choice for controlling the rampant hallucinations, made them worse for two days and nights.  Now it appears that the concerning side effect of lowering blood pressure resulting in the inability to stay conscious has surfaced with a vengeance.

Last night Mary Ann for the second night in a row, slept through the night.  On the one hand, I am very grateful.  She got rest raising the possibility of becoming more lucid with less intensity in the hallucinations.  I have been able to sleep.  Last night I got almost ten hours of sleep.

Mary Ann slept from around 6pm last evening to 10am this morning without moving a muscle or using the commode even once.  The time she has been up, she has not been hallucinating to any substantial degree, at least it has appeared that way.

So what is the problem?  I fed her breakfast and pills.  She was up for while, quite subdued, but awake.  She got hungry again and wanted to eat something.  I got her a sandwich.  At the second bite, she pretty much fainted just sitting in her chair.  I could get no response.  I tried to get her from the chair at the table into her transfer chair with the wheels so that I could get her to the bed.  She was completely dead weight.  I tried to do it, but she slid to the floor.

After switching the chair into a different position and trying to slide her body into a different position, I noticed a little dyskinetic movement, the movement that tells me that her Sinamet is kicking in.  I pulled her up the way I usually do, hoping her auto pilot would kick in.  That and the Sinamet provided enough help from her to get her into the chair.  She just hung in it, limp as a rag.  I managed to get her into bed, where she stayed for a couple of hours.  That happened just at the time we were to leave for an eye appointment to see about new glasses.  I phoned to apologize and tell them that she would not be coming.  It has apprears to me that there is little chance she could function well enough to answer all the “which is clearer” questions.  I did not reschedule.

She finally began stirring enough to allow me to get her to sit up and try again to eat something.  While we were doing that some Members of the congregation phoned, Gen and Dwight, to bring over a little something from the a group of older adults in the congregation.

When they arrived, they greeted Mary Ann and she responded.  She had chosen to stop eating after about half of the sandwich was eaten.  She continued with some more chips and Pepsi.  Gen and Dwight and I talked for a while as Mary Ann was sitting at the table.  After a time Mary Ann fainted again.  I went over and stood behind her and held her up in the chair as we finished our conversation.

After they left, I took Mary Ann’s blood pressure.  It was 95/65.  She was pretty much completely out.  I managed to get her into the transfer chair.  Again, she was dead weight.  with the same difficulty, i got her into the bed.  I have not been able to get her up since.  That was more than four hours ago.

If the increase in Seroquel does not allow her to stay conscious, it is not an acceptable solution to the problem of uncontrolled hallucinations/delusions/dreams mixed with reality.

At the moment, all I can do is watch and wait to see what tonight and tomorrow bring.  Depending on what happens, I will decide whether to phone the Neurologist tomorrow or Monday to talk about whether or not to continue the increased dosage of Seroquel.  It is tough to see options dissipate as we seek to make the best of this combination of problems.

…It is now much later in the evening.  At one point Mary Ann got up just long enough to change into her bed clothes.  She wanted to get right back into bed.  This time she did not fall back asleep.  After a bit, she pushed the doorbell button on the bed stand to call me.  When I came in, she said she had been yelling for me.  Since I was watching her carerfully on the monitor and the door to the bedroom was open, I knew there had been no yelling.  She said she wanted me to get her back into bed.  She was lying in bed when she said it.  I asked her where she thought she was at the moment.  She said “on the toilet stool.”  She had thought I had left her there and forgotten about her. I pointed out that she was in bed.

I asked her if she wanted something to eat since she had not had supper.  She agreed that she did.  I had made some chicken salad from a packet and ingredients given to us by Trudy and Coleman who visited last Sunday.  Mary Ann ate the half sandwich and chips followed by a bowl of ice cream.  She fed herself the sandwich and chips.

I am suspecting that the dementia will be returning tonight.  Oddly, it seems that when she is most verbal, able to walk and take care of herself (eat on her own), the dementia is beginning to fire up. She is back in bed now, but has called me two or three times for one thing or another.  She is no longer fainting.

Based on prior experience, it just seems as if she will be up much of the night tonight.  We will see.

If you want to write a comment about this or any of the posts on this blog, look to the column on the right side of this page, titled “Recent Posts,”  click on the name of a post and you will find a box at the end of that article in which you can write a comment.  Clicking on the title of the post you are reading will accomplish the same thing.  Comments are appreciated.

 

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