10″ of beautiful snow fell on Wednesday.
The last post probably sounded a little vague but that’s because I find I’d rather be a little vague than describe some of the changes going on with mom. It’s difficult to watch her decline and even more difficult to try to stop it. When I am finally exhausted it feels like we have arrived at the end of the world. I pause – then comes the perfectly timed rebound and mom is back in the game. So, I pick up the pieces and go on. Each time there is a little less to hang on to. Now that mom’s infection seems to be cleared I’m realizing how much of a toll it has taken on her memory. Some kind of dementia is moving in. Monitoring this behavior is my newest assignment and I’m clueless about how to best approach it.
Mom has come to the point of truly enjoying and even appreciating her apartment. I now have to do everything I can to keep her here because she will need to move into a higher level of care if she is not able to manage her day to day lifestyle here. She manages the daytime fine with some extra attendant care but the nights are much harder to cover because she is alone for about 12 hours.
Mom is actually sound asleep and her legs flip back and forth across the bed.
I have been sleeping here a lot more than I had planned but it has given me first hand experience of the problem areas. The most important thing she needs to learn is to Ask For Help by pulling the emergency cord in her room. This is easier said than done.
Two nights ago she spent most of the night wildly thrashing all over her bed because of Restless Leg Syndrome. Finally a 2 am she flipped herself into the space between her mattress and the bed safety rail — she was wedged in beyond escape. I managed to pull out the railing and get her on the floor. She was not hurt and the night watchman arrived within 2 minutes and got her up and back in bed. Her only response was that he certainly was a nice man. Now I need to make her more aware of how she can get this “nice man” back into her room if she needs help.