Day 273

Day 273

Thursday, February 20, 2014

Physical:

It was a strange day.  Instead of going back to sleep after a bath, DH wakes up.  This is throwing everything off kilter; but I think I’m going to have to be a lot firmer about just not getting him up.  Thursday he wanted up by 10:00 or so.  That doesn’t sound “early”, but it is for him.  Once I got him up and in his chair, he took his pills .. and then went right on back to sleep for several more hours.  He woke enough to eat a few Cheetoes, and went in and out of sleep for the next few hours.  By 6:00 he was trying to get up, and it was all I could do to persuade him to wait to eat some supper (didn’t eat much) and let me finish getting dialysis set up.

By 7:00 he was ready to go to bed; and before the first “Big Bang” was over he was snoring.  But he was restless several times, and awake by 5:00.  At that time he was trying his best to get up .. said he had to go apply for a job.  It took me a long time to get him to settle and go back to sleep.  I, of course, didnd’t.

People:

The CAN gets here about 7:30 now.  I’m not at all happy about this; but it is not my place to demand that she change her schedule (making it more difficult for her to get to all the places she needs to go) when we’re not even paying for her services.  So, I’m trying very hard to adapt .. and so far, failing miserably.  The nurse got here before the CAN left, and both were gone by around 9:30.  After they were gone is when he wanted to get up.

The chaplain came by about 12:45 or so.  DH greeted him, and said goodbye when he left.  In between, he snored during the entire visit! 

Emotions:

I’m not doing a very good job of adapting to this new schedule.  I think part of the problem might be that I don’t sleep well because I’m subconsciously afraid I won’t wake up early enough.  I have a battery alarm clock; but it is the most annoying thing in the world to try to set.  I got so mad I threw it across the room.  (the next day the salarm – at the wrong time – went off as usual!).  I tried an electric clock, but it has a loud “buzz” that I just couldn’t tolerate.  This morning I didn’t need to worry .. he was awake by 5:00 and I didn’t go back to sleep.

By the time the CAN got here, I was on the edge of tears with frustration.  But I refused to get him up, and he did go back to sleep.  The dialysis nurse should be here within the next hour; and after he goes, I’ll have to decide if it’s time to get him up or not.

I’ve been rethinking the sort of plan I have for changing his room around.  I want to turn it into a sort of sitting room, with the goal being only having to move him from bed to chair; and anyone who comes can visit in his room.  One idea I had was to put the short sofa at an angle in one corner (leaving a nice little gap of storage space).  But this morning I realized that the heat vent is too near the corner for the sofa to fit.  To do it in reverse would mean moving 3 2-door cabinets packed full of his *stuff*.  I don’t know if I can face that or not (but maybe I can find one of those kits that help you move heavy stuff).  The goal, of course is to eliminate the in and out of the wheelchair part.  To and from the bed and lift chair are  heavy and safer for transfers.  But, I can’t do any of it without help, so have to wait until someone else has time to be bothered.  I suspect DSS won’t be part of that, because he’s already been very  negative about moving any of his dad’s things (and I REALLY want him to take the gun cabinets and the desk to his house). 

A period of severe storms is predicted for today.  They say around “lunch time”;  but the wind is picking up already (10:00).  We’re not under any warnings .. seems to be north of us; but that could only mean we’ll get it later than the counties north of here.  Or nothing might happen; but the air feels “heavy” .. I feel on edge.  Even though I know it’s partly because I’m tired and cranky this morning, I still feel like I’ll settle better once the whole line of storms has moved on out to sea.

I also think DH is not feeling well.  He’s been complaining about having a cold for a long time.  He’s congested; and the nurse did notice some upper airway congestion (but lungs seemed clear still).  This morning when I took him pills, he complained that his throat felt on fire.

Now there’s a “tornado watch”.  What a month!!  Only February, and we’ve had a highly unusual amount of snow .. plus temps near 80s .. strong thunder storms .. and now possible tornados.  I want to bury my head in the sand.

And sleep.