Day 293
Monday, March
10, 2014
Physical:
This was a
very odd day. After his bath, DH wanted extra
covers, and went back to sleep. He didn’t
wake up until after 1:00. I took him his
pills and drink; but he seemed to have a hard time taking the pills. I ended up putting the last few in his hand,
one by one. He seemed like it was either
hard or confusing to put them into his mouth.
He did eventually get them; and then I took him a cinnamon twirl to eat
while he finished his drink. I had
turned the TV on, and he wanted me to lay his head back down but leave the TV
on.
He went
right back to sleep and didn’t wake up until after 5:00. When I took him supper, he acted groggy. But most odd was that instead of talking to
me, he kept using hand gestures. He ate
very little of his dinner, and later told me (remarkably clearly) that he knew
I wouldn’t want to hear it but there was a cooked roach on his plate. Regardless of my poor vision, I’m 99.99% sure
there was not! But, possibly he could
have found a small piece of potato skin.
And he often *thinks* he sees different type of bugs/spiders/critters in
his room (and I’m told that kind of “hallucination” is not uncommon in
dementia).
Since he had
eaten so little, I took him another protein drink (chocolate milk) at
bedtime. He took about 2 sips to take a
pill .. and then held the glass for an hour.
When I took his last pills, and realized he was still holding the glass,
I tried to ask why. He was not talking
clearly, and told me his arm was “stuck”.
In the end I pried the glass out of his hand, and gave him a cup of
juice. He didn’t drink that until I put
it into the other hand … and then he drank the entire cup of juice~
WhenI told
him “good night” and turned out all the lights, he didn’t respond – and he
usually does.
He went
right to sleep. The alarm went off
around midnight .. he had gotten the tube smashed up under him … and when I
fixed it and got the machine going again, he made the comment “that sure will
wake you up won’t it” .. and was snoring again before I was 5 steps away!
This morning
(Tuesday) he didn’t wake up at all until I had to wake him up when the CAN got
here. She said he was less responsive than usual .. she would have to ask him
several times to do something that he had been doing (such as turn over, raise
your arm) without being told. She also
noted … and have no idea if it means anything or not .. that his underarm odor
is back. I’ve always thought that was
related to some of his meds; she says *something* has changed, but she doesn’t
know what either.
People:
The CAN came
as usual about 7:30.
Emotions:
It was a
strange day. Physically it was not hard,
other than when I had to try to push DH’s feet away from the footboard. The pad that slides well was in the
wash. My back aches today from pushing;
but the “good” pad is now back on the bed.
Emotionally, the day was a bit draining.
Besides being totally bored, DH’s change in behavior was unnerving. The CAN this morning also noticed subtle
changes. He seemed unresponsive .. but the big
question is, has his mind turned some sort of corner into a different dimension? Or has he settled into an attitude of
uncooperation because I’m annoying him (maybe he’s mad at being in bed all day,
though I really don’t think that’s it).
It’s almost like he’s just decided not to bother; except I seriously do
not think he’s capable of that degree of thought any more.
I don’t feel
weepy (and I’m sure this being the 4th day of warmth and sunshine is
helping that!), but I do feel sad. I don’t
know what’s behind the changes goin on.
I can’t tell if it’s a physical change or has to do with the dementia.
That also means I don’t know how to respond.
I keep
checking email all day. The one friend I
can count on is away from her computer for a few days. One person who *used* to be my friend doesn’t
bother any more. One other friend doesn’t
email because it’s hard for me to read
(well, it is – I have to copy and paste and enlarge; but I do that
because I want to read email), but she calls occasionally.
And that’s
it. Well, really, I’m pretty boring
these days, so I guess I’m not surprised.
But it’s still pretty lonely.
I guess, as
usual, I will spend the day mostly just watching my “routine lineup” of TV
shows. It’s close to 10:00 now, I think
.. time for Rachel. Then a game
show. Then news, and lunch. The another cooking/talk show I like. Maybe DH will wake by then.
After that
is another talk show .. if I have anything to do, that’s the time because I
find that show faintly annoying.
Sometimes the subjects are interesting; but I don’t like watching shows
where people keep trying to “talk over” each other. Then another game show I like.
Then the
news, and time to take the first steps of setting up dialysis, thinking about
supper. Next thing I know, evening news
is coming on, and the day is nearly gone.
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