Excellent Day!
    Our last appointment, at 1:30 p.m., was a well-doctor's visit, and all of us were pleased! I haven't been sure, this lethargic last weekend, that it would go well. She was pinked up this morning, though, a little slow but nothing like this weekend, no swelling anywhere of any kind, ate a good breakfast, stayed in the bath longer than usual, fussed a little (always a good sign) and walked faster and with more assurance than she has, lately. I've been giving her a third iron pill, lately, if she is up enough to eat something with it. That formula translated into 2 iron pills yesterday, though, so my hopes for today were reasonably low.
    Her hair appointment went well. The light at the salon is unforgiving. She looked good under that light, today. Although she snored (unusual for her) on the couch for a half hour between appointments, when I called her she was on her feet, in the bathroom and back in the living room within 5 minutes. That's a record.
    Her doctor approved of my substitution of hearty foot and calf massage for furosemide (Lasix) to reduce water retention and expressed confidence in my judgment of giving her only 1/4 of a tablet (10 mg) when necessary.
    Her blood pressure was good, 102/52. He thinks it may rise a bit in Prescott, but he considers that good, so we're good to go after he see's her on July 9th for a final prescription medication review and a consultation on her visit to her hematologist on July 7th. Her blood oxygen level, having been off oxygen supplementation since 9:00 a.m., was a respectable 93. Because she's up now, of course (she's avoiding an afternoon lay-in), she's smoking, but not a lot and she's not coughing.
I'm feeling quite positive, today, about her condition. Although she resists it, it is usually (not always) better to get her up and going in the morning. I'm getting very good at telling her lazy resistance from her fundamental resistance to movement.
    Sometimes I worry that I sympathize too much with her prodigious sleep habits. Sleeping is one of my favorite activities. I never feel as though I get enough of it. It revives me, I entertain myself and solve problems in the dream state, I have have a bed fetish and work at making my beds ultimately comfortable. I don't like to be laying down if I'm not sleep-tired. But, I've been known, although not often, to take out a day and do nothing but travel from nap to nap. So, when my mother sleeps, my first instinct it to project my own sense of alert peacefulness onto her sleep. Thus, I know I have allowed her, at times, to oversleep. I watch this carefully, now, because oversleep leads to bowel accidents, not to mention all the other attendant veils over one's vitality.

    You'll notice that I've begun to set up a roving history of my mother's and my companionship. That is how I refer to myself with people, as her companion. I'm a little ambivalent about the wealth of material that is suddenly going to be uploaded to the site over the next few months. If and as I gain more readers I may figure out a way to mark and bring your attention to certain anecdotes I think might be especially appreciated. Otherwise, all material will be spidered into the search index, in case there is something in particular you're wondering about.
- posted by gail rae @ 15:49   email...this post