She Almost Fainted Today

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Every morning at 7AM the extremely LOUD, BRIGHT AND ANNOYING alarm clock sounds its happy tune to remind us that it is time for Cheryl’s first dose of various meds. My job is to get up and find them. I get a glass of water and bring them back to the bathroom. All of this disturbance usually awakens Cheryl. I help her get up and shuffle into the bathroom to the toilet and then to the counter to take her meds.

Her fingers may not be working well in the right-after-get-up time. At 7AM and a little, she dropped one on the floor. I got her to take the rest of her meds and eased her back to bed. I laid down too after finding that the little white pill she dropped was to combat her orthostatic hypotension which is low blood pressure associated with Parkinson disease. I put this pill with her vitamins that she took later while eating breakfast.

She takes midodrine to combat the hypotension. Generally it seems to work. This morning when she took it separate from her other meds but with her vitamins and shredded wheat, she became lightheaded and fainty feeling. When one checks out the link I have provided, one finds a wearying array of side effects, all of which or none of which are associated with other meds that she takes.

This morning she fainted while I was talking to her. She was looking gray in the face at the time. I helped her to the floor and propped her legs up on a chair. I sat on the floor with her for a bit until she felt like she could sit up. I outweigh Cheryl by about a hundred pounds or so and to me she feels pretty light. I also forget that we are the same age and that means neither of use is twenty-two anymore. Nevertheless I help her up by positioning a chair nearby and she pulls herself up or I get behind her and lift her straight up with my legs. I probably should not lift her but she really does not weigh much in my mind.

While writing about these little happenstances in our life with PD I run across a world of information about what to do and who to call. This website (https://seniorsafetyadvice.com/about-us-2/) is a wealth of information.

It has been awhile since Cheryl fainted while eating breakfast. A couple years ago it was sort of common and occurred maybe once every other week or so. It was so commonplace that I staged a pillow from our couch in one of the kitchen chairs to put under her head for a bit while she was laying on the kitchen floor recovering. Thinking back on it, it crept into our lives so gradually that the two old people living this Parkinson life thought little of it other than, oh crap another new thing to deal with.

A casual mention in conversation to the medical team in a visit a couple years ago caused Maureen to give me the “stink” eye look which said to me, when were you going to mention this? I realized fainting is not a good thing or even a thing that we should merely deal with over time. She gave Cheryl a prescription for midodrine and instructions to take two when you get up and two more during the day spread out. Later this was adjusted to one in the morning, one mid-day, one no later than three hours before bedtime. I now had a use for all seven boxes of our meds organizer.

I found this a couple years ago on Amazon. Ours has black lettering and I created a chart to stick inside the lid.

A pretty long story but in addition to this little blog of mine I have started a little log of anomalous activities and the surrounding circumstances. The doctors and nurses are not looking at Cheryl every day. That is on me.

Carpe Diem.

Too Much!

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“I appreciate your help but sometimes I just want to be left alone”, she said to me today.

I suppose I do get too much like a helicopter parent.

She could have become more angry and told me to “Back off!” but she did not.

I stepped over a line that I am still looking for.

Carpe Diem and learn.

There is a subtle difference between caregiver and care partner. We seem to be on the cusp of that some days. So I felt it was necessary to find back Edie’s prayer modified by me and read it again.

… so much to learn and as I write this Pink Floyd is singing “Comfortably Numb” on Alexa nearby. Perhaps I have become numb or non-listening lately.

Seize the moment to listen.

Teasing. Do You Want Some Coffee?

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Cheryl does not drink coffee. She never has. I do. When I make a pot of coffee I ask her in a teasing fashion, do you want some coffee? I made a pot. She says, nope. No coffee for me thanks. it is a conversation we have had for fifty plus years. I love her. Sometimes she will ask for something else; tea, juice, Coke and I will get that for her instead. She seems to be back in this time and place now. Earlier she was not.

This morning that seemingly innocent exchange stuck with me. Her early morning sun-downers syndrome was staying with her and the sometimes accompanying hallucination was staying with her. It made me nervous. I had purchased a couple apple strudels from Marx Bagels the day before and kept them aside for a breakfast treat. Lately she is only interested in doughnuts for breakfast. That part of the breakfast was okay but she kept offering some to someone named Tim. Tim who? I asked as I had not heard that name before. Tim Fiebbig, I go to school with him, she said.

She thought the strudel was okay but she was hoping for doughnuts. I told her that if she really wanted doughnuts I would get some but do not leave until I get back. I zipped out to a nearby UDF for a couple doughnuts and some coffee. Back in a record fifteen minutes with three doughnuts and fresh coffee. While I was gone she sat with Tim in her office to chat until the doughnut man returned. She broke one up into little pieces and offered it to Tim.

In an effort to understand where she was in her mind I quizzed the siblings. This was (is) an elaborate illusion for Cheryl to set up a chair in her office so that she could converse with Tim her imaginary friend from her childhood. She did not seem puzzled that he was in her office. I hoped that it would pass and left her to talk to Tim for a bit. After a conversation of several minutes she came back out and sat with me to watch the morning not-so-newsy news program on CBS.

It is later in the day as I write this and she is still struggling a bit with the images and memories. Those seem to be easing and she went to shower and put on clothes. She seems to be back.

Some is, no doubt, grief caused by family circumstances. Paul Welch, our son-in-law’s father passed away yesterday. He had Parkinson’s disease/ Lewy body dementia also. An incredibly aggressive version apparently because he was only diagnosed about two years ago.

As we head down this road of Parkinson, it is helpful for me to understand what she is remembering. I am often unsure of what to do with that information. Sometimes I turn it into a conversation about that time in her life and let her reminisce for a bit. Sometimes it works and she gently realizes that she is reliving a memory. Sometimes it does not work.

It is a twisty-turny journey. My training many years ago as an engineer has been poor preparation for this time in my career. Spiritually it is a challenge. Engineers want to fix things. This appears to need a total redesign by the Chief Designer.

Carpe Diem.

Rock Solid

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This morning she dressed the bed. I went back to the bedroom after she announced that she intended to get cleaned up and get ready for exercise class. The bed was put together already. I was overwhelmed with emotion. She had slept solid most of the night.

My heart leapt for joy. She has not made the bed for a couple of years. Long enough ago that I have forgotten when the last time it was that she made the bed.

We had pancakes for breakfast but she wanted donuts. (Smiley face).

At about 4am after a trip to the bathroom she asked me, when is church? Three hours later she asked me if I had gotten donuts for breakfast. There is an association in her of church and donuts.

Previous donuts

Maybe I will stop and pick up some donuts from somewhere today so that we have them tomorrow morning.

Every day is a new day.

Carpe Diem.

I Often Read Maria Shriver

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She writes uplifting and spiritual thoughts in a weekly email newsletter she calls “Sunday Paper”. Today she writes about changes in life. She struck a chord in me but probably not in the way that she intended.

This Parkinson thing is a dramatic change in our life. Maria uses as her focus a friend that is moving far away and talks of pivoting toward the future. What struck me is Cheryl is moving away inside. Not purposely of course but this morning the conversation centered on location and space. She believes inside her head that we are far away from home. She asked are we going home today?

Home is a concept different to everyone. I told Cheryl as I always do when she asks this, we are home. We live here. Sometimes I go into more detail and tell her when we moved. She has a puzzled look on her face when I tell her those things. Sometimes I regret moving out of our big old house in Pleasant Ridge when we have these conversations but I have no basis for regret. She is confused now and most likely would be if we were still living in the big old house.

To me home is not so much a place as a situation. If one “googles” home the famous web search returns thousands of pictures of various houses in various places but a building is not home. Those houses may or may not be home to others.

Cheryl is where I am home. Our life was unimaginable to me when we got married 51 years ago.

On this snowy slowly warming February Sunday I am reminiscing about life and home and the twisty turny path we all follow though life. And that is my concept of home.

She sometimes thinks that we are not home. I am as long as I am with her somewhere.

A boy, a fox, a mole and a horse – great book for meditation

Carpe Diem.

An Icy Day in February

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The puzzle is completed. Hallelujah! Kill the fatted calf. The Christmas 2017 puzzle is complete. So, now the question is what to do with it? I suggested that she break it into the tiny little pieces she started with and pass them on to her sister Nancy. She is still thinking about it but that is probably what will happen.

Who knows maybe this is a new hobby. It certainly is an occupation once it starts. Cheryl seemed very content while this whole process was happening. Cindy is an enthusiastic cheerleader and champion during the activity. I was not gone for a long time but when I came home they were puzzling away.

I started dinner. I had been out in the rain that we had ahead of the icy wet snowy crap that came today. While out I decided it was a good day for stuff soup.

Stuff soup:

  • 2 small onions chopped
  • several (5) carrots pealed and chopped
  • several (4) small potatoes pealed and quartered
  • several (5) stalks of celery chopped
  • a head of broccoli chopped – the stems are good in soup the flowers tend to disintegrate like peas.
  • the end of the bag of frozen corn (maybe ½ C.)
  • half a cup or so of frozen peas.
  • ½ lb. of mystery beef – bought out of the get rid of it soon shelf at IGA – chopped int ½ in. cubes
  • some whole wheat pasta for health reasons.

In a dutch oven put about 2 tablespoons of olive oil and dump in the onions. Stir them when they start to sizzle. Rinse the carrots and celery and when you are satisfied with the onions, let them brown a bit, dump in the beef. Brown the beef for awhile and enjoy the aroma. When the kitchen smells like a good diner, dump in the celery and carrots. Stir it up for a bit and put the lid on and give it a few minutes. This is a good time for a little salt and pepper to taste.

When you are ready dump in a box (32 oz.) of whatever broth you like. I used beef broth here. Bring it all to a boil and start the oven set to 300F.

Dump in the frozen peas, corn and chop the broccoli into small pieces. When it starts to boil again, dump in the broccoli and put the lid back on and stick in the oven for 30 minutes or so.

Add the healthy pasta at the end of 30 minutes and set the timer for 10 minutes more. Set the table and find some rye bread to go with everything. Put out the butter, bowls, silverware, etc.

Sit down in the kitchen to eat so that the puzzle can be viewed from afar. It is better to leave the dining table undisturbed. Speak to the small children attempting to mess with the puzzle even if you cannot see them.

Maybe I should look for the special table to build the puzzle on. I kind of liked having dinner at the dining table. We sat closer to the little apparition girls and I could chase them away as necessary while eating. The little girls seem to show up a lot at dinner time.

Everyone is smiles when the puzzle gets finished.

Carpe Diem.

It takes Time

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Many months ago Cheryl started on this puzzle. I wrote about it before. I could figure out exactly how long ago but the specific span of time is actually unimportant to the story. Last week when Cindy came to sit with Cheryl for a bit so that I could go do whatever I wanted to do by myself, I said to her that she could help Cheryl with this puzzle that she has been ignoring for months. I said that thinking that it would go over like the proverbial lead balloon – what is a lead balloon? – but Cindy is an enthusiastic puzzle doer and she sucked Cheryl along with her. I left to do a couple errands and take a walk.

Two hours or so later when I returned Cindy and Cheryl had not moved from the spots alongside the dining table where I unrolled the puzzle and reinflated the tube that the felt surface was wrapped around with the trapped puzzle pieces. Cindy had Cheryl hard at work sorting pieces of like color and they had assembled several chunks of pieces to figure out where they fit in the picture that came with the puzzle. They did not finish it that day. It is a half thousand pieces of a complex image of small town Christmas.

The picture when completed

Lots of colors are involved. We bought this puzzle several years ago. I think we may have had it for a couple years by the time the pandemic broke into pandemonium everywhere. It came from a Barnes & Noble book store that we happened to be shopping in for one of the grandkids. Cheryl passed by the puzzles parked in the aisle and was inspired to retell the story about someone at Bridgeway Pointe assisted living facility who worked puzzles all the time and lived down the hallway from her mother. I remarked that she should pick one out to do for herself and she selected this Christmas scene.

Leaving it on the dining table is somewhat of an inconvenience at dinner time as I had gotten into setting the dining room area for two. We had used mostly the kitchen table when we first moved into the new condo and reserved the dining table for company. As I took on most of the cooking duties I decided to use the dining area more instead of preserving it for non-existent company. Had we stayed in our old house I suspect that I would have gotten to this point there also. For now, we are back in the kitchen for dinner.

For several days after Cindy’s inspiration we walked around the puzzle on the table awaiting Cindy’s return. I did not mention it. Cheryl once suggested that she could put it in her office and I persuaded her that it was not in the way of anything. She was worried that her little people that she sees occasionally would disturb it but they have not. Last evening she started to work on it. It was a spontaneous move on her part. She worked on it for a bit. I texted this picture to Cindy. She responded with, “Great! Don’t let her finish it without me.” There is not much danger of that, Cindy.

I checked on her during the evening. She worked on it for about an hour. She found two pieces that seemed to fit together but they did not. I was able to help her find a couple pieces and fit them somewhere in the picture.

Her memory seems to be going faster. She looks at a piece and as she looks at the picture the shape is lost in her visual memory. It is a long process.

Carpe Diem.

For Two Nights – in a Row

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She has slept solid. Happily for me, I have also.

Cheryl is much better doing the day as are most people after a good night’s sleep. Her little visitors are still around here and there but she seems to know they are not real.

We have had lots of discussion about what we can do to get to bed at a reasonable time. The sun always looks better after a good rest overnight.

This picture is one Ken’s sunrise pictures.

Carpe Diem.

It Must be a Terrible Thing to be Losing Your Mind

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And be aware of what is happening.

These days Cheryl is certain that we are not home and wonders when we are going home.

In the background she knows she is home.

But maybe not.  Cheryl has lost most concept of time.  Calendar time,  Day of the week, hour of the day, time until the next event, how much lead time to get dressed or ready; all of these time conceptions are gone. She becomes angry with me reminding her how much time she has left. Maybe I am doing it wrong. She talked (and talks) in implication and inference but my conversation is direct. When she says she is going to do something I assume that she going to do it and I will reminder of her conversation, even help steer her toward her goal that seems to anger her sometimes. It is not my intent to anger her but merely to remind her what road she started out with and keep her on it to completion.

Little girls seem to come and go. The woman who takes care of the little girls seems to come and go with them. Others seem to move her stuff around. And then daylight returns.

Carpe Diem.