Wednesday, February 16, 2005
For those of you who might be interested...
...I went into a spontaneous, personal, yet literate rant about medications and the elderly while I was reporting Mom's statted lunch, today.
Today's been a bit strange although I wonder if some of that strangeness is due to me continuing to feel as though I am encased in a sick box. Mom shows absolutely no signs of getting whatever it is I've got. Thank the gods. Yes. I'm going to try to get her down to see the FNP in a couple of weeks. This time we will get her a flu shot. If they have enough serum I'll get one, too, but if not, I'm not going to worry. With this illness, anyway, my lungs remain unaffected. Perhaps it's because we are now living in a non-smoking household.
Although she took two mini-naps today she's been unusually alert and active (I've been the lackadaisical one). I'm not sure if it's the rise in her iron supplementation or the fact that I can tell from the clarity of her urine that her UTI is gone; maybe a combination of both, maybe simply a Fifth or Sixth Wind. I don't care. I think we'll go with it.
Hold on...let me check something.
Hmmm...although I can't find what I'm looking for, it was either the recitation or synopsis of a conversation she and I had a few days ago regarding her rediscovery of the deaths of a variety of people, and me patiently filling her in and telling her not to worry, I would update her whenever she needed to be updated, and, as well, assuring her that she didn't always have these "blanks", as she was calling them.
Today while we were bathing her she suddenly looked directly at me, terribly worried, and said, "Well, what are we going to do now that Mother's gone?"
I quickly adjusted. "What do you think is going to change, Mom?"
"Well, she was the last one and now she's gone. Now, it's just you and me."
"Well, yes and no," I explained. "There's also your other three daughters and their families. And your three cousins in Iowa and your cousin and cousin-in-law in California. My entire generation is here."
Consternation. "But, you're of my generation."
"Well, Mom, no, truly, thank you for the compliment, I would have loved to have been a part of your generation, but I'm your daughter."
Indignance. "Well, yes!"
Okay, slight readjustment. "Anyway, you know, Grandma's been dead for I think at least 15 years."
Shock. "What do you mean?!?"
"I mean, you and I have been doing very fine for 15 years since Grandma died, on our own and together. We'll continue on like this. No changes. Everything is fine."
Settling. Visibly. "Well, good. I'm sure glad you're here, girl. I don't know what I'd do without you."
Okay. So. That was this morning. This evening before dinner when she was leafing through her new weekly batch of celebrity gossip tabloids and I was doing something at the other end of the table she announced, "Well, since they're all gone, I think we should do something."
Whoa. Cool. Maybe some of her lethargy has been due to not quite feeling free of her roots. "Ummm...do you mean travel, maybe?"
She looked at me as though this was a capital idea. "Well, yes, that, too."
I teased her with a sly look. "What else do you have in mind?"
"I think we need some changes." She paused. Thinking. "Tonight, I think I'll take the Christmas tree down."
Double cool. "Absolutely. It's easy. We'll do it together."
"I sure like those plants in the baskets up there." I put the azaleas in the hanging baskets on either side of the access between the dining and living areas.
We didn't put the Christmas tree away. Forgot about it. Hmmm...oh, yeah, we got caught up in Judging Amy. But there's always tomorrow.
So, maybe it's also early spring fever. I've got the fever, she's got the spring.
Oh, yeah. I lucked into a copy of Driving Miss Daisy today. I also 'lucked into' a copy of Pretty Woman, and, to be fair, bought it. We watched the former today. We were both excited. I imagine we've seen this movie at least four times, maybe more. When the theme starts we spontaneously look at each other and smile. It's a gem of a movie on several levels, an experience each time. Anyway, I'll be entering those and a few others at the movie site over the next day or so. I'm curious to see how many times I've mentioned Driving Miss Daisy.
Later.
Today's been a bit strange although I wonder if some of that strangeness is due to me continuing to feel as though I am encased in a sick box. Mom shows absolutely no signs of getting whatever it is I've got. Thank the gods. Yes. I'm going to try to get her down to see the FNP in a couple of weeks. This time we will get her a flu shot. If they have enough serum I'll get one, too, but if not, I'm not going to worry. With this illness, anyway, my lungs remain unaffected. Perhaps it's because we are now living in a non-smoking household.
Although she took two mini-naps today she's been unusually alert and active (I've been the lackadaisical one). I'm not sure if it's the rise in her iron supplementation or the fact that I can tell from the clarity of her urine that her UTI is gone; maybe a combination of both, maybe simply a Fifth or Sixth Wind. I don't care. I think we'll go with it.
Hold on...let me check something.
Hmmm...although I can't find what I'm looking for, it was either the recitation or synopsis of a conversation she and I had a few days ago regarding her rediscovery of the deaths of a variety of people, and me patiently filling her in and telling her not to worry, I would update her whenever she needed to be updated, and, as well, assuring her that she didn't always have these "blanks", as she was calling them.
Today while we were bathing her she suddenly looked directly at me, terribly worried, and said, "Well, what are we going to do now that Mother's gone?"
I quickly adjusted. "What do you think is going to change, Mom?"
"Well, she was the last one and now she's gone. Now, it's just you and me."
"Well, yes and no," I explained. "There's also your other three daughters and their families. And your three cousins in Iowa and your cousin and cousin-in-law in California. My entire generation is here."
Consternation. "But, you're of my generation."
"Well, Mom, no, truly, thank you for the compliment, I would have loved to have been a part of your generation, but I'm your daughter."
Indignance. "Well, yes!"
Okay, slight readjustment. "Anyway, you know, Grandma's been dead for I think at least 15 years."
Shock. "What do you mean?!?"
"I mean, you and I have been doing very fine for 15 years since Grandma died, on our own and together. We'll continue on like this. No changes. Everything is fine."
Settling. Visibly. "Well, good. I'm sure glad you're here, girl. I don't know what I'd do without you."
Okay. So. That was this morning. This evening before dinner when she was leafing through her new weekly batch of celebrity gossip tabloids and I was doing something at the other end of the table she announced, "Well, since they're all gone, I think we should do something."
Whoa. Cool. Maybe some of her lethargy has been due to not quite feeling free of her roots. "Ummm...do you mean travel, maybe?"
She looked at me as though this was a capital idea. "Well, yes, that, too."
I teased her with a sly look. "What else do you have in mind?"
"I think we need some changes." She paused. Thinking. "Tonight, I think I'll take the Christmas tree down."
Double cool. "Absolutely. It's easy. We'll do it together."
"I sure like those plants in the baskets up there." I put the azaleas in the hanging baskets on either side of the access between the dining and living areas.
We didn't put the Christmas tree away. Forgot about it. Hmmm...oh, yeah, we got caught up in Judging Amy. But there's always tomorrow.
So, maybe it's also early spring fever. I've got the fever, she's got the spring.
Oh, yeah. I lucked into a copy of Driving Miss Daisy today. I also 'lucked into' a copy of Pretty Woman, and, to be fair, bought it. We watched the former today. We were both excited. I imagine we've seen this movie at least four times, maybe more. When the theme starts we spontaneously look at each other and smile. It's a gem of a movie on several levels, an experience each time. Anyway, I'll be entering those and a few others at the movie site over the next day or so. I'm curious to see how many times I've mentioned Driving Miss Daisy.
Later.
