Sunday, August 7, 2005
I think the weekend, overall, went well for Mom...
...although I'm still working it and a little beyond exhaustion. The last of the work connected with the trip will happen tomorrow morning. Traveling overnight with my mother, even within the state, involves an incredible amount of work and attention before, during and after the trip. My mother slept well Thursday night, although only 10 hours. I did not. Friday night at the hotel we both slept badly; I, because she did. Although we rented a handicapped room, the water coming into the shower area must have been from a different hot water tank than that coming through the faucet tap. I discovered this while taking a barely lukewarm shower Friday night. Saturday morning, when I had to awaken Mom at 0500 to get her bathed, fed and pilled before MPS arrived at 0645 and I left at 0700, Mom and I bathed her, as usual, from the sink, but in quarters that were distinctly less convenient than her bathroom at home.
Before I left I told MPS that Mom could sleep as much as she wanted but neglected to tell MPS that this was because Mom hadn't gotten much sleep (for her) in the past few days. Thus, when I returned a little before 1600 MPS was in a state of shock over how much sleep Mom was able to "put away".
MPS was also unprepared for how much Mom would leak, even though I tried to convey this information. I guess she didn't believe that it was absolutely necessary to check Mom every two to three hours during the day, even if she slept a lot, just to make sure she didn't leak through onto her clothes (I'd brought three sets, not including her night clothes, for a stay of just over 24 hours) and onto the bed. Thus, when I arrived back at the motel, Mom had leaked through all her changes of clothes and onto the sheets of the clean bed. I ended up having to dress her in wet clothes to take her back up the mountain. Fortunately, the set from the day previous was only wet around the calves, although, since they'd been in the dirty clothes bag, they were wet from both water and urine.
Mom did eat well, slept well and very much enjoyed spending time with MPS. I discovered, though, as I recorded here even before the trip, that traveling with Mom is constant work of a nature that isn't routine. Aside from the constant work while attending to Mom, last night, although I was dog tired, I had to remain up until about 0200 just to do three extra loads of laundry so the machines would be ready to receive her regular bed and bath laundry this morning. And, of course, when caring for an Ancient One it is best to put everything used in travel back in its place as quickly as possible after returning home.
I suppose if we traveled more it would become fairly routine and not seem like extensive work but, the truth is, I don't think we'll do this. Both Mom and I discovered that she is no longer well adapted to living out of a motel and, as she mentioned, she doesn't like me very much when I am in constant work mode. I don't blame her. She knew that I'd paid for two full nights and, soon after MPS left, expressed great concern about the eventuality of us staying the second night. I assured her several times that we were going home almost immediately. When she realized that I was packing the car she expressed extreme relief. Overall, because she enjoyed visiting with MPS, she was pretty mellow about the entire affair but, much to my relief, she was glad it was over when we stepped into our home last night.
We seem to be able to handle day trips well. Overnighters, though, are no longer a good idea. We talked about this last night over dinner and neither of us is bothered by this.
Today, although I automatically arose at 0500 this morning (I couldn't help it, and couldn't get back to sleep) and my day was punctuated with bursts of frenetic energy alternating with deep troughs of tiredness, Mom looked good and felt good; so good that I decided to put her through a formal exercise routine, the surprising results of which you can access at the immediately previous link. Her blood pressure, though, has been running unusually high all day, which I discuss in today's posts over at Mom's Daily Tests & Meds.
Later.
Before I left I told MPS that Mom could sleep as much as she wanted but neglected to tell MPS that this was because Mom hadn't gotten much sleep (for her) in the past few days. Thus, when I returned a little before 1600 MPS was in a state of shock over how much sleep Mom was able to "put away".
MPS was also unprepared for how much Mom would leak, even though I tried to convey this information. I guess she didn't believe that it was absolutely necessary to check Mom every two to three hours during the day, even if she slept a lot, just to make sure she didn't leak through onto her clothes (I'd brought three sets, not including her night clothes, for a stay of just over 24 hours) and onto the bed. Thus, when I arrived back at the motel, Mom had leaked through all her changes of clothes and onto the sheets of the clean bed. I ended up having to dress her in wet clothes to take her back up the mountain. Fortunately, the set from the day previous was only wet around the calves, although, since they'd been in the dirty clothes bag, they were wet from both water and urine.
Mom did eat well, slept well and very much enjoyed spending time with MPS. I discovered, though, as I recorded here even before the trip, that traveling with Mom is constant work of a nature that isn't routine. Aside from the constant work while attending to Mom, last night, although I was dog tired, I had to remain up until about 0200 just to do three extra loads of laundry so the machines would be ready to receive her regular bed and bath laundry this morning. And, of course, when caring for an Ancient One it is best to put everything used in travel back in its place as quickly as possible after returning home.
I suppose if we traveled more it would become fairly routine and not seem like extensive work but, the truth is, I don't think we'll do this. Both Mom and I discovered that she is no longer well adapted to living out of a motel and, as she mentioned, she doesn't like me very much when I am in constant work mode. I don't blame her. She knew that I'd paid for two full nights and, soon after MPS left, expressed great concern about the eventuality of us staying the second night. I assured her several times that we were going home almost immediately. When she realized that I was packing the car she expressed extreme relief. Overall, because she enjoyed visiting with MPS, she was pretty mellow about the entire affair but, much to my relief, she was glad it was over when we stepped into our home last night.
We seem to be able to handle day trips well. Overnighters, though, are no longer a good idea. We talked about this last night over dinner and neither of us is bothered by this.
Today, although I automatically arose at 0500 this morning (I couldn't help it, and couldn't get back to sleep) and my day was punctuated with bursts of frenetic energy alternating with deep troughs of tiredness, Mom looked good and felt good; so good that I decided to put her through a formal exercise routine, the surprising results of which you can access at the immediately previous link. Her blood pressure, though, has been running unusually high all day, which I discuss in today's posts over at Mom's Daily Tests & Meds.
Later.
