Saturday, October 29, 2005
Ach! There is much I want to report...
...but I'm close to dead tired so I'll do some skimming as a reminder to myself.
Later.
- I can't believe into how much movement I've been able to coax Mom in the last, oh, over a week now, I think! It's exhilarating (for me, anyway). Today, after braving a couple of her "no"'s, I got her to Costco. She performed admirably, sampled her way through the store (as usual), insisted that we do more aisles than we needed to do then I treated her to some advanced people watching while we split a Berry Smoothie at the luncheonette after paying for our goods. This is the fourth day in a row I've been able to get her out.
Tomorrow we may or may not get out. In the morning I'll be making a list of some advance experimental holiday baking and checking to see if we need any ingredients. As well, I've decided I want to make some pumpkin cranberry muffins for my birthday (maybe on my birthday). I need to purchase some pumpkin for that. We also need to pick up some more paper underwear for her, so, yeah, I guess we probably will be getting out.
The Getting Out Day that surprised me the most was yesterday, because it was gray and misty with a touch of rain. She was indomitable, though. - Although I've noticed the following in my peripheral vision before, today I was consciously aware that my mother attracts an unusual amount of attention when she's out and about. I thought about it today and realized there are a couple of reasons. First, she and I are relatively noisy in public, talking and discussing as we go. I think this surprises people. Others notice us chatting and slying our way through the public arena chiefly because we are both so animated and neither of us has particularly quiet voices. Second and most important, though, is her intensity. It's funny, I always thought I inherited my intensity solely from my father but now I see that my mother also possesses a remarkable intensity. Her eyes dart about as she studies everything and everyone surrounding her. She, like me, has a habit of inviting herself into conversations that started without her, including with strangers. She has an air of determination and interest in others that fairly shimmers in the air around her and makes her hard to miss.
- As you'll notice, Kidneygurl again comments about a spa day, perhaps half a day, she suggests. I mentioned this idea to my mother this morning. She remembered that she and her sister indulged in a couple of spa days before I came to live with her and one in my first year with her when I was working and she and I were leading fairly separate lives out of the same house. She was more than game for the idea. She enthusiastically suggested that we invite her sister along, as these were some of their most fondly remembered times together. "We can certainly afford to treat her," she said.
"Well, you're right, we can, Mom. But, you know, [MS] will be able to get in free, now that she's dead. She won't be able to be there in body, which is a shame because that's what spa days are all about, but I'm sure she'll be there in spirit."
I watched my mother's eyes dilate while she refocused her memories of her sister back into the present. "Oh. That's right. I suppose you're right. I'm sure she'll be there in spirit. Too bad she won't be able to enjoy the pampering, though."
I agree. But, you know, maybe there's some sort of spiritual spa at which she can make a parallel appointment at the same time as ours and experience the delight of being pampered at the same time as us. - Kidneygurl also mentions the Nonin company as a source of oxymeters. Thank you, Kidneygurl, for reminding me of this. I chanced on them over a year ago when I was looking around for an oxymeter and I remember being impressed by the price, which was significantly lower than several other companies. I need to do some fast research on this, in case it would help to have a prescription for one. We're now in a position where we can afford one and I think it would be a tremendous help to me. As well, my mother is always fascinated with medical diagnostic equipment and eagerly participates in discussions of her health from a numbers perspective. In case you're wondering, yes, I'm always truthful about her numbers and do not keep anything from her when speculating about what they might mean. I find that she retains a remarkable ability to refuse to take these conversations so personally that they worry her. Which, I suppose, isn't a surprise, as she continues to believe in her own immortality.
- We picked up a DVD copy of the mini-series Shogun. It has been one of my mother's top favorite TV mini-series since it first aired. At that time both she and my father had read the book and both watched the mini-series. I also remember her mentioning to me, when I lived in Seattle, that she was able to watch the series again in rerun. Soon after I moved in with her it played again and we watched most of it. Well over a year ago, when we began collecting DVDs, something, a commercial for yet another rerun of it, I think, caught her eye and she mentioned that she'd like to own it if it is ever released in a DVD version. I noticed it today at Costco and picked it up. The funny thing is, she didn't remember it. However, we began watching it tonight after dinner and she was transported. She confused it with her fairly recent viewing on cable of The Last Samurai and insisted a couple of times that this or that scene had been duplicated in "the other one we saw recently." After attempting a couple of times to retrofit her memory I gave up. I suppose I should put that one on our list of DVDs to purchase although I hadn't thought, at the time, that she'd found it interesting enough for us to own it.
- We're having a minor problem with a glob of wax in her left ear that I can't seem to dissolve or dislodge with Debrox. I used it once yesterday and once today. I haven't yet irrigated her ear after inserting the drops, as she hates this particular step and up to now it hasn't been necessary. If the plug in her ear doesn't appear to be relieved by Monday I'll call her doctor and make sure a note is made on her chart that she needs her ears cleaned professionally again. That's what we had to do the last time this happened three years ago. When she first complained that overnight her left ear had plugged I raced through all the possibilities and checked her out for infection, etc., but none of those seems to apply. It's been very frustrating, too, because her hearing isn't all that good, anyway, and I've had to increase my already resonant volume in order to get her to understand almost everything I say to her. I know it's frustrating for her, too. I hope tonight does the trick.
Later.
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originally posted by kidneygurl: Sun Oct 30, 02:28:00 PM 2005
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Check this out:
http://www.emphysema.net/oxiletter.html
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