28 November 2024
You never know what's going to happen at Golden Height. Yesterday was a pleasant surprise.
When Holly dropped me off, I walked the long way around and ran into Cassie, who told me she'd be in to see Joyce later.
Joyce is in bed, of course. And resistant to getting in the chair. The sling hurts her, she says. But we have a long time to talk about it before Cassie and Kevin arrive. So she gets used to the idea. It only pinches her leg and hair for a second.
Odd she would resist because she enjoyed getting out of the room the day before.
So I suggest skipping the lift and just standing up and transferring to the chair. She's not immediately against the idea. 'What do you think?' she says. I point out she has done it before and it would be good to try it at least. They can always bring in the lift.
I had arranged the room for the lift, opening the decrepit wheelchair with difficulty after angling the bed to the side. The roommate is out of the room, as usual, so it isn't an inconvenience.
Kevin can't find the sling for the Hoyer lift. Eventually he borrows one but I tell him we discussed standing and transferring via the walker. He's delighted and tells Cassie and she's thrilled too. So they help Joyce stand with the walker and step to the side to sit in the wheelchair. We give her a round of applause. She only screamed standing up but she seemed strong.
Just before they came, I had gone looking for Cassie and saw her and Kevin walking an elderly woman on a walker. Cassie told me Joyce was next and mentioned a cognitive skills test.
So once Joyce was in the chair, we rolled to the gym, which has a kitchen for occupational therapy, and sat at the table. Cassie gave her a long test.
Joyce had to repeat words, sentences, say things backwards, tap her finger on the table on cue, draw a clock face, subtract 7 starting from 100 repeatedly, remember words, say where she was, what day it is, the date, etc. She did fine except for the clock fact and the subtraction.
We had practiced the other things while waiting for Cassie, though.
We went back to the room for her lunch after that, but she didn't touch the main plate, preferring the pudding, milk and coffee. That was all.
I wheeled her around the building after that, enjoying the Christmas decorations again and the fish tank and greeting people who waved at us from their wheelchairs parked in the hallway outside their room for lunch on their trays. The rooms are small and cramped so if you're out of bed, it's hard to find room to eat off the tray.
Holly texts she's she's on her way from home to pick me up just before 2 p.m. so I ring for the CNA to put her back in bed and leave her in the chair to get my ride.
But making the transfer by herself and doing so well on the cognitive test were big wins.