6 December 2024
Long after I had left the house, Joyce texted me, "I am not feeling well. Don't come today."
It was a bus day for me but West Portal station had a mechanical problem that was preventing the streetcars from going east. So the buses were backed up behind the streetcars.
I was able to take an M to Stonestown and grab a 28 to Daly City BART by 11:30. 121 SamTrans bus took me the rest of way, so I got there about noon, a half hour later than usual. Not bad.
Joyce was still in bed, watching TV. She told me about the text. She explained she had vomited and the nurse had cleaned her up and told her she felt a little warm.
How could she vomit if she wasn't eating?
I chased down Eric the RN to find out what he knew. Nothing. The CNA hadn't told him anything. So he chased down Sheik the CNA. Sheik told him nothing had happened. He didn't even change her gown.
Joyce confessed she had "exaggerated." She hadn't vomited, just burped up some breakfast. Eric took her temperature, perfectly normal.
She didn't want to get out of bed even just to sit in the chair. She was adamant about it. And screamed, of course.
I distracted her with the property tax bill. She wrote a check for her half and calmed down.
I took off her socks and put on her shoes and she got to the edge of the bed. But she panicked. She was afraid she was going to fall.
At that very moment Cassie came in and helped me to get her up. She insisted she wasn't going to walk down the hallway today. Cassie suggested we go to the gym. And on the way Kevin joined us.
Cassie rolled Joyce over to the Spirit Cycle. And Joyce spun the hand grips for several minutes. I discussed having Blake the Psychologist visit Joyce again, which Cassie had suggested a few days ago. But Joyce was having none of it.
I pointed out to Joyce that the Spirit Cycle exercises her arms so her joints don't hurt. Laying in bed makes you back stiff and you leg joints stiff, too. Walking helps them. So does the SciFit. So if you aren't going to walk, how about a SciFit session?
She agreed, so Cassie rolled her over there and set her up and Joyce went to town.
Not without complaining though. "No one cares about me!" she hollered.
"That's not true, Joyce," Cassie said to her softly. "I care about you."
"I'm sorry," she said. And kept on with the SciFit.
When she took a break, I pointed out to her that her varicose veins had disappeared.
"How is that possible?" she asked.
When she was done, Cassie said they don't work on weekends so they'll see her on Monday. She promised Cassie should would walk on Monday.
We went back to the room so she could refuse lunch.
Then she wanted to roll around the place, so we did. She didn't want to go back to the room but I had to catch the bus to Trader Joe's and home. She didn't want anyone else to help her back into bed. So I got her on the walker, she walked a few steps to the bed completely under control and got in. I took off her shoes, gave her the book of stories she was reading and said goodbye.
Strange day. She makes quite an effort to avoid getting going but once up, she likes to stay up. Not sure what to make of that.