20 January 2025
The bus schedule for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day seemed a bit less frequent than even a Sunday. It took about an hour and half to get there and two hours to get home. So I was able to spend just an hour and half with Joyce.
The first thing I did was get her out of bed. But as she was making her way to the edge of the bed, the RNAs came in to help her up. They were waiting for me, one told me, because I alone can persuade get to her up.
I don't ask her, I told them. I just put her shoes on.
She transferred to the chair but as soon as they got her to the hallway, they put the walker in front of her and, despite her screaming and violent refusals, she did get up and walk 10 feet before insisting on sitting back in the chair, which I roll behind her.
She complains she can't do it, but she always can. She complains she's afraid of falling, but she never does. You have to wait all that out, encouraging her to try. Then she gets impatient, stands up and continues.
She managed to walk about 100 feet but she took five breaks. Then the RNAs took her into the gym to get her some time on the SciFit. About 10 minutes.
None of the therapists were there today, of course. It's a holiday.
I was surprised, in fact, to see the RNAs there, but they don't work for Reliant like the therapists.
After that, she had her lunch in the chair, sitting in the hallway. But again she didn't eat any solids. She drank the prune juice, some coffee and some milk and had half the pudding. She left the main plate with three scoops of something alone. I encouraged her to try the vegetable lump. She had one bite.
I rolled her around the place after that, stopping by the glass doors to get a little sunshine before weighing her. She was 163 lbs. and 8 oz. on the scale, which means (minus the wheelchair and clothing) she's actually 126 lbs. 8 oz. She just keeps losing weight and is happy about it.
I tried to get her to stand up in the hall and walk to the bed but she couldn't stand up. I pointed out she does eventually have to stand up to get into the bed. That didn't help.
So I left her in the chair next to the bed watching TV. She worried about who was going to put her in bed. Her CNA, with some help, I told her.
Then I went to catch my three buses for what would be the two-hour ride home during which I befriended four skateboarders looking for the 48 bus stop.
As soon as I got home, Joyce text me that an elderly nun had just come in to give her a blessing.
That would be Sister Eileen, who used to visit my mother and who keeps in touch. I ask her about her travails renewing her driver's license and she asks me how I'm holding up.
She ran the hospital up the hill when my father was there at the end of his life. It was kind of her to think of Joyce and visit.
I'll see if the blessing did any good tomorrow. Meanwhile I'll just cross my fingers.