23 May 2025
I've been intending to update you for a couple of days but, frankly, the flesh is weak. Yesterday (garbage day) I raked the back forty after dinner, got tripped by a tall sprinkler and tumbled downhill 20 feet, rolling over and over. But somehow I didn't hit my fragile head. Weak flesh indeed.
Joyce has been better than that. No falls.
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AND SHE EVEN remembered something I forgot: that she had a debridement with Jennifer on Wednesday. She called me at 8 a.m. to remind me. And a good thing. Fortunately, I can drive her there so we didn't have to make any special arrangements.
Except for lunch, which she still isn't eating. One or two bites of each thing except the vegetables and starch. So I always get her a Boost to supplement her diet with vitamins and protein. I had to ask for one on Wednesday.
The nurse at the main desk thought I wanted her papers (they send her medical papers with her whenever she has an appointment). But I knew Jennifer didn't want them any more. "Just the Boost, please," I said.
This trip to Kaiser was a bit different. Not only did I find the handicapped parking near the elevator door in the garage (how did I miss that last time?) but after we wheelchaired up one elevator to the lobby and another to the second floor Surgery dept., Joyce was able to walk into the exam room with her trekking pole. And sit in the exam chair.
It was a lot easier than rolling her in and getting her out of the wheelchair into the exam chair. A lot.
The nurse applauded, in fact.
She had a pretty painless debridement for once. She had a Tylenol at the SNF and Jennifer had Amanda apply Lidocaine to the wound before they did any cutting. Amanda, who observed last month and did the debridement this month, was gentle but thorough. I held Joyce in position so Jennifer could observe.
When it was over, Joyce got up from the exam chair and walked to the wheelchair in the hallway with her pole. No problem.
She got in the car and later she got out of the car. I didn't have to lift her.
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SINCE HER VISIT to the dentist, I've been helping her brush her teeth after every lunch. From the wheelchair because she doesn't like standing up.
She flosses and then uses the battery-powered Quip to brush, rinsing with a small cup.
She doesn't like standing up, no. But the last two days, as I've had her walk a bit further to her wheelchair after she gets dressed, she hasn't said she feels afraid when she's walking.
I've tried to distract her by talking nonsense. And the staff she walks by encourages her with their praise at how well she's doing.
But when I ask her how she's feeling as she walks, she says she's OK.
Could be the Lexapro, could be insignificant because I still get, "Do I have to walk any more today?" when she makes it to the wheelchair.
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LEONE THE PHYSICAL THERAPIST laughingly accused me of moving her wheelchair further and further from the room to make her walk more.
Then she told us the Medicare Part B physical therapy had ended this week. So the RNAs would be walking Joyce. And doing stairs. But not commode training.
Of course they leave the dirty work to me.
But they'll only work with her a couple of days a week. So I'm girding myself to do the stairs with her. I do walk with her too but I don't bring the chair behind her because as I stand on her left, she holds my left hand with her left and I grab the back of her belt with my right in case she topples over. So there are no hands left to drag the chair behind.
That's one of the reasons I use the chair as a sort of goal to walk toward when she gets up. If she wants to sit, she'll have to walk to it.
But for longer walks, the chair should come along. And for that I need a third person. Although I'm tempted to just try it without the chair. She's strong enough. Physically.
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THAT'S IT for this week. I think I remembered everything.