Day 134 - Friday 9th September
A bad night for kp last night. I said in the blog yesterday that we would both sleep for sure. Well, I had a lovely night, but kp definately didn't. She has one of these air-mattresses which changes the pressure points on your body as you lie there, to prevent bed sores.
In a nutshell, it beeped every second for the whole night, which drove me crazy for the 20 minutes I was there last night and secondly, it went flat. My first site of Karen this morning (about 10.45pm) was a knackered looking kp in the middle of a trough with 2 peaks of bed to either side. Poor Karen.
She didn't seem to realise it was flat, and felt comfy bizarrely enough.
But, she was definately tired and although we had time to bath before hot chicken and chip lunch, she opted for sleep. I was more than happy to snooze as yesterday really took its toll on me, and I was knackered (despite the good night's sleep).
We slept till 12pm and got up just in time for the hot chicken lunch.
Bath followed lunch.
I didn't flow today. Everything took forever. I couldn't concentrate on the routine and a 75 minute bath routine probably took 90mins+.
I was getting annoyed with Karen's room. The turner was in the way of the wheelchair which stopped me getting past the bed to the sink. The yellow bin is now in the bathroom, the hoist for the bath gets caught on the wheelchair feet etc etc....
But, I managed to keep a lid on it at this stage.
I tried to persuade kp to go in the bath without using the hoist. It involves a few transfers but she just wanted a nice bath. I kept trying to persuade her, but given the state of tiredness of us both, she was right and we did our usual routine doing two transfers along the way as a compromise. kp was a bit weaker than yesterday and although I hardly had to help at all with her stands, I could tell she was a bit stiff after yesterday's efforts.
During the bath routine, kp voiced her concerns that she felt she may be going "down the pan" a bit. She has had some pains when passing water, and she feels she may be turning a corner. By the end of our chat, we had put it into perspective, and although it is probable she has a urinary tract infection, she has knocked them on the head before and I feel sure she will do the same with this one. They have taken a sample to check it out anyway.
As we came out of the bath, the man had arrived to fix kp's bed. One of the tubes inside the bed had come loose, meaning it couldn't get blown up, hence the whinging (beeping).
All sorted now.
Karen then proceeded to cosmetify/hairdryify herself. kp then chatted about things like "Do you think we'll be ok ?". I reassured her that we would. I think there has been some realisation today about how hard living at home will be. Yesterday, the euphoria carried us both through and at the time it felt like a breeze. This weekend will be a good test for both of us. I can't wait for her to come back home again, but we have both said we need to go a bit steadier over the weekend.
Yesterday, it was nearly a case of seeing something kp could sit on, and trying out a transfer to/from it.
At about 3pm, Marie and Michelle arrived, the atmosphere in the room by that stage was a bit strained. I had lost my rag with objects around the room. This makes kp feel awful.
kp:- Are you annoyed with me ?
dp:- No, not at all love. I am just exhausted. I just need some sleep.
Of course, then I feel guilty, but sometimes it is the wheelchair's fault. Why was it designed with 500 bits that stick out to catch legs/hoists etc ?!
The last maneuvre we did, just before Michelle and Marie arrived was a transfer from the wheelchair back to the bed. I hadn't prepared it well enough and the bed was not in the right place, so although it was very safe and kp sat fine on the bed, her bum was too close to where her feet should be on the bed, so that when we did the lying down routine, her feet were touching the footboard and her head was miles from the headboard.
The only way to correct this is to do it again or take the easy option and slide her up the bed by pulling the sheet. kp was exhausted, I was exhausted, so we took the easy route.
So, kp ended up with perfect positioning on the bed, but didn't have any sheet on her feet and had 4ft spare above her head.
At that moment, Marie and Michelle walk in, probably thinking "Nice one David, you've done a really good job of the sheets there !"
But, I was too tired/lifeless to be bothered. I just sat in her wheelchair and rested.
Marie could tell I wasn't 100% and suggested I go, which I did, but I felt a bit bad ending the day on a sour note.
All being well, I will feel right as rain in the morning and we will have a cracking weekend. I am really looking forward to it.
PS - kp isn't keen on releasing the dogs video footage, sorry :-(
In a nutshell, it beeped every second for the whole night, which drove me crazy for the 20 minutes I was there last night and secondly, it went flat. My first site of Karen this morning (about 10.45pm) was a knackered looking kp in the middle of a trough with 2 peaks of bed to either side. Poor Karen.
She didn't seem to realise it was flat, and felt comfy bizarrely enough.
But, she was definately tired and although we had time to bath before hot chicken and chip lunch, she opted for sleep. I was more than happy to snooze as yesterday really took its toll on me, and I was knackered (despite the good night's sleep).
We slept till 12pm and got up just in time for the hot chicken lunch.
Bath followed lunch.
I didn't flow today. Everything took forever. I couldn't concentrate on the routine and a 75 minute bath routine probably took 90mins+.
I was getting annoyed with Karen's room. The turner was in the way of the wheelchair which stopped me getting past the bed to the sink. The yellow bin is now in the bathroom, the hoist for the bath gets caught on the wheelchair feet etc etc....
But, I managed to keep a lid on it at this stage.
I tried to persuade kp to go in the bath without using the hoist. It involves a few transfers but she just wanted a nice bath. I kept trying to persuade her, but given the state of tiredness of us both, she was right and we did our usual routine doing two transfers along the way as a compromise. kp was a bit weaker than yesterday and although I hardly had to help at all with her stands, I could tell she was a bit stiff after yesterday's efforts.
During the bath routine, kp voiced her concerns that she felt she may be going "down the pan" a bit. She has had some pains when passing water, and she feels she may be turning a corner. By the end of our chat, we had put it into perspective, and although it is probable she has a urinary tract infection, she has knocked them on the head before and I feel sure she will do the same with this one. They have taken a sample to check it out anyway.
As we came out of the bath, the man had arrived to fix kp's bed. One of the tubes inside the bed had come loose, meaning it couldn't get blown up, hence the whinging (beeping).
All sorted now.
Karen then proceeded to cosmetify/hairdryify herself. kp then chatted about things like "Do you think we'll be ok ?". I reassured her that we would. I think there has been some realisation today about how hard living at home will be. Yesterday, the euphoria carried us both through and at the time it felt like a breeze. This weekend will be a good test for both of us. I can't wait for her to come back home again, but we have both said we need to go a bit steadier over the weekend.
Yesterday, it was nearly a case of seeing something kp could sit on, and trying out a transfer to/from it.
At about 3pm, Marie and Michelle arrived, the atmosphere in the room by that stage was a bit strained. I had lost my rag with objects around the room. This makes kp feel awful.
kp:- Are you annoyed with me ?
dp:- No, not at all love. I am just exhausted. I just need some sleep.
Of course, then I feel guilty, but sometimes it is the wheelchair's fault. Why was it designed with 500 bits that stick out to catch legs/hoists etc ?!
The last maneuvre we did, just before Michelle and Marie arrived was a transfer from the wheelchair back to the bed. I hadn't prepared it well enough and the bed was not in the right place, so although it was very safe and kp sat fine on the bed, her bum was too close to where her feet should be on the bed, so that when we did the lying down routine, her feet were touching the footboard and her head was miles from the headboard.
The only way to correct this is to do it again or take the easy option and slide her up the bed by pulling the sheet. kp was exhausted, I was exhausted, so we took the easy route.
So, kp ended up with perfect positioning on the bed, but didn't have any sheet on her feet and had 4ft spare above her head.
At that moment, Marie and Michelle walk in, probably thinking "Nice one David, you've done a really good job of the sheets there !"
But, I was too tired/lifeless to be bothered. I just sat in her wheelchair and rested.
Marie could tell I wasn't 100% and suggested I go, which I did, but I felt a bit bad ending the day on a sour note.
All being well, I will feel right as rain in the morning and we will have a cracking weekend. I am really looking forward to it.
PS - kp isn't keen on releasing the dogs video footage, sorry :-(
posted by David Pollard at Friday, September 09, 2005
2 Comments:
Aw David, whilst it was great having the home visit I thought that you might both be physically and emotionally drained from it.I think it's to be expected so don't beat yourselves up about it. I'm sure you'll both have a great nights sleep tonight an be raring to go for the weekend visit, as you say maybe take it easier and just watch tele, eat and sleep. leave the energetic moving around for a few weeks!
Chins up, you are doing great
love sue
hiya karen and david,im not at all suprised today was a bit of a let down,after a fab home visit it must have been a dreggie day,but hey, this is what its all about, spice of life,never two days the same. will miss karen tomorrow, happy home visit again, im just worried about the x10 bus driver, she will wonder where i am(haha)
have a great day on saturday love yvonnexxx
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