The cardiologist asked me today. What I was doing to prevent another fall? He said that it was criminal that I had a caregiver that could not handle William.
I knew that I should request somebody with more experience.
I got home and called the company and said that i needed a different caregiver. I could not risk another fall. Falls for William are too dangerous per his cardiologist.
Well, I took care of that. I just needed the doctor to reinforce my feeling that the fall was r
80/60 was the reading that the oral surgeon got this morning. he did not feel comfortable with that reading. So home we go. He says that I need to take William to his primary care and get an OK again.
Luckily I have an appointment with the cardiologist on Friday.
Wm's blood pressure does not usually run that low. What is going on? I take him home and push fluids. I retake the BP and is is 117/80.
I still have some lovenox shots. So this will take me to the Friday appoitm
William decides that he does not want to go to the pool. I decide not to argue with him. I tell him that I am heading to the ymca to do my thing.
I was just tired to spending 30 minutes getting him to agree to go .....
I get home and William is on the phone. I ask who he is calling. He has called 911. I tell him to tell them that they do not need t0 come out.
He calls them back and says "My wife demands that I call and tell you not to come!". Now they have to come out and
Friday. William was chewing a piece of gum. His crown came out. Friday, sat and Sun. We had soup and soft food. This was good ...it is like dieting.
Today, I took him to the lab for blood work, then I called the dentist to see if they could see him today. Yes, they got him in. Unfortunatley, the tooth is rotted. Under the crown there is a cavity and an abscess. The tooth has had alot of work and is not salvageable. We had to get a referral to an oral surgeon.
We made it to the
Our last outing with the Ymca was to Wharton, Texas. this was a 8Am to 6P trip. William tolerated the trip well. No mishaps. Whquearton , is a little tiny town. We saw everything that was possible to see in Wharton.
We had delicious bar b que. I also found some pralines at one of our bathroom stops. William has wanted pralines last time we went to a Mexican restaurant. He was ecstatic that we could find some. Delicious stuff!!
We had our primary care appointment. The Docotor h
William had me seeing red the other Sunday. I had taken him to church and we always go to the pool after church. But, William immediately starts saying that he is too tired to go to the pool. I proceed to the pool anyway. We get there and William refuses to get out of the car.
In frustration I finally leave him and go and do my swimming. When I get out. I find that he is in the lobby. He had asked a passerby to help him get into the lobby.
We get home and I let him have a nap.
We get a couple of cool evenings and the pool gets cold. This means wet suit weather for William.
You should see me pulling that suit onto William. It is like stuffing a teenager into some tight pants. Not a pleasant picture. I will be soon going back to the warm therapeutic pool. it is a drive but at least the water is warm.
Life has certainly changed since the stroke. I told William that we eat out all of the time. Eating out is a nice excursion and we get the job of eating done
I had to really light into William on Thursday. He pushed me to the brink of madness. He complains about the pool and grumbles and want to get out early, etc. I finally lit into him and said that his complaining was not making the hour a pleasant one for him or for me. I was not going to tolerate one more time.
I am setting rules. We stay for one hour. No moaning about getting out early. The hour or 60 minutes starts the instant that he hits the water. I asked if he had a difficu
I was out and about yesterday. I had gotten home from work and decided that William needed to get out of the house. I asked him where he wanted to go for lunch. We decided on one place and then by the time we got there decded on another. This one has free icecream and all that you want to drink ice tea and lemonade. The lemonade machine was broken. As usual we ordered way too much food. We had salad, soup and a sandwich. Just one of each. We had to bring the entire sandwich home. Just s
I had lots of days off last week. It felt like a vacation. I really will look forward to retirement.
I took William out to I-Hop...he love the Rise and Shine breakfast. I usually order something that comes with pancakes. Wm loves the pancakes also. He needs to have that maple syrup. He loves to dring lots of fluids. He needs coffee and iced tea. We always get a cup of ice tea to go.
We get breakfast after the pool. that is such a nice treat. He went to the pool every day.
Today we went to the dentist. They could not get both of us in. So I opted to have William's visit first. I have set mine up for this Wed. William went thru with flying colors. He needs to take his time and brush longer. He is so impatient. He was impatient before the stroke but the after he us even more impatient. The dental hygientist stressed that he needs to take his time. I have been flossing his teeth for him. I do this while he is in the shower. I figure that we may as well d
I finally got around to buying a Nook for William yesterday. I had researched the product as compared to the Kendall. The Nook is able to dowmload from the library here is town. it won.
After our morning exercises..Wm's rest...I suggested that we get out and have lunch. William decided on where to eat. He usually wants me to choose. but, he has been dying to have these killer onion rings. So off we went for a sandwich and onion rings.
After lunch, I suggested that we go to barnes
William was a bad boy today. The water was cold. We had a bit of rain and it was overcast yesterday. This made a big difference in the temperature of the water. but, I got him to walk for 40 minutes. Kicking and complaining the entire time. But, he did it.
The last five minutes of our time in the pool. I use the water weights and have William push and pull with the weights while leaning against the side of the pool. This is to keep the arm flexible. This is on the only time that i
Our new routine is working quite well.
William walks the pool for 45-60 minutes. I give him a shower ...then he watches me swim for 15 minutes..I let him go to the lobby and he has coffee and water and breakfast. Yes, they sell breakfast burritos, and breakfast sandwiches.
I forgot my tennis shoes. Wm says why don't you go and get them?? OK, He stays and watches TV and has coffee and breakfast and I run home and get the shoes.
I come back.. Refill his coffee and get on the mach
Can you believe it?? William has adapted to the new workout routine quite well.
I made one more change. After I worked him out in the pool. I gave him a shower and then I went back and did some laps. I set William up so that he could watch me and the rest of the people in the pool. This ensures that I get him into that handicapped shower before somebody else uses it. I can use any shower. William enjoyed watching me swim.
Next, I set him up in the lobby and he had his water , co
I have decided that i need to work on my physical well being. I have gotten out of shape. two years of caregiving does a job on the old body.
I have decided that I will work out when I take William to the Y. I work with him in the pool for 50-60 minutes. I then have him wait on the chair while I swim for 10-15 minutes. I am so out of shape that I can only do laps for that long. I need to work up. Next, I give us showers.
I push William to the lobby and he has his meds and coffee a
I am getting tired of explaining to women , why William is in the women's restroom. We really do not have a choice. The women would rather I went into the men's restroom. but, with the use of urinals in the men's...that is not possible. I am afraid that these same women do not know what a man's restroom looks like. The alternative would be that William would soil himself or we would not be able to leave the house.
Some people are so thoughtless. I allready have enough to worry about.
Today was Sunday. William's favorite day of the week. He loves going to church.
Yesterday at the pool William decided to set the count. this is the number of times that we walk the length of the pool. He decided on the Number 20. But, he finished it in about 30 minutes. He wanted to leave the pool. I could not get him to understand that the time had to be met too. WE need to work for an hour.
Arguing with him was useless. I finally had to give in and let him out of the pool.
It is so hot in Texas now. I ran into the grocery store and left the keys in the ignition and the care running with the ac on. William did not want to go into the store with me.
I get back and William tells me that some man had opened the door and sat down in the car. he noticed william and then said "sorry". I do think that he just go into the wrong car.
But, then I got to thinking. What if, somebody wanted to car jack the car and William was in the car. They would just driv
William hates for me to go to work. He would just love it if I stayed at home and took care of him.
I personally enjoy the time away. Even though it is work. This makes my life not seem like the 24/7 it would be if I were the sole caregiver for William.
I also enjoy the money that I can earn. We have more discretionary money to spend because of my job. We get the added bonus of insurance coverage for him and myself. this would all be out of pocket if I wasn't working.
All in al
This sounds like the television commercial for the alert devices. I came home to hear William calling me from his room. He was on the floor. He was trying to get his cell phone. He didn't realize that it was right next to him. The caregiver had left and he decided to walk to the living room and find his phone.
I got home 45 min later. William was trying to shout for help. I told him to just lay them next time. I willl be home..and nobody can hear him through the door.
Wel
I have to ask myself. If this my schedule or William's schedule.???
I seem to be in charge of the schedule and William always wants to ask what we do next. I remind him that we have just been doing this for 2 years. But, the only day that he knows is Sunday. That is the day that he chooses to have as his own.
Monday is Pool in the morning. This means that I get up and get our stuff gathered and put into the car. I get William up and changed into his swim trunks. He need to brush his
Today is Easter. He is Risen. William could not wait to get to early service. We had service at 7AM. William was up at 4AM wondering if we should get ready. I had to tell him that 6A or 5:30A was early enough. We left the house at 6A and got church too early. I was able to read the entire book of JOhn to William while we waited for service to start.
We started talking on the way home. I remarked that one of the ladies at the YMCA had remarked that William has come along way since we
William and I went to the poodle shelter today. This was in place of the pool. William was excited...He calls me at work and tells me that is does not make sense to take a shower before he visits the dogs. I agree with him. Initially I had planned to have him shower before I got home from work.
William wanted to eat lunch, but I told him that we had to visit the dogs. William absolutely loved it. He was not too excited about the really excited jumpy dogs. They made him nervous. But,
I am the pushing prodding part of the relationship.. I don't know if the stroke eliminated the sense of urgency for continual work or if William just does not have the drive to keep working as hard as I want him to. I push and insist that he works at recovery. I am told by everybody that william would not be where he is today unless I had pushed him as hard as I have. I must say that William will work with me most times. Sometimes he gets cranky and I get angry. I talk to him and explain t
