A Hot Wekend

Sunday continued with Margaret in a quiet mood. She was pretty confused all day and decided to go to bed at 8.30 pm as she didn't like the TV programme I was watching and there was nothing else she wanted to watch. Up until a few weeks ago she was reading quite regularly even if a little slowly. She had her last library book for nine weeks but never finished it. I got a short large pring period novel which she used to like but apart from looking at the cover has shown no signs of reading it. She does have a cataract in one eye which needs fixing so I will make an appointment with her ophthalmologist to see if he thinks it worth while at this time.

Today the Blue Care RN is paying us an assessment visit later this morning so I suppose I should try and get Margaret up but she is not feeling too great and it is going to be another hot day. Yesterday was 34C/94F and quite humid so we had the air conditioners on from about mid day. It wont be long before we will need them today.

We haven't had the results from the Urine Tests Margaret had last Tuesday so I assume that she doesn't have a UTI and her deepening confusion and dementia is caused by something else such as increased Vascular Dementia caused by the small strokes she is susceptible too. If so the condition is permanent. She woke up confused this morning – normally she is quite bright early and slips away throughout the day until at night time she is really not with us.

Back to What Passes as Normal

After Margaret's bad start on Friday morning, in the afternoon she was back to her normal placid self and the rest of the day passed peacefully.

Saturday was also very quiet. Margaret was still good natured and easy to manage. I wonder if Friday's bad start was due to her having a brief moment or two of reality and rebelling against her normal confused self. Looking after Margaret is normally like looking after a toddler where a firm loving attitude works very well. On Friday she was like a rebellious teenager and I have plenty of experience with that. I heard a great quote on the radio yesterday:

“God gave us marriage so that we would have someone we know to fight with!”

I don't even get the fights these days and our conversations are all very unusual. Yesterday after one rambling utterance from Margaret I told her that I didn't understand what she was trying to say. To my amazement she replied, “No I have noticed that you don't understand much these days!”

Today Sunday has started very quietly and I intend to rest up and read.

A Bad Start

There is not a lot to be said about yesterday. Margaret is still in a world quite divorced from reality and I am beginning to believe that this is her lot from now on.

This morning has started badly. Margaret woke while I was showering and I intercepted her going to the kitchen and told her I would bring her a cup of tea ASAP. After giving her her tea I started getting my breakfast – two slices of fruit toast and just as things were getting near to completion, orange juice poured, tea bag infusing and toast about to pop up Margaret reappeared. She said she was in pain. I dropped every thing and went and found two Osteo grade Paracetamol and poured a glass of water. Margaret had disappeared into the lounge so I called her back to take the tablets. She got annoyed with me, stalked back behind her wheely walker and grabbed my single tablet and started to take it. She got even more annoyed when I stopped her and she said it was hers. In time I got my tablet back, she took hers and stormed back to the bed room saying I was nasty.

After drinking my orange juice and taking my Celabrex for arthritis, spreading my, now cold, toast, putting milk in my stewed tea and having my breakfast I took Louis for his walk to cool down.

After my walk I gave Margaret her breakfast remembering to give her toast and peanut butter in lieu of the apricot jam which she has had for years and gave her her medications. Friday is a special medication day as she has a once a week tablet today. It has to be taken half a hour before or after food so I put it separate and told her to take it after 8.00am. Just now 7.30 am she wheeled in and asked when she was to take the tablet and I repeated that she was to take it after 8.00 am. She then said that was what she thought I had said but she had just taken it anyway. Note all her other tablets were in a a dispenser next to her breakfast plate and ready to take. The once a week one was on her chest of drawers and still in side its blister pack so she had to get out of bed and break open the blister pack to take the tablet. Oh well let's hope there in no reaction.

I just reminded her that S was going to take her to the shops sometime this morning so she should get ready and dressed by 10.00 am. She could have her morning tea while waiting and I could start sorting out her room, cleaning her en suite and changing her bed linen. She could go to the Mall with S and continue the search for trousers and have a light meal while out. She has just told me she is not going and I told her that she is, so at present she is very hostile towards me. she is back to saying tha she doesn't want me as a carer any more.

More later.

Later this morning Margaret settled down and by 9.45 am was getting ready to go out. She had some problems getting dressed and I had to help her get her bra on. As she finished S the Blue Care carer arrived and helped Margaret put on her trousers. As she did so Margaret told her that I had said that S wasn't coming today but she knew she was. Margaret appeared a little unsteady so S elected to take her to the mall where she could borrow a wheelchair. Supposedly Margaret was going to look for trousers.

While they were away I changed Margaret's bed linen and vacuumed her room and en suite. While cleaning up the bedroom I found the once a week tablet still in it's blister pack where I had put it. It hadn't been taken at all!!.

When they returned S said that Margaret had been very aggressive when shown trousers and bought herself two more tops instead. It appears that Margaret looked quite offensive and was clutching her fists at S. This is a new disturbing thing. Margaret now has four new tops this month but she still needs trousers. I showed Margaret the tablet and she popped it out of it's pack and ate it.

Now she is resting.

A Fishy Tale

Fortunately Margaret soon forgot about my little outburst yesterday morning and we went out to lunch to the Noosa Bowls Club where Margaret had, her present favourite food, Sizzling Garlic Prawns. I think we got a different chef as they looked and, so Margaret said, tasted superb. She had a fresh green salad and some chips and demolished the lot. I had baked oven dory, a local fish, which was also great. The only thing about the lunch was Margaret's state of mind. She prattled on between mouthfuls about anything and everything but none of it making much sense. She informed me that people leave their wills here, that she was going to visit the man with the ring (one of her specialists, I think), she wanted to see the man in bare feet (a local jeweller who walks his dog most mornings with no shoes on and Margaret see him from her bedroom window) and, out of the blue, that she had to get home to feed the fish in her bedroom. I normally respond to Margaret's chatter with things like, “I didn't know that!, “You don't have an appointment with Dr. H today.” “C walked a bit earlier today.” but the fish flummoxed me.

After lunch she had a rest and I snoozed and then took Louis for his walk. During a light snack for our evening meal our daughter H phoned to see how we we getting on. I told her that Mum was rambling a bit and warned her about the fish. H decided to ask Margaret about it and was told not to be silly as we didn't have any fish. Their conversation went on for several minutes when Margaret decided to terminate it by telling H that she had to feed the fish in her bedroom! Helen asked what sort of fish it was was and was told it was black and tasted delicious. When I said good bye to H she asked if I was supplementing Margaret's diet by breeding Black Mollies and feeding them to her.. She also said that she had difficulty following Margaret's conversation and would phone back early today to see if she was more coherent.

Margaret watched TV for a while before going to bed at 9.00 pm and after the usual routine of settling her down she slept all night.

This morning I went shopping early and H phone while I was out so I don't know if Margaret is any more understandable today.

UTI Revisited

After asking many times when she was to get up to go to the Doctor's at about 8.45 am she told me she was too tired to get up and dressed. She also thought that she didn't have any reason to see her GP as she was OK. Finally I convinced her that she required more prescriptions to keep her medication up to date and we managed to get out by 9.15 am. Her appointment was not until 10.00 am but I managed to get the practice nurse to look at Margaret's leg. Two of the skin tears were healing quite nicely, one had the skin flap tucked under so it will probably die off and leave a scar the last one was a bit wet so it was redressed and the leg bandaged up again. I shall keep an eye on it for that next few days but at least it is not infected.

Margaret's GP was still concerned with Margaret's continued confusion and odd behaviour. He suspects that she still has complex UTI so I took another sample to pathology collection centre later in the day and we will await results later in the week.

After her visit to the GP I took her to a local cafe for morning tea. She was adamant that she only wanted tea and definitely nothing to eat. I ordered a black tea for her and a white coffee and scone for me. When they arrived she took the scone and started to eat it. The lady who served us had heard the conversation before I ordered and was a little taken aback. I just ordered another scone. It could have been a scene out of Little Britain.

While writing this I have been very stupid. Margaret barged in and wanted to know what I was doing and instead of just telling her I was writing an email or something I told her to mind her own business and leave me alone. Needless to say this upset her and I will now have to calm her down. I think we may go out to lunch today which she normally enjoys.

Keeping Louis Thin

This funny title is quite true. Louis is inclined to getting a bit tubby, dare I say fat, around his waist. These days it it is not helped by Margaret who seems to think that he is being starved. When I took Margaret out on Sunday to the Mall for Tea and Dough Nuts she spent most of the time worrying that Louis was starving at home. This had started at breakfast when Louis shares Margaret's toast and vegemite. Margaret asked for her bread and peanut butter which she "always" shares with Louis. It took some effort to convince Margaret that he never has peanut butter and if he eats anymore he get very fat.

While out at the Mall drinking her tea she wanted to buy "poor Louis" at home something to eat and drink. She was not convinced that a raw chicken wing and a plate of roast chicken, our left overs from Saturday night, was enough. As I walked her through the Mall she wanted to buy everything that she saw and was not the least interested in looking at trousers with stretch waists which she really needs. I managed to limit her to a bunch of flowers, some grapes and a packet of swiss rolls and avoided the brightly coloured beach ware which fills the stores.

Sunday passed without any real dramas and Monday was much the same except that now Margaret wanted to share our wine with Louis. I realize that he now appears to have taken the place of a real member of the household and not just a lovely loving pet. I had a discussion with Louis and he said that he was a rum and coke guy and unless there was some available he would stick to water. This appeared to satisfy Margaret.

Monday dinner was Cottage Pie as recommended by Margaret's Blue Care carer S2. I modified it a little to make a slow crock pot type dish which I prepare in the morning and leave to cook slowly all day on a bench outside on the patio. In the evening I just cook and mash the potatoes and pop the complete pie in the oven to brown up. Served with thick brown gravy and green peas it was a great success. There is also some left over for Louis today. (Actually he licked the plates and crock pot clean last night as well - so much for a diet!)

It is interesting that when I started this blog I was more worried about Margaret's physical condition but as time goes on her mental capabilities have declined noticeably. Apart from the pain her physical condition gives her and the regular visits to her doctor's she is keeping quite well. Her leg is healing nicely and we will have it looked at by the Practice Nurse at the doctor's this morning. I shall also have bring up her increased confusion with her doctor.

Today, Tuesday, she complained at breakfast that I had forgotten Louis peanut butter sandwich! She is also worried about when to get up and go to the doctor's and I have told her at least six times that she can lie in until 9.00 am. She is also asking when that woman (Blue Care RN) is coming and she has been told it will be a week Thursday every day since last Thursday.

A Little Excitement

On Friday I managed to get my bed linen changed and the dirty sheets etc. washed before lunch. After lunch I had a rest and read a book while Margaret also rested between wandering around the house with her wheely walker. She didn't want to go out as it was pretty warm 29C/84F but was worried that she should be going somewhere.

For weeks now Margaret has wanted fish and chips for Friday evening's dinner. I get this from the Noosa Marina fish shop where they have great smooth dory. Suddenly she doesn't want fish and chips and I wasn't prepared to cook anything else at short notice. I had an idea. During the week I had picked up a pack of frozen uncooked prawns marinated garlic and spices. I quickly defrosted these and warmed up some frozen chips in my little toaster oven. The prawns only took three minutes to cook in a hot fry pan. Margaret had Garlic Prawns and fresh fruit salad and I had Garlic Prawns and chips. As the packet was 500 gm we each had a fair number of prawns which were very tasty.

After dinner Margaret was sitting in her chair with her feet up with Louis lying beside her having a few treats when something took his attention and he jumped down using her right shin as a launching pad. He weighs 15 kg and all this weight was transferred through his right front paw to the shin where it made four neat skin tears. With normal skin there may have been some minor marks but with Margaret's steroid affected skin these were triangular tears about 2 cm on each side. Margaret screamed,was in shock and beginning to bleed. Louis fled and hid. These skin tears are a common occurrence so it was out with the medical kid and I applied a 10 cm square non adhesive dressing over the tears and secured it with a bandage. The injuries needed medical attention to pull the shin back over the tears and secure them in place. I took Margaret to our local hospital to see the after hours out patients doctors. The local doctors maintain and after hours servile on a roster basis as the hospital's emergency department is normally overwhelmed by real emergencies and waits for other patients can be four or five hours. We were seen by an Asian doctor who we hadn't seen before. He asked Margaret how the tears happened and she told him that she must have had a fall. I prompted her and she finally remembered Louis was responsible. The doctor had access to Margaret's record and observed that she was very confused. He removed the dressing and cleaned up the tears and carefully stretched the skin back and secured then with steri-strips. After replacing the dressing he said we should see out local GP next Monday or Tuesday unless the wounds became infected, Louis' paws get into some pretty mucky places at times. The doctor was very gentle and caring with Margaret and complimented my dressing skills and prompt action in getting treatment.

We got home about 8.30 pm and Margaret wanted to have an ice cream and go to bed early. I gave her two Panadol in addition to her normal medications. I told her that they would help her sleep. After tucking her in and settling her down she was soon off to sleep.

On Saturday she was back to normal and not in any pain from the tears. I looked out for any signs of infection during the day but she was OK. Her only concern was that “that woman”, the Blue Care RN was coming round and would take Louis away. I have tried to explain that it was her skin condition which had caused the problem not the normal behaviour of an exuberant little dog. Most of the day she rested and after dinner went to bed early – actually I suppose that 8.30 to 9.00 pm has become normal for her and she slept all night.

Today, Sunday, she wants to go out so I may take her to the local air-conditioned shopping mall for a look around and morning tea. It is going to be 33C/92F today and much too hot to push Margaret by the river.

Lunch Out

Yesterday the Blue Care RN called me to talk about her visit with Margaret earlier in the day. She said Margaret was OK but appeared very concerned about her continence underwear. Blue Care are arranging some financial support from the Commonwealth Government to cover their cost. Margaret told the RN that she needed fourteen a day! I explained that the figure fourteen was her latest favourite number and she actually uses between two and three a day.

We went out to the Noosa Bowls Club for lunch and Margaret had her favourite meal. During the meal she talked almost incessantly with no relationship to any thing in particular. At one stage she harped back to last week when she thought that children had been drowned at the Bowls Club. She understood that this was not so and asked me, “How how did they kill the children?” It took a little while to explain that no children had been killed at the Bowls Club. Anybody eavesdropping on our conversation would wonder what the hell is going on.

Afterwards Margaret wanted to go shopping but I was very tired and it was a warm day so I took her home where she barely made it to bed without falling over and slept for three hours until after I had walked Louis.

She went to bed early and slept all night.

This morning she is still on about needing fourteen continence pants so I told her she already had them -I actually counted three loose and a packet of ten so it was only a little lie.

This morning I will do a little washing and cleaning up and have a restful day.

Respite

At 12.30 pm yesterday the Blue Care Carer arrived to look after Margaret while I took time off to attend my local computer club meeting. She wasn't S but another lady with a name beginning with S so she is now referred to S2. I had Louis on the lead but immediately after his usual enthusiastic greeting he made friends with S2 and was sitting beside her on our settee. She is a dog owner and lover and soon had Louis eating out of her hand. This, of course, went down well with Margaret who takes to anybody who loves her dog.

I was able to leave at 12.45 pm and after a thirty minute drive arrived in time for the meeting in Yandina which is a small hinterland town. The meeting is held in the RSL hall which is a seventy year old timber building but in lovely condition. The club has a wireless broadband internet connection coupled to a wireless router so we can take our laptops and download and try out software from the club's server. It was interesting just being a normal member as for the last three years I have been giving short talks at the, now defunct, Noosa meetings. Until Margaret's future is more settled I shall not be giving any talks but will make myself available to give advice to other members when I can attend. As the carer was due to leave at 4.30 pm I left the meeting ten minutes early to get home b 4.20 pm.

At home all was well S2 had had a good chat with Margaret and given her a recipe for Cottage Pie for me to cook. She said that Margaret had been happy but her conversation was pretty difficult to follow. I now know that I can take an afternoon a month respite from caring for Margaret. As S2 left I asked Margaret what she wanted for dinner and she pointed a S2's recipe. S2 explained to her that I had to buy the ingredients and we would probably have it another day.

Margaret was very tired and went to bed at 9.00 pm and after being tucked in etc. was soon asleep.

This morning she is quite bright and when I was out doing our shopping, including the ingredients for cottage pie, the Blue Care RN called and missed me. The interesting thing was that Louis sat with Margaret during the visit and was no problem.

We will be going out for lunch and Margaret is looking forward to Sizzling Garlic Prawns.

Margaret's Confusion Continues

The day continued with Margaret being very confused and I cant remember a coherent sentence of more the five words. She responds to questions about her welfare and if she wants a cup of tea etc. but doesn't really converse.

I have been trying to prepare her for the fact that I am going out this afternoon for four hours to attend a monthly computer group meeting. This meeting used to be held a few minutes away in Noosa and before her last illness I could leave Margaret for a few hours confident that she would contact me on my mobile phone in an emergency and I would be home in 10 minutes. Since the the meeting has moved to Yandina about 30 km away and Margaret has forgotten how to use her mobile phone in emergencies. She has only to press two until it begins to dial me but in spite of instruction taped to her phone she still doesn't seem capable of doing it.

In order to attend the meeting I have arranged for Blue Care to provide a carer to sit with her for four hours this afternoon. Margaret doesn't want to be “baby sat” but we have no alternative if I am to get any respite time. I hope that the carer is S who takes Margaret shopping or at least someone who likes Louis. He will be on the lead when they arrive because of his enthusiastic welcomes but usually settles in a couple of minutes.

Margaret took herself to bed before 9.30 pm last night taking her tablets with her. She hadn't taken any when I found that she had dropped one (blood pressure tablet) so I got another from the packet. Fortunately I found the missing tablet on the kitchen floor this morning and threw it away. I will now have to hide her tablet dispenser so I can monitor what she takes. She did need tucking in before she could settle for the night.

Confusion Reigns

I managed to clean the carpet while Margaret slept. She really was quite confused all day. After dinner she watched a bit of TV with me but did not really appear to take anything in and I suggested that she should go to bed at 9.30. Much to my surprise she started fiddling with the latch which activates the reclining action on her armchair and complained the it would not go down. I explained that when she had the seat in the reclining position the latch did nothing and that to put her legs down she had to sit forwards and push the leg rest down. She couldn't understand what I meant and said that latch always put the seat rest down in the past. I got up from my recliner chair and showed her how to get up. She was surprised when I just pushed the leg rest down and locked it shut. “I didn't know you had to do that!” she said. We have had these reclining armchairs for over three years.

This morning she is still confused and and asked when “that woman” is coming today several times. I have told her she, the Blue Care RN, wont come for another two weeks at least three times. Next she said she had to go to the doctors it took me two tries to get her to understand that her next appointment was in a weeks time.

She is in her forth day of antibiotics for UTI but there is no lessening of her confusion.

We will see what the rest of the day brings.

A Walk by the River

The walk by the Noosa River was a great success. Louis walks really well on the lead next to the wheelchair and was still able to check out lots of new smells and water several posts. Margaret enjoyed the scenery and got to say hello to a black standard poodle which reminded her of Louis' predecessor Pierre. We walked for about an hour. It was sunny and about 26C/79F but the breeze off the river kept us cool although Louis was happy to clamber back into the car at the end.

The rest of the day was pretty average. Margaret gets more and more confused as the day goes on so by bed time she is barely coherent. Luckily she drops off to sleep quite quickly and sleeps through the night. After breakfast today I had to go shopping and didn't get home until 9.30 am to find Margaret in a state in her en suite bathroom. I persuaded her to have a shower and wash her hair. A few minutes later she called out and when I got to her she was in tears. She had soaped herself down and shampooed her hair but now didn't know what to do next. I used her hand held shower wand to rinse her hair and she cried just like a baby. After rinsing the rest of her down I managed to calm her down and dry her off. I got her into a nightgown and she is now back in bed. Prior to lying down I massaged some conditioner into her hair and combed it out. A couple of weeks ago she had and expensive hair do to put some body into her rather thin hair. It appears to work and the leave in conditioner restores the body after a wash.

We have nothing planned for the rest of the day and I am going to clean the hall carpet where Louis snuck in and chewed up a nice messy bone over the week end!

Nice and Quiet

Saturday was a very quiet day as Margaret was not feeling too well. I think the UTI was beginning to affect her so she stayed in bed most of the day.

She stayed up after dinner watching TV with me but by 10.00 pm was very confused. I offered to put her to bed but she said she didn't know how to go to bed. My method of dealing with this is to tell her that it is really hard to explain it to her but I could show her how by taking into the bedroom and helping her.

I took some time but finally she was tucked in and off to sleep.

This morning she appears brighter and I hope to take her and Louis for a walk by the Noosa River using her wheel chair.

Shameless Plug.

We have a little Honda Jazz which actually fits in a wheelchair, wheely walker and three suitcases. We couldn't do this with our much larger Toyota Camry. If I leave the wheely walker at home I can put down half of the back seat for Louis to come too.

The Pathology Results Arrive

We finally managed to get some results from Margaret's pathology via the receptionist at Margaret's GP's office. He had marked them as “no action”. I therefore persuaded Margaret to get up and dressed by 10.00 am to go out with the Blue Care carer for a shopping trip. Unfortunately nobody turned up and at 10.45 am I phoned the Blue Care office to be told that no definite time had been arranged but S would be there by about 11.15 am. It had taken some effort and sweet talking to get Margaret ready by 10.00 am and to have her just sitting around waiting was a bit of pain and she kept telling me that they weren't coming.

Anyway S turned up a 11.30 am and Margaret was in her car and off like a shot. I must hasten to add that S has no control over her schedule and had several other home visits to make to care for and shower other elderly clients. While they were away I finished off cleaning up Margaret's bedroom and bathroom before putting my feet up to watch Tiger Woods play in the Australian Masters Golf Championship.

Margaret and S returned at 1.45 pm and S told me that Margaret had been very confused while out. They had visited the pet shop and tried to buy Margaret some new pants at Noosa Village but there was nothing suitable. Margaret had had lunch out so I packed her off to bed as she was very tired.

After a light dinner we had settled down to watch TV, more Midsomer Murders, when the phone rang. It was Margaret's GP. The long term culture of Margaret's urine had turned up a nasty bug which required antibiotics asap. I searched through Margaret's old medication and found she had 9 Keflex tablets. The GP said give her one immediately then four a day on Saturday and Sunday. He would leave a prescription at his surgery for more on Monday. Margaret was to rest up as much as possible and keep her fluids up.

I got a very confused Margaret to bed, actually she is just like a little child who has to be tucked in and settled before I go to bed.

This morning she is quite bright and I am looking forward to a quiet day.

Still Waiting for Pathology Reports

Well we didn't get a phone call from Margaret's GP on Wednesday. On the plus side Margaret did take a shower before she got dressed and S came to take her out at 12.00 noon. Unfortunately noon came and went and no S. I phoned up Blue Care and was told that the shopping trip was scheduled for 10.00am on Friday and they were sure that they had phoned me about it on the 28 th October. As that was before the first shopping visit on a Wednesday two weeks ago they admitted that this was not so.

Margaret was dressed and ready so I took her to the shops instead and we had a light lunch out.

After lunch Margaret rested while I waited for the GP's phone call which as I stated above never came.

Margaret's confusion continued to be very high and I managed to get her to bed early and finish off my book before going to sleep myself.

On Thursday I phoned the GP's surgery and was told that the pathology results weren't back and they would phone when they were. Well they didn't and Margaret continues to be extra confused. It is several days since she has been able to have a rational conversation. She is quite happy and relatively easy to manage. The hope is that the extra confusion is caused by a UTI – if not it may be increased vascular dementia which could be permanent.

We went out to our usual weekly lunch at Margaret's favourite restaurant (for the time being) and she had her present favourite meal, sizzling garlic prawns. During the meal she kept asking if this was where the child had drowned. I think that she has been dreaming about the two little kids who have had accidents in home swimming pools over the last couple of weeks. I assured her that Bowling Clubs without swimming pools rarely have drownings but she repeated that question time and time again. Towards the end of lunch she began to get cramps in her hands and legs. She finished her meal and I got her home to rest up.

The rest of Thursday was fairly quiet and I tucked Margaret up in bed by 9.30pm with her Teddies and doll. She complained that she had lost her fish which after some gentle questioning turned out to be the elephant which I retrieved from under her bed.

This morning she is still not with it. While I dole out her medications she normally takes it without any trouble. Today she was choking and I discovered that she was trying to swallow all 10 tablets without drinking any water because “that was the way she was supposed to”! She also has one additional tablet to take on Fridays 30 minutes before or after food. I told her to take it after 8.00 am, left the room for a minute and when I returned it was gone just 10 minutes after breakfast. I shall now have to monitor every tablet she takes.

I shall phone her GP in a little while to see why we haven't had Margaret's pathology results yet.

Awaiting Pathology Results

Yesterday afternoon I took Margaret to see her GP. The good news is that her pain is under control with the patch and her legs are now back to near normal.. Her Frusimide has been reduced to 40 mg/day from 80 and her Prenisolone from 20 mg/day to 15. The bad news is her increased confusion which could be due to a Urinary Track Infection. I have to get her to provide a urine sample so that I can drop it in to the pathology Collection Centre this morning.

This morning she is not performing and I am not sure if the miserable little sample she has produced is adequate. Normally she is incontinent and too much is the norm! Her bout of kidney failure in October was triggered by a UTI so if has occurred again prompt treatment with antibiotics will be necessary.

Margaret is also trying to remove her Norspan patch which has to stay on until Friday. This is a controlled drug and we cant replace patches at less that one week intervals.

I phoned the collection centre and they said about 10mm in the sample jar was enough so I dropped off the sample.

Back home Margaret is still worried about “that woman” and Louis. “When is she coming?” I have told her, yet again, that she isn't coming today but a Blue Care carer is coming to take her out for a couple of hours. If it is S from last time there will be no problems with Louis. I want Margaret to buy a pair of trousers as she has been wearing the same pair day in day out since she came home. Last week I managed to pinch them and put them in the wash.

On the hygiene matter Margaret has been refusing to have a shower and it is several days since she had one. I hope she has one before S comes at 12 noon to take her out. Margaret wants a bath but when she last used our deep bath over two years ago I had to help her out as she couldn't manage it by herself. Now I have been advised not to try and lift Margaret in any circumstances and various Occupational Therapists have told us that she is at risk in the bath.

I expect a phone call from Margaret's GP later this afternoon if she has a UTI telling me to pick up a script for antibiotics.

Margaret in 1937 enjoying a bath!

A Poor Start

Last night Margaret was very confused. We watched TV after dinner. There was no real conversation. Margaret brought up a couple of things full of “what's its” and “what's his names” but when I tried to find out what she was talking about she just said it was nothing and wouldn't interest me. She is good with the here and now but useless in relating things from just a few days ago.

She went to bed after Four Corners (an ABC current affairs show) but doesn't appear to really understood it. She was quite difficult to settle as she still cant work out how to get into bed and arrange her Teddies etc.

Today has started with her usual claim that she has to be early and was up and about at 6.00 am before I took Louis for his morning walk. I told her that her appointment with her GP was at 2.30 pm so she could settle back down. At present, 7.40 am she has had her breakfast and is taking her medications. She is sitting on her bed watching TV. In the last five minutes she has called out several times causing Louis to bark and come and get me from my bedroom where I am typing this. The first couple of times she denied making any noise. The next time she was getting up to get ready to go to the doctors and finally she was choking on one of her tablets. I told her to drink some water and the problem was fixed.

It looks like being a long day.

A Confused Weekend

A little example of a conversation with Margaret which I had on Friday while watching TV after dinner.

Margaret “Do you remember what's his name.?”

Me, “ Who do you mean by what's his name ?”

Margaret, “ You know they used to go to Yeppoon.”

Me, “Sorry Darling I don't know who you are talking about.”

Margaret, “ Of course you do their son used to live there before he died years ago.”

Me after a glimmer of hope, “You mean Ted and Betty? Their son worked up there in the eighties and Ted had died.”

Margaret, “No I mean - you know what's his name!”

Me, “Sorry Darling I can't remember his name.”

Margaret, “Nor can I.”

End of conversation. I stayed quiet and calm through this knowing that it would just peter out. Theisdid, at least, let me know something, i.e. what's his name had something to do with Yeppoon.

Saturday morning saw Margaret waking up early and making herself a cup of tea while I showered but by the time I had walked Louis she had become very withdrawn. Actually if I look back on the last three or four days she had been very quiet and not asking to go out all the time.

Before I went shopping she wanted to get back under the bed clothes but again said that she didn't know how to so I tucked her in. When I came home she had got out of bed and back on top again. She had her slippers on and was covered by one of her snuggies. She told me that she was worried about the “woman” coming. It turned out that she was worrying about the Blue Care RN who didn't like dogs. Apparently Louis had jumped off her bed, where he sleeps when I am out, and woken her up.

Saturday afternoon Margaret woke me up from my afternoon nap to say that she had to go out. I asked her where she wanted to go and she said that she had to go out as she had an appointment. I told her that her next appointment was not till next Tuesday. After a little while he settled down. I offered to take her out but as she had no appointments she didn't want to go anywhere. She really gets worked up about these “appointments”.

Sunday lunch time Margaret was sitting in front of her computer trying to log in. She has used the same password for at least 8 years but today she told me that she had never used one. I logged on for her and she is now trying to read her mail. Latr she was back at th log in screen and I logged her in again.

After dinner Margaret went to bed at 8.30 pm and I sat to try and remember a coherent conversation today but could not.

Things Have Been Real Quiet

Yesterday morning the Blue Care Registered Nurse made a visit to check on Margaret's condition. Pysically Margaret is looking good but her dementia looks like staying around. The only problem with this RN is that she doesn't like dogs so Louis is locked away during her visit. She actually stated that carers they provide to give me respite must also be protected from the dog for health and safety reasons. This will present a problem when I want to escape to my computer club meeting once month. This requires me to leave Margaret for about four hours and the meeting place is about a half hour's drive away. I know that Margaret would not lock up her lovely Louis for four hours so if Blue Care insist that dogs really are a "no-no" I shall have to make other arrangements.

We had a great lunch at the Bowls Club and Margaret didn't was to come out with Louis as she was too tired. After a light tea she went to bed at 9.30 pm following the normal ritual of getting her under the covers and settling her down with her Teddy.

Today has started well and unless anything important happens will be back on Monday.

A Good Day

A link between the park and forest.

Yesterday went on as it started with no real dramas or problems. Mid day I took Margaret for a walk with Louis round the park and a short walk through remnant of the rain forest which surrounds it. it was quite warm 29C/86F and I got a good work out pushing the wheelchair.

After dinner Margaret wanted to go to bed early but told me that she didn't know how to get under the clothes or where to put Big Teddy. I assisted her to bed and she was soon settled cuddling big Teddy.

Earlier I checked Margaret's computer and somehow or other she has sent blank emails to several people we don't know and had over 20 draft blank emails waiting to sent. These were to an old friend of ours but I didn't know she had his address. I will now delete all addresses from her address book except for close friends and family who I will let them know to ignore any blank emails from Margaret.

Today we will have lunch out.

Some Good News - Well almost

We visited Margaret's GP yesterday. The news was good. The blood tests showed that her Glomeruler Filtration Rate (GFR) had risen from 14.7 to 27 ml/min. This takes her from the edge of kidney failure stage 5 which requires dialysis or transplant to stage 4 which is merely "severe kidney damage". I have found a good website which provides information for both patients/carers and health professionals. What this means is that Margaret will require continuing monitoring of her kidney function from now on.

Her GP tested Margaret's cognition and confusion which showed that there was no real improvement in this area. One test is to write a brief sentence which Margaret can still do quite well but with some amusing results. Today she wrote, "Danielle Steele has six children. I wonder who has the last bath?" Her GP was confused until I explained that Margaret and I had grown up during WW2 in the UK where hot bathwater was restricted to 5 inches per week and to get a good bath the family took it in turns to use the same bath water. Margaret was fourth after her mother, brother and sister. On the web I found the following account of growing up in Scotland during WW2.

"Another hardship was the fact that we were only allowed 5 inches of bathwater to bath in once a week. A black line had to be painted round the bath to show where the limit of 5 inches was which we were not allowed to exceed. (Showers had not yet hit the scene.) Soon more posters sprang up, this time exhorting us to ‘Bath with a Friend’! At Home House we had a strict rota for bath night, followed by our own schedule where, in addition to our own ration, we allocated ourselves a night each when we would jump into the bath after a friend! The rest of the time we had to just wash ourselves with water from the basin which, if we were lucky, might be lukewarm."

URL: http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/stories/67/a5231567.shtml

The rest of yesterday was pretty normal but Margaret was too tired to come out with me to walk Louis and was in bed by 9.30 pm.

This morning things have been nice and quiet so I think I'll change my bed linen and do some washing and maybe even some gardening.

My Birthday

Before I get to my birthday I should finish off Sunday evening.

After dinner Margaret wanted to watch Wuthering Heights on TV but soon after it started she got up and wheeled herself into her bedroom. After quite some time she returned all dressed with hat and sunglasses. She demanded to be taken to the shops and got very upset when I pointed out that it was nearly 9.00 pm, the shops were shut and we had been to the shops earlier that day. It took some time to settle her down and even then she was like a Jack in the Box getting up and wheeling herself around the house. Finally about 10.30 pm I got her to go to bed and to take her medication which includes Valium which seemed to settle her down and I was able to switch off her light and get myself off to bed about 11.30 pm.

Now Monday was my 73 rd birthday and as usual I got up at 5.00 am, got Margaret a cup of tea as she was awake, had my breakfast and walked Louis with J. I got home just after 7.00 am and reminded Margaret that she had to go and have a blood test. We got to the collection centre and had quite a wait before it was Margaret's turn. The nurse could not get any blood out of Margaret's right arm and said the left arm looked worse. This looked like being a problem as Margaret's kidneys were pretty bad and her GP wanted to see how they were progressing. The nurse said that there was another collection centre about 6 km away where there was a better qualified sister. Fortunately this sister managed to locate a cooperative vein in Margaret's left arm and we will get the results today at 12.00 noon.

All this time Margaret had not mentioned my birthday. After Margaret's breakfast I went shopping and while I was out our daughter phoned to wish me happy birthday and spoke to Margaret instead. She then got me on my mobile. Margaret had been surprised by Helen's call and even then did not connect it with my birthday.

Later in the day we went out to lunch at Trios at Noosa Marina. On the way I asked Margaret if she knew why we we going out to Trios she replied it was to look at the fish in their aquarium. I mentioned my birthday and she replied," I thought that was yesterday!" I am still waiting for a Happy Birthday from her.

We had an excellent lunch, both having duckling and went home to snooze the afternoon away.

The rest of the day was quiet but I had the now, normal, problems settling down Margaret to cleep and bed about 11.00 pm

Tos the start has been normal and while Margaret is resting after breakfast I can catch up with this blog.

We go to see Margaret's GP later this morning.

A Quiet Weekend

Saturday was a quiet day. After I walked Louis in the afternoon and caught up with my other dog walking friend B I went out again with Margaret in her wheelchair to meet the group who exercise their dogs later. This was instead of taking her to the shops.

After dinner we watched TV until after 10.00 pm and then Margaret was reluctant to go to bed but I managed to get her settled and lights out about 11.30 pm.

Margaret finally asleep cuddling Big Teddy

This morning was a little different as I walked Louis to The Cooroy Road to watch the leaders ride through on the bike leg of the Noosa Triathlon between 7.00 and 7.45 am. Before Margaret became too ill I used to marshal at the transition area but that means being away from home from 5.00 am to 12.00 noon. Our little estate is completely blocked off by road closures from 6.15 to 11.15 am while about 5000 cyclists ride by.

After Margaret's breakfast I cleaned up the main areas but as I finished at 11.00 am Margaret wheeled through saying she wanted to take me out to lunch. I persuaded her that as we are going out tomorrow for my birthday perhaps we should just go to the shopping mall and have a sandwich and coffee. So after 11.30 I took her to Civic and walked her around in her wheelchair. We shared a foot long Subway and had a coffee and black tea to drink.

When we got home about 2.00 pm Margaret stayed up trying to use her computer and is still looking for the small "e" while I snoozed in front of TV before taking Louis for his walk with B and her little Tenterfield Terrier. Now I am about to prepare dinner while Margaret had a nap and look forwards to a quiet end to the weekend,