St. Patty's Day

What better way to celebrate St. Patty's Day then with a hot dog and a cold one. Oh...and lets not forget the Ms. Vickies salt n'vinegar chips!  Keep your hands off those chips Fudit!

High Maintenance Momma

Another rough night and an agitated morning for Mom. Apparently when staff attempted to get her up and dressed, she was slapping at them and had a potty mouth - cheeky Momma! They gave her a sedative to calm her but 45 minutes later, they decided to give her another because it hadn't helped much. When we arrived at the Lodge around 11am, Mom was still in bed. Around 11:30 am, the RN and LPN for Mom's wing came by to try again...we left the room and as I listened with my ear to the door, I could hear Mom calling for Dad in somewhat of a frightened tone. Dad arrived just as we were leaving and about 15 minutes later, texted me to say she was dressed and in her Wheelie ready for lunch. The strategy is to keep Mom on her routine in hopes of getting back to a healthier rhythm. It's challenging because while the sedative calms her, it makes her docile and sleepy during the day when she needs to be getting some stimulation to tier her out at night.

Sleeping Beauties

Muumuu Madness

Les, Bella and I went to see Mom yesterday around lunch time. When we first arrived, we found her motoring around her room in her wheelie.  She was delighted to see us. We sat with her for a bit before taking her down to the dining area for lunch. Mom's quite competent at manoeuvring her wheelie backwards-if it wasn't for the walls, she'd be covering a lot of territory!  You'll notice she's wearing one of the lodge's lovely (NOT!) muumuu's.  At least it's purple! This is usually an indication that she was in a more agitated state when lodge staff are trying to get her dressed for the day.  In fact, I checked this out with one of the LPN's working Mom's wing and she said Mom had a terrible sleepless night - she was awake all night and cranky. Staff had to place Mom in her Broda chair at 11 pm and they were concerned about her safety. So she'd spent the night sitting in her Broda with not a lot of sleep, thus making it difficult for staff in the morning.  If you look closely at the picture below, you can see she looks tired. This was the second night in a row they had to put her in her Broda. Non the less, she was in good spirits and had a great appetite for her lunch.

Listen to your Heart

Linda drove up to Cumberland yesterday to visit her sister. This is Linda's first trip to see Mom since her recent move to Nanaimo. Below, I have copied Linda's email to Dad and I following their visit...

I had a lovely visit with Dianna today.  When I arrived she was sitting in the sun room in the Broda listening to music.  She smiled when she saw me.  I pushed her down to her room to get her a sweater because her hands were cold and also to see her “new” room.  It is just great with a large window to watch all the going on outside.

She recognized me and knew I was her sister, but did not know my name.  We laughed together, held hands and just enjoyed each others company.  Amazingly, right out the blue, she said to me “listen to your heart”.  So I asked her what her heart said and she said “it is hard” and started to cry, but just a little.  When it was time for me to leave, I told her I had to pick up James and she was ok with that and smiled. 

It was hard leaving her....

Linda

Artist at work

Twice a month Dianna is one of four residents that attends art class. As well she attends a baking class. It is also twice a month. As it happens, both activities scheduled today. It is not often that they occur on the same day.
I was able to take the picture below just as I was leaving.  Here she is finishing her latest creation.  She gets along well with the art teacher and the lady who comes in to do the baking with her.

I guess you would call this abstract art.

Surprise visitors

On February 26 Gill and David, our neighbors on Astra Rd., dropped in to say hi to Dianna.They are off to Africa on a once in a lifetime holiday; a safari. They will be gone for at least three weeks and wanted to see Di before they went.
 She was delighted to see them although, at first, she couldn't place them. She asked Gill "how do I know you?" After Gill explained that they are our neighbors on Astra Dianna looked at her then, as if a light came on, said "of course".

All this exchange was very matter of fact for Di and she is quite comfortable in asking people who they are as she can no longer remember anyone that she doesn't see regularly.