Wednesday, April 30, 2008

We are in a new place today with Mom's health. She had been complaining that her left big toe was hurting...so she decided to go to my podiatrist. Once I got her there and the shoes and socks were off, we all discovered that she had a bruise or dried blood under her toenail. We also noticed that she was involuntarily flexing her toe up and down and did not even know it. She had been banging her toe on the roof of her shoes...hence the bruise or dried blood under the toenail. The doctor said it was not something to be very concerned about unless the area under her toenail became infected, which would mean the removal of the toenail. In the meantime, his solution was for her to wear open toed shoes and slippers so she is not banging her toe on the top of her shoes.

He asked me some questions...about what other things I might have noticed. I told him that Mom had adopted kind of a shuffling gait in the last month or so. He put that together with the involuntary flexing of the big toe and surmised that she may have had a mild stroke or it could be the beginning of Parkinson's disease. I explained all this to Mom after we left because she couldn't hear much of what he was saying. She didn't seem too phased by any of it...but it is hard for me to know exactly how much she takes in and understands.

Afterwards, I treated her to coffee and a cinnamon roll at my favorite French bakery. I wanted her to have a good association with going to the doctor...which is something she usually avoids at all cost. Afterwards, I took her home and did her laundry and made lunch for us, including my brother who stopped by today. After he left and I finished the laundry, I drove up to Sears and bought Mom two new pairs of shoes with an open toe. She liked one of them and and I returned the other pair on my way home.

My big concern right now is that I am starting a full time job next Monday. I have tried to reassure Mom that I will still be around to help her out. Most likely, I will have dinner with her one night a week and spend Sunday afternoon with her. She is getting weaker all the time...and talks a lot about being tired and not lasting too much longer. I never know what to say to this so I just listen.

Friday, April 18, 2008

Mom and I had a interesting conversation yesterday after we got back from shopping at a local mall. She was complaining about being lonely and I mentioned that she has resisted every suggestion I have brought up about finding a more appropriate living situation...meaning a senior citizen condo etc. She said that is was better for her to live alone. I asked how that could be when she gets so lonely and upset in her apartment. She told me that she didn't want to be "supervised". I practically fell off my chair laughing. I told her that I didn't "supervise" her and she agreed that was why we got along so well. So...she wants to be on her own as long as she can and be totally "unsupervised". I am going to give up on trying to get her to think about another healthier living situation.

Sunday, April 13, 2008

Mom is struggling with problems in her esophagus again. I took her a quiche on Friday afternoon...but she couldn't keep anything down. She vomited several times while I was there...all food that she had tried to eat before I arrived with the quiche. She still will not even consider having the procedure that will stretch her esophagus. No matter how many times I explain it to her and how it will help...the answer is always the same "NO". I am kind of at my wits end on this front. It may get worse ...it may just be episodic like it is now. I have to let this go.

Overall, she is doing pretty well otherwise. Her cholesterol test came back and it was great. Her medications have been changed a bit for two prescriptions...the Glipiside is now 5mg a day instead of 10mg and her water pill is 5mg a day instead of 25mg a day. She told her doctor that she was only taking the water pill every other day because it made her go to the bathroom all day and all night. She seems to be managing her medications. The shingles is still a problem. She is still taking Gabapentin. She had a dizzy spell yesterday but I don't know what to attribute it to. She said she was on a step ladder changing her winter and spring shoes around in her closet...she got dizzy and then sat down for half an hour. I encouraged to keep doing that whenever she gets dizzy...emphasizing that I don't want her to fall.

Tomorrow morning I will take her shopping and to the bank.