As I have mentioned before, Dennis takes quite a long time getting out of bed in the morning. First he wakes, and babbles for a while. Then he asks me to turn on JAG, our morning TV choice ever since I have refused to watch television news. Slowly, he opens his eyes, after some rubbing and dabbing and more rubbing. By the time I have made my coffee and taken my shower, he is usually eager for his morning Boost.
The procedure to get him ready to begin the swallowing process is a whole story in and of itself. First I need to adjust his head to center, then I pull him up by the shoulders to sit up in bed. I have tried to just let him sit there, but he quickly falls back into the pillows, making it necessary to start all over. Consequently, I am obliged to hold him up as I stuff all of the pillows on the bed, under his back. Some days I get it just right the first time, but usually I need to hoist him once or twice to rearrange the pillows. Sooner or later, I get it right, and he is ready to consume the Boost.
By this time, my coffee is cold (I reckon I should start making it later), so it's off to the kitchen for microwaving coffee and collecting the Boost and a bendy straw. If I am having a lucky morning, the pillows have held up against his body and his eyes are still open.
There is more, but what I want to share here, is we purchased about 10 extra minutes of time today. I've been thinking about getting one of those book/TV bed bolsters for some time now, but they are not available just anywhere. Today, we found our way to one of those bed and bath stores, and invested in a nice fat one for Dennis. The first ones we found were pink with big flowers reminiscent of the 70's. I imagine they were made for a girl's dorm. All I knew is that not either of us were prepared to make that much of a design sacrifice. We finally found the right one; firm construction, but with a soft fabric, and a solid burgundy that will not clash with the rest of the bedding.
One day I will share the balance of the morning with you, but for now, I am simply anxious to use my extra ten minutes to enjoy hot, morning coffee.
Until tomorrow,
Ann and Dennis
Living with Shy-Drager, Multiple System Atrophy and a new time saver
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