A Sunday in the Day of Me

Believe me when I say I am not whining her or complaining in any way what-so-ever. What I am doing is putting down a very matter of fact recall of my day. Sunday, the day of rest, by the way.

I woke up at 7:30, after an undisturbed night sleep. Thank you, Dennis, for listening to Celeste, our new therapist, and following her instructions. Dennis was staring at me when I rolled over with, "I didn't wake you up!" Oh, if we all could have so much pride in our accomplishments.

At 7:45, I got up for a stop in the bathroom, put water on for coffee and headed back to the bedroom. I propped up Dennis, who decided he wanted to sit in his wheel chair. I helped him stand, sit and then pushed him in the dining area, where a chair was removed for him. Nope, he wanted to sit at the other end of the table. So I moved another chair and pushed him in to the new spot.

Then I toasted him an English muffin, buttered and jellied it up. I poured a bowl of applesauce with cinnamon, his fave today, and fetched his morning meds. These, I placed in yogurt and fed to him slowly. I opened up a coke, put in a straw, and handed him his left over blueberry muffin from Saturday morning at Perkins. I fetched him the newspaper, a drool rag and a blanket for his legs.

Kitty was going crazy with the rubbing of my legs by now, so I fed her and cleaned her box. Then I made my coffee with heated cream, Gharedelli chocolate and cinnamon. I now demanded my fifteen minutes of carefree life. I stared at the walls, listened to acoustical radio and flipped through the comic section of the paper.

Then it was shower time for Dennis. I got the shower ready, clothes ready, and wash cloths with poopy butt soap, face soap and body soap. I gathered the shampoos, cleaners and rinsing hose around him and helped him into the shower. First it was a butt up cleaning then sitting down in the chair for him to do most of it on his own.

I turned on the baby monitor, and went to wash my face, comb my hair and get dressed. As soon as Dennis was out, I needed to get to the hospital to pick up Ma. After a few minutes Dennis was finished and it was wipe down, change leg bags, pull on diapers and slippers, and today, a simple robe.

Two feedings later, I ran to pick up clothing for mother from JH, moved some essentials from one apartment to another, and then headed to pick her up. Thankfully, the paper work was ready, and it was only 30 minutes at the hospital before we were headed out.

Her new room was ready, sort of. There always seems to be problems with remote controls where ever we go, and Mother does not like to be without her TV. I finally found a room for her to watch the football game. I was pretty adamant about them finding a remote before she returned to her room for dinner.

Then it was grocery shopping and a trip to Walgreen's for essentials for Dennis. Then hauling everything upstairs, unpacking and putting it all away before giving Dennis one more feeding. Now cleaning the cupboards, putting away the grocery bags, and pouring myself a glass of wine - at last.

Yes, dinner is still ahead, but Dennis should be full from all the tube feedings, and frankly a glass of wine sounds better than finding the right sauce for chicken, cooking pasta, and then finding out Dennis does not want to eat it, anyway.

Until later,
Ann and Dennis

Groceries

I was happy when Dennis told me this morning, that he was not leaving the flat today. It was a grocery shopping, and taking him to the grocery store is no longer easy. It's the wheel chair problem.

If we are only picking a few items, we can place a basket in his lap and fill it up. He doesn't mind being a pack mule every once in a while. If I remember to bring the plastic, reusable grocery bag, we can handle a larger load.

But today was a replenish the pantry and the freezer, shopping day.

A few weeks ago, we tried having Dennis push the cart, while I pushed him. It was moderately successful. While we did not knock over any displays, or old people, we did manage to force a few people to back up the aisle. We also irritated a few customers, and created a minor scene over by the bakery, when Dennis spotted the pies.

I wasn't relishing repeating the whole experience, so I did it, willingly, on my own.

Grocery shopping, like so many aspects of our lives, has changed for us since Dennis was diagnosed with Parkinson's. Some of these changes don't matter to either of us, but this is one that is a bit tough.

Dennis likes picking out food - especially junk food. I am not a huge fan of grocery shopping. To me, it just means more work. First you shop, then you carry, then you put the groceries away. As if all of isn't enough, then I am stuck with having to cook the stuff.


Enough whining already. I have a turkey to bake!

Until Tomorrow,
Ann and Dennis