I have had Mama all by my lonesome since 5 PM yesterday. I guess it is good for me to have her alone some so I can remember what the job entails. My Mama-sitters are pretty good at making me forget how tough it is to take care of my precious mother!! Here is my account of the past 26 hours or so.

Beverly stayed Friday evening and night. Penny took over Saturday morning. Mama slept late. We were enjoying our morning until I remembered that I would have Mama all evening, night, and today. We got her up and moving because I didn't want to be up all night!

I picked her up at Penny's house around 5:00 PM. We got to the house and Mama went right in to the fridge and started her eating cycle. She ate at least 7 times before 10:00 PM--I washed seven plates so it may have been more times. I crushed her medicine and mixed it with applesauce. She took it right down and smacked her lips. In a little bit I thought I heard her snoring so I decided to take a bath. As soon as I got comfy in the tub, she got up and ate again.

At 11:00 I heard snores for real. She was finally sleeping. I decided I had better conk out myself.

All was nice and quiet until 2:40 AM. She was up and eating again. I drug myself out of my bed to make sure she didn't run the microwave too long. I started laughing when I saw her beverage--I guess she couldn't find her water glass so she grabbed the half gallon milk jug. She was not happy when I took her drink, but she was okay as soon as I replaced it with a glass full of water.

She left the table and sat in her chair in the living room. I had the door locked, and she worked on getting it open for a little bit. Around 3:15 when she went into the kitchen to find a "key", she got sidetracked and ate again. Back in her chair. I kind of dozed in my chair so am not positive how many times she ate, but I did note that at 4:00 AM she was eating once more.

At 4:15 she headed back to her room. I made her go to the bathroom. She was trying to get passed me saying, "I already did that." But I was better at maneuvering her than she was at dodging me. She put on a clean Depends. She then got back in her bed and I in mine.

5:00 AM I had just dozed off when I heard her get up again and head for the kitchen. I drug myself up once more. 5:15 AM we were back in our respective beds. Next thing I knew it was 9:00 AM. If she got up any more, I didn't hear her. I started trying to wake her up so we could go to church, but she didn't budge. She was sleeping so soundly that I stood at her side for a few minutes to make sure she was breathing. She was. Guess all that eating and running back and forth in the middle of the night just wore her out!

Around 11:30 I heard, "Come to me." I went to check on her, but she was still sleeping. Guess she was talking in her sleep. At 11:45 Shirley (former Mama-sitter who had the strokes) stopped in on her way home from church to check on Mama. She looked really good. She has been dieting and exercising. She said she goes back to the doctor for a checkup next week. Am sure she will get a good report.

Noon: Mama got up to go to the bathroom and then went right back to bed.

12:07 PM eating cycle begins once more. 12:20 crushed her daytime medicine and mixed with applesauce. She took it with no problems whatso ever. I need to go pick up the Nitroglycerin patch tomorrow--we can't crush that one.

12:45 PM "Come to me." I took her some cookies since she had started digging chewed food out of her mouth to give to me. I kind of felt like those baby birds that are fed chewed and regurgitated food from their parents---YUCK.

I kept trying to slip in a nap all afternoon, but every time I would get comfy, Mama would get up. It is almost like she had radar tuned into my movements. Or maybe she just got up and down so many times it seemed that she was trying to mess with my nap.

Around 3:00 she finally noticed the puppies. They were wrestling outside on the porch. She pointed at them and said, "Look at that. There's another one."

She ate many more times. I have lost count and got tired of making notes.

I haven't heard from her since I began typing so maybe she is dozing.

Guess I had better go check on her. Uh-oh she has the hiccups. This ought to be fun!!!

Exhausted hugs to all,
Connie