Updates from e-mail:
Nov. 19 to brothers and sister-in-law
Jackie, the Hospice nurse, called me this evening. She said Debbie, the nurse who reinserted the catheter, had suggested that we think about giving Mama some anti-anxiety medication to maybe help with the fidgeting. I guess in our Symptom kit we have Lorazepan in 1 mg tablets. She suggested starting out with half a tablet and seeing how that worked. We might try half a tablet twice a day or whatever.

There is also some 1mg Haldo (sp?) that is a possibility, too.

Mama moves so much and pulls on everything. I don't know what to do, so any suggestions are welcome.

11/23/04
Mama has been doing some strange things today. She kept calling me over to her so she could rub her hand all over my face like she was trying to memorize it. Then she would kiss me all over my face, hold on to my hand for a while, and then finally let me go.

She conked out this afternoon for two or three hours. I was outside sweeping leaves and water off the porch, Beverly was out supervising me, and Christie had just arrived. Beverly looked into the house and said, "Something is not right. She is shaking all over." We all went bounding in the house; Mama opened her eyes, held out her arms and said, "Come to me." I don't know if she was dreaming or having some kind of attack, but it certainly got us moving.

A while later, Christie decided to take Mama into the dining room for supper. We both helped steady her, and she did just fine. She ate a good meal, and fussed about the puppies being in the house--they had slipped in earlier while I was bringing in groceries. When she finished eating, we got her up and were heading back to the living room, but she had other ideas. She wanted to go down the hallway. So we decided to see where she would end up. First she tried to go in the boys' room. I told her that was not her room; she swiveled around toward her bedroom door, reached for the knob--we helped her open the door. She went directly to her bed and tried to pull back the covers. Christie and I looked at each other, shrugged, and decided to help her get the covers back. Mama scooted in her bed, got all comfy, kissed us, told us to turn off that thing (the light), leaned back and closed her eyes. I was really freaked out because she has not tried to go to her room in forever.

I set up the little TV in her room so Christie would have something to entertain her. Of course, there is no satellite hook-up so it was just whatever we could get with an antennae. I guess they stayed in there around half an hour, but I just couldn't stand it any longer and went in and helped Christie get her up and we brought her back in the living room. She is sitting in her blue chair, looking at a magazine.

We have had bunches of rain. It looks like we may be in for some more.

Hugs,

11/24
I have been putting things together for our Thanksgiving meal today so I won't have too much to do tomorrow. I will, however, have to figure out how to make all the dishes, which have to be cooked at different temperatures for different lengths of time, be hot and ready at the same time.

David, Linda, and Tara will be here tomorrow. Don, my nephew, and his girlfriend may come too. Tommy has to work tomorrow, but will be here Friday night. He told me to have plenty of leftovers for him to eat when he comes in this weekend--I think I have that covered.

Mama has been in a real kissy mood today. A couple of times she kissed all around Michelle's and Beverly's faces and then pinched their noses. Once she licked Beverly in the eye. Once she called me in from my mixing duties in the kitchen and kissed me. I told her that I loved her, and she said, "I love you." back to me. I almost fell over into her bed. It has been ages and ages since she has said that. She hasn't said it any more so far either.

Need to go get the table ready for tomorrow.

Hugs and Happy Thanksgiving to one and all,

later 11/24
Mama was rocking away in her chair while Christie and I watched TV. Out of the blue she rocked forward, paused, and said, "David." Then she went back to rocking. Thought that was interesting enough to pass on to everyone.

hugs again,

11/25
Well, Mama is snoring, and the dishes are all done. David, Linda, and Tara are headed back to The Woodlands. The food was good, the fellowship better. All in all, from my point of view, Thanksgiving was a success.

Mama slept through our main meal, but she enjoyed a small version when she woke up. She got to give away lots of kisses, and the puppies stayed outside all day, so I think she enjoyed it, too. Tara took quite a few pictures with her fancy camera. I think she is putting together a pictorial book of Grandma. I told her if I ever get my stories published, I will have to get her to share her pictures. In December, she will finish up with a degree in photography. I think she wants to go on to Grad school eventually.

Happy and safe wishes to one and all,

11/28
Mama is feeling a bit puny today. Beverly said she threw up several times last night. We also think her urinary tract infection is back. We started her on antibiotics again today. I just fed her a little chicken noodle soup with crackers and some Gatorade to try to keep her hydrated.

We had a nice visit with Tommy. We didn't do too much since I gave Michelle yesterday off, but think he was kind of ready to kick back and relax a little bit.

Need to go check on Mama. I have her until Michelle comes in for the night shift. Christie was here until around 6.

Hugs,

11/29
Mama seems to be doing better today. We have kept her drinking Gatorade all day. I went into town this evening to replenish our supply. We have also been giving her Pedialite (sp?) freezer pops, popsicles, frozen juice pops, and whatever else we can get down her to keep her hydrated. She is back on the antibiotic for any infection. As to why she was sick, heaven only knows. I think it may have been a virus or a touch of flu or something like that. Her resistance is down due to all the problems she has had lately. So for this moment in time, she is doing pretty well.

A week of sleeping late made it difficult to get up and going this morning. I thought the kids would be zonked out, too, but they were extremely chatty all day long.

Need to go do a few things before bedtime. Hugs to all,