Blisters

Grandma has three blisters on her right hip - they look like water blisters.  The hospice nurse said they're from heat and the standard procedure is to exposure them to air.  She sleeps on her right side all the time so they have to keep her off her side. 

I'm working on her Christmas cards so I should be getting those out in a few days.

Grandma's daily routine

Below is Grandma's daily routine.

6am - up for breakfast
7:15 - breakfast served
10am - first activity
10:30 - nap
12:15 - lunch is served
1:30 - nap
5:15 - supper is served

There is also an activity in the afternoon & evening but usually after lunch Grandma is exhausted.  It takes her a good hour & sometimes more to eat.  Grandma goes to bed about 7:30 or 8pm and is more than ready to be in bed.  She can push herself backwards in the wheelchair but can't figure out how to go forward.  If she runs into a wall or something, she is stuck until someone moves her.  The nurse said she doesn't talk much during the day and she isn't talking much with me.  But when I tell her I love her, she'll say - "I love you too".

Tuesday 12/7/10

Last night Grandma's breathing sounded bad but we gave her the breathing treatment and she sounded much better.  She just laid there and stared.  She sure doesn't feel good right now.

Sitting on my lap

Last night when Grandma got out of her wheelchair she stood up, took two steps and then sat on my lap - talk about role reversal!  I think she just wanted to be close to me. 

The antibiotic eye drops are doing wonders for Grandma's eyes, they have cleared up and she's even opening her bad eye now.

After Grandma goes to sleep, I lay the breathing mask under her nose and she gets her treatment without fighting.  It does make her cough though.

One of the nurses told me that when her daughter comes out to visit she always makes sure she finds grandma, she thinks she is so cute and little.  We've heard so many people say that, haven't we?

Grandma's breathing treatments

Rhea and I went to the nursing home last night after work.  The nurse said Grandma fought them yesterday when they tried to do her breathing treatments and asked if we wanted to try to give her a treatment.  After we visited for awhile, we got her ready for bed and then gave her the treatment.  She was so tired that she didn't fight much.

When we first arrived Grandma was still in the dining room and we visited there for awhile.  She kept standing up, I guess because she gets so tired of sitting in the wheelchair.  She'll stand for a minute then sit back down.  She would put her arm around me to hold herself up but I'm pretending that she stood up to hug me.

While we were in the dining room visiting, a gentleman resident came in and rolled up to visit with us.  He began speaking German and we really enjoyed visiting with him for awhile.  He would try to get Grandma's attention by crying like a baby or saying things in German to her and also used the German word for mother when he would talk to her.  Things were going along nicely until his dentures started falling out.  You have to understand that with all the medicine I've been taking over the last two weeks my stomach is raw and on the edge.  So, when he would talk and his dentures would slip out of his mouth - he would use his tongue to put them back in and I started feeling a little queasy.  But the ultimate was when he decided he needed to spit - he hocked and then spit on the floor to the right of Grandma.  It's a miracle that I didn't hurl right there.  I asked Grandma if she was ready to go to bed and we went to her bedroom without "Mr. German".

Grandma was a lot better than I thought I would find her.  Her cough is bad and she had a large black circle around her mouth.  But we got a few smiles out of her even though she wouldn't talk much.  I'll be going back every night to do the treatments with her.

I know y'all miss her but she looks so bad that it would be difficult for most of you to see her this way.  She weighs 79 pounds and can take a few steps but is VERY feeble.  Michael (nurse) said she is still eating most of her meals but not drinking.  We tried to get pictures of her last night but my phone ran out of power, I'll get some tonight.

Prayers Needed

Little Grandma is sick with a chest cold. 

The nurse called me yesterday and said her lungs are congested and she has a cough.  They are going to give her mucinex and breathing treatments twice a day.  I haven't been able to go out to see her for almost two weeks because I have a chest and head cold.  The nursing home asks that family/friends not come while sick plus I didn't want to give this mess to her but she ended up getting it anyway.  Three other residents have it too.

The nursing home calls her the "Comeback Queen" so hopefully this cold won't go badly for her.  They say she is still peddling around in her wheelchair so that's a good sign.

I know Grandma will fight the nurses when they try to do the breathing treatments.  Please pray that she'll be calm and will take the medicine.