Disclaimer

This is dementia. It's not just a memory problem.
What you read in this blog is purely my own personal experience in dealing with Lewy Body Dementia every day.

This is not meant to offer any medical or legal advise.
I have no professional training in care giving or experiences in formal writing.
I'm just a woman that loves her husband deeply and wants to provide him with the best quality of life he can and chooses to have.
My prayer though this is "Lord, What am I learning from this; how can I use it help someone else and to glorify You?"
If just one person finds comfort in this public blog. I will feel like it was a success.

Friday, May 14, 2010

You know you're loved when...

At a recent follow up Dr appointment for Hubby I asked the Dr if he would order a test for UTI (Urinary Tract Infection.)
Hubby complains chronically about back aches but even more so lately and his complaints seem localized.
With his increased confusions and the miserable nights we seem to be experiencing lately I thought it would be in our best interests to know if infection was present and jump on it before it wrecked too much havoc to recover from.

Dr was very supportive of the idea and set up the order. When we finished our appointment with him I took Hubby to the lab area where he had just been for blood work. Hubby wanted to know why we were back, so I explained why we were there.
 Nurse brought Hubby the specimen cup for his urine sample and a cleansing cloth to use. She explained to Hubby what he needed to do and he stepped into the rest room. I patiently waited in the wheel chair for him to exit.
 Upon hearing Hubby exiting the door, I hopped up and Nurse rounded the corner and held the door for Hubby who was struggling to exit the big door and get seated in the wheelchair.
 I asked Hubby where his specimen cup was and he pointed to the bathroom.
 Nurse offered to retrieve it and reached into the restroom.  She withdrew her arm with an EMPTY cup.

Hubby had forgotten what he needed to do.

Nurse and I just looked at each other.

Nurse looked at Hubby and told him he forgot to use it the cup.

Hubby just stared at Nurse.

I asked Nurse if we could take the cup home and I would return with the sample. She fetched another cleansing cloth and a plastic BIO HAZARD zip bag. She placed the items in the bag and handed them to me.

Hubby and I left and decided we wanted to eat. Since the Dr appt was at 8AM and it required fasting lab work, Hubby was hungry and biscuits and gravy sounded like the thing for him.
We always stop at the same place. I like it there due to the small size and limited amount of people that can be assembled at one time. (compared to a large restaurant) The waitresses treat us superior, the cooks know us, the owners visit with us. It's a family place that suits us quite well. He shuffled inside and into a booth.

We ordered our breakfast and finished. Hubby decided he needed to use the rest room so he shuffled to the restroom while I paid the bill. I seated myself and waited for Hubby's return from the restroom. It seemed to take an extra amount of time but he finally emerged. The short hall seemed to be almost too much for Hubby to walk at one time. 2 times he stopped. I walked toward him and as he reached me he and I moved at a snails pace to exit the building. I offered to get the wheelchair but Huby insists he does not need it.
Why should I offer? anyone can see he didn't need it.(rolling eyes)

We exited the building and Hubby using me and the building for balance barely made it the length of the short walk to the parking lot. The owner of the establishment came out to help us but poor Hubby completely froze and was unable to move. I left him in the arms of the owner and scooted to the car and got the wheelchair out of the trunk. I wheeled it under Hubby and we were able to get him seated. I was then able to get him to the car and inside for the trip home.

We made a stop for tomatoes at the fruit stand and a trip by the post office which yielded more fruit than the fruit stand. FINALLY the rest of the income arrived! YAY!! GOD is so good!
I showed Hubby our good fortune but he just looked at me. A drive through the bank for a deposit and then home.

When we parked Hubby was able to exit the car and walk inside the house. Seems he was able to regroup a little on the ride home. I was grateful for that.
He was so exhausted that he took off all his clothes and spread himself out in the bed. I figured the rest of the day was over for us so I didn't press the issue about the urine sample and just left him be.

He slept off and on the majority of the day.

Today as I prepared to run a few errands while the aid came I asked Hubby to use the sample cup so I could drop it off at the Dr office.
I explained what he needed to do and left him to the job. With the mission accomplished I placed the cup in th BIO HAZARD bag and then placed the bag in the bottom of my purse for delivery to the Dr.

I hope Hubby doesn't have a UTI but at the same time I hope he does. That would explain the extra back pain, and confusion that we may be able to alleviate fairly quickly with antibiotics. It might even help with our night time issues.

You know you are loved when somebody willingly carries your pee around in the bottom of their purse! LOL!

2 comments:

  1. As weird as it sounds, I hope he has a UTI. The antibiotics have helped my mom a lot. She doesn't have the back pain and her confusion is diminished... thank god.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oh Susan,
    I KNOW what you mean.
    Like I said when I learned your mother had a UTI, YAY and Boo.
    Just like Lewy to even make bad news seem good and good news seem bad, huh?

    hugs

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