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.

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

4 AM With Lewy Body Dementia

Coffee is ready and I started writing this at 5:45
My day started early

4 AM
Waken by a noise I lay in bed thinking in micro seconds.
What was that?
Hubby is in the bathroom, sounds like he closed his underclothes drawer too fast.
listening,
silence
What was that?
Sounds like the toilet tissue dispenser? going around too fast?
pause
again? I'm going to need to buy more tissue. I hope he doesn't stop up the toi...
What was that?
humming?
No,
groaning,
No,
that is a sound from your gut!!

I jumped out of my bed and carefully opened the door to our bathroom.
I always take care in doing that as the door from our bedroom opens into the bathroom. On more than one occasion I have hit Hubby with it upon entering so I'm always cautious.
The door is wedged, my heart sinks.
I give a little, yet careful, shove only to see Hubby had slid face first into the other door that enters our bathroom. What a scary and awful sight!
I closed the door and ran in prayer to the other one that opens outward. Carefully I opened the door as not to make Hubby's head crash into the tile floor. The more I opened the door the more he slid down. Had those 2 doors opened inward I would have never been able to get to Hubby short of ripping the door off with my bare hands. And believe me, I would have done it in a second.

I surveyed all I could see and tried to get Hubby to converse with me which was not easy. I got him as 'comfortable' as one can get on a tile floor but after the position he was in, anything would have been 'comfortable'.
I tried to beat myself up with, why didn't you get up at the first sound?
I just as quickly cast that thought aside, it's not helpful at the moment!
I continue to pray for strength, emotional and physical, along with knowledge and wisdom

Still trying to survey anything I could visually and verbally I could tell by sight and hearing that Hubby was able to move his upper body with no increased pain.
Survey said no broken arms or ribs. Thank you Lord.
I could see him moving his head and trying to communicate with me
Survey said, neck is going to hurt but doesn't appear to cause him excess pain when he moves it, so not broke. Thank you Lord

The slide had him in a very precarious situation, but if he had to go down, perhaps the best one as not to have hit bones extra hard. Thank you Lord
My heart is just sick for Hubby. Thank you for compassion Lord

Finally able to get Hubby to communicate he asked me where he was.
I tried to simply explain and asked him if he could get up. No go.
We can wait, sometimes it takes a while but the cold floor had me a little stressed for him and not being able to see his face and survey his front visually had me stressed for myself.
I got the gait belt to see if I could help get Hubby upright with my assistance. He didn't flinch when I was able to reach under him and pull on the belt a little.
Second opinion on ribs, same as first.

After some time had elapsed and trying to coach Hubby in getting up I was becoming fretful. I wanted to call for help. Hubby can't move or communicate clearly with me until I mention this and his answer is NO!
Every suggestion,
I will call a first responder, they can check you out. NO!
I will call brother in law, he has helped once before. NO!
I can wake up Niece and Daughter in Law. NO!
He understood those requests and conveyed his answer clearly and directly! hmph. 

I agree to comply with his wishes as long as he works with me, after I collected my tears that had fallen. Thank you Lord for stress relieving cleansing tears.

I was finally able to get Hubby into a sitting position and take a look at him. He may have a bruise across his face and he does have a scrape on his arm. I didn't see anything else but I'll bet he is bruised on his chest if from nothing more than me tugging with the gait belt :(

I make sure Hubby is steady and I get the hoyer lift.
I explain to Hubby what I am going to do.
He is confused but agreeable.

Some of you that have read this blog in the past are probably grinning at the thought of us using the hoyer again.
I will admit I smiled at my own self in attempting it again.
Thank you Lord for the Veterans Hosp and them supplying the equipment we need.
I was able to pull Hubby around, get the sling on him and get him jacked up.
(jacked up made me LOL)
Our only mishap this time was my sling connection to the bar was on wrong causing Hubby to try and avoid hitting his head. Oh well, too late to change now. Hoisted him up , slid a chair under him and got him lowered.
They say practice makes perfect.
Next time, and yes I am sure there will be a next time, maybe I'll get it completely right :)

YAY Hubby is upright in a chair.
I make sure he is stable and I retrieve the wheelchair to transfer him into and to the bedroom.
Mission accomplished.
We even got new underclothes on so nice and dry and in his own bed. Covered with blankets and warm.
I press the button to the coffee pot and while I wait for it to finish I snuggle up beside Hubby as he drifts off to sleep.
Safe,
Comfortable,
Loved,
and
Unaware that he even fell. (He asks what happened to his arm)
Thank you Lord for removing that memory from his mind.

1 comment:

  1. Oh man, I hate those stress moments that come in the wee twilight hours! God bless you and Hubby.

    ReplyDelete

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