Arrange the pieces that come your way ...

Arrange the pieces that come your way - Virginia Woolf. I love this quote. I think Virginia was probably talking about things like when my nephew had an accident and ended up in a wheelchair and my older sister, headed down a path of her own, just moved right on to what was to be her new path, taking care of Donnie. She had her pieces arranged and then so calmly (I mean she seemed calm to me) added the new pieces to her existing pieces and rearranged. I was always impressed by that!

Well I had a situation today that kind of falls into that quote though not as impressive as Laverne's situation. My pieces were Mom's bed, her wheelchair, the hoyer blanket, the hoyer and the shower chair. So the plan is that when Louis works he gets her out of bed to the wheelchair w/ the hoyer blanket in it in the morning. Then I can use the hoyer to get her back in bed for nap and out again. Oh it was not problem getting her in the bed but when it came time to get her out ... that is another story. When I set her down in the chair she looked more like she was the long side of a right triangle, her bottom half on the chair and half off. I tried using the hoyer blanket from behind the chair to pull her up but since her legs were slanted down it was too much for me, having to pull her up and back, she was not moving.

Ugggghhhh ... were we just going to have to have another one of those sing-a-longs until Louis was available? I thought surely I can figure out something and I did! I got the shower chair and put it in front of her and put her legs on it so her legs were horizontal, I was then able to pull her back to a position where she was more like the 2 shorter sides of the triangle. ; ) Mom and I were so proud! Really I think she could not have cared less but anyway I arranged the pieces that came my way so as to make the situation work, right? I am pretty good at that and I know I got that from my Dad. Louis is always in awe of my ability to figure out something to make what ever it is I am doing work. It may not always be the most ideal way but it always works. Now when he is around I tend to lean more heavily on him because it is nice to get a break from my ingenius ideas.

I cannot underestimate how fragile an elderly person's skin is. If you are ever taking care of someone older be very cognizant of that. Feet on pillows in bed so that their heels do not touch the bed. Good tight fighting sheets, those made with cotton t-shirt type material are best. Try to limit the wrinkles and folds in their clothes that are between their skin and the sheets. Put a smooth folded sheet between the bedpad and the sheet on the bed to use to move them on the bed. It takes 2 people but each take a side, grab the sheet and 123 pull!

Mom is feeling better, I was actually thankful for her jabbering because I knew she was getting to be her old self. I am thinking though she does not have to do it anymore, I am convinced! ; ) But she is moody and if I am extra tired or hormonal it is hard not to take it personal. I am worried sometimes she is moving to the stage where she forgets how to swallow. She chews forever, I often have to coax her to swallow. I ask her, "Did your Mother tell you to chew each bite 100 times?", that usually always gets a smile from her. If she loses the ability to swallow I think it would be a bad thing because I would never do a feeding tube.