Have Nurse Will Travel

The past couple of weeks mom's pain has gotten worse. We had her on Lor Tab for a couple of weeks, but have just moved to Morphine the past couple of days. In the morning it is her shoulder that aches. The rest of the time she aches in her legs and hips. Of course I am mostly guessing since she can't really tell me what hurts. Not that it matters, pain is pain. Last Sunday night she actually woke up from her sleep crying out in pain. She was really hard to settle down, so Scott and our great neighbor, Jim, gave her a blessing. She actually said, "Amen". So sweet. Yesterday she slept nearly all day, which means she only ate a little oatmeal and a small can of mandarin oranges. She's not eating much anyway and is really losing weight fast. I love singing to her. My favorite song is Poor Wayfaring Stranger. The words are beautiful and I hope helps her find some comfort right now.

It has been a rough couple of days for Mom. She seems to be in more pain lately. The hard thing is she can't really tell me all the time. I can see her wince, but when I ask her she says, "No". Tonight I gave her some medicine and then was trying to get her to eat a little. She started crying and I said, "No crying Mom. You can't eat and cry at the same time." To which she replied, "I'm sorry. I'm trying to do what's right." We both cried a lot tonight.

Yesterday mom was in a serious fiesty mood. She refused to eat breakfast or drink any juice. But her OCD gets the best of her and she has to pick up and eat the pieces of waffle I lay next to her plate on the placemat. I haven't seen her like this in like.....ever. "Do you want some juice?" "No." "Eat a bite of waffle." "No." "Are you feeling a little fiesty today?" "Yes!" The thing about dementia is that she took a little nap and woke up forgetting that she was feeling fiesty.