UPDATE from Lee

[Guest guest]

Well everybody... I FINALLY have some good news to report!!! This

expensive team of 24/7 Nurses and CNA's were well worth their money.

The CNA's gave me necessary vacation from that room of " Hell on Earth "

and one Nurse in particular... her knowledge and personality are

priceless. I did not realize this nurse has plenty of Nursing Home

experience.

1st... I started to wean Mother off Aricept and Namenda, with the

intentions of weaning her down over a one month period. Two weeks into

it... she is at Aricept 5mg (was 10) and Namenda is 5mg twice/day (was

10 twice/day). Just this weekend we all noticed an IMPROVEMENT in

certain areas. Suddenly she took an interest in TV shows. And our

cable offers a 'community' channel and Mother was READING all the ads

on the local community channel. (The reading part was jaw dropping)

Also Mother is currently yaking about events relevant to the 50's,

60's, and 70's with pretty decent accuracy. Granted she is currently

stuck believing we are living in those past yrs, but that is OK.

2nd... the experienced Nurse I just mentioned above... Saturday night

she butt heads with Hospice and DEMANDED an oxygen machine be

provided. They just delivered that yesterday. They no sooner hooked

her up to oxygen yesterday and she fell asleep and continued to sleep

till 4am. It's 7am as I type this, and her eyes have a twinkle in them.

3rd... the most important update. 1st I must repeat the history. The

1st weekend of Hospice they provided Avian and Morphine and that 1st

weekend Mother was basically trying to murder me. It WAS NOT PRETTY!!!

So I blamed the Morphine and Avian for her murderous rampage. Wouldn't

ya know it... Hospice brings Morphine AGAIN this weekend and insist we

try it one more time. Since I had the experienced Nurse here, we gave

the Morphine a 2nd try (NOT the Avian). Low and Behold... IT'S

WORKING!!! So apparently it was the Avian to blame, or a combination

of Avian and Morphine. Either way... Mother's constant hip, back, and

arm pain are FINALLY being addressed!!!

The gal that works 3rd shift said Mother woke at 4am this morning and

was an ABSOLUTE PEACH to be with!!! Our very 1st experience of Mother

being pleasant!!! She did have to give Mother Morphine 1st thing though.

Now... as you all know... Thursday is a full moon. So I am crossing my

fingers and toes, to see how the rest of the week goes. IF IF IF this

pleasant behavior continues through the full moon week and weekend...

then starting next week, I will cut everybody's hours in half. I will

FINALLY be willing to deal with her myself!!!

LEE