Monday, December 26, 2011

reindeer flying drunk vs MS


Memories of Christmas morning broke new ground this year with a phone call from Patti’s care facility that she had been found on the floor next to her bed about a half hour before dawn.

After physical and neurological examination she appeared OK and had no complaints nor remembered anything. Of course Multiple Sclerosis related memory loss, Patti’s MS short circuiting of pain neurotransmitters and probable shock confounded examination.

Incoming day shift found her during 7 AM ‘observation’. Overnight shift reported her asleep in bed at the previous hour’s 6 AM check.

Nursing staff wanted to keep her up and alert, just in case (some kind of concussion protocol), and on priority monitoring and evaluation. After a couple hours – a bruise beginning to develop on her knee was the only observable concern.

Continuing with plans to pick Patti up for Christmas Day with family still seemed the best of possible ideas.

All things considered, in fact, Patti was firing on all cylinders right through the day. Patti never gets up as early as 7 AM and has not gone without at least one mid-day nap for at least a decade. She was beyond impressive for someone who began the day falling out of bed, participating with over a dozen family members in Christmas Day festivities .

After about the umpteenth time of pestering her if she remembered anything about how she ended up on the floor - she turned to me while riding in the van and said, “the damn reindeer were flying drunk.”  

You got to love it!

For the First Day of Christmas, I do know that Patti is getting the return of two bedside fall mats and that beginning last night her high-low mechanical style bed will be lowered to as close to the floor as possible when sleeping, about a foot (30.48 cm) off the floor.

Caregivingly Yours, Patrick Leer 

10 comments:

  1. Always watch out for those reindeer....remember Grandma got run over my those reindeer! Glad things turned around..

    Love Cuz

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  2. Thanks to Patti for making me laugh. What I want to know is where does one report a suspiciously weaving reindeer? I'm just saying, trying to avoid this happening again.

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  3. Patrick - I'm always impressed how well the two of you cope with the things that come up. Merry Christmas!

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  4. hahahaha, I see (again) why you love her--boy, keeping that sense of humor about life is so important for US and those who love us. You both are true treasures.

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  5. Glad to hear that no drunk reindeer or Patti were hurt in the production of this year's Christmas day!

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  6. So glad Patty was not hurt when she fell and that she was able to come home for Christmas. Hopefully no more wayward reindeer will get in the way anytime soon.

    Donna

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  7. Thank you ALL for you kind thoughts. It certainly was a one of a kind Christmas Day.

    Caregivingly Yours, Patrick

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  8. You are one of a kind of a caregiver, Patrick. Well... maybe one of a pair. =p I have the other half. HA!

    Happy New Year to a wonderful caregiver and Patti.

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  9. I guess, there is something wrong with the picture. I can see some warning sign there, but I guess there is the wrong one.

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