Tuesday nightmare! and the good news
I did get home from the WW meeting before 8 and got mom settled by 9. So exhausted myself, I slept in the lounge chair until 12.30! As I passed mom, she wanted to talk and she didn't act the slightest bit tired. I went on to bed and was awoken at 1.30 so I spent the rest of the night downstairs and mom called me to get her up for the bathroom - every hour on the hour (Literally!) She had all sorts of tales to tell me and every hour the story became more and more elaborate. The interesting thing was that for the previous 3 or 4 days she had a hard time stringing a sentence together or talking loud enough to be heard or walking without assistance but here she was from 1.30 am - 9am speaking loudly and clearly and walking to the bathroom unassisted! But what crazy stories she was telling and how upset she got when I "suggested" she was having very vivid dreams and imaginations. We did manage to sleep for a couple hours in the morning and when revived, she told the very same stories to everyone in the family! She was afraid to eat, didn't want to get dressed, was afraid of the "men" who came into the house and didn't want to speak at a testimonial and was concerned for a young family member whom she felt was in some danger because of their friend and on and on it went!
This nighttime episode caused us all to see how difficult special occasions like Sunday are on her, some of her stories had parts of local headlines, stories told around the table and bits and pieces of her active (yet confused) mind trying to grasp everything she heard and thought she heard!
I had already scheduled "Pastor Wally" to stop and visit us again but would have canceled him if I had thought of it, anway he came to visit. He is the pastor of the church I am going to and he knows the family as he went all through school with one of my brothers. Wally was really sweet with mom, brought her a gift and listened to her "nightmare/reality" and talked to her about the Lord and heaven and prayed with her. She tried to follow what he was praying as Wally asked her to and did pretty well but instead of asking Jesus to be her Saviour, she asked Him to be her Soldier! :-). Even though she didn't hear Wally well, I am pretty sure Jesus heard her alright. (and she does need a soldier to protect her!). She did seem a bit calmer too, but when the "boys" came to visit - she clearly related all the night time "happenings" and she told them that Pastor Wally visited her and gave "last rites" (and she is not even Catholic!) but hey - isn't that getting right with God??
Mom's doctor did prescribe a very mild anti-anxiety pill which she is now taking at bedtime. Last night my sister was "on duty" so I could sleep. That was a HUGE blessing as I find that when I am sleep deprived, I have to dig A LOT deeper to be gentle and patient AND am easily emotional. Mom and I both slept until 9.30 this morning and had a GREAT day together!
She was more herself today than in a long time, Praise God!! I will let you know if we get a good night's sleep 2 nights in a row!
This nighttime episode caused us all to see how difficult special occasions like Sunday are on her, some of her stories had parts of local headlines, stories told around the table and bits and pieces of her active (yet confused) mind trying to grasp everything she heard and thought she heard!
I had already scheduled "Pastor Wally" to stop and visit us again but would have canceled him if I had thought of it, anway he came to visit. He is the pastor of the church I am going to and he knows the family as he went all through school with one of my brothers. Wally was really sweet with mom, brought her a gift and listened to her "nightmare/reality" and talked to her about the Lord and heaven and prayed with her. She tried to follow what he was praying as Wally asked her to and did pretty well but instead of asking Jesus to be her Saviour, she asked Him to be her Soldier! :-). Even though she didn't hear Wally well, I am pretty sure Jesus heard her alright. (and she does need a soldier to protect her!). She did seem a bit calmer too, but when the "boys" came to visit - she clearly related all the night time "happenings" and she told them that Pastor Wally visited her and gave "last rites" (and she is not even Catholic!) but hey - isn't that getting right with God??
Mom's doctor did prescribe a very mild anti-anxiety pill which she is now taking at bedtime. Last night my sister was "on duty" so I could sleep. That was a HUGE blessing as I find that when I am sleep deprived, I have to dig A LOT deeper to be gentle and patient AND am easily emotional. Mom and I both slept until 9.30 this morning and had a GREAT day together!
She was more herself today than in a long time, Praise God!! I will let you know if we get a good night's sleep 2 nights in a row!
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