Photo by Trent, taken while hiking
at Emerald Lake in
Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado
03/14/2009



December 11, 2008

To explain...

This will be just a short note to explain why I have not been able to post Part 4 about my Dad today.

Things have been a bit hectic here, what with all the normal stuff plus Warren's problems to work on. Then on Monday Coral somehow got hurt and is having quite a bit of discomfort sitting, which is something she has to do all the time. She also had symptoms in her left foot with it being all cramped up and trembly. That is her weightbearing foot, and I began to be concerned that she might not be able to help me by bearing weight, which would mean I might not be physically able to do what I have to do, which would mean...

So I took her to the chiropractor on Tuesday who found a sacroiliac joint that was pretty compacted and unmoving on the left side. It looked to her as if Coral maybe had been "bounced" too hard on that side. She worked with that and got it pretty mobile by the time we left which was a help, as Coral seems to be able to bear her weight again. But she continued to have a lot of soft-tissue pain when sitting on the padded part we are supposed to sit on. (She is not very well padded there to begin with!) Since nothing amiss can be seen on the outside, I began to worry about possible internal soft-tissue damage from chronic constipation, so we took her to her general practitioner yesterday. The internal exam did not give her any discomfort, and the doc could not feel anything wrong, so I guess we are just going to have to wait it out. I do think she is doing better than she was.

All this long story to say that I am a big chicken when it comes to enduring the pain of my loved ones. Anything wrong with Coral is doubly bad for my innards because she can't tell me what is wrong, and so I am constantly trying to guess and wondering what I should be doing. I do try not to cross any rickety bridges before I have to, but there is a fine line between foolish worry and realistic concern sometimes!

I have kept her home every day and will continue to do that until she is better, so my work is getting done into the wee hours of the morning. I have a pile waiting for me. I haven't been able to visit your blogs or make comments or make a new post about my Dad. I will continue as soon as I can, and maybe I will stretch this series out over a little more time. Thanks so much for coming over here to visit and for leaving such wonderful comments!

9 comments:

Carol-Ann Allen said...

I can't imagine dealing with this kind of concern! Coral's inability to communicate her needs when something hurts must be so hard on you! I'm so sorry for you guys and will pray for you in a special way tonight!

Jeanette said...

Last minute work, C-A? You are up so late! Thanks for praying for us. I appreciate it more than I can say!

Carol-Ann Allen said...

yup!
Pot can't call the kettle black, sis! yours is posted later than mine!

Shh! in blogworld there is no such thing as time zones!

It was partly last minute work -- mostly contemplative memory lane after reading that Renae's blog and listening to her blog radio interview!

Good grief! Kinza came into my office and made some coy remark about my makeup -- it wasn't till I passed the mirror in the bedroom several hours later that I saw what she was talking about! Nearly cracked the glass!

Funny -- every now and then I have to get all those little ones outta my system and then I'm good to go again.

Is Coral showing signs of feeling more comfy sittin' down yet?

Curious group of words you used there ... "somehow got hurt"?

Jeanette said...

I have not had a chance to hear Renae's radio interview yet for the aforementioned reasons, but I hope to do that this weekend sometime. I have just plain and simple not been able to keep up... glub, glub, glub... I feel quite out of touch.

Coral seems to be improving slowly, so that is good. She could not have tolerated the hard shower chair, so today she had a bed bath, and Barry went out and bought one of those inflatable things that lets you wash someone's hair in bed. That worked really well for Debbie and me this morning. (Debbie comes from the home health agency on shower days and is absolutely the biggest blessing to me with her very sweet spirit and helpfulness.)

I said "somehow got hurt" because I know she is hurt but I don't know where or when it happened. It might have been when she went swimming on Monday at the day program if she had to sit on something very hard at an unusual angle or if someone set her down too hard. It could have happened here when the aide did transfers from chair to toilet and back again. I don't think it happened with anything I did because I would have known right away that she was hurting. So she "somehow got hurt." Wish she could tell me...

Carol-Ann Allen said...

Oh, that is one of the greatest frustrations and worry-provoking things that I could imagine! I'm sure it must be really hard not to be resentful of and distrusting of others who give her "care" after something like this happens! Accidents happen to everyone but when people don't own up to having had an accident or an incident, it slays trust and fans the flame of anger!

Sorry, sis!

Louise said...

Bless your heart and Coral's! May God give extraordinary strength, health and rest during this time.

Renae said...

Oh, I have been out of town and away from the computer most of the week-end! I am so sorry to hear this. I am going to pray for Coral - and you - right now!

Carol-Ann Allen said...

Updates? Updates?

Jeanette said...

Thank you all so much! I appreciate your prayers.

Update: Coral is improving slowly. She is happier and seems more comfortable for more of the day now. I am still keeping her home, but I think we might be nearing the dividing line between when she truly needs to be home and when she is milking this for all it is worth!! Ha ha! It's a good sign. You would have to be here -- in fact, you might even have to be Barry and me to get the fun out of this that we do! Tonight a friend came to our door to drop off a Christmas gift and asked how Coral is. She was all ears sitting in the living room. I said she was doing better, and she got quite indignant and insisted, "It's hurting!" We have to laugh, because when things are really hurting, she won't admit it until it is so bad that there is no spunk left in her. The spunk I saw tonight was all about wanting to stay home and knowing that once she is not hurting anymore, she will be having to get up in the mornings and go to her day program (which she loves, by the way! Just not as much as she loves the cushy life of lying in bed all morning and keeping Mom company and watching all her TV programs!)

So that is my update... and I'm glad it is a good one. I have discussed this thoroughly with all her various caregivers, and we all think that this may be a combination of things. She has taken a sudden great liking to pushing herself in her wheelchair at the day program. Only her left hand cooperates, so this is one-sided and means she leans to that side a lot and has been exercising the muscles on that side more than usual. That, together with sitting on the hard cement at the side of the pool last Monday after swimming, are probably the culprits for this, so we are all on the lookout so as to not repeat this!