CAREGIVING: Tuesday morning Melissa, an aide from the VNA came to give Kathy a shower and help her get dressed. She comes twice a week, the other days I take care of the showers etc. and all the personal care stuff. I had Melissa wear a mask while she was here so she wouldn’t get whatever it was. We decided to have Kathy skip her shower because she was sick. But we got her dressed and I fed her her breakfast. Some mornings she can feed herself fine, it just takes a little while. Sometimes I forget to pay attention and don’t notice she is struggling. Her hands shake more at different times and the cereal flies off the spoon. Then I ask her if she wants some help. She had a good appetite.
Later in the morning Brook, a nurse from the VNA, came to check on her. She said she could hear something ‘rattling around in there’ and suggested getting a chest x ray. I called and left a message for Kathy’s primary care doc.
One of the things that has been confusing about this caregiving and getting journey is that, while we are getting a lot of help, it is coming from different sources. And due to medical records privacy issues the left hand doesn’t necessarily know what the right hand or foot is doing. The VNA was referred by the UConn Huntington’s clinic. I was initially just looking for physical and occupational therapy and advice on making the house safer for Kathy. But in addition to Lynn, the PT person, we get nursing visits and Melissa for the two morning showers. Then we have two aides that come via the area senior services group (Greater Springfield Senior Services). We have Dilcia on Thursday afternoons who is a godsend for keeping the house straight but she is also great with Kathy. Then we have another from a different agency who is mainly there as a companion sitter. The plan was to give me a chance to get away. Run some errands. Walk Marty. That hasn’t happened yet. But she is teaching me how to cook Chinese food. She is from Taiwan. Our aide, Dilcia, was born in the Dominican Republic. We also had one aide for a while that was a Mayan indian that was born in Ecuador. And one of the nurses was born in Tibet. The United Nations of Kathy.
But I digress. Kathy’s regular primary care doctor didn’t know we were getting VNA services at all and wasn’t familiar with the agency. So I guess I need to sign some HIPAA forms so they can get acquainted. At any rate they called back and told us where we should go for the X ray. Getting the film shot was an adventure since this was a time Kathy really couldn’t stand on her own to press herself up against the x ray target. So I had to dress up in a lead vest to hold her in place. She was a trooper though and the tech was very nice helping her.
She was exhausted by the time she got home and slept while I made dinner. I fed her and did her teeth and got her tucked in.