CAREGIVING: Friday. I decided that, with the first snowstorm of the winter on its way, we would go shopping on Friday and not our usual Sunday routine. I’m also realizing that taking Kathy out is getting more and more difficult. And with her coughing we need to be careful. Friday it was cold but it was sunny out, so we went to Aldi’s. They had most of what I was hoping to get there. We got back and I got Kathy resting while I put most of the stuff away.
I did some design work and sent it to the client. A check from a client arrived and I wanted to run down to the ATM to deposit it. Kathy said she wanted to go with me. I wanted her to stay home for the 10 or 15 minutes it would take. She has always had anxiety issues. But Huntington’s can be a magnifying glass to the issues you have. So being alone can cause panic. Some of her meds are trying to help it but it is a work in progress. At any rate I decided to put it off. Maybe I can sneak down there while I’m doing the laundry.
On Saturday Kathy wasn’t doing great with her balance and was coughing. I decided we shouldn’t go out that day. We usually have some errands to run and the dump run. I just did laundry and cleaned. I still hadn’t gone to the ATM. I was also preparing my mac for a new system upgrade. My backups weren’t backing up. But I finally got it set up with the help of some tech support. The snow was just starting. The Weather Channel had decided that this storm needed a name. They dubbed it Electra. It is a way to market snowstorms the same as hurricanes, I guess. I made chili since I had most of the day to cook the beans.
Sunday. Woke up to survey “Storm Electra!” Not really a ton of snow but it was that heavy crap. After I gave Kathy her shower and made her breakfast I got ready to do the shovelling. Kathy asked me if I “needed help?” Very sweet that she asked from her wheelchair. The reality is she didn’t want to be alone while I was outside. So what we decided to do was to bundle her up and bring her down to the basement where she could wait for me. I decided it was better for her to be where I could run in and check on her. I turned the thermostat up a little, brought an old wheelchair we were borrowing down there and put it in front of the one heater vent down there. I put a warm coat, hat and gloves on her.
As it turned out the shovelling didn’t take long. I just did the steps and the Rav4 got out of the snow easily. I parked it at our neighbor’s house. When I got home I called the guy that plows our little parking area. Actually I called him after I got Kathy back upstairs and lying down again. We ate lunch and watched football. I messed with the computer trying to get stuff to work again. After the parking spot was plowed I told Kathy I was going to move the car back home. I finally went to the ATM to deposit that check without telling her.
Sometimes I space out making dinner. Pasta is made for nights like this. I had some shrimp and threw in some vegetables with some pesto sauce. I probably wouldn’t order it in an Italian restaurant but it was OK. Kathy really wanted to feed herself but with her chorea the food was flying off the forks and spoons I gave her. So I fed her. One of the benefits for me is that I eat much more slowly and deliberately when I am feeding Kathy. Give her a bite. While she chews, I take a bite. After dessert we watched the end of the Inspector Lewis episode we had started the night before and had enough time to watch the first episode of Ballykissangel. We used to watch it when it was on PBS.
Then it was time to give Kathy her meds but I could barely get her into her chair. She had no strength in her legs and no coordination. It was pretty scary for a while. She had trouble swallowing one of her pills. Sometimes she can’t get it to go from her mouth to her throat and sometimes it gets stuck halfway down, she says. So I kept pumping juice and water down her. Finally, the pills were swallowed.