A Walk with Mom: Day 5

Saturday July 2, 2016

The second full day of taking are of Mom.  I was getting tired as I hadn’t slept much, but Mom had been sleeping 20-22 hours a day.  she was only up a few times to drink her protein drinks.

I continued to wake her up for meals and checking her vitals. I would check on her every hour during the night to make sure she was breathing.  I noticed a pattern – deep sighs in her breathing, sometimes shallow and quick, sometimes far apart. I understood what that meant, along with vitals that continued to measure up and down. Her blood pressure and heart rate where the most volatile.  Wide swings that scared me, but just within the safe range, except for that last reading that I took.

I researched and read everything I could find on severe malnutrition, the effects on the body, and anything that might help me figure out what to do.

In between taking care of Dad and checking in on Mom, I cleaned the house. I did the dishes, mopped the floor, vacuumed, dusted, fed the cat, did laundry, folded clothes.  Anything to keep busy and also help them.. Mom had been so sick that not much housework could be done.  And Dad, tried to do what he could but was never great at house cleaning.