Friday 31 March 2017

Sugar on Salisbury steak

Friday, March 31, 2017
Mom was upset.  I got served coffee so I gave mine to Donna.  I took mom's tea since she didn't seem to want it.  She seemed suspicious about it.  She seemed to think something strange was in there.  I tasted the tea and noticed that it was way stronger than usual and bitter.  I put some milk in. Once mom saw the colour was different, she seemed more calm.  I was thinking about asking the nurse if her medication had been changed.  She had seemed kind of paranoid.  I guess she was just shocked because the tea tasted bitter.  I should think about bringing her some green tea.
Mom had a good appetite.  She seemed kind of miffed when I cut her Salisbury steak up for her.  I only cut a few pieces at a time.  She cut the last pieces with the side of her fork.  She ate everything. She hardly touched her apple crisp which was really delicious.
I watched in horror as Edward poured sugar on his Salisbury steak.  He ate some and then poured more sugar.  He had a good appetite today.
Mom and I shared an orange.  I peeled it and gave it to her section by section.
When we got to mom's room, I found 3 bananas in her drawer.
She had a lot of dirty underwear in her laundry basket.
I think I'm going to stop doing her laundry.
I put the head phones on mom and she was really happy.  We went out to the lobby so that she could hum along.  After about half and hour, mom was ready to do something else so we went back to her room and looked at her photo book.  Donna came to check on us.  We went out to the fish tank room to sit with Shanta.  Shanta wanted to play cards, but I said we should wait until after the quarantine.


Sony Walkman

Tuesday, March 28, 2017
Quarantine is still on.
I was sick last week.
I was relieved to see that Shanta was in the dining room.
Jacquie will eat in her room for the duration of the quarantine.
Everybody else was fine.  They wanted to play cards, but I explained that because of the quarantine, I would hold off.
Lots of laundry.  Mom's flowers were still alive.
I brought mom's old tape cassette Walkman.  I put the headset on her and she smiled when she heard the music.  Then, she started singing, so I took her out to the lobby.
She was really enjoying her music.
Unfortunately she can't work the Walkman herself.
The washroom looked cleaner today.
Mom was confused about where the toilet was in her own room.
Once I showed her, she was fine.

Tuesday 21 March 2017

Mom and Donna are okay

Tuesday, March 21, 2017
I was surprised to see mom and Donna at the dinner table with Jacquie and Edward.
They had both had their showers and had their hair washed.
We had baked breaded fish for dinner with rice and boiled carrots.  Dessert was a fruit cocktail cobbler.   I shared an orange with mom and Edward.
I got two pieces of fish so I gave half of one piece to Jacquie to give to Peter the cat.  Jacquie said that Peter had caught 8 mice in two months.  He leaves the mice under her bed.
Breden played the piano has we ate and Jacquie sang along as much as she could.
After dinner we went back to the room to use the washroom.  The washroom smelt strongly of pee, but it looked clean.  Mom took a pee and a poo.  She was wearing a pair of underpants over the diaper.  She tried to take the diaper apart, but I showed her how she could just pull them down.
Barbara was having dinner in bed.
Fernando came by to see mom.  He was calling her.  She was smiling.  Oh, oh.  I hope he's not her boyfriend.  He asked me if we were sisters.  He didn't actually come into the room.  He just sat in the doorway in his wheelchair.
The nurse said that mom's clothes were covered in puke.  She asked me what to do with them.  I said I wasn't taking them home.  They could wash the clothes but not the shoes.  I'm surprised they kept the clothes for me.  That didn't sound very hygienic.
Mom and Donna went to play card bingo.  For some reason, they started early.  We got there at 5:50 and they were already playing. The new guy was there with his wife, but I think he was bored.
Edward won twice.  He got two bags of chips.
After bingo, I took Shanta back to her son, Alan.  I took mom and Donna to sit with the others in the television room.  Mom kept looking back at Donna.  Donna had no idea where she was going.  She was following us.  Michael complimented Donna on her sweater.  "This old thing?" Donna replied.
I went back to the room to get my coat and bag.  Barbara flagged me down.  She told me that she was going to take care of the girl - meaning mom.  She asked me if would be worth it to teach mom how to talk.  I told her that mom liked to sing.  I told her that mom might be able to Old Lang Syne and You are my Sunshine.  Barbara was joking earlier that she had eaten a very nice piece of chicken and taken one bite when it disappeared.  I'm concerned about her.  I wonder if she has long to live.
I went back to the television room to say good-bye to the gang.  As I was leaving I noticed that Shanta and her son were in the dining area.  It looked liked Shanta had vomited.  I asked her son and he confirmed it.  I ran to the nurses' desk to inform them that Shanta had vomited.  Yikes!  It was dark purple.  The nurse came running back and Shanta vomited again.  Poor Shanta.


Sunday 19 March 2017

Mom is sick

Sunday, March 19, 2017
Got a call this afternoon that mom is sick.  The nurse said that mom had diarrhea this morning and then threw up 3 times after lunch.  Poor mom.

Donna is confined

Saturday, March 18, 2017
Looks like Donna is still confined to her room.
She thinks maybe tomorrow she'll be allowed back.
Barbara says she is ill as well.
They are both sitting up waiting for dinner.
Jacquie's daughter and grandchildren came to visit today: one is a 3 month old and the other is 2 years old.  The toddler shared her sliced cucumbers with her granny.
We had rosemary chicken, Brussels sprouts and mashed potatoes with gravy.  Dessert was bread pudding.  Jacquie gave me all her Brussels sprouts except one.  She gave me one chicken thigh too.  I guess she doesn't care for chicken either.  She poured sugar over her bread pudding.
Mom's chicken came shredded in a gravy.  I know she doesn't remember how to use a knife and fork unless cued.  She ate her food with no complaints.  She liked the bread pudding too.  We shared an orange with Edward.  He started coughing so I was a little concerned, but they give him an unpeeled orange so orange should be okay.
His bib was falling off so I helped him and he said, "Thank you."  I was surprised because I rarely hear him speak.
Jacquie left to go to the park with her guests.  I took mom back to her room to use the washroom.  We used the toilet in the other room because the one in her room didn't look very clean.  Mom tries to clean the toilet.  I don't want her to touch it.  I can't do anything when I am not there.
It was still sunny outside so I asked mom if she wanted to go outside.  She even let me put on her coat.  Luckily I could still remember the code for the gate.  Once outside the gate, mom said she was cold so I put my scarf around her neck and put her hood on.  She was grumbling a bit so I distracted her by pointing to the dog park.
There was a huge St. Bernard there.  It looked like a horse.  There were other large dogs there, but this dog was huge.  It walked towards us and mom was afraid, but I said there was a fence so she would be fine.  The St. Bernard was busy trying to bury something.
Mom complained that it was cold and she wanted to go back to I returned after maybe 5-10 minutes.
Donna and Barbara said they hadn't enjoyed their dinner.  I guess they must be on a special diet.
The window was open.  Barbara didn't want it closed.
Donna went to the washroom and mom and I went to play cards.
Shanta had to get a procedure done so she could only play a couples of games.
The new guy with the oxygen tank kept wanting to talk to Anna and his son kept taking him away.  Poor guy.  He seemed kind of deranged.  I think he wanted to join us.
When I got back to the room, both Donna and Barbara were tucked in their beds.  Donna was still awake so I wished her well and said good-bye.
When I was leaving, mom wanted to walk me to the door.  Luckily she stood back and waved so I could get out the door.




Friday 17 March 2017

Donna is back

Friday, March 17, 2017
Donna is back from the hospital.  Chris called me Wednesday night and told me Donna was eating in her room and mom was sitting with her.  He was concerned that mom had not eaten, but I assured him that mom had eaten earlier.  She has a good appetite.
Had dinner with mom, Jacquie and Edward.  They didn't forget my dessert today.  We had ginger pork, rice and broccoli and cauliflower.  Dessert was Jello with cream whip.  We finished off with an orange.  I gave one piece to Edward.  He said he didn't want it, but in the end he ate it.  He started coughing, but I figure if they give him oranges, it must be okay.  Mom said she didn't want the orange pieces I gave her, but she ate them all.
Donna ate in the room.  When we got back I tidied up mom's drawers and closet.  She had thrown a banana peel in the laundry hamper and clothes in the closet.  I went through to figure out which were soiled and which were clean.  Someone else's underpants were in mom's drawer.  They were Marks and Spencer so they weren't mom's.  I put them in the communal hamper. Her pink Fruit of the Loom panties have permanent poop stains.
Barbara was in bed today.  She said she was ill.
When mom and I came back from dinner, they were both sipping ginger ales.
Donna was having problems with her pants.  I wonder if the care worker had gotten called away before she finished changing Donna.  Anyways Donna had pooped her diaper.  I flagged down a care aide and she said someone was attending to Donna.
I took mom to use the washroom in her room, but it was covered in poop.
I took mom to use the washroom next door.
We went to play card bingo with the gang: mom, Michael, Shanta and Anna.  Donna came to join us after we had finished.  I was wondering if she was allowed to.   Michael went to put the Monopoly money away and I wheeled Shanta over to her son.  Mom, Donna and Anna sat at the table waiting for their cocoa.

Tuesday 14 March 2017

Donna's in the hospital

Tuesday, March 14, 2017
When I arrived, Donna and Edward weren't there.  Jacquie said that Donna had been ill at lunch.  I went to mom's room to drop off my stuff and bumped into Edward on the way back.  Barbara told me that Donna went to the hospital because she had severe diarrhea.  Yikes!
Mom didn't seem to understand what had happened.  She had a good appetite at dinner.  We had stuffed pork with gravy, mashed potato and cauliflower and broccoli.  Dessert was vanilla pudding.  They forgot mine so I took the apple sauce from Donna's place setting.  I guess nobody notified the kitchen staff.  Mom only ate a little of the apple sauce and pudding.  I put some of the apple sauce on her pork which was a bit dry even with the gravy.  She ate it all.  We shared an orange.  I offered to peel Edward's orange but I don't know if he knew what I was talking about.
After dinner we went back to mom's room to use the toilet.  I stayed in the bathroom with her because I wanted to see what she did.  She uses the toilet paper and throws it in the garbage can and I don't think she washes her hands.  I'm not even sure if she knows how to flush the toilet.  Oh well, she can pull down her pants and sit on the toilet and pee and dry herself.
There was a lot of laundry today.  I think the staff just take have her wear her clothes once and put it in the laundry basket.  Her pajamas were still clean.  I took her used underpants and put them in the communal hamper.  I found a pair of underpants wrapped in a napkin in her drawer.
Ming came to get us to play card bingo.  He didn't know that Donna had gone to Emergency.
Mom was confused.  She didn't know that she had to turn her card over if it matched the card of the caller.  She caught on quickly.  She won two bags of chips so I asked her to give one bag to someone.
We went back to the room and we read a story about the ant and the pidgeon.  We looked at her photo book and she popped a little bubble wrap.
I took her out to the television room to sit with Shanta and Michael.  Mom insisted on walking me out to the door.  She stayed back so that I could open the door.  We waved at each other through the window.

Sunday night cards

Sunday, March 12, 2017
Jacquie was outside.  I saw her out the window as I signed in.  I waved to her.
Didn't make it in time for dinner.  Donna said it was good, but she couldn't remember what they had eaten. Mom and I folded some clothes together.  I got her to comb her hair. There were a few items in her laundry basket. 
Joan, the new lady, seems very active.  She had wheeled herself into the washroom.  I let the nurse at the front desk know.  Donna said she gets trapped in there.
We saw Michael and Anna in the hallway on our way to the fishtank room.  I went to find Shanta.  She was sitting with her son.  We had fun playing card bingo.  Michael brought the Monopoly money and I let him deal the cards.
Mom and Donna were a little slower than usual.  They get better as we get into the 2nd or 3rd game.  Mom is unsure about what to do.  She thinks she has to match the suit, which is correct, but she also has to match the card.  Sometimes she knows she has a match, but she thinks she has to take my card to make a pair.  Donna gets her spades and hearts mixed up as does Shanta.


Saturday 11 March 2017

Oranges

Friday, March 10, 2017
Everyone was seated when I arrived.  Jacquie and I had to wait a while before our meals appeared. We had my favourite: lemon chicken, with rice and mixed veggies.  Dessert was tapioca pudding.
I peeled an orange and gave half to mom and half to Edward.  Apparently Edward takes the orange back to his room and hoards it.  I think a lot of the seniors can't peel the orange and they take it back to the room and just keep it.
Barbara had her hair cut.  Her hair always looks nice.  I think she drew her eyebrows in too.
We were late for the horse races so mom had to sit beside a relatively new resident.  They got along quite well.  Shanta won twice and she gave me her chocolate.
Not much laundry lately.
Mom's hair was quite tangled.  She combed it out for herself when I cued her.
We went through her photo book.
She always enjoys it.

Tuesday 7 March 2017

card bingo is back

Tuesday, March 7, 2017
Lots of snow today, but had turned to rain by the end of the day.
Things look back to normal.
Brayden was playing the piano, Jacquie was singing, Mom, Donna and Edward were sitting at the table.  We had ginger pork, rice and cooked veggies.  Dessert was carrot cake with icing.
I gave mom some red pepper and some orange sections.  She protested and said she wouldn't eat them, but she did.  She didn't even try her carrot cake.
After dinner we went to use the washroom.  I gave Donna a box of Kleenex.  She was very happy. She's been talking about this for weeks.  I even told the nurse to tell Donna's sister to get her a box of Kleenex.
Mom has been rearranging her things again.  I put her books and magazines back on her nightstand.  I found some laundry in her bottom drawer.  There was one pair of underpants in her hamper and some garbage which I threw out.
Not much laundry.
Anna came to get us to go to card bingo.  I haven't seen Sam in a long time.  He didn't come.  Barbara came and she sat beside Anna.  Anna kept touching her.  Barbara let her know that she had a sore arm and sore leg so Anna stopped touching her.
Shanta won a bag of chips and insisted on giving it to me.  I gave the chips to Barbara and she was happy.
The girls (mom, Donna, Anna and Shanta) were all sitting together later waiting for their hot cocoa when I left.

Saturday 4 March 2017

toothpaste in her hair

Saturday, March 4, 2017
My bus didn't come.  It was really cold.  One lady said she was waiting 25 minutes so I must have been waiting 20 minutes at least.  I missed my connection so I had to walk 15-20 minutes and was late for dinner.  I think they just scrounged up whatever they had and gave it to me.
Teriyaki chicken drumsticks, rice and mixed veggies.  They ran out of lemon cake so I got red Jello.  I shared mom's lemon cake and I shared my Jello which she dropped on the floor.  She was fixated on it so I had to clean it up.
There wasn't any laundry.  Mom was wearing the same outfit as the one she changed into yesterday.  I wonder where she put her dirty socks.
She had put orange peels in the laundry hamper.
There was a personal safety device on her dresser/nightstand.  Donna showed me hers.  They have no idea how to use it or what it is even.
I got mom to comb her hair.  She forgot she had combed it.  I combed it for her again and discovered toothpaste in her hair.  I know she gets confused.  She probably thought it was a brush so she would use it to brush her hair.  I told the nurse, but they didn't think anything of it.
Barbara always gets confused about who I am.  She always thinks I'm mom's mom.
I rounded up the gang for card bingo.  Shanta wasn't there so we just started without her.  Her son wheeled her in after we had played for half and hour already.  Her son said that Shanta was thankful that I let her join in.  I assured him it was a pleasure.  I don't think Shanta had her teeth in today.  She's obviously very ill with some kind of breathing difficulties.  She's in a wheelchair and she can only use one hand.  She is still feisty.  She really likes to be part of the gang.

Friday 3 March 2017

Quarantine is off/no underwear!

Friday, March 3, 2017
The quarantine is off and everyone was back.
We had Salisbury steak, mashed potatoes, mixed veggies and cake and vanilla pudding for dessert.
Jacquie was back.  She said she was the karaoke entertainment for the sing-a-long this afternoon. Mom and Donna had no recollection.
After dinner I took mom to the washroom.  She didn't have any underpants on.  When I checked her drawers, I found a pair of damp underpants.  She must have had an accident and washed her underwear herself and then forgotten to put a new pair on.
Lots of things were moved around her area.  She must have had too much free time on her hands today.
Tonight was horse racing.  Mom won once.  She was sitting beside Shirley whose husband passed away a couple of weeks ago.  Shirley, mom, Donna, Anna and Michael were all sitting in a row. Shanta was with her son.
I went to visit Ailene and gave her mom's leftover Clementines.  She loves tangerines.  She said she had to stay in her room during the quarantine, but she had stayed healthy.
After horse racing mom and I read a little from her Japanese reader.  The story was about the little white hen who plants seeds, cuts down the wheat, grinds the wheat, makes bread and then bakes it and about the lazy animals who don't help her and yet expect to eat the bread.
The room wasn't set up yet for coffee so I left the girls in the television room with Shanta and her son.  Shanta gave me the chocolate she won from the horse races.