Some Statistics

Some Statistics

Before Mum stopped being able to be helped out of bed, and when she was generally stronger on weight bearing and could stand up for a few seconds, do a "twiddle" to turn herself around and sit on the glider/chair/bed, she kept pretty well to a routine of being washed and dressed by the carers every morning, after which she would get up, sit in the chair and eat breakfast. This would be followed by a mid-morning nap; getting up again for lunch, with another nap afterwards, followed by tea and cake (again sitting in the chair) before bedtime at about 10.00 p.m.

Then came the three occasions when Mum would not wake up; this worried everyone - the carers and us - to the extent that the carers rang 999 and an ambulance arrived to take Mum to hospital for checks. After the third trip to hospital, it was agreed that if Mum was tired, then that was simply what it was, and she should just be allowed to sleep on for another hour (or three).

Over three months or so this autumn, I thought it would be interesting to check how often Mum has slept through the morning call - bearing in mind this means she doesn't rouse even whilst she is being washed and dressed in fresh clothes. When the carers return for the next call, at about 12.30 p.m, sometimes she sleeps through that one as well, even though her pad will be changed, and the ladies are making sure she is comfortable. Because I know it's not that good for anyone to lie abed for too long - I also worry about her not clearing anything that has accumulated on her chest - when the ladies return at 4.30, we make a concerted effort to wake Mum up and encourage her to get up and sit in the chair for at least the rest of the day.

Over 83 days, recorded between July and October, the figures stacked up like this:

July - 18 days when Mum got up normally.

August - 24 days when Mum got up normally; 7 mornings when she stayed in bed.
(on 1 Aug, she stayed fast asleep during the morning call, the 12.45 call,  and she was still in bed at 2.15. Finally she got up at the tea call, and we went straight to making Mum's dinner. On the other 6 days Mum just slept through the morning call, and got up at lunch time).

September - 19 days when Mum got up normally; 10 days when she stayed in bed.
(On 3 September, she was still in bed at the 12.30 call, and finally got up at 4.30; on 6 September, she slept not only through being washed and dressed, but also through a trial on the hoist! and was still asleep at 12.15, getting up at 4.30; On 10 September, we all thought she had woken up well enough, but was going to sit in the chair; but then it became very clear she had gone off fast asleep, so she was gently hoisted back in to bed, and slept on until the next call at 12.30 p.m.  On the other 7 days, Mum got up at 12.15 p.m)

October - 2 days when Mum got up; and 3 days when she stayed in bed.
On October 2 and 3, Mum stayed in bed until 4.30 p.m., and on 5 October, she slept through the morning call, and got up at 12.30.

As a rough percentage, this autumn Mum has been awake and ready to get up for about 75% of the time; and very sleepy and clearly better and kinder to let her sleep on, for 25% of the time.

One positive result of Mum sleeping through the morning is that I can also go back to bed to snatch a couple of hours' extra kip!  but of course it also means that Mum misses breakfast and ends up with only two meals that day - dinner and supper - and has just two cups of tea. It's hard enough to get Mum to drink one cup of tea at each mealtime but, when she has slept through, I try to increase her fluid intake with a "filler up" of half a cup.

Noting all the times Mum has been awake and "up and doing" just proves we can't be sure of anything, but we will always keep trying to make arrangements for happy times, and to include Mum in all that we do. Organising outings, like Tea at the Ritz, or special occasion get-togethers such as family birthdays and Christmas, are like military operations, and even then we don't know how things will work out, until the time has actually been and come and gone.

We have learned to prepare for everything as far as we possibly can, taking all eventualities into account, and then just hope for the best!