Oh cripes!! Another case of Dan thought I blogged and I thought he blogged and, turns out, neither of us blogged.
The New Year's weekend was uneventful. On Saturday, Estelle was put back on antibiotics due to a beginning cellulitis on her upper chest from rubbing it with her hand repeatedly. It does not look bad but better safe than sorry, I suppose.
Sunday and Monday's visits were pretty stressful for all of us. She was very talkative but also very agitated and, the more she tries to communicate, the more it becomes noticable that she is unable to complete her thoughts. She will start out speaking quite plainly but the end of each sentence is either unintelligible or is simply not spoken at all. Hence, we never know what she's talking about. She can begin any sentence quite easily - she just cannot finish it. It is all "I wonder if_________________," or "I want to_________________," or "What's happened to_____________," and we seldom know what she's referring to. We try to guess, to fill in the blanks, but it's frustrating for her and it's frustrating for us, too.
She was upset about her rings (we think) and wanted to know where they were and she wanted a safe to put them in. Dan has promised to bring her a small safe this weekend but I am unsure if she will remember why she wanted it - and, of course, she has no valuables with her so there is nothing to put in it, anyhow.
She is still hitting herself in the face and chest repeatedly whenever she is awake. They've increased her Zoloft, hoping it will stop the behaviour, but so far it does not seem to be working.
Dan sees an improvement in her communication skills. She is talking much more frequently, but, as I said, it's frustrating and hard for her. Dan understands her much better than I do which is a godsend to all of us. His patience is becoming legendary with both myself and the staff. When it becomes apparent to me that I am not going to be able to understand or guess what she is attempting to say, I am wont to change the subject or suggest that she try to rest - Dan, however, will patiently keep talking to her and guessing and offerng words until he finds the right ones.
Estelle did get to talk to sevral friends and family members by phone for the New Years and she was pleased by it. She also enjoys the cards and letters that people send her so thank you for all of those, too.
May the New Year be healthy and kind to us all.
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