60) Things have changed - 27th December

This is the 60th Blog and the hardest one to write so far.

Things have changed considerably in the last 24 hours.

Leigh-Ann's physical and mental capabilities have deteriorated rapidly during the last few days and today the challenges we face in caring for Leigh-Ann have increased dramatically.

Leigh-Ann now needs constant attention. She cannot be allowed to stand and move without someone supporting her just in case she falls which she has done several times already. She is losing her coordination and finds holding her drink and taking her medicine difficult.

On a flight to Oz, Oct 2012

She can no longer climb the stairs without help, preferably with two people. Bathroom visits present the same problem. Leigh-Ann can no longer manage to drink on her own as she has spilt the contents more than once today! She struggles to communicate coherently and has started to "see" things again in the same way that she had done before when she was on Morphine a few weeks ago.

Today she has seen cats and dogs in the lounge, heard a donkey and seen colours on the walls and shining lights emanating from people's bodies.

So we have brought back into the house her "Walker", a commode and bed pan to try and make ours and her life less stressful.

All of this is very scary for all of us but I am now most worried about sleeping alone with her as her actions are now unpredictable and I do not know what I might have to deal with in the middle of the night.

It is a situation that we are not trained for but as a "team" we are meeting these new scenarios positively and doing the best we can and that's not been too disastrous so far. We learn from our mistakes and discuss our strategies for caring.

I think that we are all doing very well.

As you might deduce from my tone I am also doing much better after yesterday's "hiccup"!

As always she is quite calm and polite.