General Update #230 - Sunday, November 29, 2020

Dusty arrived ~9:25 a.m. at farmhouse after running errands and refueling Jeep. Joyce found awake and exiting bathroom (urine passed following urinary incontinence issue). Joyce had been awake for a while and been "working in the kitchen" (moving things around and "investigating what had been done in there the last few days"). Joyce expressed concerns over Dusty cleaning her kitchen and items in cupboards. Joyce had been "exploring the kitchen" this morning, looking through old pill box, moving things and "inspecting" things that she had noticed had been moved from where they belong. Joyce expressed concerns over location of items in the kitchen and Dusty explained that much of it was temporary and would be put away as cupboards were restocked with cleaned items or as they were washed. 

Joyce declined breakfast and negotiations ensued following her return to her recliner.

9:39 a.m. - Breakfast (1 banana, nutritional shake) and morning medication.

Joyce began napping, citing fatigue. 

11 a.m. - Joyce declined bathroom trip.

11:26 a.m. - Bathroom trip without incident. Urine and bowel movement passed (Type 5). Wound cleaned and fresh barrier cream applied. PT walk to living room post toileting. Returned to recliner by ~11:45 a.m. Joyce complained about back, knee, and rib pains. Lidocaine patch applied to back, Tiger Balm patch applied to left knee. Lunch offer declined. Joyce resumed napping.

12:50 p.m. - Joyce woke suddenly, having soiled herself in her recliner. Moved to bathroom for cleanup. Joyce flipped her diaper open while attempting to remove it herself (she was panicked at soiling herself and not listening to verbal directions), toilet seat, floor, and sink cleaned and sanitized. Lidocaine and Tiger Balm patches removed. Showered and put into fresh clothes. Shoes cleaned and sterilized. Weight 158.4 lbs. PT walk declined, Joyce returned to recliner ~1:30 p.m.

1:42 p.m. - Lunch (blueberry waffles with butter and syrup, 7.5 fl. oz. can of Pepsi Zero). 2 Tylenol administered for pain relief.

2 p.m. - Slice of pumpkin pie with Cool Whip topping. 

Joyce slept until ~4:50 p.m. when Dusty let her know he had to run to town to change clothes, pickup supplies from Walmart for Jess, and get dinner for Joyce. Joyce declined bathroom trip and stated that she wanted to nap until Dusty returned from town.

Dusty returned from town ~6:20 p.m. to find all lights inside and outside the house turned off (completely out of the ordinary). After entering farmhouse and turning lighting back on, Joyce was found to be semi-awake and slightly incoherent in her recliner, without oxygen line in place. Dusty restored oxygen line and worked on rousing Joyce to a workable state of mind. Joyce could not respond immediately as to whether someone had arrived into the house and left her in the dark (situation was highly suspect as even the nightlights had been removed form the outlets and the motion sensor light in the hallway was taken down from its place on the wall and set onto the hallways bench). Dusty swept the interior and exterior of the house, thinking an intruder had entered but found the main floor and upstairs clear. Dusty confronted Derik (who had lights on in the basement, using downstairs bathroom Craig had brought back online for him to use) thinking he had done it as he was the only one on the property while Dusty was off-site and had previously turned off all the lights in the house earlier in the fall when he was coming in freely in the past. Derik stated he had not been upstairs at all today. Dusty returned to Joyce who he worked with on conducting breathing exercises until finally she informed him that she had turned off all the lights on her way back from using the bathroom "because she thought it was later than it was." Dusty asked her why she turned off/unplugged/disabled even her safety lights that have been left on since September at her request and she stated she did not know. Joyce had difficulty in focusing and remaining coherent. Joyce was asked why she switched off all the lights when she knew Dusty was coming back and his gear was still setup and running and Joyce stated she did not know. Joyce stated that she thought it was "later than it was" and she "had no idea why [she] did it." Dusty explained the dangers to Joyce of her walking out into the exterior entry way area to shut off the yard lights without her walker as she had done as she could have lost her balance and fallen down those stairs like she did with the basement stairway in June. Joyce concurred that she had not thought about that. 

6:40 p.m. - Dinner (hamburger), nutritional shake and evening medication. Joyce expressed concerns over medication (quantity and type), asking Dusty to confirm what she is taking. Dusty explained each pill and what it did. Joyce attempted to set pills and nutritional shake aside, but Dusty made her consume them. 

Dishwasher emptied, reloaded, restarted. Setup a tray with a note on it on kitchen counter for items to be returned to Carol (so Joyce did not attempt to put them away or remove them from where Dusty was staging them as he cleans). 

7:30 p.m. - BP 133/69, pulse 78. BGL @ 171. Joyce resumed napping, stating she was chilled. Temperature checked, 97.8 degrees Fahrenheit. Dusty added additional blanket over top of her.

9 p.m. - Bathroom trip without incident. Urine passed. Wound cleaned and fresh barrier cream applied. PT walk into living room and back before returning to snuggle down for the night in her recliner ~9:15 p.m.

Dusty departing farmhouse ~9:30 p.m., Jess arriving tomorrow morning to provide care for Joyce.

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Joyce continually removed oxygen line throughout the day, sometimes on accident or absent mindedly and other times on purpose when she thought that Dusty was not paying attention and then negotiated strenuously with Dusty when she was directed to restore it to use - Joyce unable to articulate what the issue was as she "just does not like it." Dusty suspecting that Joyce's potential environmental/dust allergies may be causing her some distress or her sinuses may be dry from the low humidity of the farmhouse or constant airflow into nasal cavity. Dusty will bring out nasal spray tomorrow for Joyce to utilize in effort to help abate discomfort issues Joyce may be experiencing. 

Joyce reported minor pain in her ribs (just to the right of her sternum) in the morning but she reported it was low and intermittent in its intensity. Pain disappeared by late afternoon and was not present at end of day. Dusty suspecting pain was a result of pulling muscles or pinching nerves form lifting/moving heavy-for-Joyce items into fridge (pies, etc.) as she shifted and rearranged things in the kitchen this morning before Dusty arrived to farmhouse.

Joyce is on a terrible Christmas movie binge that initiated the day after Thanksgiving, and that is all she wants to watch on Netflix. You know the ones...as succinctly summarized by Nicholas Gilmore of the Saturday Evening Post in 2019: "...a man and woman meet under awkward circumstances, stumble slowly toward romance, and finally share a brisk kiss under the glow of a thousand Christmas lights. There are recurring themes, like the virtues of slower, small-town life over the cold, hectic city, or the importance of listening to your heart and following where it leads (incidentally, it leads an inordinate segment of Hallmark characters to stake out their lives in pastry bakeries and tree farms). The most important virtue, however, is the love of Christmas and belief in its fateful magic." 

Joyce stated that NCIS is still something she wants to watch but sometimes the gruesome crime scenes, even though fake, bother her and she loses interest in the show. She also stated that sometimes shows "move too fast for her" and leave her confused and not able to enjoy them (Star Trek). Joyce previously wanted to watch "kid shows" such as from Jim Henson's Muppet productions or Disney films but now states that she dislikes them/isn't in the mood for them. Expect her to waffle on her viewing preferences and watch for her discomfort or adverse reaction to shows in case she is unable to articulate her dis-ease as she shifts between which version of Joyce she is throughout a particular day.