Drama at the Hair-dresser's

Mother had missed her last hair appointment due to my being away and her carer forgetting to take her. Consequently she felt her hair was scruffy and was impatient to have her overdue haircut. I rescheduled an appointment asap. 

At 2am Mother had been up and vomited on the toilet floor. I resettled her into bed and cleaned up the mess, wondering that maybe she had a tummy bug that was going around. Lots of viruses seem to circulate at the change of seasons and we were just coming into spring. Mother slept in and rested most of the day. She seemed tired, so when it was time to go for her haircut (late afternoon), I suggested that maybe we reschedule if she didn't feel well. Mother, determined to go to her hair appointment, grabbed her walker and said "I'm going!" in no uncertain terms. So off we went.

On arrival at the salon, mother was welcomed by her hairdresser saying how much she had missed her. Mother's hair was styled back into it's usual smart shape, and as the hair-dresser was just finishing, Mother began to behave differently, pulling her drape up over her face. I rushed over thinking she wasn't feeling well, as the hairdresser bent down and asked Mother if she was OK?
Mother dropped her hands and turned toward the hairdresser then became unresponsive! By this time I was beside Mother and could see she had dilated pupils. I felt no pulse and saw she wasn't breathing! My RN training kicked in and I instructed the hairdresser to dial 111 and get an ambulance. As she ran to the phone I grabbed Mother under the arms & lifted her onto the floor, knowing she needed to be flat to perfuse her brain. Split second thoughts raced through my head, as I prepared to commence CPR.  I assessed her, checking for breathing and lifted her jaw. Mother looked dead!  I was aware of thoughts like "I've lost her" "it's not meant to happen this way!" As I lifted Mother's jaw and watched for signs or breathing, I noticed Mother's pupils constrict. I knew her heart must be beating again and then saw her take a breath and groan. To my relief Mother was alive! She had been unresponsive for at least a minute. I quickly turned her onto her side (recovery position) and then Mother vomited. Luckily I was able to catch and contain with the towels as I was aware of customers arriving. The ambulance arrived and Mother was taken to hospital. I checked with the hair-dresser, who was in shock, and gave her a hug as she burst into tears. After reassuring her, I followed the ambulance in my car. At the hospital Emergency Department, the ambulance officer showed me an ECG strip of mother's very slow heart-beat (extreme bradycardia) occurring just before Mother vomited again in the ambulance. Dr's assessed bloods and gave mother IV fluids. The final conclusion was a 'vasovagal' episode from what was most likely a tummy bug, combined with nausea and fluid deficit.  After six hours and Mother had perked up with the extra fluids infused. She demonstrated ability to mobilize and I thankfully got to take mother home. Mother has gradually come right, but I have found her blood pressure low, requiring another medication review. The suddeness of this event reminded me that 87yrs old Mother could go any minute, and we do not get to a choose convenient time or place. That is a fact of life and death. I must add that Mother gleefully says "I'm glad I finished my hair cut!"

A Christmas Holiday Break with Mother

Christmas Day was very quiet this year, with just Mother, my husband and self present. We thought children and great grand children were coming, but they decided to leave earlier so as not to miss their camping spot at an East Coast Beach. My other two sons were having Christmas with their wife’s side of the family. We were disappointed, but the plus side was less work and effort was required for the day. It turned out to be a pleasantly relaxed Christmas. My husband cooked a turkey and leg of lamb, as he usually insists on doing. . .more suited to the Northern hemisphere cold, I thought, but appreciated this was his thing that he liked to do every year, regardless of hot summer temperatures. (A tradition brought out by early settlers from the Northern hemisphere).

Mother was funny when I first told her we were having turkey. “Turkey!” she said screwing her nose up. “I don’t like them!” “Have you ever eaten it?” I asked. “No,” she answered, “I’ve never eaten any, but I don’t like them! They’re awful, they wear black clothes . . horrible things!” she said screwing her nose up again and shuddering. I wondered if she had a traumatic turkey encounter as a child and asked her. She told me she had seen some once in Blenheim, but didn’t remember anything else, just that they were scary horrible things. Mother eventually decided to try turkey after a support worker told her it was similar to chicken. Of course, having a sweet tooth, she loved the desert which included traditional pavlova with strawberries and cream topping.

The day after Christmas, we decided to travel up the Coast to visit the kids and see how their camping was. It was a trial to see if we could take Mother camping. The trip took 40 minutes, which mother said was too long. The beach was beautiful, white sand and blue sky, with the peaceful rhythmic sound of waves crashing and rolling onto the shore. The kid’s camp was on an elevated grassy spot above the beach with a fantastic view. We had taken fresh bread, tomatoes, cucumber, lettuce and ham for lunch, which we all enjoyed. Afterwards  my husband and son walked off down the beach to go fishing, while mother and I stayed with my daughter-in-law, enjoying the 2yr old and almost 4 yr old grand-daughters, who excitedly kept us entertained. After a while mother looked sleepy, so we helped her onto the large double sized blow-up bed for a rest. It was difficult getting her back onto her feet afterwards, but we managed, and she managed the chemical toilet OK, but found the ground uneven for walking, even with her walker. It took a bit of effort in assisting mother in the different surroundings and we were ready to go home after a few hours. The trip home seemed longer for mother and she decided that it was too far to go again. Anything over 30minutes long seems to be to far for mother these days.

After a couple of days home, we were pleased to hear mother’s youngest son and his wife were coming to stay. Mother was excited. It was great to have them present and mother constantly smiled with pleasure. Mother announced that she always used to stay up with her mother to wait the New Year in. We decided to do the same with her, but at 8:30pm, mother suddenly announced she was off to bed and had lost interest in seeing the New Year in. “It was silly” were her words as I settled her for bed.

Our city always had a New Year’s Day fireworks display which I thought may be of more interest for mother the next day.  With the extra hands to assist, I suggested that we take mother for a walk up the path beside my home to see the New Year’s Day fire-works that were held in the evening nearby. Mother was wrapped up warm and we walked her to the spot, then she sat on her walker to watch the display, which happened just along the river, where two river’s meet. From where we were the reflection of the fireworks could be seen in the river, as well as above it, as our spot looked down the river towards the venue. Further down the river banks were crammed full of spectators and a band was keeping them entertained as we awaited the darkness required for a good display, which was later in the summer in NZ (9:30pm).

Mother loved the display and was excited like a child throughout. As soon as we assisted her walk home though, mother went straight to bed, exhausted but happy. The next morning mother was up ready to go somewhere, so we took her shopping for new shoes she wanted. I noticed mother beaming at everyone she came across as we escorted her into the shop. I think she felt special and proud having more family with her. That afternoon, we took mother to visit another son and his wife, who live locally.

It was later at dinner time I found mother changing her patterns.  A sign, I realised, her LBD symptoms were resurfacing. We‘d had almost a week free of the worst. This particular night Mother became unreasonable about a table knife  she decided was hers and insisted on taking it to her room, where she would hide it. I knew the routine, as we had been around this circuit before. I immediately wondered if mother had been drinking enough water in the hot 27-32^o C temperatures. Mother later, insisted on wearing PJ’s under her night gown, on a hot night! I went with the flow, and kept alert for more activity. Later, as expected, in the middle of the night I found Mother up sitting on the side of her bed, confused and talking about a bill a man said she had to pay. She had been hallucinating, so I guided her that nothing could be done about it till morning, and she let me resettle her in bed. Mother appeared OK the next morning, though tired and not quite herself. I guess all the excitement had it’s toll, but the pleasure mother gained from the week was worth it. Luckily the symptoms settled after a couple of days back in her normal routine.