Really noticed today how thin Mom’s arms are looking.  She has definitely lost more weight.  Apparently eating wasn’t high on her list of priorities this past week.  Meds, perhaps?  Definitely a possibility, but who knows for sure.  Doc took her completely off the Depakote, which is surprising since she had been on 250mg for a long time before he upped it to 500mg a couple of weeks ago.  I definitely think that was what was sedating her, but I didn’t expect him to d/c it altogether.  Will see him on Wednesday and ask about that.  Also increased Inderal to 10mg, 3x day.

So, at least this week, she was more “with it.” Tired, but certainly not sedated. Definitely back on the emotional/behavioral roller coaster, but I’d prefer that to sedation any day. She’s back to covering the full range on a daily (sometimes hourly) basis – from laughing to crying to screaming to dancing and anything else she can come up with. It sounds like the highlight of her day today was going for a little ride in Susie’s convertible, with the top down, of course.  Just thinking about that makes me happy!

She’s at a point where she won’t eat when the other ladies are at the table. Too much commotion, and too many people in her business. I really didn’t think she was going to eat at all today, but Susie finally followed her around with a bowl of jello and Cool Whip until she got her to take a few bites. Sure enough, Mom walked over to the table on her own and sat down.

I sat down and fed her, and surprisingly she ate her entire plate of lasagna and most of her garlic bread, plus she finished the jello and a glass of ice water. She doesn’t eat by herself much at all anymore; having someone feed her has become pretty much the norm.  When she does try to eat herself, it’s always with her fingers – even if it’s lasagna. Today when she stuck her hands in there, I let her go.  WTF, at least she was eating…

As is so often the case, I left Eason House today wondering how in the hell we arrived at  this point. I look at her, and quite truthfully, my mind just can’t grasp any of it. But today, she smiled at me, laughed a little, and she was full of kisses, so I’ll hang onto the good and leave the bad behind.

Until next time… Carpe diem…