New Phase?

It’s beginning to look like we might have dropped into a new phase. Mom is sleeping almost all the time right now. She is sometimes so deeply asleep that, for example, one morning I actually pricked her finger for her blood sugar test and then squeezed it a few times to get enough blood without her even waking up. I call it being Zombie Mom, because she is so difficult to rouse even slightly.

Two days ago she was less deeply asleep and yesterday she was bright eyed and chatty, so I was hopeful that it was a passing drowsiness. She has had such periods before, if you recall. Today, however, she has been back in her deeper sleep state and has declined all but a nibble or two of dinner and has had only about 12 ounces of liquid all day.

 
I’ll watch the situation closely and let you know if things change. What triggers a changed like this? I don’t know. I guess it could be that she was “on” for that full week while I was gone and she felt like she needed to be the hostess and the exhaustion propelled her to drop into this new phase. It could be that she has been struggling so with some of her bodily functions as different organs and systems slowdown that she is exhausted from that and has slipped into this new phase. I suspect, also, that it could just be the “normal” progress of the disease and any or all of those things could have sped the process up or had no bearing on it at all. At this point, all I’m worried about is just keeping her fed as much as she will eat, getting as many fluids into her as we can each day and making sure that she is comfortable and happy.

It is emotionally draining to watch her slipping this way and not be able to do anything to slow it down or stop it. I have found myself, more than once this weekend, feeling despondent, but I am able to recognize the reason that I’m feeling that way and to put it all into perspective. In other words, I shake it off! And who knows, tomorrow she may wake up smiling and giggling again!