Stepping down the fast acting meds one notch worked until early afternoon on Monday, but then required some bigger hits. Dang. She awoke about 3pm yesterday but given the large early-afternoon doses she needed, Madison remained in a bit of a fog which is far better than the increased pain she had late last week. Today we'll take the one step-down approach with the meds again and see what the day brings.
Yesterday afternoon we watched "The Shack", an excellent spiritual movie. If you haven't seen it, consider giving it a try. Last night Angela, Dad, Ringo, PJ, and Bailey were in her room for the season premiere of 'The Bachelor'... a trash-TV 'reality' show that we all enjoy. Madison remained awake and was surprisingly interactive during the two hour show. Yes, she was a tad fuzzy but even responded to a few texts too, likely with a dash of Covfefe mixed in.
Madison seems to have an aura of calmness and peace. When she wakes up for early morning meds she asks "how'd you sleep?" Later in the day, it's "whatcha been up to?" She likes idle chitchat, asks questions and listens. A few days ago she asked: I mentioned that I cleaned the pool and washed her car and she replied "oh, thank you". While she obviously won't be driving it again, we can't fathom selling and will keep it clean while she's on planet earth. The same goes with her queen bed that's leaning against a wall in the living room. If she doesn't see that when we move her to the den when she's up to it, it might feel like we're taking something from her that she likes while finalizing her departure. While that's imminent (all of ours is at some point), it'd be like Angela selling my car or Michael selling her moms SUV if either of us were in Madison's position. While we'd understand the logic, I'd be lying if I said I'd be happy about it... I love my car despite it's age. It doesn't leak any fluids, the AC works well, the paint still looks great, and it drives quite nicely.
Correction: if I was in a similar position as Madi and if my car was sold, I'd be pissed off: God help Michael if he sold Colleen's car or even worse... adopted it as his own if she was mostly incapacitated :-)
We'll drop the mg dosage today while increasing the frequency to defog her but most importantly, while keeping her comfortable. Again, she calls the shots and doesn't like being in a fogbank. We'll sync-up with her medical team later on and I'll update all y'all later tonight or tomorrow morning.
Love,
The Jones Family