Now that was a trying night...

 This has certainly been a night to remember.  I have gotten very little sleep and she's had even less.  She had a pretty good afternoon and evening yesterday.  But as the evening wore on, I could see the sundowning.  She put herself to bed around 9 pm.  Her back has been more painful the last few days, so I asked if she wanted a pain patch before she went to bed.  I put the patch on and she laid down to sleep.  I went back to the computer, but I could hear her chatting away.

 

Her hallucinations have been few and far between for a couple of weeks, but apparently she was going to make up for it tonight.  Every once in a while she would ask where Amy and Kendra went.  I replied that I had not seen either of them today.  I was quickly scorned because she was just talking to them.  Her sister Amy lives in Colorado and has not been east in many years.  Our daughter Kendra lives about twenty minutes away, and since this is a workday, I would not expect her to come by.  But Pam has been talking to them for hours.

 

I finally went to bed about 10:30 pm.  But her continuous talking has prevented me from going to sleep.  I am sure that I dozed off a little, but no real REM sleep.  Just before 1 am she was up and getting clothes out of the closet.  She said that she was going to take a shower and asked what time the doctor appointment was.  I explained that there was nothing on our calendar until Sunday and brought her into the kitchen to look at the calendar on the fridge.  But she took her shower, made up her hair, put on her makeup and then came into the bedroom and asked if I were ready yet.   I reiterated that we had no appointments, but said that she could do a couple of retail returns later in the day when the stores opened.

 

She went off to the living room and turned on This Old House on the Roku Channel.   I went to the kitchen and started the coffee maker and retired to the den with a cup.  It was now just before 3 am.  I kept an eye on her with the camera as she alternated between falling asleep on the couch and watching TV.  She came into the den about 4:30 am and asked if I was ready to leave for the doctor appointment.   She said that Kendra and Amy were already in the car.  I tried to explain that there  are no doctor appointments today but we can do her returns once the stores open at 10 am.  She scoffed and went back to the living room.  

 

I went and showered around 5 am and got dressed.  I made us both a bagel with cream cheese  and we sat together at the dining room table and ate breakfast.   She went back to watching TV and chatting with her comfort animal (a stuffed dog).  After I loaded the transport chair into the car, I sat down in the recliner and fell asleep.  I woke about 9 am and was preparing to leave to go to Home Goods.   I stopped to check email and when I looked for her, she was undressed and asleep in the bed.  I am now sitting at the computer and typing this out and I can hear her carrying on a conversation with whomever is in the current hallucination.

 

 She has had a lot more good days than bad over the last couple of weeks, but I guess she was going to make up for it tonight.  And I am exhausted.