Still Sliding

Well, I ordered a new urinal, a French urinal, which is supposed to be "spill proof". And the minute it arrived, I was elated: this was thing that would save the day! Yes! Alas...... it's not working.

Aargh.

Some days I don't know whether to pull my hair out or bawl my eyes out. Sometimes, I do both.

I don't know if he's missing the hole or--what? I talked with one of his Occupational Therapists and she had no advice to offer except to "monitor" him more closely. OK, but it happens like 2:00 in the morning... She also suggested a catheter, but I feel that would be going in the complete wrong direction. I mean, all this stroke rehab is about "rewiring" the brain, and if he has a catheter, he no longer has to try to control it himself, and his brain won't "rewire" on this issue. She actually agreed with me.

I have tried to talk to Bob about this, but it's very difficult (with his aphasia) to know exactly how much he understands. I mean, I have heard him answer "yes" to questions and know that he absolutely does not mean "yes". (An example, a song by the Bee Gees was playing on the intercom, and one of the therapists asked Bob if he liked that song, and Bob said "yes". Well, I happen to know that Bob hates that particular song, at least he used too.) So... I try to discuss this problem with him and I ask him to tell me what is happening. Bob tells me "the bottle" is "tippings". He tells me, "happens". He says, "I trying". He promises to try harder. Right now, he is sleeping with his hand on the urinal, ready for action if need be. I know, he is trying and this situation is upsetting to the both of us.

Maybe a little more practice on his part?

I never thought that this would be so hard. I figured we'd conquer the urinal and then move on to the bedpan. (Don't even ask about the bedpan. He still has no control over that function, but at least that's not happening more than once a day.)

I am getting very little sleep, lately.