The valuable lesson my mum learnt at 97
Robyn Lee is in her 70s and lives with two lovable but naughty cats. She has published a book on seniors behaving badly, entitled Old Age and Villainy, and considers herself an expert on the subject.
My stories about The Matriarch (TM) have always been humorous and while this does have its funny moments, there is a lesson here which would benefit us all, especially those of us over 60 and beyond.
I rang TM one morning, about a week ago. Her husband (The Third) answered the phone as he usually does but this time seemed quite subdued. On my query, he replied that TM couldn’t take my call as she was sick and sleeping. We both thought she had this nasty virus currently doing the rounds, that starts as a head cold but may progress to upper and/or lower respiratory infections. I could tell The Third was worried we were going to lose her and for a few days, I jumped every time my phone rang.
I gave TM time to get over the worst of her virus before ringing again, and to my relief she answered sounding very well, with no hint of a cough or sniffle. I commiserated with her on having had the nasty virus and mentioned I’d had it, too, so I know how miserable it would have been for her. But…
“Oh no, I didn’t have that,” declared TM. “I almost killed myself!” Whaaaaat??
TM suffers from essential tremor, an inherited condition which afflicts a few in our family. Unlike Parkinson’s, it is a very fine shaking of the hands which becomes worse over time. Wine has a positive effect on it. Truly… I’m serious here and it has been proven so in medical studies. I’m rather happy to hear that. Now where’s my glass…
Anyway, poor TM was finding it difficult to pour herself a glass of water. The jug would shake, the glass would shake with water slopping all over the place and trying to find a straw to drink through was too much. In exasperation TM decided to give up drinking fluids. I know, you’re all thinking the same as I did… not good, TM!
As you’ve probably guessed, she became quite sick so visited the doctor who ran a battery of tests, including a urine test. Amazingly, no one picked up the fact that TM’s urine was very dark, however, TM did. As she proudly informed me,
“I diagnosed myself! As soon as I realised that I was dehydrated, I had a big glass of water… and promptly brought it back up.” Good one, TM.
Well, once everyone realised what was wrong, it was easily remedied. TM learnt to just take sips of water to gradually rehydrate herself. One of the nursing staff gave her a vacuum drink bottle, with a top similar to a sippy cup, so now TM finds it a lot easier to keep her fluids up. She went on to say,
“During that time, I became confused and told one of the nurses, my head was swollen and my shoulders were sore from carrying it around. The nurse wrote in her notes that I had a headache! We all had a good giggle about it after.”
Now that she is settled and able to keep up her fluid intake more easily, we’re all happy we have The Matriarch with us still. TM is also happy that she can still have her glass of wine or three in the evenings without the fear of wasting any because of her shaking hands. Life is good.
Robyn is writing a series on her 97-year-old mother (aka The Matriarch). Read part one here, part two here, part three here, part four here and part five here.