Mom spent the afternoon with Elizabeth, one of her favorite caregivers. Mom and Elizabeth color together and Elizabeth loves our cats. We are lucky, Mom's other favorite caregiver, Terri, loves our kitties too. Tonight, however, Mom is fussy. I think she's sundowning. I hate sundowning. Mom has been in excruciating pain from her osteoarthritis in her hip. You can hear her joints and tendons snapping when she moves. It's sounds so painful. She's never been one to complain; that's how I know that it's hurting her so badly. The doctor has prescribed Tylenol. It doesn't seem to make a dent in her pain. Even Melissa the PT commented on how much pain Mom seems to be in. She is going to try to figure out if there is anything we can do for the pain. Mom's orthopedic surgeon said that unless Mom has a hip replacement she will be wheelchair bound. I don't think she'd be able to go through the surgery let alone the rehabilitation period. When she had her other hip replaced she worked very hard at her rehab, but it was not easy. I still remember how she was up and moving around the day after her surgery. It was one of the few times that I have seen her crying in pain. I can't imagine putting her through that now, when she is so confused. I wonder if being in an ALF would help her improve her mobility or would it make it worse?

They x-rayed both of Mom's hips and the appliance in the right hip was just fine. That is good news. The doctor said Mom has two choices; become less ambulatory or have a hip replacement on her left hip. At first it sounded like Mom might consider the hip replacement. But then she wavered and decided against it. I told her we could think about it.

She seems better since taking the antibiotics. I guess it's true that a UTI causes more confusion in the elderly. Tonight she said that she would like to have someone come be with her during the days when I am at work. I got a name from my therapist of someone that her family used for her mom and they really liked this woman. I'm thinking of calling her. Or I could call the ex-police officer. That woman would just provide companionship though. Her card sounds like she doesn't do a lot with people who have memory loss, but it can't hurt to ask.

I ordered a Hoover deep clean steam vacuum that can clean both carpet and upholstery. It had 300 reviews on Amazon with an average of 4 1/2 out of 5 stars so I figure it must be pretty good. The price seemed reasonable and shipping is free so I'll give it a try. It hopefully can help get up some of the stains from Mom's bed into the bathroom. Luckily this is only about a 4 foot space. It might also help to clean the upholstery on Mom's chair.

UPDATE: I've emailed the ex-police officer. I'll see what she says in her reply. Meanwhile Mom is up and about after wanting to go to bed at 8:30 tonight.