Truth will...out...maybe...

Okaasan has been tired recently.
We first noticed it at our family walk round a city park, when the lady who often spends several hours walking round shops downtown seemed tired after a short stroll.
Then last week there was the strange story about going to an ears, nose, throat hospital again and the aybe connected tooth ache...which seemed to get better again. I am due to go to the dentist soon and I think I'll take Okaasan with me for a check this week or next.

And this Sunday evening, she told us an old leg injury/pain had come back again and she felt tired in the legs.
"Did you fall down?"
"No! I didn't fall, it's an old problem....I won't eat any dinner, it'll get better".

And so we left her.
She was getting up off the carpet and going to the bathroom ok, getting herself a cup of water etc. Didn't seem a big deal.
Monday she took herself out to the local MacDonald's for a coffee and a magazine read. Called to be picked up in the car....legs feel tired....

This morning was hula day at day care. We didn't think she'd go.
At 7 am - "yes, I'm going...what time is the car coming?"
At 8.30 am - "I'm not going. My leg is tired. I slipped and hurt my leg...."

"?????????? you slipped? When? But you said you didn't fall!"
"I didn't fall. I slipped.The ground was rough in the street, I slipped..."
"Slipped. Fall. Same thing really. You were on the ground, not standing up.!!"

She peeled back her pajamas and I could see a bit of a bruise on her hip....not a big injury, but maybe now beginning to feel sore.

Cancel day care again.

It really IS a lesson for us in how me must keep asking the checking questions with Okaasan. She may not remember clearly just after something has happened, and her talking about it may connect to something way back in her memory - not to something that happened this week.
We guess she slipped and FELL on Sunday between 3 and 6 pm on that trip out.
Probably on Sunday night she didn't have much pain and just had a vague memory of something to do with her legs - and told us "old leg problem".
On Monday she felt ok enough to go walking.
Monday night the bruise was coming thru and it felt sore.

Finally Tuesday we get to hear what happened 2 days ago - not that she hid the fact from us, but didn't clearly remember herself.
"Slipped" isn't "fall" in her mind. Slip is something accidental and slight.
My dear Dad used to do similar things with all the accidents he had in his car in later years - the way he told it: the car park barriers of Britain were rising up and conspiring to hit him at every opportunity. It was never HIS driving fault.

So. Okaasan. Feeling a bit rough this week.
We have to keep asking her, asking her and asking her again - to try and get the truth out.

** ...oh...and yes? Last week spare ribs at the newly opened Tony Roma's in Sapporo....oh yeeeees!

......and....coming next year to this blog....maybe....how Dear Son and Oyomesan escape this life to run away to Brazil to see the FIFA World Cup.
He is the biggest Brazilian soccer fan in Japan. Probably in Asia. I got all fired up at the Olympics in London last year. We are starting to talk in real terms about how and if we could go to Brazil next summer to see it all - once in a life time thing etc.

But.
Okaasan.
Cats.

A LOT to think about and plan around.