Tuesday August 2nd 2022

Tweety, BSN, RN · Aug 2, 2022

Good morning!

Joe, hope you have a good day.

Ado, good to hear from you.

Stars, I always cringe when I hear "what could happen now?" because something always does.

J22, I hope they continue to investigate your complaints. Those days of having several high potassiums in a row and not having meds was negligent. Hope your sister is improving.

I'm a flatlander. The county I live in has no hills. I live at 11 feet above sea level. When I went to the Andes in Peru and Ecuador I would become winded walking up a flight us steps, when here I walk up six flights to work all the time.

To my surprise my sister took my mother home yesterday. Her arm is not operative and they could not find much else wrong with her. My sister thinks she can manage at home instead of a SNF. She said she's not as bad as my father makes her out to be. She will be getting home PT. My dad says she's in a lot of pain in her arm and my sister who stayed with all day said she never complained of pain. My father is not prone to dramatics but I think from his standpoint she's extremely hard to care for, but from a more objective standpoint she's a bit more mobile.

We may be dealing with a potential Nannie/gma situation has her signs of dementia is getting pronounced, but that may be the UTI. But she forgets she can't walk and gets up the the bathroom and needs a lot of supervision because of frequent falls.

We'll see moving forward what happens. I talked with my sister and she said they might be open to moving closer to us and her wealthy daughter might help out. When my niece and her husband were poor my parents paid their rent for a year and loaned him money to start his business.

I'm off today. Thinking about going to yoga and have to so some housework.

I haven't heard from Amazon yet and lost hope that this situation is going to be resolved. I shall miss Amazon.

Hope everyone has a good day.

No Stars In My Eyes · Aug 2, 2022

The story is this: Joe V. has "re-psych-L'd" a thread, circa 2015, about Mispronunciations. I have spent the last 30++ minutes reading through it and clicking on "Like" to the extent that I am not allowed to react to any other posts today. HAR-RUMPH! So, if I don't indicate I "Liked" your post today, "doan" take it "personal-like."

I have stuff I need to do but I don't seem to be doing any of it. It's already 3:15 PM, so things don't promise to be attended to as they should be. If I have to tackle a task that will likely take several days, it won't get started this late in the day. I need to get up and just START! But that will happen another day, another time. (One can only hope.)

It is, of course, another mizzable hot and humid day. I am not complaining, though it is tough to be outside doing anything. What I would be more likely to complain about is if it is toooo 'frogging' COLD out there. Does anyone remember when there was an actual "Spring" season and an actual "Autumn" season? Like, I mean, DAYS of distinctly seasonal weather? It seems that here in the South, Spring might last a few days and then suddenly become Summer without so much as a how-do-you-do. And Winter, hmmmm. Although there is not hardly any snow here-abouts, it still mimics the cold of the NorthEast. When I lived up there, I was acclimated to the cold and didn't FEEL the cold like I do here. Weird, huh?

The gypsies have for-the-moment, left my joints and may be practicing a whirl-a-gig dance in my head. Yesterday and this morning I have had to take my "dizzy pill" . Like I've probably already explained too many times, my head doesn't FEEL dizzy, but my body seems to be disconnected from balance and goes it's own way, which is sometimes to the left side, and sometimes toward the right side.... and then gravity wants to take my body over and I slow-motion fall backwards. It is a strange sensation. The moment I seem to start LURCHING I grab that little PRN bottle and take me a pill, which, thank goodness, actually helps within a short amt of time.

Yeah, Tweety, YIKES! If your mom forgets she can't walk and then gets up to try to do so, I can see that'd be a big problem. My mom had vertigo (worse than mine) and she fell several times in the bathroom....five steps from her bed, the dizziness would hit and several times she fell between the sink and the toilet. I still have a 9x11 photo my sister made of her after one of those episodes, and she really looked like a raccoon with a mask of deep purple bruising all around her eyes. But I suppose that is easier to deal with than a broken arm.

I'll come back by later-------------

nursej22, MSN, RN · Aug 2, 2022

uh, I'm tired. Bike ride, laundry, grass cut, swept off part of the roof, cleaned the top of the travel trailer, pruned some trees. I'm going to make spaghetti for dinner soon. I see from sis's lab work her potassium is still a little high and now her creatinine level is creeping up. Maybe she's over-diuresed. At least her PCP is aware now, and I trust her more than the cardiology NP. The weather is nice, in the mid 70s. It might rain Thursday, but I'm not holding my breathe.

Tweety, I hope your mom improves with treating her UTI. And bless your sister for helping but she have a rude awakening at how much work it can be to care for a confused, somewhat immobile person.

Joe, I hope your work day went smooth.

I have had a couple of brief episodes of vertigo. I was amazed at how fast meclizine can work. And yeah, it's not like being dizzy, it like you can't tell up from down and the floor rushes at you really fast!

Ado Annie, ASN, RN · Aug 3, 2022

Gosh, Tweety, I hope things all work out for your mom.

J22, what a productive day! I hope your sis can get the right balance of meds. Overdiuresis can be hard on the kidneys and you don't want to end up on that tightrope between heart failure and kidney failure.

Hi Joe and Stars and anyone else who has joined us. There is a lot to do post-travel but today I was just not feeling any of it. My back still hurts. I wonder if it's because of my posture on my last flight, trying to let the guy next to me use the armrest. What are some good exercises for the lower back?

nursej22, MSN, RN · Aug 3, 2022

Annie, some stretches that have helped me are some yoga poses: Childs pose: from a kneeling position sit back on your heels, bring your chest down to your knees and stretch your arms forward and rest them on the floor. Then hold and relax for 5 to 6 breaths. Then move into Cow/Cat poses: slide your hands back to under your shoulders, raise your body up so you are on hands and knees. Arch your back up, then release. Do this 3 or 4 times. Exhale as you arch, inhale with release. Cobra pose: Then stretch out on your tummy, legs out straight. Hands below shoulders, gently push up, leaving hips on floor, with gentle back arch. Breathe in as you push up, breathe out and lower yourself to the floor. Do this 5-10 times.

No Stars In My Eyes · Aug 3, 2022

My-brother-the-P.T. used to say to lay on your back with your butt up against the bottom of the wall and raise your legs against the wall...like you are an L, (except don't 'strain' to make your knees completely straight, 'cause you can tear something!) Anyway, he said to relax in that position (if you can) for a number of minutes (I think it was 20, but you have to go with what feels tolerable to your body.) He also described a way of breathing from your lower belly, something about 'feeling your core', but I can't explain it; sorry! What a help!