Tuesday July 26th 2022

Tweety, BSN, RN · Jul 26, 2022

Good morning!

Joe, sorry you're feeling down and hope it gets better.

Thanks for the well wishes. My covid symptoms are very mild and better already. Mostly just tired. I think the five days of quarantine is what's going to drive me crazy.

nursej22, MSN, RN · Jul 26, 2022

Joe, I hope your mood has lifted by now. I had a delicious gin and tonic last night, and then regretted it. Maybe just tonic water on ice, tonight for me.

Tweety, I'm glad your symptoms are mild. Yeah, that five days can seem like an eternity. Maybe you can just snooze the time away. Maybe a binge a netflix series?

Its warm here, predicted to get to 90. My co-worker and I just got back from a walk and it tolerable. I peeked at my sister's labs (she has given me permission) and there are some abnormals. I texted her to ask if the md office has called, because I think they may want to hold some of her meds. I'm trying not to hover, but I am concerned.

I don't the love the financial stuff, at all. I used to worry a lot when we were younger because our budget was tight. But now, I able to keep a cushion for those unreported debits.

Very nice OCD coworker is out for the week with covid, and it is a bit of a relief. Luckily, there is not much going on work-wise. Our weekly TB meeting with the state experts and other counties had an interesting presentation on BCG and mycobacterium bovis. A treatment for bladder cancer is to infuse BCG, the same stuff used for TB vaccine, in the bladder. On rare occasions, a patient can contract an infection, but its super hard to distinguish from TB, (mycobacterium tuberculosis).

I hope you are all staying cool and hydrated.

No Stars In My Eyes · Jul 26, 2022

I tell you what, Tweety, I'll trade you for your five days of quarantine for a week with Nannie-sitting. Not that I want Covid, but I would love 5 days of nobody around and being by myself!

Hubby got mushy snockered last night. Slurred, slow speech. Such lovely company. But at least he didn't get too loud and obnoxious like he does sometimes when he is teasing Nannie, or talking back to the TV news, or the sportscasters. I don't know that he is even taking the med the doc gave him to help wean himself. We're going to have to have "the talk". And not really, but sometimes I wish I could drink and be obnoxious so he could see what it is like on the other side of things. But I'm taking meds that don't mix well with alcohol, and really, I hate the way booze makes me feel, so OH WELL!

He has gone to have that ultrasound, finally; the appt he has missed twice already, and he would'v missed this one too, except I wrote it on both calendars AND verbally reminded him several times. "I have an appt? For what?" He has been c/o the pain or discomfort in his right ribcage and he said he was going to ask them at the Imaging Center if they could run the ultrasound over that side of his ribcage to see if there was anything there to be seen. Yuh, sure. I've told him he needed to call the doc so he could order an xray, but you know how that goes....("the doc's x-ray machine is broken, I'm not going to the ER, my supplement won't pay for an urgent care visit.") Ah, phooey. As he often says to me, "Suit yourself."

This h'yar's another one of them there hot and humid daze; the clouds are building up and looking kind of threatening, but sometimes that kind of thing floats right over us to another town.// Hubby's got the AC cranked, and Nannie is dozing while wrapped in her extra shoulder-wrap, with the portable heater blowing on her. We turn it off, she turns it on, etc.

She's c/o her left ankle hurting...I have told her multiple times that she does not move her feet or legs often enough....well, at all, really. She will sit for hours in the same position, every day. The tendon on the back of her ankle rests right on the edge of the foot-rest of the recliner. But she doesn't do anything to relieve it! She thinks it is still from when she was a kid and had to have those surgeries for being club-footed. She thinks it is somehow 'broken'. I rolled a light little blanket and placed it under her ankle to hold it up off the edge of the foot rest and she thinks it's a miracle that it stops hurting then. When she gets back from a trip to the toilet, she will ask me if I will 'wrap' her foot. AUGH. She "can't" move her feet or ankles, she says. HUH! Once I tried doing range-of-motion, but she resists the movement, though she denies that, and it "can't" move. ( I know this is T-E-D-I-O-U-S, but I gotta squawk!)

Ado Annie, ASN, RN · Jul 26, 2022

Squawk away, Stars! I'll come back later and tell Gma stories. Good that your dh is getting the ultrasound done. It's a step.

J22, that is interesting about the BCG and TB.

Joe, I hope your mood has lifted. The things you mentioned make sense as sources of down feelings.

Tweety, I sympathize with your feelings about the quarantine, but totally agree with Stars that 5 days on my own without having to worry about anyone else sounds pretty tempting. Well, I sort of get the next 3. Travel all day tomorrow, including a layover in Chicago and a 1.5 hr drive from Burlington to Jay, VT. Meetings on Thursday, travel Friday afternoon and get home around 11pm. I am tired just thinking about it. *but* it will be a break from home and from the hospital.

Editorial Team / Admin · Jul 26, 2022

Ado, safe travels and I hope the meetings will be, at the very least, interesting!

Yes, squawk away, No Stars! Wish we could give you some relief. Even if you did get smashed, to show dh the "other side," he will likely not make the connection. Agree with Tweety's recommendation (made weeks ago): inpatient detox might be best. It kinda, though, boils down to whether your dh WANTS to quit. I know you know this. Hugs. And it's frustrating for you to have no escape.

Joe, hope your mood lifts. Enjoy dinner tonight!

I made a zucchini crustless quiche. Didn't have chives so added some finely-chopped red onion. The recipe called for smoked gouda cheese, which I had presence of mind to get at the store the other day. But did I think to get the chives?? Nope. Oh well. Also made a lemon custard pudding, which is in the oven right now. I don't need any sweet things around, but I liked the looks of the recipe, and the oven was already hot, and I had lemons, and blah-blah-blah, ta-daaaaaaaaaa! There it is, in the oven.

Time to practice on the guitar with dh. He wants more practice time with him playing bass, so we decided to do that for an hour or so today.

Have a good evening!

No Stars In My Eyes · Jul 27, 2022

Got a birthday email from a woman whose mother I took care of (private duty) FIFTEEN YEARS AGO! When I first met her mother, she and I looked at each other, like, Where do I know you from? Never could figure it out; our paths had not ever crossed in THIS lifetime, but it was almost like we were best friends from the beginning. I took care of her for, I dunno, 2-3 years. Her daughter and I got along really well, also. Surprised to hear from her, but glad she e-mailed me. She said she has been diagnosed with Parkinson's and uses a rollator to get around. We'll keep in touch.

dianah, Put some leftovers in the freezer for me.......it may take me days and many flights ✈️?️??to get there, but your food-talking has made my mouth water!

Joe, My moods sometimes fluctuate a lot, too, and I can't blame it on my hormones anymore! So, now I blame it on the phase of the moon! I was secretly DEEEEpressed for a few days. Now I am on more of an even keel and hoping it stays this way for a while.

Hubby came back from his ultrasound and said the tech wouldn't tell him if he's going to have a boy or a girl. It made Nannie laugh, anyway. He actually was po'd because he was told the doc ordered the ultrasound to see if there's fluid in his belly. Of course there's not. I don't know if they u-sounded the lower left lung area to see if there was any fluid building up there. He asked the tech to u-sound his upper right ribs ? , which are still really sore from his fall, but she said no (of course). So he's been spouting off about how all the medical field wants is our money; I always tell him Medicare is paying for it, but he prefers to complain as if it's coming right out of our pockets. Maybe it is, I dunno, but if I don't have to write a check for it, we didn't pay for it. Yuh.

Ado, Enjoy your travels; hope it all goes smoothly!