Good bye, baby. My sweet boy. I hope you find Riley on the other side of the Rainbow Bridge. I love you.
Sunday, August 31, 2014
It's over
Good bye, baby. My sweet boy. I hope you find Riley on the other side of the Rainbow Bridge. I love you.
Update on Jack the cat
My sweet boy Jack, who has been through EVERYTHING with me, was diagnosed with lymphoma several months ago.
I chose not to take aggressive action, and to let it run its course, trusting that he and I would know when it was "time."
He's been making himself bleed a lot, obsessively grooming his lesions, and he's having more and more bad days lately.
So I asked Dave to call the vet and inquire about a prednisone injection to try to ease Jack's discomfort, and maybe buy us a little more quality of life for a couple of weeks.
The doc was in favor of giving it a try, as well as in favor of letting ME administer the injection at home, to spare Jack the trauma of a vet visit.
I gave him the shot a few days ago, and it really didn't seem to make a difference, except to give him his voice back. He'd lost his voice over the past month or so. My suspicion is that the cancer has moved inside. Something the first doctor, who turned out to be a horrible hack, said would not happen.
His current doctor says it can go anywhere once it's established.
So, I am keeping an eye on him.
He recently had a stretch of very good days, and even did his old thing of hopping up on his back legs to try to get me to play. I took a phone recording of him playing with strings on a pair of shorts just a week ago.
He is losing weight, but he is still eating and drinking. A little, anyway. I'm not sure he ate yesterday.
But.
He will tell me.
Sadly, it won't be long now.
I chose not to take aggressive action, and to let it run its course, trusting that he and I would know when it was "time."
He's been making himself bleed a lot, obsessively grooming his lesions, and he's having more and more bad days lately.
So I asked Dave to call the vet and inquire about a prednisone injection to try to ease Jack's discomfort, and maybe buy us a little more quality of life for a couple of weeks.
The doc was in favor of giving it a try, as well as in favor of letting ME administer the injection at home, to spare Jack the trauma of a vet visit.
I gave him the shot a few days ago, and it really didn't seem to make a difference, except to give him his voice back. He'd lost his voice over the past month or so. My suspicion is that the cancer has moved inside. Something the first doctor, who turned out to be a horrible hack, said would not happen.
His current doctor says it can go anywhere once it's established.
So, I am keeping an eye on him.
He recently had a stretch of very good days, and even did his old thing of hopping up on his back legs to try to get me to play. I took a phone recording of him playing with strings on a pair of shorts just a week ago.
He is losing weight, but he is still eating and drinking. A little, anyway. I'm not sure he ate yesterday.
But.
He will tell me.
Sadly, it won't be long now.
Monday, August 25, 2014
Back home
Sorry I missed posting this past weekend, but today, I'm down with a tummy bug, so I have time.
Mom was sent home from the nursing facility on Thursday of last week. We thought it was too soon, because she was still wobbling out of her mind a lot, still in a diaper, and still pretty weak. When we visited two weekends ago at the nursing home, she was completely insane--completely manic and demented.
Then last weekend, she seemed better, and I saw her sitting up for the first time in over a month.
But she'd been through so many back slides and baby steps forward and back slides over the month of her being "in patient" that we couldn't be sure of anything.
But home she went.....because we aren't Medicare, and Medicare runs the show.
We asked Dave's dad to please arrange for the visiting aids (we figured out they aren't actually nurses) to start the day mom went home, but he didn't bother with that.
So, for the past 4 days, he's been feeding her oat meal, and letting her sleep all day.
She says she feels like she's being drugged, which she is--her current list of meds is pretty long...but he could be making her get up like she was yesterday when we visited. She SHOULD be getting up every day.
She needs rest, but she also needs to get up and move around every day, or she will get actual pneumonia.
We're pretty sure she never had pneumonia, by the way.
There never was a chest xray to indicate it, and while she DID have an upper respiratory infection before and during her hospitalization, and she DID check in with MRSA, she never had any lung crackling or other signs of actual pneumonia, according to the hospitalist.
The E/R doc diagnosed her with it because of her dyspnea...but we are pretty sure she was gasping for breath because she was off her psych meds, and was in constant panic mode at that point.
Then she fell into rapid cycling bi-polar, which is her main issue when her meds aren't in her body. Plus, during this mis-adventure caused by her taking herself off of medication that keeps her sane (we still have no idea why she chose to do this after being on them for 25 years), she was also completely demented much of the time. Crazy. Completely out of balance mentally.
It was very scary for Dave, who saw most of it, because he spent the most time at her bedside.
Anyway, we went to the house yesterday, and took a bag of groceries and some spaghetti and meat balls that I made and put into containers for the freezer. We gave them cans of soup, pudding (one of the few things she actually ate while in the nursing home), apple sauce, fruit cups, frozen veggies, microwave rice, and Ensure for weight gain. Others had been there to visit, and there were three packages of cookies out on the counter, and the freezer was full of ice cream.
At least we brought real food.
There were a few frozen dinners in the freezer, too, but not enough for a week for two people who are supposed to be eating real food.
They said thanks. We suggested she eat something while we were there.
Dad said "we're not really lunch people."
She weighs 90 pounds...she needs to become a lunch person.
I just don't know about Dad sometimes. But of course, I was too timid to SAY "She weighs 90 pounds, she needs to become a lunch person!"
(Keep in mind that Dad was in a lock down facility for dementia for a couple of years. They had misdiagnosed him with alzheimers, but it turned out to be alcohol-induced insanity instead of that..... He no longer drinks, but we really wonder where his head is at sometimes. Not really lunch people? He clearly does NOT GET IT.)
So, all we could do was leave the food there, and hope that they take advantage of it. She is going to end up right where she started if all she eats is cookies and oat meal, and if she stays in bed all day.
She sat up and chatted with us, and was happy to see us, but she didn't remember my name at first, and had to ask me where I was from. THEN she remembered that I am the daughter in law who lives HERE (the others are out of state, and she only sees them once in a great while), and who helps her.
She also didn't know where Dave and I live, how long we've lived there, or if we owned or rented, but we gently reminded her.
(There was a lady from the church there at the time, too, and she was telling her about me and Dave, and having trouble with most of the details. At least Mom knew who David was.)
When we asked, Dad said that the visiting aids are due to start today. I hope this is true, because we know for sure that they have lied to us, and kept stuff from us, in the past. Like Mom not wanting us to know she had a cold, and was not taking her medication...and the family friend intervened.
The aids, if they are actually coming, will help with chores, bathing, and they will prepare food, run errands, and ask if meds are being taken.
Hopefully, them coming in the house will encourage her to get up and chat with them, too. Not sure if Mom is still diapering, but if she is, I imagine that they help with that, too. I hope.
It would be impolite for her to just stay in bed with people in the house, and hopefully they will make her get up and bathe, etc.
So that's where we stand at the moment. Just have to wait and see.
She sees the psychiatrist later this week, and hopefully, the sheer volume of medication will be reduced so that she can function better. She also needs to see her primary care to discuss the medical collection of drugs she is on.
Dave is also going to try to talk to the psychiatrist first, and ask him to please impress upon BOTH Mom and Dad the critical importance of regular, quality nutrition.
We clearly can't get that message across, but they'll listen to a doctor.
The family friend who has been watching out for them for years has now officially moved to Texas, so we won't have any back up other than the visiting aids. No one to tell us things Mom and Dad don't want us to know. No one to call us when things get out of hand.
We're hoping that Dave's son, who lives in the same town as Mom and Dad, can step up and take a little more pro-active involvement...But he's 20something and has a live in girl friend, so he's busy being young and happy.
Like I said, I guess we'll just have to see how things go.
Mom was sent home from the nursing facility on Thursday of last week. We thought it was too soon, because she was still wobbling out of her mind a lot, still in a diaper, and still pretty weak. When we visited two weekends ago at the nursing home, she was completely insane--completely manic and demented.
Then last weekend, she seemed better, and I saw her sitting up for the first time in over a month.
But she'd been through so many back slides and baby steps forward and back slides over the month of her being "in patient" that we couldn't be sure of anything.
But home she went.....because we aren't Medicare, and Medicare runs the show.
We asked Dave's dad to please arrange for the visiting aids (we figured out they aren't actually nurses) to start the day mom went home, but he didn't bother with that.
So, for the past 4 days, he's been feeding her oat meal, and letting her sleep all day.
She says she feels like she's being drugged, which she is--her current list of meds is pretty long...but he could be making her get up like she was yesterday when we visited. She SHOULD be getting up every day.
She needs rest, but she also needs to get up and move around every day, or she will get actual pneumonia.
We're pretty sure she never had pneumonia, by the way.
There never was a chest xray to indicate it, and while she DID have an upper respiratory infection before and during her hospitalization, and she DID check in with MRSA, she never had any lung crackling or other signs of actual pneumonia, according to the hospitalist.
The E/R doc diagnosed her with it because of her dyspnea...but we are pretty sure she was gasping for breath because she was off her psych meds, and was in constant panic mode at that point.
Then she fell into rapid cycling bi-polar, which is her main issue when her meds aren't in her body. Plus, during this mis-adventure caused by her taking herself off of medication that keeps her sane (we still have no idea why she chose to do this after being on them for 25 years), she was also completely demented much of the time. Crazy. Completely out of balance mentally.
It was very scary for Dave, who saw most of it, because he spent the most time at her bedside.
Anyway, we went to the house yesterday, and took a bag of groceries and some spaghetti and meat balls that I made and put into containers for the freezer. We gave them cans of soup, pudding (one of the few things she actually ate while in the nursing home), apple sauce, fruit cups, frozen veggies, microwave rice, and Ensure for weight gain. Others had been there to visit, and there were three packages of cookies out on the counter, and the freezer was full of ice cream.
At least we brought real food.
There were a few frozen dinners in the freezer, too, but not enough for a week for two people who are supposed to be eating real food.
They said thanks. We suggested she eat something while we were there.
Dad said "we're not really lunch people."
She weighs 90 pounds...she needs to become a lunch person.
I just don't know about Dad sometimes. But of course, I was too timid to SAY "She weighs 90 pounds, she needs to become a lunch person!"
(Keep in mind that Dad was in a lock down facility for dementia for a couple of years. They had misdiagnosed him with alzheimers, but it turned out to be alcohol-induced insanity instead of that..... He no longer drinks, but we really wonder where his head is at sometimes. Not really lunch people? He clearly does NOT GET IT.)
So, all we could do was leave the food there, and hope that they take advantage of it. She is going to end up right where she started if all she eats is cookies and oat meal, and if she stays in bed all day.
She sat up and chatted with us, and was happy to see us, but she didn't remember my name at first, and had to ask me where I was from. THEN she remembered that I am the daughter in law who lives HERE (the others are out of state, and she only sees them once in a great while), and who helps her.
She also didn't know where Dave and I live, how long we've lived there, or if we owned or rented, but we gently reminded her.
(There was a lady from the church there at the time, too, and she was telling her about me and Dave, and having trouble with most of the details. At least Mom knew who David was.)
When we asked, Dad said that the visiting aids are due to start today. I hope this is true, because we know for sure that they have lied to us, and kept stuff from us, in the past. Like Mom not wanting us to know she had a cold, and was not taking her medication...and the family friend intervened.
The aids, if they are actually coming, will help with chores, bathing, and they will prepare food, run errands, and ask if meds are being taken.
Hopefully, them coming in the house will encourage her to get up and chat with them, too. Not sure if Mom is still diapering, but if she is, I imagine that they help with that, too. I hope.
It would be impolite for her to just stay in bed with people in the house, and hopefully they will make her get up and bathe, etc.
So that's where we stand at the moment. Just have to wait and see.
She sees the psychiatrist later this week, and hopefully, the sheer volume of medication will be reduced so that she can function better. She also needs to see her primary care to discuss the medical collection of drugs she is on.
Dave is also going to try to talk to the psychiatrist first, and ask him to please impress upon BOTH Mom and Dad the critical importance of regular, quality nutrition.
We clearly can't get that message across, but they'll listen to a doctor.
The family friend who has been watching out for them for years has now officially moved to Texas, so we won't have any back up other than the visiting aids. No one to tell us things Mom and Dad don't want us to know. No one to call us when things get out of hand.
We're hoping that Dave's son, who lives in the same town as Mom and Dad, can step up and take a little more pro-active involvement...But he's 20something and has a live in girl friend, so he's busy being young and happy.
Like I said, I guess we'll just have to see how things go.
Saturday, August 9, 2014
Movement
They moved mom out of the hospital into a skilled nursing facility last week. Dave met with her psychiatrist yesterday morning at the facility, and all meds were reviewed.
The psychiatrist believes that she is currently on an adequate regime of medications, and with continued good nutrition (this is key), and physical therapy to get her strength back, she should fully recover.
All of this has happened since we walked into her room last Sunday and she snapped out of it.
Dave went in, after the nurses had told us how awful it had been (they said she'd been hallucinating, refusing to eat, and even kicked a nurse in the chest).
She knew who he was, and said she was hungry, and she fed herself, and she spoke coherently. I stepped in then, and she knew who I was, and made polite conversation..... and then she wanted the nurse to come get her out of the bed so she could use the rest room instead of her diaper.
She hadn't been out of that bed for 2 weeks.
The next day, she was up walking up and down the hallways at the hospital (with assistance, of course).
Yes. Just like that.
Since that moment last Sunday, she has spent far more time in this reality, rather than in her own little catatonic world, "off with the fairies."
So. It's looking a lot better this weekend than it did last.
The psychiatrist believes that she is currently on an adequate regime of medications, and with continued good nutrition (this is key), and physical therapy to get her strength back, she should fully recover.
All of this has happened since we walked into her room last Sunday and she snapped out of it.
Dave went in, after the nurses had told us how awful it had been (they said she'd been hallucinating, refusing to eat, and even kicked a nurse in the chest).
She knew who he was, and said she was hungry, and she fed herself, and she spoke coherently. I stepped in then, and she knew who I was, and made polite conversation..... and then she wanted the nurse to come get her out of the bed so she could use the rest room instead of her diaper.
She hadn't been out of that bed for 2 weeks.
The next day, she was up walking up and down the hallways at the hospital (with assistance, of course).
Yes. Just like that.
Since that moment last Sunday, she has spent far more time in this reality, rather than in her own little catatonic world, "off with the fairies."
So. It's looking a lot better this weekend than it did last.
Sunday, August 3, 2014
No news is...well..no news.
Dave's mom remains in the same room, on the same floor, in the same state of shifting realities.
They're keeping her on the medical floor because she still has a low grade infection somewhere in her body.
They can't shift her to psych and work out her imbalance until she's cleared by medicine.
So. Two weeks into it, and nothing has really changed. It's been exhausting, with all of the worry, and for Dave, with all of the time spent going to and from the hospital. Fortunately, his workplace and his boss are very flexible.
She's had a few "better" days in the past week, where she was marginally coherent and present in her body, but getting her to focus on the here and now is difficult.
I keep saying she's "off with the fairies."
We'll see how she is today, and we'll try to just go on with our lives until tomorrow.
They're keeping her on the medical floor because she still has a low grade infection somewhere in her body.
They can't shift her to psych and work out her imbalance until she's cleared by medicine.
So. Two weeks into it, and nothing has really changed. It's been exhausting, with all of the worry, and for Dave, with all of the time spent going to and from the hospital. Fortunately, his workplace and his boss are very flexible.
She's had a few "better" days in the past week, where she was marginally coherent and present in her body, but getting her to focus on the here and now is difficult.
I keep saying she's "off with the fairies."
We'll see how she is today, and we'll try to just go on with our lives until tomorrow.
Wednesday, July 23, 2014
Update on Dave's mom
Dave's mom has been in patient since Saturday night. She was doing fine on Sunday. Aware of where she was and why.
But then on Monday, she started behaving differently, on Tuesday, she refused to eat or drink or speak...until the evening, when she started an endless stream of babbling.
We spent most of the day with her today, and she babbled incessantly and refused to eat or drink because she would not stop talking when we tried to press a spoon or straw between her lips. She is utterly incoherent and not present in any way.
Today, mom was declared catatonic by her psychiatrist. He doesn't have privileges at the hospital, but he has been to visit her and evaluate her twice, and has consulted with the hospitalist.
Today's plan was to do a brain CT, as well as some further testing to see if the reason for her onset of complete mental breakdown is medical.
If it turns out to not be medical, they will call for a psych consult and possibly move her to the psych ward. Her pneumonia diagnosis is being questioned at this point. Seems her lungs never had any crackling sounds, and there was never a bad chest xray. They're doing another one of those today, too.
Her psychiatrist feels that this is all a rebound from when she initially got sick, stopped eating, and ran out of her meds and did not get more...because when she gets sick, this is what happens. Dad doesn't take care of anything for her, but she takes care of everything for herself and for him. So when she falls ill, everything falls apart.
Until she gets sick enough to go into the hospital. Then he's suddenly able to do for himself.
Whatever.
The prognosis varies depending on the doctor giving it. The hospitalist thinks it could take months for her to return to her old self, if ever, depending. The psychiatrist believes that once her brain chemistry is restored with her antidepressants (which are critically important for her), and good nutrition is re-established (or, in her case established), she could be back to normal in about a week.
If there is no further reason for her to be in the medical ward, they will move her to psych, but I think that hinges on if she snaps out of this enough to start eating and drinking. If they have to put a feeding tube in her, she will stay in medical. They'll decide that tomorrow.
My inlaws are not good eaters. They have never been good eaters as long as I've been here. They love sweets, and will go a whole day without food, and then have ice cream for dinner.
This stops now.
Thankfully, they signed the contract with the visiting nurses outfit we found for them. But between now and then, we have to see if mom will even be able to come home.
But then on Monday, she started behaving differently, on Tuesday, she refused to eat or drink or speak...until the evening, when she started an endless stream of babbling.
We spent most of the day with her today, and she babbled incessantly and refused to eat or drink because she would not stop talking when we tried to press a spoon or straw between her lips. She is utterly incoherent and not present in any way.
Today, mom was declared catatonic by her psychiatrist. He doesn't have privileges at the hospital, but he has been to visit her and evaluate her twice, and has consulted with the hospitalist.
Today's plan was to do a brain CT, as well as some further testing to see if the reason for her onset of complete mental breakdown is medical.
If it turns out to not be medical, they will call for a psych consult and possibly move her to the psych ward. Her pneumonia diagnosis is being questioned at this point. Seems her lungs never had any crackling sounds, and there was never a bad chest xray. They're doing another one of those today, too.
Her psychiatrist feels that this is all a rebound from when she initially got sick, stopped eating, and ran out of her meds and did not get more...because when she gets sick, this is what happens. Dad doesn't take care of anything for her, but she takes care of everything for herself and for him. So when she falls ill, everything falls apart.
Until she gets sick enough to go into the hospital. Then he's suddenly able to do for himself.
Whatever.
The prognosis varies depending on the doctor giving it. The hospitalist thinks it could take months for her to return to her old self, if ever, depending. The psychiatrist believes that once her brain chemistry is restored with her antidepressants (which are critically important for her), and good nutrition is re-established (or, in her case established), she could be back to normal in about a week.
If there is no further reason for her to be in the medical ward, they will move her to psych, but I think that hinges on if she snaps out of this enough to start eating and drinking. If they have to put a feeding tube in her, she will stay in medical. They'll decide that tomorrow.
My inlaws are not good eaters. They have never been good eaters as long as I've been here. They love sweets, and will go a whole day without food, and then have ice cream for dinner.
This stops now.
Thankfully, they signed the contract with the visiting nurses outfit we found for them. But between now and then, we have to see if mom will even be able to come home.
Saturday, July 19, 2014
Almost 30 days...
Yikes! It's been almost 30 days since my last post. Oops!
The Laura fund has now raised over $1700, and will be an ongoing endeavor. The donations have slowed almost to a stop, though, so we will see. If I can't raise the funds, I guess the endeavor will end.
Anyway....been dancing and rehearsing a lot, getting ready for next weekend's "showcase." My two chances per year to dance are the studio recitals. I don't like the idea of dancing at the big festival events...too chaotic, crowded, fast paced, and also outside in the weather.
This showcase, I am dancing twice. Once with my class in a group of 10, and once in a trio, FINALLY doing my dream of choreographing "In These Shoes," by Kirstie McColl. It's not Middle Eastern music, but that doesn't matter..it's going to be FUN.
We haven't managed to trap any more cats. Mitzi's kittens have vanished, so she's a candidate again, but since she was trapped once when she was pregnant, and our consciences made us let her go, she refuses to go into the trap again.
She also saw her daddy get trapped, and she sat outside of the cage with him until we took him for his surgery. So she knows.
Unfortunately, interlopers from neighboring colonies will smell her when she goes into heat for her second time this year, and there will be fights, and she will get pregnant again. It's inevitable.
Even if we manage to neuter all of the males in her tribe, there will be others when she comes into season.
In other news, I have a rather large, mis-shapen lump in my right breast. It's been there for a while, and I was trying not to worry about it because I KNOW that I form cysts, and I have seen cysts like this before.
My annual visit to the gyne was scheduled for 7/15, so I just convinced myself to wait, and added the funny, dimply lump to my list of concerns for this visit.
She did her manual exam, and said it was my usual fibrous, cyst-forming tissue. PHEW. That was a big relief. She also counseled me to ALWAYS wear full support bras to keep the weight of my boobs from pulling against the cyst tissue and making my boobs ugly.
Good to know. No one ever mentioned that before, and I typically go without support on the weekends. No more of that for me!
She also is doing a very extensive set of labs. 6 vials of blood were drawn. 6!! I almost passed out, but fortunately, I did not, and Dave was there to take me out for breakfast and drive me home.
I mentioned all of my concerns to the doctor, and she listened and responded, and wrote stuff down....and the labs are the result. She's checking for electrolytes to see if I am off and that's why I get so many foot and leg cramps. She's checking thyroid, to see if these extra 10 pounds that came back even with my clean diet and exercise might be a sign of thyroid slowing down. She's checking vitamin D, and blood fats, and RNA for cancer....lots of stuff.
Can't wait to see the results. A friend of mine was surprised when I was telling her about all of this....she said that she usually doesn't know what she's being tested for, and she never asks to see the results. I always demand a copy of the print out so I can study it.
But that's just me.
Anyway..what else? Oh, Dave's mom had a virus and everything fell apart at their house again (they stop eating, they run out of meds, the clothes don't get washed, etc).
Dave called the family attorney and found out that he does NOT, in fact, have ANY legal right where his parents' care is concerned. For some reason, we thought he had POA, but he does not.
So, I suggested he research visiting care worker programs in the area. He found some info, and then he talked to the folks, and they ignored him.
Just like the past however many times that mom got sick and everything fell apart.
But then he called his brothers.
Like he always does.
The difference is, this time, the eldest brother took some action.
Whatever he said to the folks worked, and they are now open to the possibility of having a visiting care worker come to their house once or twice a week to check meds, cook meals, and clean.
Wow. We mention it and it's a stupid idea, they don't need any help.
Mike mentions it, and BANG, they're ready to do it.
Whatever....The important part is they're ready to do it!
Since we're here, though, they do want us to review the contract before they sign it. I guess they think we do know a little something after all.
Since this was our idea in the first place.
ADDENDUM, Sunday 7/20: When we visited mom and dad yesterday, right after I published this post, mom was doing so poorly that my thought was that she SHOULD probably be in the hospital.
She is now. She called us late last night in distress, and since we had drank a cocktail or two, we were NOT going to get in the car, so we counseled her to call 9-1-1, which she did.
She has pneumonia. They're taking good care of her. We spent a few hours there today, and she's in good hands. Met the doctor, and they will start some physical therapy tomorrow to try to get her up and around. With pneumonia, getting up and around is crucial.
The Laura fund has now raised over $1700, and will be an ongoing endeavor. The donations have slowed almost to a stop, though, so we will see. If I can't raise the funds, I guess the endeavor will end.
Anyway....been dancing and rehearsing a lot, getting ready for next weekend's "showcase." My two chances per year to dance are the studio recitals. I don't like the idea of dancing at the big festival events...too chaotic, crowded, fast paced, and also outside in the weather.
This showcase, I am dancing twice. Once with my class in a group of 10, and once in a trio, FINALLY doing my dream of choreographing "In These Shoes," by Kirstie McColl. It's not Middle Eastern music, but that doesn't matter..it's going to be FUN.
We haven't managed to trap any more cats. Mitzi's kittens have vanished, so she's a candidate again, but since she was trapped once when she was pregnant, and our consciences made us let her go, she refuses to go into the trap again.
She also saw her daddy get trapped, and she sat outside of the cage with him until we took him for his surgery. So she knows.
Unfortunately, interlopers from neighboring colonies will smell her when she goes into heat for her second time this year, and there will be fights, and she will get pregnant again. It's inevitable.
Even if we manage to neuter all of the males in her tribe, there will be others when she comes into season.
In other news, I have a rather large, mis-shapen lump in my right breast. It's been there for a while, and I was trying not to worry about it because I KNOW that I form cysts, and I have seen cysts like this before.
My annual visit to the gyne was scheduled for 7/15, so I just convinced myself to wait, and added the funny, dimply lump to my list of concerns for this visit.
She did her manual exam, and said it was my usual fibrous, cyst-forming tissue. PHEW. That was a big relief. She also counseled me to ALWAYS wear full support bras to keep the weight of my boobs from pulling against the cyst tissue and making my boobs ugly.
Good to know. No one ever mentioned that before, and I typically go without support on the weekends. No more of that for me!
She also is doing a very extensive set of labs. 6 vials of blood were drawn. 6!! I almost passed out, but fortunately, I did not, and Dave was there to take me out for breakfast and drive me home.
I mentioned all of my concerns to the doctor, and she listened and responded, and wrote stuff down....and the labs are the result. She's checking for electrolytes to see if I am off and that's why I get so many foot and leg cramps. She's checking thyroid, to see if these extra 10 pounds that came back even with my clean diet and exercise might be a sign of thyroid slowing down. She's checking vitamin D, and blood fats, and RNA for cancer....lots of stuff.
Can't wait to see the results. A friend of mine was surprised when I was telling her about all of this....she said that she usually doesn't know what she's being tested for, and she never asks to see the results. I always demand a copy of the print out so I can study it.
But that's just me.
Anyway..what else? Oh, Dave's mom had a virus and everything fell apart at their house again (they stop eating, they run out of meds, the clothes don't get washed, etc).
Dave called the family attorney and found out that he does NOT, in fact, have ANY legal right where his parents' care is concerned. For some reason, we thought he had POA, but he does not.
So, I suggested he research visiting care worker programs in the area. He found some info, and then he talked to the folks, and they ignored him.
Just like the past however many times that mom got sick and everything fell apart.
But then he called his brothers.
Like he always does.
The difference is, this time, the eldest brother took some action.
Whatever he said to the folks worked, and they are now open to the possibility of having a visiting care worker come to their house once or twice a week to check meds, cook meals, and clean.
Wow. We mention it and it's a stupid idea, they don't need any help.
Mike mentions it, and BANG, they're ready to do it.
Whatever....The important part is they're ready to do it!
Since we're here, though, they do want us to review the contract before they sign it. I guess they think we do know a little something after all.
Since this was our idea in the first place.
ADDENDUM, Sunday 7/20: When we visited mom and dad yesterday, right after I published this post, mom was doing so poorly that my thought was that she SHOULD probably be in the hospital.
She is now. She called us late last night in distress, and since we had drank a cocktail or two, we were NOT going to get in the car, so we counseled her to call 9-1-1, which she did.
She has pneumonia. They're taking good care of her. We spent a few hours there today, and she's in good hands. Met the doctor, and they will start some physical therapy tomorrow to try to get her up and around. With pneumonia, getting up and around is crucial.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)