Just need to talk to my friends (190)

Lorita

Ron, hope you get some answers at the ER. Good luck,- let us know.

ronald71111

Quick update, excuse my spelling, dont have glasses on. Pneumonia , will be hospitalized. Sitter staying overnight and church will check on her.

Ron

jfkoc

Oh, no....... can't believe it. Thankfully you went to the ER. Please update when you can.

Hugs sent....Judith

Lorita

Goodness, Ron. Glad you went to the ER and caught it. Take care and don't worry. You'll be in good hands. Hugs from me, too.

loveskitties

Dear Ron, glad you got seen and can get medical help.

Wishing you speedy recovery and good help with DW.

Hugs

Jo C.

Dear Ron, omigosh; so sorry to hear that you have developed pneumonia but am relieved to hear that you are in good hands at the hospital.

Front Porch friend, if you have the energy while you are in the hospital, it would be a good idea to ask to see a Social Worker while you are there; she or he may be able to give you some good resources in the community to be helpful for you and Lou that perhaps you may not have got from the outpatient VA Social Worker.

Please rest and take good care of you, we all are thinking of you and you know we really and truly care. Things cannot continue as has been with beloved Lou; more help is needed as your own health is at great risk.

Hard to do right now, but when you can, let us know how you are . . . . it is in a way good to know that YOU are being taken care of for a change.

Be well; get well wishes are being sent to a very well thought of gentleman,

J.

Lorita

Ron, Jo is so right. The best resource you can have is a good social worker. I worked with the best but did have one that was a dud when Charles was in the hospital - this was years after the good ones I worked with had retired. They probably know some place that can help.

The vet came out this morning to check on the little cow (I called him last night telling him that I was concerned about her) but this morning she ate and seemed better. I was afraid she hadn't cleaned good but he said she had. Both of them will be up for a while longer til they have improved more. We did decide to close up the barn for now - until he can take the bulls to a pasture somewhere else and can move the heifers to the west pasture.

Stormy and I just went down to check on the girls. They're as far away from the house as is possible. I was worried about Gray Lady. There were six or seven bulls bothering her yesterday so wanted to make sure she was okay - she is. Weirdest thing - while driving through the pasture I found a pair of women's blue pants. No label I've ever worn and no other woman here. I have no idea where they came from - they were probably 200 yds. from the main road - in the middle of the pasture. When I'm out in the pastures I always pick up things that have blown in (maybe they blew in during a windstorm - there is a woman who lives on the west side of the farm) because little ones will pick up anything just like babies do.

Once I had a black trash bag in the open glove compartment of the CW. It was out just enough that a little calf could get hold of it. She did and took off with it - the wind blew it and scared her and that made her run even faster. Had one heck of a time getting it away from her - learned my lesson on carrying anything they can get hold of.

I'm so glad Ron decided to go to the ER this morning. He hadn't mentioned if he was running an elevated temp. or not but he just wasn't well. I know he'll worry about Lou but the Church people will take care of her. So glad they decided to go to Church so they've made friends who can help.

Hope all of you are well this morning. It's been cloudy most of the day and fairly cool. I think another round of rain is supposed to come through tomorrow. We've only had 1.4" but that's enough for right now. Hopefully, there will be more rain in May. Can you all believe it's almost May? Time flies when you're having fun, I guess. Back later.

Mint

Ron hope you are feeling better soon.

telinde

Sara, you’re right. Medicine is like a puzzle. You explained it how I experienced it. Some things are not easily detected, and some issues just disappear or clear up unexplained. I’m so happy your tree removal looks good. I’m having two taken out this spring too. I hope I have a good experience like you .

Keep trying Ron. I think eventually they can work out your problems and get you feeling better. I hope going to the ER helps you today. I’ll be thinking and praying for that.

I just sat down for a little rest after sweeping and organizing my garage. It feels good to get that done.

I'm waiting for the repair guys to come and finish the bathroom in the basement. Still working on the restore from the sewer back. This is the last thing to get completed. Seems they can’t find competent workers. They had to tear out the first shower the put in because it was totally unacceptable. The vanity install will be their second try too. I’m just about fed up with incapable workers. I’ll post a picture of what the last try looks like. It’s unbelievable. Instead of making that box along the wall smaller, the destroyed the vanity and the door won’t open but a quarter of the way. I’m just shaking my head at this point. It’s almost laughable.

Our weather today is beautiful. It’s 51 and we have clear skies and lovely sunshine. Have a good afternoon. Joan

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ronald71111

Just had a breathing treatment, hope that helps. When I talk, drink or eat, I have a bad cough. Breathing treatment therapist said she wondered if that was irritation from my achalasia of the esophugus causing me to cough so bad.

I still feel guilty that I'm not with Lou, even though I know she probably hasn't even noticed I'm not there. She's in that twilight zone right now! The last couple of days haven't been good on me with her. The neighbor said she's doing fine and one of the ladies stayed with Lou where she could go home and get some clothes.

Ron

Iris L.

Aspiration can cause pneumonia. See if you can check that out before you leave the hospital. Feel better soon!

Mint

Joan sorry the bathroom is such a hassle. No matter what occupation you are in there are those who take no pride in their work. My partner where I volunteer has flooring installed recently. Said it was two young men and they really did good work. They aren’t giving rain again until tonight. Got 3/4 of an inch yesterday, maybe I can get a few more bags of mulch out, we’ll see.

Take care

ronald71111

Dr was just here and he is going to let me go home with antibiotics and steroids. He said to just take it easy the next few days and in 3 or 4 days I should be ok.

He knew I wanted to be with my wife and was willing to discharge me with conditions. Also, I asked him about asperation and he didnt believe so, he looked close on xray and ultrasound.

Now to wait on lengthy discharge papers and home to get something in my mouth that taste good.

Ron

BethL

Ron, I'm praying for you. Be sure to get plenty of rest.

jfkoc

@Ron...you have had a wake up call...take heed. Get some help in so that you have more time to just enjoy being with Lou. Please take a look at;

Caddo Council on Aging :: Shreveport, LA. (caddocoa.org)

Also consider someone coming in the home on a regular basis to do the cleaning. With just the two of you every other week would likely be enough. They could also do the sheets and maybe even some grocery shopping.

Try to pace yourself ....

@Joan....Yikes. I don't see how that vanity could ever work.

Wait a minute...the sun is out. Signing off to run to the store before it drizzles again.

Jo C.

Saturday and our Mr. Ron is going home! So hope your cough will settle down soon, I can imagine that it is a bit frustrating to say the least. Be sure to follow those directions for the oral steroid to the letter; especially the schedule for tapering down the pills. You may do very well and with the steroid in quieting the tissue that is causing the coughing. If you feel a bit of insomnia or even irritability, that can be a side effect of the steroid and that is temporary.

Isn't it awful; a Front Porch friend who is an RN . . . fuss and bother and apologies extended.

Ron, in a way, it is sort of a blessing in disguise that Lou has not missed you. Love never disappears, but this dynamic could well be a positive for having more help come in, for your being able to get a bit of respite hours off for yourself, or even having Lou in Daycare, etc. She will accept the nice people being with her and not be upset and acting out because you are not there.

Of course you are her advocate and guardian angel besides being her loving husband, but Ron, it would be good to take time, get more help and take care of you by decreasing your stress and finding ways to get a bit more rest and also "time out," now and then. You are a delightfully kind and social person and if you could get a few hours to yourself each week, it could make a difference in your health and how you feel emotionally. Since you have a new church, perhaps even finding out what they have scheduled for meeting and social events may get you connected with others and find some breathing space and even a bit of fun and laughter by attending for some time away.

Okay; I will cease and desist - we worry about you because we all care about you even if we are all long distance. Home! Enjoy!

Telinde - unbelievable the photos from the bathroom repair - what in the world - where were these guys from? What a debacle! I am so sorry. Hopefully the remediation does not cost anything - it should not. Hopefully when all is done it will be a big plus and be lovely.

Lorita, those bulls really are a caution . . . it must be difficult not having the control over the herd. I am truly sorry for the loss of the baby; what a heartache . I am glad the mother is doing well.

Have any of you watched the excellent four part series, "Secrets Of The Elephants," done by National Geographic? It is awesome and the photography amazing. I was surprised by the difference in elephants in the various different countries and all that entails. What beautiful animals that are highly intelligent with marvelous social structures. The babies are of course, adorable. Good grief; a two year pregnancy and the babies nurse for six years! If you can find it on Search and bring it up, it is a pleasure to watch and highly informative. Their migrations are nothing short of stunningly awesome and have developed over thousands if not millions of years. The adage of the elephant, "never forgetting," certainly has truth to it.

Warm here today; about mid 80's for us and then next week back to the 70's. Lots of concern regarding the unusual heat so early in the year melting the snow pack far too quickly and flooding in all probability being a very real issue. So hope it is not going to be as dire as thought.

May you all have a good weekend,

J.

ronald71111

Last iv bag in now, pharmacy was slow getting the second bag here. Poor nurse is sweet as she can be, I heard a patient in the next room fussing up a storm and I could hear her in a polite voice answering him. When she got here she apologized for taking so long. I told her it was ok, I had been standing by my roommate bed telling him how much nicer his bed looked than mine, but he never would say anything (the bed is empty).

I've signed paperwork, so once this drip is done, just need to pick my medicine up and go.

Ron

Iris L.

Ron, good for you on getting out of the hospital quickly. Rest up and recuperate! If there is a recurrence of pneumonia, consider, in the FUTURE, getting a barium esophagram as an outpatient.

ronald71111

Iris, funny you should mention the barium esophogram. I vagley remember one of the nurses yesterday saying the dr was putting in a order for a speech therapist to see me. That was the first person I saw when my achalasia of the esophugus was discovered. Then I was shocked that speech therapist went in to all of that alone with the radiologist.

Ron

Lorita

Hi, Seems like everytime I post the font is a different size - I'll get it right - sometime, maybe. Ron, I'm so happy you're either home or getting to go home today. The two or three times I've had pneumonia I was at home, too, but I was much younger then and you have other medical problems. Glad it worked out all right. Is it possible that the sitter could stay over a couple of nights so you can get the rest you need? Would be really a good thing. We know you - if there's something that needs to be done - you'll do it whether you feel like it or not. Just, please, try to rest and not overdo. Your body needs to get well.

It's a beautiful day - the sun finally came out - it's 63 right now.

Jo, it's not so much that I don't have control over the girls - I still feel like I do even though I don't have anything to do with their feeding. Before I sold them I was doing the feeding but even then Mike was feeding hay for me - had been ever since I lost Charles. When I had EBV he filled the creep feeder and offered to feed so I wasn't doing all of it even before that. Darwin and I have talked about this - it's not the way we took care of our girls completely but now both of us are not in as good health as we were then. I see the girls more than he does because they're not right around his house. Nothing could have been done about what happened with either of the girls no matter who owned them - things happen no matter how hard you try to prevent them. Watching over them is something I won't quit doing and will call him when I think something needs to be taken care of. He knows that and I think appreciates the fact that someone is around who's watching them. The two cows are improving - I fed and hayed them this morning. Susie is more dominate than the Penny so have to watch when I feed them. Penny has a pretty set of horns but doesn't seem to use them against Susie.

Sheena isn't acting quite right - she doesn't want to come inside in the mornings - lays on the porch. Could be that she's been inside so much this winter that she just wants to be outside. Eventually she does come in and eats - she's asleep in the bedroom now. She's getting around all right but something just seems "off" to me. Cats are scratching and I do from time to time (backs of my hands and arms mostly) so maybe all of us are suffering from allergies. Their last allergy shots didn't seem to work too well - same with the GPs. I need to get flea and tick medicine on all of them. I need it to, already have found two ticks so they'll probably be bad this year along with fleas.

This morning I was checking e-mails and found one from yesterday from Amazon saying some Gold Medal unbleached AP flour I'd bought from them had been recalled. I checked and the order number wasn't the same as my last order. Called them and found it was an order number from December so I've probably used it. I have the last one (I think) still unopened. But - best by dates on General Mills website in one place was sometime in 2020, another place 2024 - at any rate I won't use the unopened sack I have and won't buy that brand again. One place said a sack had been checked and there might be E-Coli in that batch - another place it said Salmonella. Guess it's gotten to the point you can't trust any brand anymore. Life was better when we raised almost everything we needed but that time is gone for the most part.

Sarah was going to the ER this morning to have her skin condition checked out but haven't heard anything from her. Hope she doesn't have to wait a long time.

Zetta, where are you? I haven't seen a post from you in several days. I hope everything's okay with you. Please let us know.

Joan, so sorry for the trouble you're having with the work you're having done. It seems to be the same everywhere - you can't find someone to do the work and if you finally do, they might come and look at it and never show up again - or they do some of the work and don't finish or in some cases, as in yours, their work is inferior. Everyone I talk with says the same thing - can't find anyone to do work. Mike says the people he is able to find are older people. The man who has done the disking of his new land is my age or a bit older - same with people I find. Seems like the younger people just don't want to work. I hope it can be finished to your satisfaction. I'm still waiting for the glide under the close doors to be put in place - I think I could do it but not sure. When the men raised the floor under the west side of the bedroom and LR it looked okay but I've noticed there's some buckling of the hardwood floors in the LR in a couple of places. Jerry says it's not connected with what they did and he and a friend of his will check it - if he ever gets back over here. These floors are way over 100 years old so don't know if it's just their age or what. We refinished them before we moved down here, or just after, and with the dogs and cats and me walking on them the need it again. Seems there's always something that needs to be done. Jo, I think it's great that we have some medical people on our thread to try to keep us in line and answer questions we might have. That was a good think when I worked at the VA - there was always a doctor around to answer questions, especially when I was working on the wards.

I think I've written enough for now - just had to vent my frustrations a bit. Sheena and Stormy and the cats just don't seem to be sympathetic. Shouldn't say that because they do listen. Enjoy the rest of your day. Sounds like there's a lot of flooding from the snow melting - it's either cold, floods, drought, earthquakes or fires.

Lorita

Always hate to post twice in a row but wanted to let you all know what I heard from Sarah. The nurse had told her to go to the ER this morning but before she could go the nurse came wearing a mask, face shield and protective clothing. She had told the ER doctor Sarah's symptoms and about the blisters and he told her to come to the house, get samples and have Sarah stay in bed - not to go to the ER until they could figure out what was wrong. Both she and Todd had been vomiting all night so the nurse told him to stay in the LR and for them to wear gloves - even when she's in the bathroom. She thinks it might be the catscratch fever she had a while back that wasn't completely gone and has come back. The nurse will be out again in the morning to check on her. I don't know how much more Sarah can endure - she's strong but there is a breaking point for everyone.

Zetta, we need to hear from you. Does anyone know how to get in touch with her outside of the forum?

I'm still a little worried about Sheena - she's slept most of the day - went outside a while ago and I went out and brought her in - have to put on a leash or she'll lay down and I can't get her up. She ate today and just ate a milk bone. Did find a cockleburr in two of her feet - even found one on the inside of the lace curtain on the front door - how in the world it got there i'll never know.

I had ordered a handheld misting fan from Amazon the middle of this month and they kept saying it was running late. Checked today and the e-mail said it was delivered on the 25th but I never received it. Amazon uses UPS to deliver so who knows what might have happened. At any rate, they will replace it. Hasn't been an easy week - next week has to be better (one can hope). Good night - rest well. See you all tomorrow.

ronald71111

Prayers being sent up for Sarah!

Slept good last night with no one coming in to stick and probe me. Probably didnt sleep a hour at the hospital. Feeling better and will try my best not to be macho and overdue it. I had made the statement that I thought if I marked up and took it easy, I could at least go to church. Even the preacher told me to stay home and rest.

I'm making a list to talk to my dr about. I got answers from ER and inpatient Drs that I should have already received from PCP. The mild LVH was explained; I had thought that your blood pressure had to be elevated when discovered, but I found out a history of high blood pressure can cause it and now to keep it from getting worse you have to keep it controlled. The blood pressure always be high and now good for no reason; I was told it sometimes happens for no reason that can be explained, at least that's a answer. I was also told January was to long for sleep study with my lung problems!

OK, enough about me! Lou was fairly good last night which helped. I even stopped on the way home and picked up some churches chicken, coleslaw and mashed potatoes where I wouldn't have to cook. Lou doesnt want chicken but I broke it in to small pieces and didnt tell her what it was and she liked it.

Guess I'll stay on Lorita's front porch today and enjoy the view.

Ron

Lorita

Good morning, Ron. Glad you rested well. You really need to stay home and rest - watch a sermon on TV today and go to Church next week. About the view from the front porch - I have a couple of pictures I'll post later today of the view from the front porch - if I can figure out how to do it again. Just finished breakfast so need to go out and feed the two girls their grain and give them some hay. Back later.

Mint

Cool,windy , cloudy day in northern Ohio. LOL sun just came out. Would love if it stayed out, we’ll see. Quiet day.

Ron hope you gain strength each day.

Will probably bake some salmon for lunch.

ronald71111

A family from church just brought Lou and I a meal for today. I started crying because I'm not use to so much love and compassion. I've always been the one to do it all, no matter what and it's hard to get use to not being able.

Looking forward to seeing front porch pictures. That will help when I'm rocking!

Ron

Lorita

Ron, how nice of those people. You deserve to have things done for you, for once. I didn't mean to post this picture - don't know how that happened. Guess it's a new mom with a couple of babies. I'll try this again. I have oodles of pictures of cows and calves - of interest to no one except me - but I like them.

Lorita

Okay, I'll try this again. Hard to go through pictures and find the right ones. In the above pictu

re the little cart is what I use to get things into the house after I get home from grocery shopping.

Lorita

That worked. I'm looking for a picture of the sunrise from the front porch. Sorry to take up so much space. Ron, during the summertime the girls cross the pond several times during t

he day to cool off. In this picture they're crossing on the narrowest part of the pond. Can't really see too much of it because it's lower than the house with a bank on the side closest to the house. Seem to be having trouble getting the pictures posted in the right place. This is a picture of a sunrise taken from the front porch - must be in spring or winter because no leaves on the trees. We have the prettiest sunrises. Hope you enjoy the pictures, Ron. I'll try to find a couple more to post later. I did several things outside this morning and wore myself out so I'm resting a while. Hope you're feeling better. Enjoy your lunch. I know how you feel, I get teary-eyed when people do things for me, too.

Mint

How kind Ron.

Lorita I always enjoy pictures of cattle or just seeing them when I drive out in country.

ronald71111

Lorita, thanks for the pictures! I feel more at ease on your front porch already.

Ron