Just need to talk to my friends (202)

harshedbuzz

Good morning on the porch.

I hope those of you experiencing extreme weather are hanging in there safely.

Eaglemom— Your DH sounds like mine. He's not much of an outdoor guy at all. No NASCAR fans at my house. DH followed Indy cars when he was younger but now, he and DS are really into F1.

Barbara— I am glad the surgery is behind you and went so well. I hope the pain and those temperatures subside soon.

_______________________________________________________________________________

For those following the saga.

The hospitalist has signaled discharge as early as tomorrow. They did the transition to oral steroids this morning and will start the taper at 40mgs rather than 30mg as they did last time. I hope this is enough to keep her out of the woods for a while. We did get the results from her blood culture which was negative for staph; we'll repeat again tomorrow and hopefully be done worrying about that.

The hospitalist and pulmo seem to be of two minds on the prednisone. One keeps increasing it and the other dials it back and notes "Pulmo increased steroids… AGAIN". I'm sensing frustration.

I'll be glad for her to be home. The unit she's in has a lot of upper respiratory illness which she doesn't need. Neither do I for that matter. DH has the cold I had 2 weeks ago. He's miserable, poor thing. I'd just like a week without illness. That would be swell.

It'll do her good to be away from the drama in the next bed. Her roommate is a woman with late-stage dementia who has aspiration pneumonia and a massive bedsore. She has 2 daughters- one is a caregiver-daughter who is there pretty much 24/7 and the other who comes each evening. Caregiver-daughter spends her time cajoling her unresponsive mother to eat and drink or talking with people loudly on speaker on her cell phone. She also commandeered all 3 visitor chairs to pile her stuff on, positioned her mom's side table so it encroaches into mom's side of the room and routinely blocks the door to the bathroom. The nurses aren't fans after the daughter removed the bandages after her mom came back from a wound treatment.

It seems the sisters don't see eye-to-eye on mom's care. The doctors have been in at least twice suggesting hospice for the mother but the caregiver daughter refuses. This has led to fights between the two with one calling the other a parasite and the other accusing the sister of wanting mom's money. It got physical the other night and security escorted them out. Neither was there when I was yesterday which was nice for mom as we could have a nice visit.

Mom's birthday is Wednesday. She asked me to take her to see the new Dylan movie at the theater as her present. So, I guess that's what I'll be doing if she's up for it. We should probably do a dinner out as well. I need to coordinate with my niece. Or maybe we'll do it separately and she'll enjoy 2 meals out.

Be safe out there.

HB

Carl46

We are setting new records for cold tonight. It's -1 F at 11:24 PM, which breaks the record set in 1918, and falling fast. I haven't been outdoors since Tuesday morning. A pair of young men shoveled my driveway and walk, and the County snowplow improved the street, so I can go out if I really want to, but I probably won't attempt it for a couple of more days. The streets are still slippery, there is no place I really need to go, and the police suggest we stay home if we can. I live a mile or two north of I-44, which has been a mess from west of Joplin, where a semi load of eggs got spread across the highway, to Rolla, where traffic was backed up for 20 miles and some people were stopped in their cars for 8 hours. I guess that's why we should keep the gas tank pretty full and carry blankets, water, and granola bars. A man told me Monday that he was a truck driver and considers "snow" to be a 4-letter word.

Made garlic chicken with pasta, corn, broccoli, carrots, and peas this evening. That was fancy compared to breakfast (boiled eggs, toast, fruit) and lunch (hot ham & cheese sandwiches, cottage cheese). As Willie Nelson said in song, "Here I sit with a drink and a memory, but I'm not cold, and I'm not wet, and I'm not hungry. Classify these as good times." We're not cold, hungry, or ill with flu or other acute illness, so I'll classify this as a good time. I hope all of you who are ill recover soon. We are expecting temperatures in the high 50's and low 60's by Monday, so that should help.

Cattle are calving here (the "Spring" calves), and there was a feature on the news on the farmer's efforts to keep them alive. It is so cold that some are calving prematurely, but even full-term calves are at risk with snow covering the grass, so they were feeding hay and grain. I remember feeding cattle in the cold wind when I was young. I miss being young, but I don't miss that. One farmer on TV had a calf in his living room to keep it warm, with his children petting it. Cute.

It's midnight, I'm going to bed. Sleep warm!

Mint

good morning

Carl sounds like you’re continuing to have some miserable weather but doing OK. I’m sure others here are too. It is 12° here this morning, but the windchill is zero. Looks like Sunday will finally be back in the 30s. That will be nice meanwhile I see I have snow to push off again this morning and they are giving snow today not a lot though I think it said less than an inch. I’m not sure how much fell during the night, but I don’t think it was anything big. I probably can push it off hopefully.

Went to family night, where my mom is yesterday evening. It was nice. They’ve gotten a lot more residents lately and I’m very thankful for that. They had a lot of empty rooms at first. There’s been several deaths there so it’s always revolving. I know at least one resident is a hospice patient. May be more that are. I just heard him say one day they were getting a patient that was a hospice patient.

thinking of all of you, know many are going through tough times of all different sorts

ronald71111

Good morning! Cold in Louisiana this week!! I have appointments for MRI, neurosurgeon and harmone shot this morning. Not looking forward to getting out.

Ron

Lorita

Nice to see your post, David. Glad you are improving. Was below zero this morning. Sun is shining and I'm trying to get water to the girls. No wind so it feels Better. Back later!

harshedbuzz

First the good news. Mom gets to come home either tomorrow or the day after.

The bad news is that she'll be in IV antibiotics for 6 weeks. I may lose my mind.

HB

Lorita

Carl, we're setting records for cold that goes back to 1918. Too cold for anything. It is still really cold today but without wind it seems better. I'm still letting my faucets run a small stream. Only 28 days until spring!! I'm sort of worried about the daffodils. They weren't covered with snow which would insulated them so the awful cold may have done a number on them. I hope not because they're one of my very favorite flowers in the spring.

Was able to get girls watered and left a foot or so.of water in tank for this evening when the y come back to the barn. Stay inside and be careful. I didn't have any trouble getting out with the cleats. I think I made at least six trips to check on the water.

Our power went off early this morning and Generac came to the rescue. I called the electric company and she said they were working on the outage in our area. No idea what happened. It was off for about five hours.

Tried both numbers I have for Judith with no answer - maybe she was sleeping or just doesn't feel like talking.

Sandy, did you get a lot of snow? The weather this morning said Virginia got a heavy snow. Maybe the mountains protected you, hope so.

Stay warm, everyone.

Mint

i’m wondering if Judith is in the hospital.

Lorita

Mint, I talked with her close friend who helps her yesterday and she was home and was better Monday. I tend to think I called at the time she might have been napping. I will try her again later this afternoon.

Did you get a lot.of snow? Our probably 2" hasn't melted and we had a good layer of ice before the snow. Right now it's 17 but feels like 15. It is.sunny and mostly calm so that makes us feel.better than being cloudy. Ponds are frozen thick enough the girls can't het water so that's why I'm trying to keep water for them. Can't fill the tank because it would freeze over so just fill it enough to be able to run more.

Carl, our weather or news had a story about calving in this weather, too. We have had calves in the house several times. Mother had DJ in the house for several days to keep him warm and fed. I remember one time we had a baby in the barn and we took out an electric blanket to keep him warm. You do what you have to do to keep them alive.

I haven't seen any new ones but haven't been up where they feed or in the barn. I don't want to fall or I couldn't help them. No one came to feed or cut ice today - they were feeding east of here today. We had a small calf fall through the ice years ago and we happened to see him. I went in after him and we got him to the house. But he didn't make it. Still bothers me. Running cattle can be hard in the winter or hot summer.

harshedbuzz

Good evening from my snowy porch. It'll just be a dusting but it's very pretty and cold.

A weird thing happened. The post I wrote sometime around the 17th popped up today dated February 19th. It's the one referencing discharge for the COPD hospitalization prior to that discharge. Yikes.

___________________________________________________________________

Ron— I hope your appointments went well and didn't eat up your entire day. Are you feeling better with oxygen?

Mint— I'm glad the family night was pleasant. Dad's place had a themed family event every month. They put a lot of thought into them. The Valentine's one was a wedding reception with cake and a DJ. Dad even enjoyed himself.

David— I'm so glad you're feeling better.

Lorita— I hope you are able to touch base with Judith.

——————————————————————————

Mom is scheduled for her PICC line tomorrow. A referral for pricing of her abx was sent today, but it'll need insurance approval, patient/family education and actual delivery of the medication before she can be discharged. If that doesn't happen on a timely basis, she'll have to stay the weekend.

It looks like the new med is infused rather than pushed and 4 x daily. Ugh.

She was pretty cranky after her TEE to rule out bacterial colonies because she was in the endoscopy suite for an hour longer than promised. They were very short staffed in patient transport yesterday. Mom's RN even transported 2 of her patients at discharge which never happens. The unit had 17 folks on Sunday and is up to 23 with 2 more coming up from the ER. Mom's 2 doors down from the annoying sisters; I can hear them but without her hearing aids mom can't.

She had the room to herself for a couple days but got a roommate this morning. An elderly lady whose daughter works at the hospital. This has attracted a steady stream of well-wishers which I suspect will get old unless the daughter goes home. I left mom in a chair watching the snow and reading her New Yorker.

I'm fixing a small spiral ham, au gratin potatoes (from a box— don't judge me, j/k) and steamed broccoli for dinner.

HB

ladyzetta

Good afternoon, Porchers

Lorita. I hope your electricity stays on, so you don't freeze. Five hours is a long time to be without electricity. It's nice that your able to call and check on Judith. She has been in my prayers 🙏 hopefully she has someone who checks on her.

Carl. I bet your looking forward to the adult daycare, that's starting soon, right? Walmart is not a good place to go if you don't like all the noise. When I go I go early to avoid the people and noise. Your DW will be much happier with all the fun at daycare.

HB. Nice that your mom, will be able to come home. Will she come home with the IV in her arm, then you need to add the medicine when needed. She is so blessed to have you there for her.

David. Sounds like your still recovering from the flu. Spending 10 days in the hospital, I'm sure was no fun. Get lots of rest.

Mint. Family night, sounds fun. You guys put you mom, in a very caring place. I hope you don't get to much snow to be shoveling.

Ron. How did all your check ups go. Hopefully the drive was not too bad for you. Are you able to take a Uber, when you have to go out?

JoC. Your in my thoughts and prayers 🙏 please let us know how you are feeling. I think of you often. ❤️

I'm doing good, not much happening in my world. My daughter had her tile floors sealed yesterday, so Molly, Sammy and I had to stay in the bedroom from 8am till noon. I enjoyed that, it was nice. TV and coffee was all I needed.

Hugs to all, Zetta

jfkoc

here…

Lorita

Judith, how are you? I do hope you are better.

I just heard part.of something on tv that made my blood boil and that is without hearing all.of.it. Some nut let three puppies freeze to death in his back yard. A neighbor lady found them and I guess reported it to police. Couldn't listen to all of it. I hope they hang up by his ....what kind.of evil person would leave puppies outside in temps below zero? Some people do.not know the meaning of compassion or doing the right thing.

Something else that was on tv. This was either in or near Tulsa. A neighbor saw a young girl in pajamas and no.shoes locked out of the house in the frigid ice and snow. She was banging on the door yelling she was cold and wanted in. The man wss livid. He reported it to the police and when they went to the house the people wouldn't open the door. They did learn she wss a foster child. What is going on in our world?

Carl46

Lorita, I guess it's just part of our oft-despicable species. We are flawed individuals, some more than others.

Adult day care will start as soon as I can make it happen. The TB test was negative but I don't have the written confirmation yet, plus we haven't left the house since the snow because the street is icy and it is too cold for melting. We broke the record for cold yesterday by 19 degrees F; the 1918 record was 7 degrees and the new record is -12. It is -2 right now at 1:00 AM, which is a record for this date. It has been this cold here only once in the past 35 years, 2021 when the power grid went down in Texas. Our electricity hasn't gone down but the neighboring town of Republic lost power. The cold caused increased demand and the equipment was just overloaded.

Ron and David, I hope the mass firing of VA employees doesn't impact your medical care. There is so much sickness this winter. Cold lowers our immune systems and we get sick. Even Pope Francis is in hospital again, with pneumonia I think. We really need some warm weather.

I made chicken fried rice with peas, carrots, and broccoli today. DW didn't like it much but she knew I wasn't going to take her out in the cold to get some "real food" at the diner. She thinks "Danger: Men Cooking" isn't a joke. Poor woman.

As one of the TV anchors says, good night. Take of yourselves and each other.

Mint

Good morning

Lorita it snowed off and on all day yesterday, but we definitely had no more than an inch even if we had an inch. I didn’t have to snow blow. I just pushed it off with my big blade. It’s 19° this morning wind chill of 9. Might feel warm out lol . Good Lord willing I hope to get my taxes dropped off this afternoon.

HB I noticed that strange post that showed up.

Carl hope it starts warming up for you and all the others that are still so cold.

JeriLynn66

Morning,

14 degrees, -8 windchill, black ice on the roads, power grid strain. A good day to feed the animals and then stay inside. Some of the babies were out in the pasture in the sun yesterday, even with the cold and wind. Everyone was fine yesterday. Hoping they are well this morning. It's surprising how warm they feel when I pick them up. But, you know, their core temperature is higher than ours.

Spring is coming, Spring is coming.

DH's granddaughter and boyfriend are back at my house due to the weather. I couldn't stand the thought of them being in a camper without water (hoses freeze) so invited them to come back. With 2 big dogs and now a kitten. Lorita, that's a reason for more cooking than usual. And she's vegetarian so I have to add things that she will eat to the "meat and potatoes" I make for the men. I mean, she won't eat green beans if I add bacon grease to them, so I have to adjust my thinking. lol

Judith, hope you are feeling better. Ron, thinking of you and hoping you are managing ok. David, sending healing vibes.

HB, just bless your heart - and your Mama's. You are such a great caregiver and daughter. From everything you write, Mama might be a little "high-strung" so indeed this will be challenging. I encourage you to let Home Health nurses do as much as possible to help you. They should be able to teach Mom to administer her meds. It's pretty standard. I know that's easy for me to say, sitting here at the keyboard. Sometimes, someone outside with the "just right" demeanor can get more out of the patient than family can. Big virtual hugs to you.

Well, I'm gonna read my devotional and gear up for the day. Everyone stay safe and warm. Lorita, be careful with your watering chores. BBL

eaglemom

Here…………

ladyzetta

Good morning. I'm praying that all of you that are dealing with the bad weather, stay safe, stay inside and stay warm. Judith, I hope your starting to feel better.

Hugs to all, Zetta

jfkoc

here…..

Lorita

Afternoon, still.cold.but sunny and better than yesterday. Someone fed and I saw and heard him cutting ice on the pond. I imagine from the sounds that it is pretty thick. The girls ate, then started walking around the pond looking for water. I hurried and hooked up the water hose, then called them. To call them we always honked the PU.horn three times about a second or two apart. They remembered and Many came up to drink. I think I saw the little baby with his mom down by the pond. I always worry when little ones are close to the pond.

JeriLynn,really before I became a full fledged vegetarian I only ate a tiny bit of mest. Daddy knew this and when he would cook beans he did put some meat in them but before he served them he took the meat out. I finally caught on. I'm not a vegan but a lactate ova vegetarian. I eat a lot.of dairy and occasionally a couple of scrambled eggs or an omelet. I think more and more people are becoming vegetarians but it probably is harder to cook when only one is a vegetarian and others not.

Finally put my clothes on for the second day this week. The news is reporting that more people are buying chickens or renting them because egg prices are so high. People are substituting firm tofu colored with turmeric for eggs. Think I will pass. The.other day I saw a woman on tv who said her chickens laid three eggs a day. Poor woman.

Judith, are you a lot better?

jfkoc

still here but heading back to bed

for all my cooking friends;

https://nymag.com/strategist/article/best-food-storage-containers.html

BethL

Here, busy day today. Contractor has been here at the house the past couple of days. He installed a rain showerhead, fixed a door, put grab bars in the shower and installed a ceiling fan. I went to lunch with friends - it was a 3 hour lunch - ha! Talk, talk, talk. We girls! Then DH and I went and got groceries and then I made brownies.

Take care everyone. Lots of sickness going around.

Carl46

Beth, that lunch sounds wonderful! Sharing food and talk is the second most pleasurable thing people can do together.

Tofu is just bean curd, and it tastes like whatever sauce you put on it. I used to eat tofu in an Indian restaurant. It was served in a delicious reddish-brown sauce. I have no idea what it was, but I liked it a lot. I don't know about coloring the tofu with turmeric, but I'd be right on tofu with tomato/cilantro salsa for breakfast, with a fried potato with onion, and maybe an orange. And some good coffee.

ronald71111

Morning

Mint

Good morning

High of 30 today😎

Thinking of those who aren't feeling well. Hope today is a little better

harshedbuzz

Good Saturday morning all.

I'm sorry your wife balked at chicken fried rice. Have you found your wife prefers the familiar foods of childhood? My dad did this and it was one of those "small" losses that was really hard for a person considered an excellent cook. Meals out were not just a break from the social isolation, they gave mom a chance to have what she wanted while dad ordered off the kid's menu.

Mint— I'm relieved you saw the post as well. I was starting to wonder if I'd lost my mind.

Lorita— I think you are right about the trend of more people adopting a vegetarian or vegan lifestyle. Not just on their plates, but also in clothing and beauty products. One nice thing about this is the availability of nicer vegan accessories and great restaurants. There's a trendy vegetarian restaurant in town that my niece and I go to after our hair appointments called "Vedge". The food is amazing. They have a cookbook, with the same name, with some great recipes, too.

Zetta— Time out in your room with a couple of furheads sounds pretty nice. I hope you enjoyed it.

Judith, Ron, and David— I hope you're feeling better.

Beth— I love a nice 3-hour lunch. I have a couple friends I am able to do that with and it's great. I was supposed to meet up with a friend for Indian buffet yesterday but had to cancel because of mom's discharge. We'll do it next week. She's just back from a safari and I want to hear all about it.

Cognitively, I think mom could handle her IV. But she has AMD with GA severe enough for injections, is blind in one eye (resulting in poor depth perception) and essential tremor (worsened by prednisone), so physically it is not reliably doable.

Jerilynn— My niece lived with us for a couple of years to pay down her student loans. This was when she was in her Vegan-Kale Era. I was able to adapt some foods to accommodate her, but I feel like sometimes it required dirtying every pan and bowl in the house. She has since discovered the joys of meat and DH introduced her to cheese, so things are easier now.

I wouldn't say mom is "high strung" but I am. Her entire personality is baby-of-the-family with ADHD. She's passive-to-a-fault and will do things behind my back that just aren't prudent. A few years back, she stopped taking her BP meds (the office put her on hold when she called for a refill), her statin (because her goofy sister had "feelings" about it) as well as her daily COPD inhaler (it didn't have much bang-for-the-buck). This led to a scary hospitalization and damage to her optic nerve. I can generally maintain a calm and collaborative demeanor, but she can push my buttons. The rental agent at her temporary apartment told her I was intense. Guilty as charged.

We were saved from 6 weeks of getting in each other's way by a miracle device called an elastomeric pump. The pharmacy delivers a week's worth of "medicine balls" a collapsible bladder containing a pump and the antibiotic in saline. It infuses over 24-hours and is changed once daily. This is much more humane than last time. Plus, the slower infusion is easier on her kidneys which are 87. This allows her to be mobile— she can just slip the ball into a pocket and go about her business.

HB

eaglemom

Good morning all. The sun is shining brightly, what a treat. We should be to 32 today, again another treat. I'm going to count those as blessings for today. 😎

Let's everyone be safe.

JeriLynn66

Afternoon Porch Rockers,

HB, that is great news about the pump! That's new since my home health days but what an advancement! And, I'm going to look up Vedge and see if I can come up with some recipes. I feel like I feed this young woman the same things over and over. She does eat cheese, eggs and other dairy so that helps.

She, the BF and his 8 year old daughter are here today. He has her every weekend. She's a little standoffish and "grown" for a child of her age, but for some reason she has taken to me. She doesn't like hugs from anybody but folds herself into my arms upon arrival, sits skin to skin next to me on the couch, putters in the kicthen with me and actually says "yes ma'm" to me. Not to anybody else, but I'll take it. Today we have done Speck's dressing change and later, after the party, we'll go to the barn to see the babies.

Today is Birthday Party for the Leap Year great grand. She's 17 this year. It's a lunch at the Mexican restaurant nearby. I'm looking forward to a margarita. Or 2. I made breakfast for everyone this morning and with this late lunch, I don't plan to cook anymore today. There's enough leftovers in the fridge.

Lorita, I saw a picture on FB yesterday from a lady who had a calf born during the ice storm. She brought it inside beside her fireplace. I'll try to find it and post it here for you. I had to laugh. See, there's lots of us crazy animal folks! BBL

GothicGremlin

I've been out for a few days and am only just now catching up …

HB - Your spiral ham reminds me … I'm a pescatarian and haven't had ham in eons. I'm also not the best cook you'll ever meet. So, for my dad's last Easter, I was tasked with making the ham because someone thought that would be a good idea. So I got the spiral ham home and had no idea what to do with it. "Just put it in the oven" were the directions I got. I looked up many recipes for spiral ham, and got the same directions. So I put it in the oven and got a good result. I'm still chuckling over my ham-cooking paranoia.

I'm sorry you're mom is having such a time! I hope she doesn't have to stay the weekend.

JeriLynn - that's just waaay too cold! It's gotten down into the 20s here, and that's a little much for me.

Lorita - I've been flirting with going full on vegetarian for a long time. At this point the only meat I eat is salmon, and I eat it because, well it tastes good, but it's also good for brain health. What's a good substitute? I don't think I could ever be vegan because I like chocolate too much. 😄

Lorita

Beth, glad you had a good lunch with friends. When I was working there were several of us who got together for lunch and especially for birthdays. Sadly now there is only Carol and I and a friend .in Edmond left. Of course, that was.over 30 years ago. I miss each.of thrm.with good memories. It is 47 degrees and funny with no wind. When I got up this morning there were several girls around the water tank. Hurried and put my boots and coat on and went out. Believe it or not, the water I ran last night had not frozen but hooked up the hose, put it in the rank running slowly and left them to drink. .

Called Mike about the Prednisone for the GPs and asked him to put it in their drop.box and I would go get.it this evening. . Luckily, the PU started so could drive it instead.of the car. The road I usually take was horrible, probably almost the worst I have ever driven on and I have driven on muddy roads all my life but made.it over the worst three miles and the other eight weren't so bad. Mike said many.of the roads are almost impassible. Darwin went to town this morning and he said the way he went, through another county was okay. I came home that way.

Sad thing when I.got to the clinic Mike and another man were trying to get a abig dog inside. Finally the other man picked him up and brought him inside. He got loose but they got him in the exam room. He had bought him in to let him go to sleep. Don't know the details but the man was near tears. He asked Mike if he could go.back in the room for a minute, and he did. He said he didn't have other dogs.I felt so sorry for him because we have gone through the same thing several times. As I was leaving, a family came in with several little puppies- bulldogs, I think. One came over to me to let me pet him. He was so cute.

Sidney got there just as I did so guess there will be surgery this afternoon. He closes at noon on Saturday. He is just about the.busiest person around.

GG, I Don't have a salmon substitute, just lots.of legumes and.other things with protein. I eat a lot of yogurt and dairy products. At the urging of Sandy I have started drinking Boost for protein and really like it.