luvteaching

Good morning, Thanks for all for getting today's thread going and checking in. It's a lovely sunny morning here in our corner of the PNW but clouds are coming and rain for the weekend. DH is making progress. Yesterday he did well standing at the parallel bars and transferring to the wheelchair. Today is wound care for the heel and then speech for sure. We had a scary afternoon that had nothing to do with DH. His roommate wasn't doing well and the daughter had come in. We left to do PT and then wandered the building, sat in the foyer to enjoy the sun, and then went to the dessert buffet then headed back. When we got back his daughter was taking his belongings to the car and the EMTs came in minutes later to transport him to the hospital which is .5 miles away. They go to move him and he coded! We're behind the curtain separating the two bed (and by the window) with nowhere to go. The daughter came over and I gave her a big hug as they worked on him then she went back to give info, etc. They worked on him doing CPR, suctioning blood (he'd had an upper GI bleed) and no pulse at each check. DH and I are sitting silently hearing all this and just hoping and praying for the bed. 30+ minutes later they call the time of death and 30 seconds later, if that, he starts breathing on his own! They bundled him up, got him out of there, and I haven't heard anything since. The staff was so good. The nursing person, Mykel, knew we were stuck and came to check on us as did several others. DH understood some of what was going on. I was shaky but ok. The EMTs were amazing! The roommate was there due to hip replacement surgery and only arrived on Friday. Life takes such sudden turns, doesn't it? Karen

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! Woke up to a skiff of snow this morning but it should melt off before I have to head in to see DH. Today is my niece's birthday so will stop at Starbucks and load her card with $20.00. She's in Canada so this is a quick and easy way to do it. Love books and the bookcase beside the bed is overflowing! Currently reading the Rhys Bowen "Her Royal Spyness" series and picking them up used on Amazon. Have the newest Alex Cross to get read as well. I like a Ferris wheel but it's been years but not fast carnival rides. DH is making progress and hopefully will be home before our Medicare days run out. He's got about 19 or so left. He's been standing in the parallel bars independently and even tried to walk the other day. Yesterday was speech and the coughing has pretty much stopped during eating so he has an exercise to work on. The speech therapist will see him again tomorrow. Sunday he was up in the wheelchair all day, enjoyed Super Bowl snacks, etc. so he was tired yesterday. I have an aviator stuffed pig for him for Valentines Day and I told him I didn't know what he was getting me yet but I'd figure it out! Have a good day! Karen

Good morning everyone! DH left the hospital yesterday morning and headed to the same rehab facility he was in October-December so it was old home week for him. He had a number of people welcoming him back. With his memory issues it's good he's in a familiar space. His brother stopped by for a visit as well. Hopefully this stay is only going to be a few weeks as he's already transferring from the bed to the wheelchair fairly well but has difficulty doing it in reverse. He's still on the weak side due to so much time in bed and the UTI knocked the stuffing out of him! On a positive note the facility was much more organized and on top of things yesterday. I signed the paperwork in a timely manner, they had the order for the bed cane and it will be on today (it took 10 days last stay), he has a room to himself at this point and he's by the window, so many good things. I even got a thank you note from the hospital nurses for all the cookies I baked them (I took them some every day!). Karen

Good morning, No showering with a friend and no jerks to dump here! DH is the first and he's a keeper. He's still in the hospital but the last couple of days I'm seeing some good improvement. Yesterday the hospitalist had a chat about going home and mentioned hospice but I've talked with our DS and just don't feel that's a place we want to go at the moment. I do understand where the hospitalist is coming from as DH is taking longer to bounce back - I don't have my rose-colored glasses on (I don't think so anyway). However, yesterday he was very talkative, ate by himself and finished everything, no shaky hands, asked for his hat to wear, talked to the respiratory therapist and nurses with a decent conversation, and was asking me about family and friends. I think this particular bacteria just took the "stuffing" out of him. Anyway, I plan to say no to hospice at this point and hopefully we can come up with a plan to have him home soon. Thanks for all who have asked and keep him in your thoughts. Now on to make snickerdoodles for the nursing staff! Karen

Good morning from a cloudy and soon to be rainy PNW. @dfish Thanks for checking. DH is still hospitalized but I should find out more today. Yesterday I got there and he was 'Nothing by mouth" because he'd coughed so much the night before at dinner. The hospitalist came in, we agreed DH should eat and we'd watch him, and a bit later lunch was delivered (chocolate pudding, peaches, egg salad, strawberry shake - think Ensure type, and thickened apple juice). He's still on one-to-one feed so the CNA did it for a while then I took over and DH handled it all pretty good. The pudding disappeared fast as did the egg salad, shake and apple juice. The peaches took a bit longer. We'll see what happens today. The options, at this point, are home or a "swing" bed program at the hospital where he'd do more therapy there. I'm all for that one. He did that last Spring and came out in great shape. Hopefully more news tonight! Karen

When I saw it was Spunky Old Broad day I thought of the commercials I've been seeing for the new movie out "80 for Brady.". Karen

Good morning, Heading in to see DH in a bit and get caught up with therapists, etc. He did well yesterday and his vocabulary and feistiness is definitely returning. He transferred from the bed to the wheelchair unassisted but needed help getting back. I'll take it! When our school got a copy machine we had boxes of old ditto masters. Not wanting to let anything go to waste I grabbed them and came up with a Halloween art project called "Spooky Pictures." The kids drew a spooky picture (not gory or graphic) on notebook paper then we paper clipped it to the ditto master, took out the brown sheet, and the kids traced over their picture using a lot of pressure so the ink transferred. We also had a discussion about the lettering being backwards. When they were done I ran the picture under the hot water tap in our classroom sink (I warned our custodian ahead of time) and the water made the ink run and bleed. When the pictures dried it looked like you were looking through a purple fog and then kids loved it! The custodians were ok with it and I told them to just leave the sink until we were done. The sink always cleaned up well. I had enough ditto masters to finish out my teaching career! Karen

Good morning, Thanks to everyone who keeps this thread going. It's snowing at the moment in my area of the PNW but it is lightening up. I've called the hospital to let them know I may be a bit later than normal. It's supposed to warm up in the next hour or two. DH is continuing his progress. He moved up to the next level in food after the swallow test yesterday so that's good. He also, during PT, sat up on his own and dangled his legs over the bed. He had great body control so that was good to see. I'm to bring in his shoes today when I go in. He's also a bit on the ornery side, which is unlike him, but that's ok. His heel wound is continuing to heal and I'm impressed with the coordination between the wound care center in Bellingham and our local hospital. Have a good day everyone! Off to take the oatmeal butterscotch cookies out of the oven and then get them ready to take in to the nurses. Karen

Good morning, It's a clear cold morning here in the PNW and I'm not moving as quickly this morning. I love puzzles - crossword, word find, sudoku, and jigsaw are all on my "to-do" list. I have about 30 jigsaw puzzles backed up at the moment. My mom and sisters do them (they are in Canada) then I get them. Even though I'm retired I just don't seem to have the time that they do. Oh well. DH update - he was somewhat better yesterday but it's slow progress. The UTI isn't MRSA so that's good news. It's a more common bacteria and easily treatable. He has some of his swallow reflex back so is eating pureed foods and they start him with dessert at meals which he loves. He's eating everything they feed him. Monday another swallow test will be done and we'll see where we go from there. Off to make some cookies for the nurses and then head into the hospital to sit with DH and needlework the afternoon away. @kazu, @rafinmd, and everyone who is in need - our thoughts are with you! Karen

Good morning, Roy @rafinmd - good choice to get help and get checked out. Our local department is wonderful! Jacqui @kazu hang in there - you are so cared for on these boards. Hope the healing continues without hiccups along the way. Bless your kind neighbors. DH update - Yesterday we found out that his UTI is not MRSA but a more common bacteria so he's now on ampicillin every 6 hours and they are watching as he's sensitive to the cillins. Yesterday morning he was talking a bit more but had failed his swallow test. By 4:00 PM the speech pathologist came back in to test again (she didn't want him to go all weekend without solid food if possible) and he passed for thick liquids. Yay! When I left they were feeding him chocolate pudding and he was not going to be interrupted with that. He has a sweet tooth. His speech is coming back slowly. The doctor thought he might come home tomorrow but I told him I thought he was being too optimistic. DH has been in bed since Tuesday and we need PT to make sure he can transfer from bed to wheelchair and back, we need him to be eating totally on his own and his speech needs to improve. We also need an extra day to get transport home for him arranged. I'm thinking Monday or Tuesday. Thanks for listening/reading everyone! Karen

Good morning! Spouses Day - well mine is adding grey hair to my head. He was doing very well this past week. Up, cheery, wandering around in the wheelchair and getting into things, reading his Railroad magazines and his bird ones, etc. Pretty normal for this 82-year-old, memory challenged, deep tissue injury guy. Tuesday he wasn't himself and he slept a good part of the day. Didn't worry me too much as that happens sometimes if he overdoes things. He could talk to me, tell me his name, etc.Tuesday night he claimed the entire bed by sleeping sideways so I got the couch. First time for that. Yesterday morning he was waking up well and he wasn't talking to me. I called our doctor's office and talked to the nurse and talked to the nurse who comes for the wound care and both agreed to call 911 so 10 minutes later our local fire people were here and a bit later DH was carted off to the local hospital where he is now in a room by himself and getting excellent care. His UTI he had a few weeks ago grew MRSA and he had a week's course of sulfa drug for it. Well, the thought is that wasn't long enough and the MRSA has reared it's ugly head and come back as he definitely has a recurrence of the UTI. Fortunately there were beds available and I didn't have to fight to have them keep him. Now we wait until the culture percolates and. go from there. He's in good hands and I'll be heading in by 11:00 or so to have the afternoon with him at the hospital, speak with doctors, etc. and work on my counted cross stitch. Karen

I'm here.

I think I figured out why the NA is leaving late. The Oak Ridge Boys are doing two shows this evening at 7:00 and 9:00 PM on the MainStage. Karen

THat makes sense - thank you!

Thanks everyone! Can someone enlighten me as to the meaning of PP? My brain today is not computing it. Thank you! Karen

Good afternoon everyone! Thanks to all who make this my go-to spot multiple times a day. I haven't posted much lately as the days are quite busy, at least this week. DH had the Wound Care doctor on Wednesday. This involved specialized wheelchair transport both ways ($250.00) and his wound was debrided, etc. The verdict is that the wound will heal but it may take a while. Now we have to go in weekly so that special transport bill is getting up there! Oh well... it's worth it. Thursday our new stove and fridge (both LG) were delivered and installed. I'm in love! Our kitchen looks so much nicer and - the interior of the stove is a wonderful electric blue! I love it! Yesterday my walking partner came and sat with DH for a few hours so I could attend a memorial service for a close friend's Dad. He passed away Dec. 22nd but they delayed the memorial until after the holidays. Another friend (we both taught with DF) went with me. The service was lovely and I'm glad we went. DH enjoyed the time with my walking partner and they had tea and cookies and watched Dr. Pol. Have a great weekend! I'm off to christen the stove by making snickerdoodle and Oreo Cookie fudge for DH. I'm such a good wife. Karen

Checking in!

Checking in. It's a bit of a gloomy day in the Pacific Northwest and no sun in sight

Rotterdam is on the move.

Checking in! Heard toots a bit ago but not sure who they were from.

Good afternoon, Hot tea day - definitely celebrate that daily as I'm a tea granny! I have a cupboard with a nice variety of Murchie's teas. Today was "Government Street Blend". DH continues to make progress and started out with speech today for a final visit and nursing will be here around 3:00 PM for wound care. At least I don't have to change the dressing today! We go to the wound care clinic on Wednesday, January 18th. I have to do specialized transport since he's temporarily wheelchair bound. It's not cheap - $234.00 for a round trip to a destination about 15 miles away. Oh well. Yesterday I got a test result for DH on my phone for the urine culture that took a bit to grow and it showed MRSA (which he had a year ago) so had to switch antibiotics and his new one is a horse pill! He'll survive but not without a few complaints. Hope all is going well for @kazu and @Scrapnana. Time to get one more short walk in before the rain starts! Karen

Good morning all, Good news that @kazu and @Scrapnana are both heading home and getting the care they need. DH is improving and can come off the care list. Yesterday morning his speech was still not right but by the afternoon it was much better and he's speaking clearly this morning. Yesterday DS was here for father/son time and I got in water aerobics (2 classes) as well as stops at See's candy, Costco, and Fred Meyer. Now the car doesn't leave the driveway until next Monday. Today we have a video visit with our doctor at 1:00, nursing comes in at 2:15 to do wound care (so I don't have to change the dressing today) and the PT aide comes about the same time. The aide is someone we've had numerous times, "gets" DH, and is so upbeat working with him. Karen

Thinking of @Scrapnana and @kazu and sending good thoughts their way. What was supposed to be a quiet Sunday at home on a rainy day turned into something not nearly as fun. Yesterday DH had an "off" day and we couldn't wake him up. This has happened before and our neurologist is working on it but I let him sleep and monitor him. Usually he wakes up the next day as if nothing had happened. Well, this morning he was still not "right', had problems getting words out and he smelled highly of acidic urine. I checked with the home health nurse and then called 911 to have our local guys come and check him. IT was agreed to take him to the ER so off he went and I followed a bit later. I was there at 9:30 and we left at 4:00 PM. Our (mine and the medic guys) instincts were right - it's a UTI. He was given IV antibiotics, I pick up a prescription tomorrow, and he came home in the car. Our local assistant fire chief came and helped get DH in the house. Now, to round off Sunday, the laundry is going in the dryer (all the bedding) and we're having salmon, mashed potatoes, green beans and some wine for dinner. Have a great evening! Karen

We, especially DH, loved Lincoln Center Stage. Yes some of the presentations were classical but there was a nice mix of music, it wasn't blasting your ears out or giving you a headache, and all ages were in attendance and enjoying it. We found the music walk to be pretty loud and it bothered DH to no end so didn't stay long. Karen

I can hear the Love Boat themed horn.