Stuff. Not good. Not bad. Just...stuff.

[CSC]

Had a really rough day with my Mom yesterday.  Without going into too much detail - she had a bladder issue where she wasn't able to control having little accidents so her whole place is littered with clothes/furniture/carpet that smells like stale pee.  She had a procedure to take care of the issue last week so my brothers and I went over yesterday to help clean the place up.  ago

When we first get there, she doesn't even know where she is.  She thinks she's in a hotel in San Jose and doesn't recognize that she's in her own apartment.  Secondly she tells us to be quiet because there is a little girl and a man in her bedroom and have been there all night keeping her awake.  She then starts crying for the better part of the next two hours but can't explain why.  As far as we can tell she's not taking her meds, not feeding herself, barely able to use the restroom and just sits on the couch and stares into space or sleeps all day long with exactly zero desire to thrive.  It's just awful - we've spent the time since then looking for assisted living facilities because I don't have room in my small apartment and my brothers aren't willing to take her in (THAT'S a whole different issue that I'm pretty furious at, but I get it).  It wasn't even 6 months ago that she was diagnosed with pre-alzheimer's and it's progressed this bad so quickly.  I've spent the day at work just googling about it and reading about these are the symptoms of someone so much farther along that where we thought she was.  This disease can just fuck off.  

[The Natural]

Very sorry, @Eivion and @CSC. My Nan had Dementia, such a horrible disease.

[OSJ]

6 hours ago, CSC said:

Had a really rough day with my Mom yesterday.  Without going into too much detail - she had a bladder issue where she wasn't able to control having little accidents so her whole place is littered with clothes/furniture/carpet that smells like stale pee.  She had a procedure to take care of the issue last week so my brothers and I went over yesterday to help clean the place up.  ago

When we first get there, she doesn't even know where she is.  She thinks she's in a hotel in San Jose and doesn't recognize that she's in her own apartment.  Secondly she tells us to be quiet because there is a little girl and a man in her bedroom and have been there all night keeping her awake.  She then starts crying for the better part of the next two hours but can't explain why.  As far as we can tell she's not taking her meds, not feeding herself, barely able to use the restroom and just sits on the couch and stares into space or sleeps all day long with exactly zero desire to thrive.  It's just awful - we've spent the time since then looking for assisted living facilities because I don't have room in my small apartment and my brothers aren't willing to take her in (THAT'S a whole different issue that I'm pretty furious at, but I get it).  It wasn't even 6 months ago that she was diagnosed with pre-alzheimer's and it's progressed this bad so quickly.  I've spent the day at work just googling about it and reading about these are the symptoms of someone so much farther along that where we thought she was.  This disease can just fuck off.  

Very sorry, my friend.  

[JLSigman]

19 hours ago, CSC said:

Had a really rough day with my Mom yesterday.  Without going into too much detail - she had a bladder issue where she wasn't able to control having little accidents so her whole place is littered with clothes/furniture/carpet that smells like stale pee.  She had a procedure to take care of the issue last week so my brothers and I went over yesterday to help clean the place up.  ago

When we first get there, she doesn't even know where she is.  She thinks she's in a hotel in San Jose and doesn't recognize that she's in her own apartment.  Secondly she tells us to be quiet because there is a little girl and a man in her bedroom and have been there all night keeping her awake.  She then starts crying for the better part of the next two hours but can't explain why.  As far as we can tell she's not taking her meds, not feeding herself, barely able to use the restroom and just sits on the couch and stares into space or sleeps all day long with exactly zero desire to thrive.  It's just awful - we've spent the time since then looking for assisted living facilities because I don't have room in my small apartment and my brothers aren't willing to take her in (THAT'S a whole different issue that I'm pretty furious at, but I get it).  It wasn't even 6 months ago that she was diagnosed with pre-alzheimer's and it's progressed this bad so quickly.  I've spent the day at work just googling about it and reading about these are the symptoms of someone so much farther along that where we thought she was.  This disease can just fuck off.  

I'm so sorry. The only small hope I can give you right now is that sometimes urinary track infections give older people weird mental symptoms. Mom had one right before she moved in with me and the retirement place she was living in sent her to the ER because they thought she was having a stroke. *hugs* 

[driver]

Just a couple of things.
About a month ago my cousin(who is also my next door neighbor) told me that a possum had dug a hole and was living under my shed. From day one it was game on. I tossed moth balls down into the hole, sprayed coyote urine around the shed and filled the holes in with gravel and rocks. A few days later I check the situation and all of the stones on the one side is missing and a fresh hole is in its place. So I buy another bag of river rock and use that to fill in the hole. This time it works. Then I found another hole. This time I went into overdrive with digging a trench, fitting chicken wire into the trench and covering that with river rocks and the rocks with top soil...and all was fine for a week or so and the original hole was dug out again. Mother Fucker. So last week while I was on vacation I picked up a couple of live traps and baited them. The only things I caught were a neighbor's cat(twice in 24 hrs) and two raccoons. After I released the coons I decided that the possum was long gone and filled the hole in with quick set cement. I checked it everyday  over the span of a week and there were no new holes until today. My neighbor was babysitting six kids and they ended up coming into my yard and digging out a hole and a bunch of the rocks. Hope they didn't get into the poison ivy which grows right behind the shed. So seeing this new dilemma I filled that hole with the rest of the bag of cement and bought another bag to use to cover an exposed area of river rock. Tomorrow I'll tackle that one. I will try and do as much around the house that needs to be done, but when it comes to electricity and carpentry I draw a line and know what is above my pay grade/comfort level.

[CSC]

Thanks for the kind words guys, they're quite helpful.  

Update - we just got done putting my Mom in an assisted care facility.  We went over to her house Saturday and she was extremely weak and unable to perform even simple motor skills so we took her to urgent care.  Chest x-ray, Catscan, EKG, Bloodwork, Kidney/Liver panels all came back totally normal (which is shocking to us).  Unfortunately, that means the cause of all this truly is the Alzheimer's and it's gotta pretty severe.  My brother put her in and apparently was called an asshole, told that if my Dad could see him doing this and asked who made him God so yea ... I guess the advantage of being the baby in the family is you miss stuff like that at least.  

The place is month-to-month, so we'll see how it goes.  Going to the private sector like this feels a little sketchy but the hospital social worker recommended this place so hopefully it will be good.  We're paying one more month of her old apartment to clear it out/a small bit of hope that maybe being cared after for a month will turn things around and she could go back but that's probably not realistic.  

[The Natural]

@JLSigman's right, those infections added to the confusion of my loved ones.

[Tabe]

So I'm finally feeling a little better after being half-dead with a cough and runny nose for the last week.  The cough, which is still present but less frequent, is a violent one that hurts my whole body and gives me headaches.  Yay.

At the same time, our A/C decided to go out.  Took 4 days before we could get it fixed.  The wife abandoned the house for a hotel one night.  I survived by hiding in the basement with a fan running all the time and was pretty comfortable the whole time.  Watched a ton of Youtube until...

My TV died.  Oh, it still turns on, but a 4-inch wide vertical black bar through the middle of the picture isn't exactly what I want out of my TV viewing experience.  I got 9-1/2 years out of the TV - an $800 Samsung plasma.  On a cost per hour basis, easily one of the best purchases I've ever made, especially for the incredible picture quality it provided.  So I'll be getting a newer, bigger TV soon.  Didn't really want to spend the money but I ain't going without a TV either   

[Ryan]

On 6/25/2018 at 2:51 PM, CSC said:

Thanks for the kind words guys, they're quite helpful.  

Update - we just got done putting my Mom in an assisted care facility.  We went over to her house Saturday and she was extremely weak and unable to perform even simple motor skills so we took her to urgent care.  Chest x-ray, Catscan, EKG, Bloodwork, Kidney/Liver panels all came back totally normal (which is shocking to us).  Unfortunately, that means the cause of all this truly is the Alzheimer's and it's gotta pretty severe.  My brother put her in and apparently was called an asshole, told that if my Dad could see him doing this and asked who made him God so yea ... I guess the advantage of being the baby in the family is you miss stuff like that at least.  

The place is month-to-month, so we'll see how it goes.  Going to the private sector like this feels a little sketchy but the hospital social worker recommended this place so hopefully it will be good.  We're paying one more month of her old apartment to clear it out/a small bit of hope that maybe being cared after for a month will turn things around and she could go back but that's probably not realistic.  

 

Sadly, Chris, that is quite common with a parent in your situation. The problem is it will only get much worse if she's not put in a place to help care for her weighed against the wishes of the family. Her health and the familial tension. My grandparents were insanely stubborn and both refused to ever get put in homes. They had a bunch of kids to help out and when it was just my grandmother with dementia they also had nurses and things and even that was really hard.

With your mother it'll be even that much more difficult without the help of competent nurses and caregivers. I think your brother did the right thing and hopefully the rest don't hold a grudge against him for too long because of the emotion involved. It's sad to say it, but you have to do things like that sometimes for the greater good of the person. I hope she gets the best care and any of the stress that's been building up from it goes away over time. It's incredibly difficult to have to make those kinds of decisions.

[Tabe]

So, yeah, wasn't actually getting better.  Made it through half a day of work yesterday and called in sick today.  Went to urgent care and I've got bronchitis.  They gave me some stuff to control the cough but I'm apparently over the infectious time for the bronchitis.  I'm starting to feel a little better, just super, super-tired all the time.  I've decided to just listen to my body and lay down and sleep if I'm tired.  So I took a long nap this afternoon, from about 1-5pm, and then another from 7:30-10pm tonight.  I figure resting is the best thing I can do for myself so that's what I'm gonna do.

[Ryan]

Smart move. It lets your body focus on recovery and fighting off anything left instead of all that mountain climbing you do every day to save those stranded Seagulls. 

[Tabe]

6 hours ago, Ryan said:

Smart move. It lets your body focus on recovery and fighting off anything left instead of all that mountain climbing you do every day to save those stranded Seagulls. 

Somebody's gotta rescue the Flock so they can keep making music:

 

 

 

 

And you thought I'd go with "I Ran". 

[Brian Fowler]

Only because it's the only song I could name by them.

[The Natural]

On 7/13/2018 at 7:33 AM, Tabe said:

So, yeah, wasn't actually getting better.  Made it through half a day of work yesterday and called in sick today.  Went to urgent care and I've got bronchitis.  They gave me some stuff to control the cough but I'm apparently over the infectious time for the bronchitis.  I'm starting to feel a little better, just super, super-tired all the time.  I've decided to just listen to my body and lay down and sleep if I'm tired.  So I took a long nap this afternoon, from about 1-5pm, and then another from 7:30-10pm tonight.  I figure resting is the best thing I can do for myself so that's what I'm gonna do.

Bronchitis is crappy. Took me a while to get over it, two courses of antibiotics and steroids. Get well soon.

[tbarrie]

9 hours ago, Tabe said:

Somebody's gotta rescue the Flock so they can keep making music:

 

 

 

 

And you thought I'd go with "I Ran". 

Any excuse to post Jennifer Connelly in Career Opportunities should be taken.

[Ryan]

I bet Tabe bought this.

"On 3 May 2018, it was announced that the band's original four members would reunite once again to record a new album titled Ascension, their first studio recording since 1984.[17] Featuring the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra, it will be a 10-track album composed of unique renditions of their previous hits and one new song.[18] The music video for "Space Age Love Song" premiered on Youtube on 6 June,[19] and a 5-track EP which features five versions of the song was released digitally two days later.[20] The album was released digitally and in physical stores on 6 July,[21] but physical copies were available online two weeks prior."

[Eivion]

On 7/13/2018 at 1:33 AM, Tabe said:

So, yeah, wasn't actually getting better.  Made it through half a day of work yesterday and called in sick today.  Went to urgent care and I've got bronchitis.  They gave me some stuff to control the cough but I'm apparently over the infectious time for the bronchitis.  I'm starting to feel a little better, just super, super-tired all the time.  I've decided to just listen to my body and lay down and sleep if I'm tired.  So I took a long nap this afternoon, from about 1-5pm, and then another from 7:30-10pm tonight.  I figure resting is the best thing I can do for myself so that's what I'm gonna do.

Sorry to hear you have Bronchitis. I recall having it in high school. The coughing was just so damn violent and painful.

 

So in a follow up to my sister's accident from last month she told us this week that she learned she has 3 herniated discs. She needs to see specialist to decide treatment. I'm wondering though what is the normal treatment in these situations?

 

[Tabe]

5 hours ago, Ryan said:

I bet Tabe bought this.

"On 3 May 2018, it was announced that the band's original four members would reunite once again to record a new album titled Ascension, their first studio recording since 1984.[17] Featuring the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra, it will be a 10-track album composed of unique renditions of their previous hits and one new song.[18] The music video for "Space Age Love Song" premiered on Youtube on 6 June,[19] and a 5-track EP which features five versions of the song was released digitally two days later.[20] The album was released digitally and in physical stores on 6 July,[21] but physical copies were available online two weeks prior."

If I had known about it, I would have bought it.  Now I know about it, so, yeah...

Not gonna lie - big Flock of Seagulls fan.

[Tabe]

7 hours ago, tbarrie said:

Any excuse to post Jennifer Connelly in Career Opportunities should be taken.

Amen to that.

[Tabe]

5 hours ago, Eivion said:

Sorry to hear you have Bronchitis. I recall having it in high school. The coughing was just so damn violent and painful.

 

So in a follow up to my sister's accident from last month she told us this week that she learned she has 3 herniated discs. She needs to see specialist to decide treatment. I'm wondering though what is the normal treatment in these situations?

 

Thank you.  Yeah, at its worst, the coughing just HURT.  Brutal headaches that nothing could touch.

As for the herniated discs, normal treatment can be a lot of things.  It kinda depends on how they're herniated.  Treatment can involve an injection that eliminates the pain.  Treatment can be surgery that just shaves down the discs and causes them to stop inflaming nerves.  Treatment can involve removing the discs entirely and fusing the vertebrae.  And there's also now artificial disc replacement surgery.  The worst of all these options is obviously the fusion.  In my case, I have done the injection and the shaving down of the discs is not an option because of how they're herniated.  My options are the fusion or the replacement.  Replacement is still relatively new so I'm waiting for that to develop more.  And the pain isn't bad enough - I've found some sleep methods that help me control the pain somewhat now - for me to consider fusion.

[PetrolCB]

So, I’m pretty sure I’m going to France for a week or perhaps never returning at all to the states, which I’m fine with, in August. I will be staying with someone and don’t have to worry about hotels and all. It’s near the Belgian border. 

Does anyone have any ideas of entertaining or whatever things to do? I’m a simple man, I don’t require much to excite me. Anyways, have any of you been? 

I’m going in blind, but my friend, she’s basically gonna hold my hand through it all. 

Positive words or negativities won’t discourage me. Let them rip. 

[JLSigman]

If you even think you're serious about not coming back, make sure you take your birth certificate.

[OSJ]

The only thing wrong with France is that it is filled with the French.

[OSJ]

On 7/20/2018 at 9:47 PM, PetrolCB said:

So, I’m pretty sure I’m going to France for a week or perhaps never returning at all to the states, which I’m fine with, in August. I will be staying with someone and don’t have to worry about hotels and all. It’s near the Belgian border. 

Does anyone have any ideas of entertaining or whatever things to do? I’m a simple man, I don’t require much to excite me. Anyways, have any of you been? 

I’m going in blind, but my friend, she’s basically gonna hold my hand through it all. 

Positive words or negativities won’t discourage me. Let them rip. 

Eat snails, torture geese and urinate in public and you'll fit right in!

[Victator]

Its funny, earlier in the week I had a run in with a stupid goon online. A sub literate also ran I never thought of much. They attacked me in private with a lot of personal attacks, based on information I had freely shared over the years. I don't think they fully got how bad it makes them look. I ended up blocking them when they started attacking my family. I knew that road leads me to making the news and doing time in county lock up. 

Sorry I am rambling. What it did is make me evaluate and helped me know the good things I do in my day to day life. I have worked hard to climb out of the depression I have been in for as long as I can remember. A decade ago, I did not have any dreams or long term goals. I was not part of my community in a real way. 

That has all changed now. I have a long way to go, but I have made real progress.