General topics.

After the recent storm we had, I got up on a chair to take down the shutters. It would have been easy if not for the security camera's wiring on the way. So, oldest sis was on the ground beside me as I slid the shutters one-by-one out of the track. But, I had to tip-toe to push the wiring out of the way for the shutters to slide out. At first, no problem. Then, I got slightly dizzy. Then dizzier. Finally, I grabbed the shutter because while looking up to navigate the wire, my whole body started tilting backward. Ha! That never happened to me before. So, that's called 'top shelf vertigo.'

I tried using my dad's cane to get things off the top shelves. Problem was that when the object fell, I was too slow getting out of the way. It tends to hit me. I stopped using his cane. I stopped putting things on the top shelves, too.

Ms. Madge, I hope you find a good parking, too. Bring a cane just in case you have to park far. You can always use the cane to lean on while struggling on that long walk back to the car, afterwards. It won't be so bad if you can decorate the cane. You know, they do have decorative tapes (I think?) Just glue it on the main frame. If I used a cane, I would love to have it in the color of purple. =)

I used mom's cane to reach things on the top shelf

I feel old - farewell lunch for a coworker tomorrow planned by a 30 year old - location is a fair distance and involves about 5 flights of stairs to traverse a hill - even if it wasn't for the heat, my knees and sciatica aren't up for it -
I will have to drive and hope there's reasonably priced parking -

Gershun, were you looking up at the top shelves? If yes, that is called "top shelf vertigo".

I would get whenever I was grocery shopping with my Mom. Good grief, all the items she liked were either on the top shelf which I can barely reach, or on the bottom shelf where squatting down to get the grocery item made it tough to stand back up without falling backwards onto one's tush :P

I quickly started to use on-line grocery service... whew, what a relief :)

I got vertigo the other day. For some reason using the shopping cart at the grocery store triggered it.

bookluvr, when it come to stairs, I cannot stop half way up and turn around to go down the stairs, or vise versa. I have to complete all the stairs, then start over to go up or down. Otherwise it can throw me off balance.

And stairs that are U shape, where there is a landing half way up is not user friendly for me, that also can throw me off balance.

P.S. I just showered and was dumping my laundry in the basket in my bedroom. The plastic/rod clothe hanger closet just happened to fall while I was doing this. I didn't have time to dodge it. It slammed against my hurting right forearm so hard. It was throbbing really bad. Couldn't even move the arm at all. While watching the YouTube videos on Elbow Tennis injury exercises, I was using the ice pack on my whole arm. As soon as the pain went down a lot, I did a few of those YouTube exercises. It worked! The pain level was bad but after a while, it tapered off... Until I decided to turn the arm left.... Too tired to try out the rest. I'm hitting the sack. Night all. (or Morning in your end). Take care.

FF, yes!!! That's how it is with me - the stripes, the polka dots, the dark, etc... Not one time have a doctor ever told me that I have vertigo. That's how I fell. I was standing on the top stairs. I turned around completely to go back into the house. The next thing I knew, I was lying on the cement in a superman position with my arms stretched forward.

I didn't know about the polka dot. That explains the situation I was in when I did the hearing test inside a vertical tube. The walls were padded with large metal heads stapled to keep the padding in place. I remembered sitting in it and the 'polka dot' metal surrounding me was making me dizzy. I stared at the floor to avoid the dizziness.... Yes about the darkness and must have lights.

Thanks for going into more detail with your experiences and tips.

It's midnight and a bad headache is trying to come out. I'm going to take Excedrin and go sleep now.

bookluvr, I can sympathize with you as I also have bouts of vertigo. If I move about my house and make a right turn too quickly, I will start to feel the vertigo starting. A nurse told me decades ago to close one eye when that happens.... sure enough it does help if you do that quick enough.

Stripe wallpaper can set me off, same with poka dots, and small checkboard patterns. And a very dark room is terrible, I can't tell which is up or down, I know that sounds weird, but I bet you can relate to that. Thus, I have night lights all around the house, along with plug-in emergency lights in case the power goes off. Yes, closing my eyes while standing makes me also lose my balance.

I usually can sense when vertigo will happen so I always keep a good supply of a prescription pills called Meclizine. This is the same medicine that is in Dramamine Non-drowsy [used for car sickness, sea sickness] and that is sold over the counter. It is worth a try.

Follow-up visit with doc. I. Don't. Like. Him. He just stands there (bad enough he's tall and I'm under 5 feet) while I'm sitting and talks to me. But he doesn't Listen. If he would just address my concern instead of brushing it off (my forearm's been hurting just as bad as the elbow.) He talked soooooo fast, I had trouble catching up. I heard dislocation somewhere in there. When I asked if I had dislocated my elbow, he had an irritated look and asked me where did I get the idea that it was dislocated? Didn't he just tell me that it was not dislocated? When I brought up the forearm pain being really bad and how I had hurt it (again yesterday), he interrupted me and said, "You don't need to give me the details." sigh... To me, I wanted to tell him: JUST ADDRESS THE D*RN ARM AND NOT JUST THE D*MN ELBOW!!!

He says that I need PT but it's expensive because my insurance only covers 80%. So, he's going to have the nurse print out some elbow exercises that I can do at home. He will see me in a week to see my progress with the exercises... I've never had this happened to me before... Xrays don't show fractures... PT is very expensive - let's do it at home on your own without on-hand demo...

Oh, he asked, "Why is it mentioned here about dizziness/vertigo?"
Me, "Because of the dizziness/vertigo, I FELL. I'm always dizzy."
Him, "Well, which is it? Dizziness or vertigo?"
Me sharply, "I Don't Know!"
He just stares at me.
Me, "All I know is that I lose my balance. When I shower, I cannot close my eyes or my whole body starts swinging badly."
Him, "Vertigo.. We don't need to address this now. Let's address your current problem."
Grrrrrr.... I only went to him because he was the only available doctor for a last minute slot. I will not be seeing him for any of my other health issues - and that includes my vertigo problem.

So, tonight, my homework is to google You-tube on 'hands-on' ways to exercise my elbow - and not some photocopied version.

With my dad, it was not pee on the floor. It was poop on the bedding, clothes. But mind you, he's not stupid to touch his poop. That's Dirt!!

Gershun, you could step in worse. Wail!

I feel like a baby in a high chair who's had her chocolate pudding taken away before she's finished with it. Twice, yet! Tennis is only a game. Soccer is only a game. 😭

ROfl, Gershun

hahaha I remember my first puddle. thx dad

Nice!

:)

Gershun...Love it! Thank you for my smile. This brightened my day!

Madge, you inspired me to write a poem. It's entitled Barefoot in Pee.

There was a time, years ago,
When I walked in my bare feet, come rain or come snow, that's how I liked to go
People would say, you'll catch yourself a cold
But, I didn't care, it made me feel bold

Fast forward to today and things are not the same
I'm still the same girl, I still play in the rain
But now with my shoes on, not quite as carefree
Cause the last time I tried it, I stepped in Mom's pee

I could laugh, I could cry, but now I don't bother
Cause it was just the same with my now deceased Father
I'm still the same girl, who wants to live free
But never in bare feet cause I may step in pee.

Ta Da!!!!!
Dedicated to all my caregiving friends who've stepped in pee.

CM

What happened to Kane today ?

Lost
It doesn't help much in the heat of battle but
This too shall pass

Can't tell you how many times I stepped barefoot into pee only to have mom say it was just water from her hands

I am so tired of ALL OF THIS. She had her lunch, what wasn't pocketed in her cheek, and was trying to clean up the nastiness in her room, and I nicely asked her to sit in her chair. She narrow her eyes at me and tells me to mind my own business. I wanna say something bad, but, of course I don't because I know it's the AD. But some things really drive me. I should start drinking, heavily. Then I may fit in with all the pissin and shittin. Forgive me.

Book, while it is sometimes true that a fracture won't be obvious on an x-ray, it is beyond shullbit to state baldly that they don't show up until they've healed. If you're feeling strong of stomach, Google it.

I hope he also checked for a minor dislocation (can't be a biggy or you wouldn't be sitting up and typing). Any swelling in your forearm? If your elbow doesn't start to settle down or you notice any change in that forearm (compare it with the other one) go back. If this does happen, don't worry - any orthopaedic surgeon will be able to pop it back in place before you can say "AAAAARGGGH get off me!"

There's an article on the front page of USA Today about the number of guns in homes of the elderly
One retired cop with dementia accidentally shot his wife
Fortunately she was able to phone for help but faced a difficult recovery

bookluvr, oh I can sympathize with you. It brought back memories of my broken upper arm and having it x-ray. Oh my gosh, the pain !!! Yep, the x-ray showed a hairline fracture. Who would think a hairline would be so painful. I had to wear a sling for a couple of months, hopefully you won't have to, otherwise the muscles in your arm could freeze... then comes rehab to straighten the arm out.

Ah yes, those ice packs were a lifesaver especially at night trying to sleep. You might have to prop your arm on a pillow to get a comfortable position.

Cwillie
I don't know what is worse either

Book
You have lots of common sense
Feel better and yes ice can be soothing - just don't leave it on more than 10-15 minutes at a time

Book, it sounds as though you found a very compassionate doctor. I hope your arm settles down and heals - how will you be able to work?

My calendar just informed me that today mom has been at her current nursing home for one year, although she was at the initial one for a couple of months before that. I'm still torn between thinking she can't possibly live another month to thinking she could just keep this up indefinitely. I don't know which is worse.

Last Saturday, I came home after working in the morning. We had a storm Wednesday night and so our front porch was awful - leaves, dirt, etc... Of course, sis rarely sweeps the porch despite being a heavy smoker and needing to smoke practically every hour - day AND night. I came home and was disgusted how the front cement porch looked. I took the broom and started sweeping. oooohhhh. that's pain on my right arm that's been slightly hurting since my fall on July 1st. I kept sweeping but found ways to sweep and less pain. Pain got worse as the day went by.

Sunday, I went at 5:30am with fave sis to the flea market. Only available seat was behind the front passenger. So, I had to use my right arm to open/close the door and the seatbelt. Went to 2 different flea markets. My right arm started hurting by the time we went to the 2nd one. All day, the pain worsened.

So Monday morning, I called the clinic and made an appointment for today at 4pm. I'm calmly sitting there as the doctor asks me questions. Pain level? 4. He asked where's the pain. He touched my inner elbow. No, here. I angled my body (learned that if I turn my arm left or right -Pain!!!) and touched the outer elbow. He said "here?" and pressed it. I answered, "OWWWW!!!" He jumped back quickly and apologized. He said that I'm just sitting there calmly and he just didn't.... I said, "I have a high tolerance for pain."

After the xrays, my elbow was in severe pain. Xray with my arm straight (ow!!). Now turn your elbow still upright but to the left, hooolllddd (ow!!!). Now, this angle, hoooollldd (ow!!!) and finally, right angle (ow!!!)… I was sitting, waiting for the doctor, cradling my right arm across my body, with my left hand reaching across and cupping my right elbow. I was rocking myself because the pain was baaaaad.

When the doctor walked in, he noticed my body position. He asked if I was in pain. I said very calmly, "I'm really hurting in my elbow." Then I continued with a deeper tone slowly for emphasis: "I Mean I'm Really, Really Hurting Inside My Elbow.  It's Throbbing Inside My Elbow. Not anywhere. Just Inside My Elbow."

He asked if he was the one to cause that pain. I shook my head and said, "The x-ray." When the nurse brought an ice pack and put it on my elbow, I sighed loudly with relief, "Ohhhh, that feels sooooo good. I never thought to use an ice pack for my pain!" … Anyway, the xrays show no fracture but the doc says that he didn't expect to see one because fractures don't show on xrays. It can only be seen after the bone heals up and then we see the calcium buildup where it healed - weeks after the injury fall.... So, I'm too skinny to fit their smallest elbow support. I'm now using the wrap around bandage to hold my elbow and a sling to help support my hurting arm. He insisted that a 600mg Motrin will help the pain than my Excedrin... I give him kudos. My elbow's pain was increasing. I couldn't handle the pain. I took the Motrin. sigh... I don't feel any sharp stabbing throbbing pain inside my elbow... I went and bought one of those cold pack. I used my cold eye mask for my face when it was swelling from the fall. I just didn't think to use it for my elbow..... Like my dad told me while growing up: 'You have no common sense.'

He is quite a poppet, isn't he? Reminds me of D2's fiancé, though it's mainly the beardy thing. SMH. Young men today...

Between him and Gareth Southgate's waistcoat it's like they're all travelling back in time to the 1910s. And actually HK does also bring to mind a young King George V. "Are they by any chance related?" as Private Eye magazine would ask.

I shall be relieved when it's all over and we can look forward to the Rugby World Cup in Japan next year. Much more civilised.

Can't remember where this came from, but famously: "football is a game for gentlemen, played by hooligans. Rugby is a game for hooligans, played by gentlemen."

CM
I'm all in on England now - that Harry Kane is a good looking guy

I heard on the radio there's some drunk seagulls in England - smell like beer and fall down when walking - folks don't know where they're getting their supply 🍺