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Cofollansbee-have to shorten you name-how about Bee where in PA do you live-my sister does the craft fairs in Bethleham and Kutztown among others.
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Lilli, relieved to hear there are no broken bones! The hospital staff can be very intimidating. In our case it was the rehab/ nursing home that was intimidating to us! Told us our home had to have this and that and on and on before Dad could come home. That is when we started building the apartment. Funny though, because just as soon as he was able to get up and navigate by himself, they wanted him out as Medicare would not pay! He was supposed to be there for 100 days, and it was no where close to that! Apartment close to being finished, but has drained us dry! I think sometimes they just resort to scare tactics! We haven't heard from these people since he was discharged, but before discharge they had plenty of things to throw at us: stairs all over the house in different places inside and out,shower upstairs, etc....They just really laid it on thick! If I knew then what I know now, we could have moved his room to the dining room! Stand your ground with them! Try to get some rest too! I think we were so tired all the time Dad was in rehab and worried about what they were saying to us that we acted out of fear! Bottom line was they wanted to keep him there for the money! You are in my thoughts! Keep writing it will help you keep things in perspective! Love to you! Kim
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Hey guys... been awhile but I keep in touch with the Barbara crew on our fb. Just a sad note: Dad and I called Hospice this morning for mother. Please keep us in your prayers! God bless all of us who love our family members enough to care for them!
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stillstanding . prayers sent at your way .
let us know whats going on ok dear .
much love xoxoxo
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StillStanding-thoughts are with you! Many hugs and love to you! Kim
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Linda-you getting snow? Snowed hard here for a little bit! Just now quit, but I think it's gonna start again soon!
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Lilli - Mom would NEVER wear the "I've fallen and I can't get up" pendant - and it cost like $60 a month and this was more than 10 yrs ago.

She was convinced the monitoring people would listen in on her - so it was a losing battle.

One option for long distance caregiving that is out there is setting up a granny cam. I had looked into this way back, and after an initial investment of a few hundred dollars - if you did it yourself - it didn't cost anything as we already had the internet installed at Moms house. More info is out there just google Granny Cam - it helps to be tech savvy to understand what you need for set up.

Love and hugs to all.
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Cricket-apartment is almost finished! We need to get the floor down! That shouldn't be too hard! Come on over and bring Dad and the dogs and hubby! Linda you can come too! We will keep Cricket in stitches! Bring your Dad along and husband! They can all keep each other occupied while we all have some well deserved fun! They take the house and we get the apartment! :) I'll set up a little bar and stick the fridge! Sounds like a plan to me! Dad has not taken anything else off yet! Nothing shocks me anymore! Just makes me queasy! Need a stronger stomach! Working on it!

Here is something amusing that happened today! I will probably be smiling about it through the weekend! There I was trying to have a serious talk with Dad about using his electric cigarette because he had a burn hole in his sweat pants! He was looking at me really seriously, and then pointed to something and started laughing. I thought once again he is laughing at me! Face was turning red, blood pressure going up, the whole nine yards! I happened to look behind me, and Sophie, one of our little Terriors had a sun chip bag over her head and was walking around aimlessly bumping into things! Right there and then, we both started laughing hysterically! I was almost on the floor! No wonder he was laughing and pointing! Kind of like one of those movies when something serious is going on and then in the background something totally hilarious is happening! For today that made my day, and I will take it! It dawned on me that Dad is like Clousseau and I am like the chief inspector with that twitch in his eye! Comic relief...love it and it came today just at the right time! I think Mom had something to do with it! Thanks Mom! :)

Love you all, and I hope for the best outcome for all with serious circumstances confronting them right now! May your heavy burdens get lighter each day! Kim
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I meant stock the fridge!
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Barb, the nanny cam or in our case the poppy cam is a great idea! Thanks for bringing it up! I can set some up strategically in the apartment!
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Lillliput, glad Mom is recovering with no broken bones. Pfft to the hospital staff!
Stillstanding, so very sorry you've had to make this dreaded call. ((hugs)) and prayers for your family.
195Austin - Bee will do just fine! I live in Western PA, east of Pittsburgh. We live very close to Latrobe which is where Mr Rogers and Arnold Palmer are from. (The Steelers practice on the campus where my hubby works.) I am familiar with the Bethleham area. We have vacationed every spring for the past 11 years in the Poconos and surrounding area.
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Hi Bee, nice to meet you! The Poconos are beautiful! When my husband and I were younger, we used to vacation there! Many fond memories! Hugs, Kim
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Cricket , Linda09 and Ksobhie....You are a delight today! Thanks for your lightheartedness.

Kim, I loved the SunChips bag story! Yep, take those precious moments whenever you can get them!

To all of you here, I hope you find a moment of peace and a breath of fresh air to lighten you load Carolyn.
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kimmy - yes it snowed a lit bit here then it stop . i was happy to see that but disapointed that it stop ! sniff , i love snow but i hate the cold .
hubby brought home papa john for supper . yummie .
lili - glad ur mom is ok and no broken bones . :-)
as for nursing home . yep dad had to go there for rehab , they took tried to talk me into keeping him there cuz its just toomuch for me to handle him alone . naw i said he s no trouble at all , rather him home with me so i dont have to wonder if he s ok or if he needs me . tired of drivin there 2 times a day , screw it ,, he s comin home with me , they said oh plz wait another week ! ah ok onemore week and i started to notice things there that i didnt like , was glad that week came realy fast and he was glad too , ah home sweet home theres no place like home .
nobody can give the love to dad the way i could , one time the young cna kept saying i love you dad i thought uh thats not ur dad , she said do u love me ? pa looked at me said yeah , she said i love u more pa said yeah , i though that was stupid of her to be talking like that . ah well whatever he ll be outta there real soon . if he ever has to go back to rehab it wont be at that place . it ll be somewhere eles . hopefuly he wont have to go anywhere .
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I can only imagine what it would be like having a granny cam in Dad's room, it would be information overload. I don't think I would want to see what he does. Probably pick his boogys and ... lol
Anyone used a Granny Cam with a parent before?

Lilli, I'm so glad your Mom didn't break anything. What a relief that must be for you. Tonight get some sleep!

Diane, are you okay? How is James doing?

Jen, I know you're reading.... hugs to you!

Christina.... you are quiet today.

Carolyn, I hope you are having a good day, you to AnnT and Rossella

Kim if I have to bring Dad we are playing Indians like in Peter Pan and I'm tying him up and doing the happy dance. o,O
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RIP..... what else have you cooked under the flicker of a candle?
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Cricket-what happens at the apartment stays at the apartment! We could have a Peter Pan theme party! Tie away! Hugs, Kim
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awww Cricket ...
I can't share all my secrets!
But I do use a crock pot to make pet food. Frozen meat, potatoes, carrots, rice, eggs & oatmeall. They spit out the peas so I quit adding them.
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Hi y'all,

I'm exhausted but wanted to thank everyone for their well wishes. James has been very agitated today so they have had to sedate him more this evening so I came home. He is frustrated that he can't talk. Tonight his blood pressure was dropping again and his heart rate was elevated. They are hoping heavy sedation and little stimulation will help. He is still in critical condition, but overall trending in the right direction.

Lilli, so sorry to hear about mom's fall. I hope she can come home and recover quickly.

Stillstanding, my prayers are with you, dad & mom. I hope hospice can help you with this stage.

I know I haven't read all the posts so please forgive me. Have a good night dear ones and please continue those wonderful prayers. May you all get a good nights rest.

Love ya,
Diane
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Hey, I love peas...
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cricket - I did use a grannycam with Mom. B&W - this was more of a closed circuit thing that works on same priniciple as an audio monitor. I had the camera set up in a vase of artificial flowers so she wouldn't notice it, and I kept the monitor in my office. Had it focused long range to see Mom if she left the bed for the bathroom so I could hustle down and keep her clean.

In the early days she went to the toilet by herself, but unless I was there to clean her and she make a poo - well - it was just easier to stop whatever I was doing and make sure. It worked fine - I even put it in the bedroom for the rare caretakers I had who stayed over night - though it would kill my eyes if i tried to use it in the middle of the night. Too bright. And also the video quality in the B&W made Mom look kind of creepy and I didn't like that so much. In time I quit using it - preferring the 'baby monitor' overall.
Gloomy day here with the rain and overcast all day. We have tentatively decided to stay put at least until after the new year - its not like BOA is going to send the marshall to throw us out on the street right off - that takes a while. (Maybe ishould sneak out and switch our house number with my nasty neighbor?)

And here it is much more likely for husband to find work that will pay a living wage. So we shall try to keep our spirits up because it can always be worse! We will be OK. I appreciate all your ideas and encouragement and support - and so does my husband who appreciates all of you so very much.
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I spit out the peas too.
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Gah peas to poop in less than an hour...Just in scrubbing up feces pile off the floor..Boyo it is good we didn't out the new carpet down yet,,but really will it matter? the side of the bed coated in urine bits of poop line the bed frame, and now the shit I help scrub that and strip bed, he hasn't been in it in two weeks due to the broken ribs...I help clean up will be washing the poopy laundry later, mom is tired and mad all the time now..she even teased my cat..boy that is pissed for her...Just became a "Wheel Watcher" God let us win some cash, I can't drive and we can't go to Hawaii just the cash....
We clean his bodily waste off the furniture and floors and he is in cackling at Little House looking at little girls in short skirts..God Kill Him Soon Please....
And don't tell me he did it for me when i was a child cause her sure as Hell didn't!

Hope everyone has a good evening and a safe sane Friday..No Guarantees eh....
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carpet! arrghg! HATE carpet. Gosh jsome - your post takes me back . . .

I have pulled carpet out of every house I've lived in just as soon as i could afford it. I hate cleaning it and my youngest had asthma and allergies.

With Mom early on back at her house we used the 'carpet tiles'.

We'd pulled up the old carpet it was a biohazard from all the poo - for a while when living alone she was using a pasta boiler as a chamber pot to avoid taking 10 steps to the toilet - anyway - the hardwood floor beneath had been covered years before with an asbestos tile (what was Dad thinking???) so we couldn't pull that up.

So I got the carpet tile (special order Home depot) They are interlocking pieces of real carpet and you can't see the lines if put down properly - and you just lay them down - no adhesive - and they stay - and when there is a stain that will not come up - though it cleaned up the same way as regular carpet -you just pull up the tile and replace it with a new piece. Its actually still on the floor at Moms and has held up quite nicely.

I am also a big fan of the colorful interlocking non skid rubber mats. They saved my floor when Mom was in her food throwing stage.
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I was devastated to find out my wife was having an affair but, by turning to religion, I was soon able to come to terms w/the whole thing.I converted to Islam, & we're stoning her in the morning.

The wife suggested I get myself one of those penis enlargers … so I did.She's 21, & her name's Lucy.

Went to the pub w/my girlfriend last night. Locals were shouting "pedophile" & other names at me, just because my girlfriend is 21 & I'm 50. It completely spoiled our 10th anniversary
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The thing I love most about this hot weather is the short skirts & low cut tops ... Although they do make me look a bit gay.

Following the tragic death of the Human Cannonball at the Kent Show, a spokesman said, "We'll struggle to get another man of the same caliber."

My son was thrown out of school today for letting a girl in his class give him a hand-job. I said "Son, that's 3 schools this year. You'd better stop before you're banned from teaching altogether."
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Q: What's the difference between a blonde & a brick? A: The brick doesn't follow you home after you lay it.

Remember the 7 qualities for the perfect girlfriend ... Beautiful, Intelligent, Gentle, Thoughtful, Innocent, Trustworthy, Sensible. Or, in other words … B.I.G.T.I.T.S.

Just been to the gym. They've got a new machine in. Only used it for half an hour, as I started to feel sick. It's great tho. It does everything … Kit Kats, Mars Bars, Snickers, Potato Crisps, the lot."
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Question - Are there too many immigrants in Britain ?
17% said ‘yes’ & 11% said ‘no’. The remaining 72% said "I am not understanding the question, please."

On my Census form there is a question "Do you have any dependants?" Apparently putting "Hundreds of Africans, Pakistanis, Somalians, single mums, Romanians, loafers, smack heads & non-English speaking people" isn't the right answer. They've sent my form back.

The cost of living has now gotten so bad that my wife is having sex w/me because she can't afford batteries.
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Flex glad to hear James is doing better. Prayers coming your way.

Lilli glad to hear about your mother not having any broken bones. We just went thru that with the MIL. She is 93 and she fell and fractured her pelvis but thankfully she was in rehab for a month and now is back in her own apartment in the assisted living part back on her own two feet walking etc with her walker on wheels.

Everyone else HUGS to all of you.
lovCuz
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Oh so true

Why do people
say "Grow some
balls?" Balls are
weak and
sensitive. If you
really wanna
get tough, grow
a vagina! Those
things take a pounding!--
Betty White
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