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jude , maybe mom would like some eucalyptus leaves to chew on . lol
mallory , i boycot so many places that bout the only thing left to eat is those infernal squirrels that have taken my place over . i was gone for 6 years and the little pricks , along with the raccoons have gotten so bold they hang around the house in broad daylight . in fact squirrels and birds are living in my garage . im gonna start box trapping and eating the squirrels . they hang out on the stone balcony literally 4 feet from the kitchen door . 12 feet from the iron skillet .
deer lounge around here like they own the place too . gotta fix an old pill possession felony so i can have my guns back . i have no problem with knocking one of em outta my fruit trees . i do like venison . tastes like a cross between whooping crane and bald eagle to me ..
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Susan well done you one for the team of carers eh? Sorry to hear about your relative - youknow what they say you can pick your friends but not your family. yuk yuk yuk what a ghastly smell that must have been. Praise the lord for febreze eh?
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Ok, so after an extremely bad day for mom yesterday, moved her followup appointment from Friday to today.

Doc is *finally* hearing what I'm saying and took appropriate action. I repeated (again) my concern that her fall was not caused by falling asleep in her chair, but by a blackout caused by - what? - I don't know, but we need to find out so we can take action on it immediately before it leads to something worse.

Hospital bed ordered for mom to use at home. Oxygen ordered for her to use at home (he finally recognized that her oxygen level was too low and she was struggling to breathe when I pointed it out). MRI ordered for Monday morning (soonest available appointment for an open MRI unit due to Mom's weight/size) to check for possible TIA. Home health care nurse evaluation ordered to see what services Mom may need to help her recover (depends on if Medicare will pay for it as to whether we can do that or not).

So all in all, a good appointment this morning with good results. I know now that this doctor is just one of those that you have to figuratively grab by the face and say, "LISTEN TO ME!" before you get his attention. You have to tell him, tell him again and then tell him AGAIN. Shouldn't be that way, but it is - and now that he understands that I'm not stupid and didn't just Google Mom's symptoms and regurgitate web-found stats at him - that I truly understand the nature of what's going on and will NOT be blown off - he's finally listening and taking action.

On another subject, had a visit from one of mom's relatives today, one she hadn't seen in years. Unfortunately, they live in a different situation than we do - one where cats pissing on the clothes he leaves laying on the floor is the norm, and he picks them up and wears them. The smell was so strong it actually gave me a headache. Stripped mom's bed (he was sitting on it) and opened the windows as soon as they left. Love my family, but sometimes it's hard to deal with someone else's definition of "living".
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Oh Jude....WOW. Poor you!
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puddings puddings not pussings OMG sorry mind you pussings does sound funnier
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Im going to have a scream moment.

Yesterday went badly today is clearly worse and Mum is clearly reverting back to type. But in all fairness I have made the biggest blunder. Mum has been so restless at night that I found if I sat on the floor (and trust me I am waaaaay to old to be sitting on the floor for 2 hours at a time) and held her hand she would stop fidgeting and go back to restful sleep. So I had this wonderful idea. She loves cuddly toys so I gave her my old 14inch possibly slightly bigger koala bear (toy one before you all ask) to take to bed with her to cuddle.

Brilliant job sorted I thought. Oh no now we wont let go of the bloody thing sorry for the language Im exasperated.

I change the sheets on the bed today and put the bear on the chair upside down - my god youd have thought I had drowned a kitten

She wants the commode I have to do everything but actually pee or poo for her because 'koala likes being cuddled'

She was sat this afternmoon 'feeding koala his tea' MY bear now has flaming tomato pizza toppig all over his fur so I have had to wash said koala. I might even free him tonight and let him find another tree to firage in. No I wont actually but Jings she has been trying.

Im going shopping Mum what would you like to eat for a change....'ooooh Koala what shall we have to eat?' I wasn't at my best and she could tell from my tone that I was getting angry.

'well we dont like those nasty potatoey things that woman gets do we koala' - I can feel simmer point approaching......Calmly no mum not what you dont want I need to know what you do want. 'well i dont like those sponge pussings and koala doesnt eat them either'....can you see the steam coming out my ears? No mum what DO YOU want not koala I know what he likes what do you want.....'Well I dont want...' Mum stop what do you want start your sentence with I want

I want koala back - yep that was my walk away moment. And please dont tell me she didnt know what she was doing. the carer said that wasnt very nice was it and her reply. 'She should know I am only joking'

By the time I had gotten any sense out of her the carer had to go so I still ended up doing it on line anyway

Trust me tonight koala gets it!
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Captain I hear you on the high price of long-term storage foods. I've had some luck with walmart (best prices but not best selection).followed by Emergency Essentials. None of it is "cheap" but it's packed for 30 yrs storage. I do use the canned buttermilk, butter, eggs, spinach, and onions regularly. So I know it's good. The mountain house entrees are up there in price (2-3 dollars a serving) however all I have to do is compare that to McD's drive thru, and it is far cheaper and much healthier. We also have a home dehydrator and grow our own tomatoes basil parsley celery etc. Good luck. I'm in awe of your water storage tank. We are just filling quart canning jars....better than nothing.
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Channel surfing!!! And of course testing volume.
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Thanks so much, Dee! That's my concern too - it seems to be a rather sudden onset, but she is just not breathing quite right. She's very tired today and just not quite right, so I've bumped her follow up appt. up to tomorrow morning instead of Friday and am going to insist that more tests be run to determine her lung function as well as other things.
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Susan, my mom has COPD and is on 2-3 liters of oxygen 24/7. Her sat rate is around 94-98 WITH oxygen...without oxygen it can drop below 90. The hospitals here won't even let me take her 4 miles home unless I have a tank with. I'd push for the oxygen if I were you. I also have a hospital bed for mom - she sleeps at a 30 degree incline and she is propped up with 2-3 pillows when she's laying on the sofa during the day. With COPD it's not just how much air they're getting in but also how much carbon dioxide they're able to expel. Low oxygen and/or high carbon dioxide levels can make folks feel faint, sluggish, tired, confused, etc. My mom was started on a c-pap machine at night but it freaked her out so we had to take it off after trying for 3 or 4 nights. Hope your mom feels better soon.
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It helps just to know I'm not the only whiner. So many things...my husband talks all the time, can't remember names of people or things, so asks me to tell him what he's trying to say. I don't know what he's trying to say. A big whine of mine is that i have to do everything while he sits reading a book or going out to play golf or meeting friends for coffee. I was having a lot of trouble sleeping. He does a lot of tossing and turning which keeps me awake. Now we have separate bedrooms and I can sleep.
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Susan, I myself have been thinking of taking my Mom to a geriatric specialist when she comes home. These doctors just don't understand the simplest things when it comes to old people....like even UTIs! I am surprised at the incompetence I have witnessed these last months myself. I hope you can get the hospital bed...I don't know what I would have done without it these last months!
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Oh Jude...I don't envy you the rigamaroll you'll go through today!

Yes, definitely looking at a 2nd opinion. Giving the GP one last chance to prove himself this week on her follow-up and if I'm not satisfied, we're going to look at maybe finding a geriatric specialist in the area. I'm going to explain to him that I feel very strongly this was a blackout episode, NOT sleep. Her oxygen levels kept dropping into the 80s while we were in the ER and even after she was moved to her room - she was on oxygen the whole time. She is not on oxygen at home. HELLO?!? Going to ask him if that shouldn't ring some alarm bells in his mind. It does in mine. An oxygen level of 80 is not severely low, but in someone of mom's age/health, it could be enough to indicate there is something going on.

Talked extensively with Mom about that very thing this morning - she's fine with looking for another doc if her GP continues to brush off my concerns this week at her follow-up appointment. I've already started looking for a geriatric specialist in our area and will be making calls to see if they are accepting new patients.

Made a bunch of phone calls this morning - follow up appt. for Friday, stitches out on Monday, getting gutters cleaned and exterior windows washed, requested prescription for hospital bed for Mom, and rescheduled the yard work that was supposed to be done on Saturday. Well-meaning cousin asked why I don't go out with friends sometime to get some "me time". Yeah, right!
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Jude, if it weren't so frustrating, it would be funny. I do like the humorous way you look at things. :-)
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Jude, my Dad remained convinced to the end of his days that margarine was still made out of whale oil, too. Sunflower my foot!

It won't do Daughter any harm to find out how loooooooong things take. Why, does it take a full thirty minutes to get just their pants and socks on? It just does. God knows what we're doing all that time, but it just does. She'll get used to it!
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Clearly todayis going to be a bad day. My daughter and I are taking Mum out for the day. Daughter Texted at 9:30 to say she would be with us at 10 - Like I can get mum ready that quickly!

Having had a great night - Mum slept almost through except for getting up once for a loo break - she has now decided she wants a cooked breakfast - never eats those. So I did her eggs on toast. She didnt like the toast, 'the eggs weren't real eggs were they you cant fool me, and you know I like butter' (she has refused to have butter for the last 15 years ffs) It has taken me 20 minmutes to get her to have her meds, she has a headache, she feels sick and now she thinks she wants to go poop but maybe not. Oh and 'can I have another cup of tea this one was horrid'. Hmmm all that and its not 10 yet roll on tonight is all I can say. I said to her would you rather not go out. No she wants to go out 'but I am not eating out' you can't get food since rationing you know they use wood chips in the raspberry jam' (which in the UK to be fair they did do but hey that WAS 70 years ago). ROAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAR
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Susan do go get a second opinion hun - if there is something underlying that hasnt been found she will continue to have blackouts/episodes.

It might be worth initially asking her pharmacist if the meds she is taking couldhave interactive side effects. They ARE supposed to check but they dont do that ALL the time. OR you could google the meds for side effects and contraindications. Sometimes it takes months before the build up of the drug activates them - in Mums case it was an increase in one of the antidepressants that tipped the balance. now they have taken that away she is back to being her usual self - miserable as h*ll and demanding as ever and wanting to give her money to anyone who asks for it (except me and all I wanted to do was buy her 3 new pairs of bedsocks - Oh well - out of my own pocket again!!!!!)
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my renter had blackouts . things got broken like dishes , floor tiles and glass rangetops . she moved to indy . if she passes out up there she'll be the star in a bestiality movie before she comes to . indy thugs are rather opportunistic .
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Point of order on first aid, Captain - if someone's passing out, don't keep her upright - sit or lay her down because her brain needs the extra blood flow. But well caught!
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susan,
my mothers last few days of life i had to pace beside her most of the time because she was getting so unstable on her feet . one day i saw her stumble and hopped in close to stabilize her and she was momentarily blacked out on her feet . i had to keep her entire body weight vertical for several seconds . yes blackouts happen , its why aunt edna is in nh . she was blacking out and falling .
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Doing a bit better tonight emotionally, just dealing with the constant feeling of holding my breath, waiting for this all to happen again. Every time Mom sits in her chair, I'm watching her out of the corner of my eye, full expecting her to pass out again and fall over. (I did move the entertainment center back further away from her chair, still don't have the whole room re-arranged yet.) It's kind of nerve-wracking, just constantly waiting for something else to happen. It was never determined what exactly caused her to pass out - her doc refused to do any further testing, saying he was sure she just fell asleep - so I'm frustrated and thinking it's going to happen again. Seriously considering moving her to a geriatric specialist doc and not her stupid GP who doesn't seem to have the sense God gave a lemon.
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now i dont need to build a root cellar . i have scads of heavy shelving in the bedroom for canned foods .
i think some kind of corporate conglomerate is keeping online non perishable food prices artificially high . i havent found a decent deal yet on dried or canned foods .
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the renter moved out in one fell swoop today and im living in my own house after a 7 yr absence . it feels strange . i have 3 times more space than in the bunker . heather and i found a half gallon everclear bottle in the kitchen today so its clear that the renter was still up here getting blackout drunk every day . if she'd burned the place down id have no one to blame but myself -- i knew what was going on up here .
i got a 450 gallon plastic water tank so in a few weeks i should be rigged to capture rain water thus eliminating one monthly bill . the electric bill is pay as you go with a 30 dollar monthly minimum . i plan to get an on demand h2o heater for the shower and beat the electric company at their own game .
this house feels too nice for me but wth -- i built the dam thing i should be the one enjoying it .
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I often wondered how everyone got grocery shopping done. It is exhausting to get my brother ready (and myself) then unload the wheel chair take him in ( park him in the restuarant with the cart then I run around the store and bring things to him. Basically I try to go when he is at program 3 x a week but he likes to go shopping.. He has had a number of tia's and needs a wheel chair for the big stores. Although I have left him for short run ins. I also leave him in the car at the drug store. Havent got in trouble yet but it is stressful.

CountryMouse I have been following your story (and everyone else since I signed on here). You and your mother are in my thoughts and prayers. You and many others here are laying down your life for your loved ones I AM IN AWE OF ALL OF YOU.
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I do use Amazon's subscribe and save program for household essentials, like cleaning supplies, toilet paper, mom's incontinence pads, etc. I wish we lived in an area where we had grocery delivery - but we don't. We're too small-town for anything like that.
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Hubs and I are Costco fans.. but I can;t lift some things, like the 40 lb kitty litter. I can get INTO the cart, but not back out at the truck. Thank heavens for nice young men in the parking lot..LOL And now Hubs.. One day we were at the litter, and trying to decide how many to get. A cute little old lady (me???someday) was just standing there with her cart, stareing at hubs... It suddenly dawned on us.. Would you like some litter? Yes, I 'll take 3.. he loaded it into her cart, and we helped her get into her car. Just hope someone was home to help her unload it! As for the top shelf items.. I have been know to bop myself on the head...
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Jude, those on-line groceries are great. You are right about those heavy items, I was ready for a long nap after grocery shopping in the store.... lifting the item off the shelf [why are some heavy items near the top?]... then plopping it into the cart... then heaving it onto the counter for checkout... then lifting it into the car... then lifting it out of the car into my parents house. Who needs to go to the gym to lift weights !!!
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I mix and match - I take mum shopping and use a wheelchair and a disability trolley so I can get all our groceries in one go. However when I want the heavy items I use on line - let someone fitter than me carry all the milk cartons, soft drinks, disinfectants, soap liquids etc up the steps to the house- I buy a months worth at a time so the on line order is large and damned heavy - saves my back for the more important things like caring for mum
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Susan, I use to take my Mom [in her 90's] grocery shopping... she would have her cart, I would have mine. It worked out well for a couple of years. Hope it works well with you.

Eventually it came to a point where I couldn't bring Mom shopping with me anymore. Mom would have a full cart of groceries that she needed and my cart was almost empty. I found I had to tag along behind Mom every second because she needed something on a top shelf [I could barely reach it] or she needed something on a bottom shelf [I had to be careful not to fall on my bottom trying to stand up]...

then there was the re-shelving of items Mom would pull off the shelf to get a close look at due to poor vision, and she couldn't find the right spot to put back. After a couple years of that, I was so exhausted after those trips.... then the next day I would go back to the grocery store to do my own shopping.

For the past full year I have been using on-line grocery shopping... what a life saver for me :)
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And needy, needy, needy today! Constant chatter and activity, she wondering what is wrong with me that I try to get her involved in something that will make the constant noise unnecessary. Just when I have something I HAVE to do for ME!
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