Text 24697, 132 rader
Skriven 2012-05-10 20:40:53 av Ruth Haffly (1:396/45.28)
  Kommentar till text 24645 av Nancy Backus (1:323/120.0)
Ärende: things 56
=================
Hi Nancy,

 RH> I guess I slacked off a bit in my consumption; I'm fighting
 RH> bronchitis right now. At the point where eating is a neccessity
 RH> but not enjoyable.

 NB> Not so good.  Hope things are a lot better now.  Eat more chocolate.
 NB> :)

I'm doing better; the cough is lingering but not too bad for the most
part. One of the vendors we get a lot of producce from at the farmer's
market suggested a thyme tea--it really helped! Basically Steve steeped
a good sized handful in almost boiling water & strained it. About half a
mug of that, sweetened with just a bit of honey (tho not bad on its own)
was good; it has a lemony-minty taste & is good iced, as well as hot.

 NB> it plus the  RH>> elbow break, surgery & nerve damage, she wants to
 NB> see if there's
 NB>  RH>> anything else going on in there.
 NB>  NB>> Did you find out anything useful?

 RH> Still waiting--the referral was lost on the primary care reception
 RH> desk for about a month. I finally got the referral, called today for an
 RH> appointment and the first one I could get is May 23.

 NB> Sounds unfortunately like SOP...  When you finally get in, you'll have
 NB> to report back... ;)

I will, just impatiently waiting. Hopefully I can have my foot looked at
too--not necessarily this visit but on a subsequent one.


 NB>  NB>> of a reason I've not been here, but now that she's home again,
 NB> and the  NB>> schedule is working itself out, I finally have a little
 NB> time for this

 RH> Sounds like either the rehab place wanted to make some money or they
 RH> just underestimated her ability to be self sufficient (with aides as
 RH> needed). You're there almost every day, but not the whole day now?

 NB> I'm hoping that it was mostly the latter, but I guess I'll not really
 NB> ever know.  The first weekend, I was there just about constantly,
 NB> needing to train new aides, covering when they weren't there, etc.
 NB> She goes to a day program three days a week now, and her granddaughter
 NB> often takes the 7-midnight shift between the aides those days, unless
 NB> she (gd) has a prior commitment...  Melinda also has taken part of the
 NB> day, on
 NB> the weekdays that Gwen doesn't go to program.

Sounds like quite the time there but if it keeps her home and happy, it
beats a nursing home or hospital and unhappy.


 NB>  NB>> A good part of the problem at the rehab place
 NB>  NB>> was that they really weren't helping her to regain her
 NB>  NB>> independence, but rather were doing things that stifled it.
 NB>  NB>> She's learning some of it back now that she is home.

 RH> That's good for her in more ways than one. I presume she "supervises"
 RH> the meal prep and such like?

 NB> Not really, although she may later... for now it's mostly just
 NB> reheating the Meals on Wheels meals, and she isn't interested in
 NB> supervising that. Most of the independence she is regaining is around
 NB> getting up out of
 NB> bed or off the davenport, being able to shift around in the bed
 NB> without setting off alarms, and suchlike...  I'm still working with

All very important. Is she happy with the Meals on Wheels meals? I think
one reason why my folks haven't gotten them is that my dad wouldn't be
happy with what they offer. He puts up with my mom's cooking because she
cooks what he likes, even if now she's not doing such a great job of it.
They're going for a lot more convenience foods than they used to but
don't read the labels to see how full of sodium and other stuff they
contain.

 NB> her to get
 NB> back more independence around toileting, although that's usually been
 NB> something the aides were already helping some with.

Always an issue, like it or not.

 RH> We're planning to visit my folks this
 RH> summer so I have to start thinking of what to do for meals that Steve
 RH> and I will fix. Much as we'd like to, can't do any grilling or we'd be
 RH> visited by the local bear(s) that night.

 NB> Can't just clean up really well, and not leave any garbage out..?

The grill would have to be disassembled and steam cleaned. Other garbage
would go into the cans but the cans aren't bear proof and the bear has
already visited them this year. We don't want to encourage a repeat
visit.


 RH> I'm half tempted to bring some of my own kitchen stuff. (G) We did get

 NB> Well... at least then you'd have what you wanted to use...  ;)


And what I'm used to using, not dull knives, peelers, etc.


 RH> an acrylic cutting board; I don't like cutting on counter tops (as my
 RH> mom does) or wooden boards for meats. She's got a butcher block top on
 RH> one of her counters but it's probably not sterile. She started fussing
 RH> when I showed her the new board; I just told her that it's for me to
 RH> use whenever I visit. (G)

 NB> If it's around, she might use it, and if not, at least it's there for
 NB> you to use when you visit...  :)

She won't use it; I know that already. We've gotten other things over
the years and gotten the "it's nice" reaction, then they've been put up
and never used. Hopefully she's not tucked it away and forgotten where
she put it.

 NB> ... Inside every older person is a younger person wondering what
 NB> happened.

If that isn't the truth! How did I get to be so old already? (G)

---
Catch you later,
Ruth
rchaffly{at}earthlink{dot}net  FIDO 1:396/45.28


... If you focus only on the thorns you will miss the beauty of the rose.

--- PPoint 3.01
 * Origin: Sew! That's My Point (1:396/45.28)