Chit Chat in VOLTVILLE Thread #2 :)

[rave]

Sorry to hear that you had a crappy medical morning, Awsum. I loathe going to doctor's offices and avoid it like the plague. I'm glad to hear that your friend was able to recover from his medical/hospital woes. Patients are so often treated like cattle ...

My sister that passed away was an RN. If she'd been in less pain from her difficulties and more coherent, she may have been able to sort the whole thing out. What I need to sort out now is whether it was a mechanical or a chemical pleurodesis. I suspect it was the later because they can inject chemicals to fuse the lining right through the drain tube, (which she already had) and it doesn't require general anesthesia. Even so, they inject an anesthetic into the cavity first because it's a very painful procedure. More research to do --->

 

[Semiretired]

I think it was Semi that you were quoting.

Yep, guilty as charged (LOL)...

 

[Renolizzie]

@Renolizzie This pic made me think of you even though the horsie is too big!
View attachment 456263

That would be my boys....if I let them in the backyard. They stare in the windows every morning like "Is she moving yet? We are hungry!"

I am frustrated with our medical system, Raven. Being humane should be at the top of the list.

 

[rave]

I didn't mean to bring everyone down. Guess I just needed to vent a bit.

 

[SandySu]

afternoon, Volties.

Nice to see you back, Rave. As far as that hospital goes it seems to be the "norm" anymore. I have an old friend who was hospitalized then into a rehab from a fall and congestive heart failure, he's in his late 70's. Anyhow, they sent him home with a walker and wheelchair and a home health aid. He was fine for two days then got incoherent. His wife loaded him into the car and took him to Columbia University Hospital in NYC. They immediately diagnosed pneumonia. Three days of the right treatment and he's back to his old self. It seem medical technology is advancing while the overall quality of medical care is falling.

I had a sort of crappy morning. I am scheduled for a regular physical at the end of this month so I went for blood work on Friday. I've learned not to go at 7 when they open, but 8 or 8:30 is great, no mobs. I got there Friday and there wasn't an empty seat in the waiting room, about 50 seats, so I walked out. It must be soccer or lacrosse season 'cause it looked like a locker room full of young'uns. I went this morning, again at 8, and this time there were only about ten people, all adults, there when I got there, much better.

Something must have changed is the only thing I can assume. The rate at which people got called was glacial, about one every ten minutes and that was with three people doing the "check-in" paperwork. So I ended up there for over an hour before getting called. The paperwork took forever and there's nothing different, same suite of tests I've had every time I go there, same me and same insurance. One thing I did notice was that I had to initial the final form to acknowledge the basics, name, address, phone and such, were all correct. I guess our medical system is "advancing" yet again.

After that, since I was out in the right direction, I ran down to Lowes in Maple Shade to pick up a landscaper rake. The local store didn't have it in stock, so I followed the directions supplied by the Lowes site. It took me west on Route 38, down 295 south one exit, onto Route 73 north, then to the store. When I left the store I left through the Route 38 east exit. Route 38 ends about a mile from our house. Ain't technology swell? Their route actually was longer and had more traffic, duhhhh. My own fault, I should have looked at the map.

Awsum, I think hospitals differ in their care. I was in the hospital, Cayuga Medical Center, for first pneumonia, then a couple years later for surgery on my broken arm, and the care was excellent. Sometimes it took a couple of rings on the call button to get someone, but they did answer. It was 5 or 10 minutes at most, and I wasn't in critical care, where that time lapse might have mattered. Mostly, I remember waiting to go to the bathroom when I had pneumonia. I had fainted at home, and they were afraid I'd fall again, even though I knew I wouldn't, since their treatment made me feel so much better. But I dutifully waited for a nurse to come escort me to the bathroom. Both times, I insisted on getting out of bed and walking around, and kindly nurses went with me to walk the halls. I have been in a hospital about every 10 years or so, and the treatment gets better each time. I think things are getting better. These last 2 times were the best. Maybe it's just that this hospital does an extraordinary job of serving the patients.

Rave, I think the lawsuit does sound like a good way to make that hospital sit up and take notice. Maybe it can't help your sister, but it may help future patients there.

 

[SandySu]

Today was a big milestone: I tutored the youngest boy with no help from his sister. She suggested that she might not be needed, and I agreed to try it. It worked! I used lots of hand signals and such, but he understood what I wanted. I think his understanding is maybe like 2-year-old, and he's 5, just -- remember his birthday party? -- but his sister at 6 wasn't much better when I started with her.

As for the others, the big boy continues to take work seriously, though I can see he's not as adept as his little sister at understanding certain things. Today, he had a worksheet of homophones, which are words that sound alike but are spelled differently. Things like bear and bare. There were sentences that had both words in them. He had real trouble finding them. I suggested he read them aloud, one word at a time. Then I said it was like tuning his violin -- though he says he doesn't do it -- where he has to hear the exact same note on the piano (or whatever) and when he plucks a string. Finally, he got the idea. I'll look for another worksheet with the same sort of problem to be sure he understands.

It's amazing how the mind works. His sister had no problem with this concept. The older boy is smart and curious, but he does have trouble with certain concepts that makes me think that he has a very slight learning disability. I think he also has trouble understanding what he reads, though his vocabulary is good and he has learned to pronounce things well. He has trouble figuring out words from context, for instance. His thinking is very literal.

I want to make him more imaginative, but I wonder if I can do it. Can you suggest tactics?

 

[Renolizzie]

I didn't mean to bring everyone down. Guess I just needed to vent a bit.

You have every right to feel frustrated and angry. Vent as needed.

 

[tmcase]

You have every right to feel frustrated and angry. Vent as needed.

Ditto that!

 

[Renolizzie]

Sandysu,

Maybe he is a literal kind of guy. Maybe he is going to be good at math.

 

[Semiretired]

Ditto that!

Nope, Double Ditto That...

 

[tmcase]

Nope, Double Ditto That...

I'll raise you triple ditto that.

 

[3mg Meniere]

I want to make him more imaginative, but I wonder if I can do it. Can you suggest tactics?

Have him draw a picture. Then write a story. To make it easier to begin with, write the story to his dictation. Then have him read back the story. Any reading vocabulary words then come from his own vocabulary. Talk with him, and do a re-write with more elaboration. Have him read that back to you. That works with all kids, really.

Read a selection aloud to him, discuss it. Read the same story tandem. Then have him read it again silently, and ask him deeper comprehension questions. Don't compare or label. He might just be preoccupied with something.

 

[celticluvr]

I'll raise you triple ditto that.

I infinity ditto that!!!

 

[awsum140]

I'll raise you triple ditto that.

I infinity ditto that!!!

I triple dog ditto that!

 

[rave]

Sandysu,

Maybe he is a literal kind of guy. Maybe he is going to be good at math.

Exactly what I was thinking. Sometimes that is just a personality characteristic. The only things that I can think of to stimulate imagination are books (the fictional types) and art. There may be simple exercises though - like seeing shapes in clouds or even Rorschach inkblot patterns.

 

[Semiretired]

Good Morning Rave and all Volties...

 

[Renolizzie]

Good morning, Voltites.

We took Mom to Thai food yesterday for Mother's Day. She liked it but Dad wasn't impressed. He wants T-bone steaks for Father's Day.

I kind of rested up yesterday which is nice. Hubby helped me with buying and carrying heavy stuff at Costco. I got laundry soap and dog food [they both way a ton]. He loaded and unloaded the car which gave my sore, tired arms a break

We had sandwiches for dinner so only a griddle and a couple of plates for dinner. So no dishes. Yay!!!

 

[rave]

I'll raise you triple ditto that.

Oh Terry, you may be in for a bit of that venting today when you get here. Then again, I may be "vented out". Anger is the second stage of grief. Yesterday, when my niece posted a memorial photo of herself on FB side-by-side with her mother/my sister, I went through the fourth stage (Depression). Seeing my niece was like seeing my sister at a younger age. My sister looked ... well ... like a woman who'd been battling a long illness. Today, I feel like I've already reached the fifth and final stage of Acceptance. Doesn't mean we won't sue the hospital though ...

 

[tmcase]

Oh Terry, you may be in for a bit of that venting today when you get here. Then again, I may be "vented out". Anger is the second stage of grief. Yesterday, when my niece posted a memorial photo of herself on FB side-by-side with her mother/my sister, I went through the fourth stage (Depression). Seeing my niece was like seeing my sister at a younger age. My sister looked ... well ... like a woman who'd been battling a long illness. Today, I feel like I've already reached the fifth and final stage of Acceptance. Doesn't mean we won't sue the hospital though ...

I don't mind. Vent away. That's what friends are for.

 

[rave]

I triple dog ditto that!

You folks are so goofy!! But thank you all for being here for me.