Older Folks and Vaping Back Porch - Part Three

[3mg Meniere]

Um, need to remount them with the bristles down - so you sweep the counter when you open the doors...

Which reminds me. I got the bleach, and the mold is dead. Hopefully the headache will stay away. Happy with 1/2 strength juice.

 

[seapeach]

-


Hey Deb... discovered after some messing around that it was the keyboard...from Tukii sending coded messages last night while we were in the Hangout! I apologize for last night in the Hangout, just up and leaving like that, but i hate for people to see me cry...I'm supposed to be a tough oldbroad....

I think the drama might be over now, poor Tukii has been thru hell since around last March. I've been sort of feeling her belly to determine if there could possibly be anymore surprises in store but I don't feel anything but her heartbeat. I'm making am appt. with a vet tomorrow to get her seen as soon as possible, I'm sure she'll need some heavyduty vitamins or something to get her strength back. And just as soon as the vet says so, she's getting spaded!

Anybody wanna hang out? If so, you'll have to send me the link as I'm PC illiterate!

Oh..and I'll close the door so Tukii can't send anymore coded messages....

So sorry to hear about Tukii's unfortunate circumstances. Bless her bitty kitty heart. Been out all day and came back in to read up. You ARE a tough broad!!! My thoughts are with you just the same.

 

[seapeach]

Rant, cautionary tale, and call to action for all of us who are at an age or state of health that may require short (or long) term nursing or rehab care. Plan now!

As you may know, I was stupid, broke my own safety rules, and broke my ankle - thoroughly. So I'm non-weight bearing for at least six weeks, and ended up in a skilled nursing facility (SNF) for rehab for the duration. I'd been in a good long term acute care hospital followed by a great rehab facility at the end of my medical disaster year, and was expecting something similar. Wrong.

Since I managed to time this for memorial day weekend, they had some trouble finding a place to take me, even though I wanted to stay in the "big city" of Fargo - I think that the metropolitan area is about 200,000 people now - since this is where all of my doctors are. It finally came down to the one I'm in, since the two good ones that I knew of had no beds available. Now you also have to remember that I was still groggy from pain killers and while Liz was there, she knew even less than I did about the choices (or lack of choices) given than I did.

So here I am, in the kind of place that gives nursing homes a bad name. Old fashioned hospital food, shortage of care staff, strict and unreasonable scheduling of pain pills, treating competent adults like children, complete lack of privacy, all of that good stuff. And in my case a complete lack of understanding of allergies and a complete lack of hypoallergenic personal care products. I've been having to order my own from Amazon.

Also and more importantly, a complete misunderstanding of my underlying health problems and how they affect my rehab. Which would be a little understandable considering how rare it is, but they should be willing, in fact actually want to, research it, since it has a major affect on what can and can't be expected.

After I finally got internet access (since no one on the holiday weekend staff knew or cared what the password was - ironically enough it turned out to be "caring") I was able to look up their Medicare ratings (poor) and reviews (bad except for a few from relatives who obviously didn't visit much) but by then I was pretty much stuck here. Medicare admission rules, while they make sense for avoiding fraud, make it cumbersome to transfer, and I'd have to do all of the research and finding an opening on my own.

If/when you have to choose a place to go you probably won't be in good shape to do research and make decisions. And it is important. While the actual physical therapy and rehab work is pretty good, it is hard to keep a positive attitude and to want to work as hard as I need to when I'm constantly upset and angry about everything else.

So, the point of this post isn't (or is only a little) for me to whine about my situation. It is to talk you into researching in advance what care facilities are available in your area. Talk to people who have been patients, read reviews, check out Medicare ratings, talk to your medical providers. Come up with a list of at least a couple (beds aren't always available when you need them) of places that you think would work well for you. Have backups for your backups. Make sure that any family members or advocates you have know about your preferences. This is really important.

I feel for you. As a nurse, I had to constantly stay on CNAs about knocking on doors and providing privacy when bathing. Nurses were bad about rummaging through drawers without asking when looking for supplies. Even the "good" homes are not Cadillacs. We have a special insurance policy for nursing home care. My husband got it before I met him, so I know I can get him in a decent place. No clue about me, though. My thoughts are with you. I wouldn't be the least bit shy about stating my mind. They may act annoyed initially, but they'll better respect you.

 

[oldbroad]

Dandelions aren't even native to the USA. European settlers brought them over because the roots made a tea and a coffee-like drink, the young leaves make a good salad, and the blossoms make wine. They were also used as herbal medicines.

My old grandma used to make dandelion wine......LOTSA dandelion wine


she fell down a lot....

 

[Semiretired]

Well, we are at the 100 day mark for this sequence of the Back Porch thread - so I thought it would be a good day for an update on the progress to date and throw out another eta on the 15k mark.

For the new folks that do not know what the 15k mark is - ECF has a limit of 15k posts allowed in a thread - at that time it must be closed and reopened. Hence us being on part three of the Back Porch thread. Well back to the update.

Currently at the 100 day mark we are still going at a healthy pace with average postings, but the good news is - it has stayed below the 100 posts per day mark again. The current average is 92 posts a day.

If we continue at the current level - the restart / turnover date for the thread is now Aug 17th.

Now, of course we all know this will change again - this thread has 30 posts in one day and the next has 120 - so while the projection is no way near correct - it is interesting to watch.

Note: At the 100 day mark - we are still way ahead of the Back Porch Part 2 thread, which at this point was only averaging 22 posts per day. I guess we are getting more chatty as our friendships have grown.

 

[Robert Cromwell]

I see a familiar avatar or two here. I assume front porchers and tootle puffers are welcome here?

 

[Semiretired]

I see a familiar avatar or two here. I assume front porchers and tootle puffers are welcome here?

Predominately the same crowd. The topics are more mixed since there is no restriction to try and stay vape related.

 

[Robert Cromwell]

Ahh so pink water heaters and electric cooled pony harneses are ok?

 

[clnire]

I see a familiar avatar or two here. I assume front porchers and tootle puffers are welcome here?

Yep, I am in both porches and a tootle puffer on the tootle puffer thread....

 

[clnire]

No, we talk about dandelions, pets, and cabinet pulls

Just kidding, we talk about whatever we want to and everyone cares about every little thing. The best group of people on the forum!! (or any forum!)

 

[seapeach]

I see a familiar avatar or two here. I assume front porchers and tootle puffers are welcome here?

 

[seapeach]

Ahh so pink water heaters and electric cooled pony harneses are ok?

There's also a Google Hang Out Sign in - Google Accounts but nobody's home right now?!

 

[Semiretired]

So, I guess everyone is watching the Basketball finals with Bells.

 

[Iffy]

So, I guess everyone is watching the Basketball finals with Bells.

Not I. Not a round ball fan, except fer da NCAA Sweet Sixteen. Den I root fer da Cinderfeller team...

 

[Robert Cromwell]

No, we talk about dandelions, pets, and cabinet pulls

Just kidding, we talk about whatever we want to and everyone cares about every little thing. The best group of people on the forum!! (or any forum!)

Cabinet pulls? Are those like Tractor pulls?

 

[Robert Cromwell]

So, I guess everyone is watching the Basketball finals with Bells.

Baseball is on? Ohh I suppose it is.

 

[Iffy]

Cabinet pulls? Are those like Tractor pulls?

Political posturing vs. down home horsepower? Ummmm... day-um, ya might have a great new reality TV show dere! Oh, wait... never mind...

 

[MikeE3]

Well, we are at the 100 day mark for this sequence of the Back Porch thread - so I thought it would be a good day for an update on the progress to date and throw out another eta on the 15k mark.

For the new folks that do not know what the 15k mark is - ECF has a limit of 15k posts allowed in a thread - at that time it must be closed and reopened. Hence us being on part three of the Back Porch thread. Well back to the update.

Currently at the 100 day mark we are still going at a healthy pace with average postings, but the good news is - it has stayed below the 100 posts per day mark again. The current average is 92 posts a day.

If we continue at the current level - the restart / turnover date for the thread is now Aug 17th.

Now, of course we all know this will change again - this thread has 30 posts in one day and the next has 120 - so while the projection is no way near correct - it is interesting to watch.

Note: At the 100 day mark - we are still way ahead of the Back Porch Part 2 thread, which at this point was only averaging 22 posts per day. I guess we are getting more chatty as our friendships have grown.

I see a familiar avatar or two here. I assume front porchers and tootle puffers are welcome here?

Indubitably

 

[DavidOck]

My old grandma used to make dandelion wine......LOTSA dandelion wine


she fell down a lot....

Sure sign of a good vintage...

 

[Debadoo]

....

I see what you did there

If/when you have to choose a place to go you probably won't be in good shape to do research and make decisions.

So sorry you're having to deal with this, but sage advice that we should all heed!

but i hate for people to see me cry...I'm supposed to be a tough oldbroad....

oh poo.....even tough old broads need to cry sometimes.

I see a familiar avatar or two here. I assume front porchers and tootle puffers are welcome here?

welcome to the front porch!