DDA Chapter 27

[PNO4TE]

Bernadette and Deb - I am sorry to read of your continued turmoil at work. This country has got to get itself turned around and very quickly. It matters not to me who is in office but they have got to work together and get us back on track. I hope "they" are not so insulated and isolated from the rest of us real people that they can come to this realization on their own very soon. Our wonderful country is in big trouble.

 

[PNO4TE]

Good morning, DDA!

A warning that I am posting an update in the next post here that you can skip if you want. But not all of you are on facebook so I know you won't know what is going on any other way.

I had a disheartening day yesterday and I know in my head that they will come again and again as we get through all this, but I just needed to write it all out. Where better than here with my friends?!?

 

[PNO4TE]

As long as you all want me to post the updates here, I will. I know not everyone is on facebook, so you wouldn't know what was going on any other way.

Bob is now the proud owner of a trach and a PEG feeding tube in the stomach. Although he approved both these surgeries, he was not particularly happy yesterday. He has entered the bored to tears portion of a prolonged hospital stay and his impatience and stubbornness are showing themselves. He is insistent that he can eat and drink and is furious when Kristin and I won't bring him what he wants. We did get permission from the ICU staff to bring him his cell phone so he could text rather than write and he asked to play a game of Yahtzee which they also permitted. But he quickly tired with that minimal activity. The man hasn't had a feeding in a tube since noon on Friday so I imagine he is famished! I hope today brings him some more progress and less disappointment. Meanwhile, Kristin and I are continuing to try to work and go to the hospital. It will be easier once they start some kind of therapy with him, as it will give him something else to do. For security reasons we can't leave his book reader or phone or iPod with him so he is reduced to hours of watching the History Channel and reading. I am hoping he can get out of ICU soon, but his BP has to be stabilized and his little bout of arrhythmia yesterday cannot return!

 

[tmfranlk]

Good morning, DDA!

A warning that I am posting an update in the next post here that you can skip if you want. But not all of you are on facebook so I know you won't know what is going on any other way.

I had a disheartening day yesterday and I know in my head that they will come again and again as we get through all this, but I just needed to write it all out. Where better than here with my friends?!?

Exactly! That's what we're here for. Celebrate the good, comfort the bad and share it all. Post away, anytime, all the time. We're here to listen and send lots and lots of

 

[lovesdumbo]

As long as you all want me to post the updates here, I will. I know not everyone is on facebook, so you wouldn't know what was going on any other way.

Bob is now the proud owner of a trach and a PEG feeding tube in the stomach. Although he approved both these surgeries, he was not particularly happy yesterday. He has entered the bored to tears portion of a prolonged hospital stay and his impatience and stubbornness are showing themselves. He is insistent that he can eat and drink and is furious when Kristin and I won't bring him what he wants. We did get permission from the ICU staff to bring him his cell phone so he could text rather than write and he asked to play a game of Yahtzee which they also permitted. But he quickly tired with that minimal activity. The man hasn't had a feeding in a tube since noon on Friday so I imagine he is famished! I hope today brings him some more progress and less disappointment. Meanwhile, Kristin and I are continuing to try to work and go to the hospital. It will be easier once they start some kind of therapy with him, as it will give him something else to do. For security reasons we can't leave his book reader or phone or iPod with him so he is reduced to hours of watching the History Channel and reading. I am hoping he can get out of ICU soon, but his BP has to be stabilized and his little bout of arrhythmia yesterday cannot return!

Hope today was better. I still think Bob's stubborness will soon serve him well. It is really a shame that you can't leave anything of value in his ICU room. Don't you need to be let into the ICU? Who could take something from an ICU patient? Thank you for updating here!

There is so many layoffs and repostioning of jobs going on. My mother has worked at her job for 46 years and she found out this week that they want to hire an outside catering service to take over the hot lunch program for her school district. It's still got to be evaluated by committee and go through whatever process school take. She has no idea when or if she will be out of her job. She was planning to retire in 3 years so this has totally thrown her for a loop. I cannot go into detail of the issues at my job, but emails would be a very minot problem Hopefully I can share soon and get it off my chest.

Good luck to your Mom. So sorry to hear things aren't going well for you.

Bernadette and Deb - I am sorry to read of your continued turmoil at work. This country has got to get itself turned around and very quickly. It matters not to me who is in office but they have got to work together and get us back on track. I hope "they" are not so insulated and isolated from the rest of us real people that they can come to this realization on their own very soon. Our wonderful country is in big trouble.

What I find so distasteful about what is going on in my office is that things really are NOT that bad business wise for our company. They are trying to make changes "just in case" and frankly because in this economy they can get away with it. I have been there 19+ years and have always been proud to work somewhere where we literally save lives. Now I feel guilty for staying at a place that treats it employees poorly. I can't leave in this economy and after being there 19 years. I really don't understand where this new drive at the cost of the employees who have been so loyal is coming from. It is almost like one (or many) of the executives is going through a mid life crisis and they feel this need to leave a legacy of bringing the association to a new level. I just can't see how making the entire staff stressed and unhappy is really going to get them there. They have come up with the new "strategic plan" to increase revenues $20 million over the next three years. They say that we can't do it with the current work force and changes need to be made. I just don't see how they are going to get there by walking away from the staff that has gotten us to where we are now.

 

[my3princes]

Bernadette I hope things settle down soon.

I have MovieReward points that someone can have. We don't get enough of them to make them worth while. PM me if you want them and I'll give the first person the code.

 

[lovesdumbo]

Bernadette I hope things settle down soon.

I have MovieReward points that someone can have. We don't get enough of them to make them worth while. PM me if you want them and I'll give the first person the code.

I think it is going to be a while.

Tomorrow I have to go to a wake for a coworker's wife. They were both diagnosed with cancer within a week of each other. He has recovered from his colon cancer but her cancer spread. She was 57. They have 3 girls-the youngest in high school.

 

[bear74]

okay these darn sick germs need to leave my house. Jeff was home from work last week 2 days with general malaise, headache and cough. He never ran a fever. Fri. Olivia wakes up with fever, sore throat, cough, headache and runny nose. Also vomiting just Fri. Virginia just has cough. I get hit with it Sat. night. Cough headache, runny nose and fever. The babies are just a little snorty but wanting to nurse constant. I hope they dont get any other symptoms.

 

[bear74]

Bernadette I hope work gets better. Sorry to hear about your co-workers wife.

 

[mommykds]

Bernadette,
for all the stress you are getting at work. In this economy they know people are not able to get jobs easily & so they think they can treat employees like this now. Shameful.

Deb,
Hope you can find another job soon so that the stress of what is going on in your workplace will be behind you. Good luck to your mom. She was such so nice to talk with in the summer, hope all goes well for her as well.

 

[mommykds]

Good morning.

 

[bear74]

so considering making home made baby food for the twins.

 

[bethbuchall]

Good morning, DDA! I hope that everyone stays safe today. My kids are thrilled to have a snow day, but I'm actually getting a little tired of them myself. I love having the kids home, but I am ready to move on to spring. Plus, this is the second snow day we've had for my preschool class, and I really do miss going in. As much as I sometimes think that I need to move on to another job and as much as the "administration" of the school drives me nuts, I really do love going in and teaching the three-year olds.

We have started the bathroom remodel. By we I mean the guys that we wrote a check to. It's just too much for us to do right now both in terms of time and in terms of what we are actually comfortable doing. Yesterday they started demolition, since we are going completely down to the studs in there. As far as I know, they are still planning to come in today to finish ripping everything out. Tomorrow the plumber is scheduled to come in, and the electrician is scheduled for Thursday. We don't have GFIs in the bathrooms, since they were built almost 47 years ago. The electrician is also recommending an update to the circuit breaker boxes which we'll also probably do.

Bernadette, I am sorry that your work environment is so bad right now. I am so tired of "in this economy" being used to justify so many things. I am also sorry to hear about your co-worker's wife. That is so sad.

 

[bethbuchall]

so considering making home made baby food for the twins.

I think that I can count on one hand the number of jars of baby food I bought for the three kids (and almost all of them were for my first). They all pretty much were fed what we were eating.

 

[PNO4TE]

Jennifer - I made almost all the food that Kristin ate. With microwaves and good quality meats and produce available it is so easy to do!

 

[PNO4TE]

Good morning, DDA!

(Seems like a "month of Sundays" since I was last here.)

 

[bethbuchall]

Good morning, DDA!

(Seems like a "month of Sundays" since I was last here.)

It's certainly been a stressful time for you. How are things going?

 

[PNO4TE]

Since I taught a great majority of the day yesterday Kristin and I told the ICU staff that we would stop in at 9:00 p.m. just to tell Bob good night and see how his day went. By the way, in case you didn't know.... the new law states that anyone, at any time, can enter any area of the hospital that is not restricted due to sanitary reasons (not the term I want to use but my brain is mush these days!) but I have been observing the old ICU hours of visitation from 8-8. There was a darned good reason for those hours and just because some lawmaker in DC decided to tack on a ridiculously wordy, un-necessarily broad amendment to the health care bill I am not going to second guess the hospital staff! Anyway....

Because we went in so late we discovered that Bob was being moved out of ICU. In fact, we got to help move him. Who ever thought that moving patients at 10:30 p.m. was good for anyone involved?!?!? I can understand surgeries late at night due to OR availability and surgeon and staff schedules, but moving?? His bed in ICU was not needed and the one on the 4th floor was standing empty too. He was exhausted from all the hubbub surrounding the move and the PT that he received on Monday. By the time they got him moved and explained the new monitoring system that he has to help with he was in a nasty mood and let everyone anywhere near him know it. Kristin and I left after we knew he was situated and I got home about 11:15.

There is no change in his breathing and he did not pass the swallow test yesterday. That is not a surprise to me because he has a trach in there! I wish the Speech Therapist would hold off a few days until they can stabilize his secretions and put the speaking tube into the trach. That would allow him to close it off and swallow more normally. Right now he is trying to swallow past a balloon. He is disheartened because every day he thinks he will pass the test and begin to eat. I am at the point of saying I just want them to tell him what I was told last Friday: He probably won't be able to eat solid food for months. Getting his hopes dashed every day is taking its toll. If I see her today I may discuss that with her.

Now that I have gone on and on, I do have to say that being out of ICU is certainly a step in the right direction. We are praying that he can continue to improve and stay there. The last place we want to see him go is back to ICU!

Again, my friends... thanks for letting me ramble my thoughts here. I know you all keep saying that's what you are here for, but sometimes I feel like I am monopolizing the thread.

I hope everyone in the path of our next gift from Mother Nature will stay safe. I think our immediate area will miss the majority of this monster storm, but most of you are going to have to deal with it.

 

[bethbuchall]

Elin, I am glad to hear that he was able to be moved out of the ICU, but I'm sorry that everything is so difficult right now and that it will be for such a long time. I do like to hear your updates, though, and if there is anything that I could possibly do long-distance (except keep you all in my thoughts and prayers), please let me know. I do agree with you, though, that he probably needs to know that he won't be eating solid food for a long time. That constant dashing of his hopes has to be taking a toll. If he knew right out that it will be a long time and a lot of work, he'll be able to prepare for that. (Of course, what do I know...)

 

[Tammi67]

Elin, yay for moving day! Or night. I was wondering how things were going since I didn't hear from you yesterday. I'm hoping that he's turned a corner.

Enjoy your snow days everyone. Thankfully we seem to be missing this latest blast. We are to get the rains, and refreezing with the lower temps at night, but our daytime highs are in the mid to upper 40s for the next week. I can't wait for March!