Debra from Olde Cape Cod Posted October 2, 2014 Share Posted October 2, 2014 Oh Kathie! I will be praying for you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CheckMouse Posted October 2, 2014 Share Posted October 2, 2014 Jeremy - keeping you in my prayers for a good job for you. I know it's been very frustrating for you. Kathie - trust that all is benign and be-gone! My seasonal work is slowing way down that the County Fairs are over. Home shows are shorter and sparser. Just found out that we may not be able to get back into the huge Gift and Holiday Show we usually do in October. It's one of my favorite shows and it's when I get most of my Christmas shopping done for the grandchildren. My boss is still trying to negotiate our way back in. I'd hate to have to go as a tourist! I much prefer to be paid to be there, and have 5 days to scout out every booth Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roxxie2 Posted October 2, 2014 Share Posted October 2, 2014 Posted Yesterday, 08:41 AM Hey Roxy--I had a recent root canal and applied for CareCredit. You can pay for medical or dental bills for up to 18 months with no interest. Really helped my budget... Thanks Debra...The thing is, I live with a dentist and he can't help me at all Very Frustrating!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KathieB Posted October 3, 2014 Share Posted October 3, 2014 Just back from hospital for colonoscopy. Golf ball sized growth removed. Doctor optimistic that it will be benign. Will know more after follow-up next week. The hospital has a patient portal on line, through which one can see all the reports, etc. I checked this morning and learned (with a little help from Google) that the biopsy result is negative. Can't imagine the doctor will have anything ugly to report. This patient portal is a really good thing. I used to ask for hard copies of all reports, but now they are on line and can be printed as needed. For those of us who spend half the year away from our primary care physicians, this is a great good resource. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chapchap73 Posted October 3, 2014 Share Posted October 3, 2014 Kathie, That is good news!!!! I have to have an errands out day when of course I would much rather be mini-ing At least, I get to stop at Michael's to check out their mini-Christmas stuff 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesterfieldzoo Posted October 3, 2014 Share Posted October 3, 2014 Lowes has all their plants on sale for 75% off. I filled my truck with plants. Now I have to find help to get them in the ground before winter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pdlnpeabody Posted October 3, 2014 Share Posted October 3, 2014 I went to the doctor this morning after my DW insisted I get my leg checked out. I brushed a small spider off of my ankle on Saturday and about an hour later, I noticed a swollen spot where the spider met it's demise. Over the past few days the spot has grown, turned dark red and itched like crazy. I knew it wasn't a brown recluse bite (or at most, a mild one), but it spread up my leg, so I made the appointment. The doc thinks it's just inflammation from the venom. I'm hoping the cold front coming through cools things off enough to keep the creepy crawlies at bay for a few days while I work on the yard. We also started buying the kids gifts for our anniversary day in December. We don't observe popular holidays, but we do throw parties for almost any reason at random times throughout the year. The only one that sticks to a hard date is our wedding anniversary. It lands in the middle of the month and is low-key, so we all have fun. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Selkie Posted October 3, 2014 Share Posted October 3, 2014 yikes on that spider bite. Be careful. I spent more than 4 months getting over one. I have an ugly scar to this day. The crazy thing grew and grew and oozed and oozed. My MD tried everything imaginable. It was totally nasty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted October 4, 2014 Share Posted October 4, 2014 We are home from our hiking/ camping trip to the Conecuh National Forest. We hiked a double loop about three miles the first day and my short boots are headed OUT; the toe box turned out to be too tight with hiking socks and it looks like I'll be losing a toenail. Yesterday we did a longer hike and I wore the pair of hiking sandals that haven't started separating from their soles yet. This time I got a bit over two miles through the woods and wimped out at the second road crossing; it was four miles back to the trailhead, but on the flats without tree roots or pine cones to step over. The big problem was, of course, my left knee, which has been crapping out since late May. I wore a brace on it Weds that did the trick; only yesterday was more humid and it got soaked with perspiration and stretched beyond usefulness. Ah, well, live and learn. The campground we stayed in has four loops and for the first day and a half we were the only campers besides the hosts. One other unit arrived and tuned out to belong to one of the newest members of our local Florida Trail chapter, there for the same reason we sere, to prepare for the Panhandle Trace Hike a week from tomorrow. It's always fun to make new friends. Before we left our computer was showing signs of dying, so we unplugged it and left it. When we got home today I plugged it back in and let it run its diagnostic and when nothing had happened after three hours we went to the 'puter store and bought a pretty new one. The old one had shut itself down after it finally finished its diagnostic and when I turned it back on it said it couldn't fix itself, should I try again? So DH tried again and nothing happened. I see that the emoticons are once more animated on our new machine Kathie, I'm glad to hear your results were negative. Our medical center has recently begun to use the Patient Portal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kat57 Posted October 4, 2014 Share Posted October 4, 2014 Kathie,when I read your 1st entry,about having to wait and see about the results,I felt a twinge for you,since I know how that is,but when I scrolled down and read the good news I let out a big happy laugh for you-so,so glad it's benign! My cancer center has the online patient portal,too,only mine didn't start until after I was diagnosed over at the breast center and then had my first visit with the radiologist and chemotherapist. But I do like being able to see my stats and blood work where I can go back and keep up with it. My potassium was low this time,so they put me on a giant pill twice a day that I can hardly swallow. After reading my numbers I'll gladly get that monster down! lol Plus,I think it's already making me feel better. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KathieB Posted October 4, 2014 Share Posted October 4, 2014 Kat, there's a handy device called a pill splitter for those horse-sized pills. But here's hoping you won't have to be taking them very long. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted October 4, 2014 Share Posted October 4, 2014 My calcium citrate pills I got this last time are ginormous gel cap type things, so no splitting; but they're ultra slick and long ovals, so they go down with lots of water. Sometimes a spoonful of applesauce or Ensure pudding helps. Quiet day today catching up on the laundry and repacking the camper for this next week. We couldn't get a site at the state park along the hike route where we usually stay, until the second day, so we're going over to a state forest campground on the first day's hike route this Thursday, after my appointment for my physical. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Selkie Posted October 4, 2014 Share Posted October 4, 2014 Kat, there's a handy device called a pill splitter for those horse-sized pills. But here's hoping you won't have to be taking them very long. My potassium was low this time,so they put me on a giant pill twice a day that I can hardly swallow. After reading my numbers I'll gladly get that monster down! lol Plus,I think it's already making me feel better. Just a caution on potassium pills. Some are designed to dissolve slowly in the intestine and release gradually throughout the day and then you expel the outer pill form. You are NOT ever supposed to cut them. You can get serious side effects from receiving too much too fast. Please check with your MD to find out which kind you have before cutting them so you are safe. It's a good general rule to ask about anyway as there are others that are not supposed to be cut. I only say this because I had a bit of a disaster with some that I had to take and wouldn't want anyone else to experience that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted October 4, 2014 Share Posted October 4, 2014 There should be instructions on the label. Rule of thumb; if there is no score line on the pill it should NOT be cut. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KathieB Posted October 4, 2014 Share Posted October 4, 2014 News to me about pill cutting! I only knew that one shouldn't cut pills into two doses, as the medicine may not be distributed equally throughout the tablet, so dosages would not be equal. (Although the VA prescribes 20 mg tabs to be cut because it's cheaper to send 30 20mg tabs than 60 10 mg tabs. Go figure.) Anyway, thanks for the heads-up, Selkie. I really should stop dispensing medical advice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kat57 Posted October 5, 2014 Share Posted October 5, 2014 Kathie,Holly,Selkie: All very,very good advice! As for myself,I've had my pill splitter for years and love it when applicable! I am a fanatic about reading labels! But am surprised that even so,I missed a little something that I only discovered today. My potassium prescription is Klor-Con M20,2 tablets a day,and is scored,(I just break it with my fingers) and on the label it says 2 tablets every day. The bottle is also labeled: "Do not crush or chew before swallowing;Take this medication with plenty of water;Do not lie down for 10 minutes after taking this medication." (I swallow it either in halves or whole with water,or I get it started down with a bit of jello before drinking the water.) What I had missed before that is NOT on the bottle: 2 other directions on a section of the paperwork that looks like sticky back labels: "Take with a meal. Read label carefully for how many times to take each day";and "May dissolve in water.Stir-swallow.Rinse down w/water.Do not chew pieces." Fortunately,missing these didn't affect my case this time,but I had not seen them,even though these particular instructions were perforated like they were supposed to be stuck on the bottle and are on a blue background instead of white. In addiction,of course,is the patient instructions sheet(Used to be called the package insert,eons ago.). As a caregiver, I automatically always,always read these before taking medicine or giving anyone medications. EVERYONE,please always do so! My patient instructions also say one can break the scored tablet in half and swallow each half with a full glass of water and also gives exact detailed instructions for dissolving the pills-a specific length of time to dissolve the pill in a specific amount of water and stir for a specific amount of seconds,THEN, you add a specific amount of water to the empty glass,swirl and drink the pill remnants and repeat again... That,of course is too much for me,but it's important to know for someone else who may have to do that to get the medicine down,so it can do it's job. Well,you can't say they don't give you thorough information! It's up to the individual to take the time to read everything and follow what they say,if you want to get the proper dose and for the medicine to do it's job. I don't mean to run on so much about this and may should have recorded it in Bad News Kat instead,but I just want to do my good deed for the day and to remind everyone to be very careful when taking medicines or giving any kind of medicine,even if you've had it before-things can and do change! Working with the last 2 clients I took care of,mother and then daughter,I was shocked at how the family members,including a nurse,hardly ever looked at the patient instructions first when my clients may have started a new medicine or new form of a current one on my days off-When I got back to work I had to hunt down the info and check it out-so many times they had not been giving the medicines anywhere near how the instructions stated!! Fortunately,in those cases,no real harm was ever done,but it could have been! Had either one been on heart or diabetic meds,for example...shudder! But,as we are saying here,even Potassium has to be given properly! Well,I guess you can see what I have been up today!lol But,I am enjoying the eye candy and reading about dollhousing,even though I don't feel up to anything hands on yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted October 5, 2014 Share Posted October 5, 2014 Kat, never apologize for giving med info! Pills that are scored (have a line indented across the diameter) can be cut or scored because the medication is evenly distributed throughout the pill. If there is no score, the medicine in it is not evenly distributed and you could take one half and get nearly no medicine; and get a double whammy in the other half. If a med is not to be crushed or chewed its because its ingredients aren't supposed to be released in the mouth but in the stomach or further down the digestive system. Always, always read the labels and info sheets that come with your meds, even the stuff you buy over the counter without a prescription. ALL meds have side effects, and ALL meds interact with other meds and it isn't always nice. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KathieB Posted October 5, 2014 Share Posted October 5, 2014 In 17 days we leave Missouri for the Big Easy by way of a wedding south of Chicago. I am beginning to panic. The Things to Do Before We Leave list is way too long. Today I'm going to concentrate on sorting out paperwork and files in the office and loading the traveling file cabinet. Then there is the garden to button up for the winter just a little too early (no frost yet), house details to get sorted (tree trimmer, finish painting new exterior doors, finish unplanned bathroom remodel, etc.), finish the work on the hospital's dollhouse (they still haven't built a cart, so we haven't been able to install it), organize craft tools for the move (L keeps "borrowing" tools from my dedicated miniatures tool box), plus assorted doctor visits for both of us (routine checks, thank goodness we're both relatively healthy!). (Edit: And sometime in there will be a 4-day period while our house is having new siding installed. How could I have forgotten that? Plus I need to deal with a bedspread that L's mother embroidered about 80 years ago to save the embroidery for a quilted wall hanging. The fabric is quite stained, so it needs to be stabilized and soaked in vintage cloth stain remover.) I think I'll list this all on a whiteboard so I can erase it as it gets done, break it down into inches, as it were, as by the yard it's feeling impossible. Feeling overwhelmed in the Heartland. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted October 5, 2014 Share Posted October 5, 2014 I'm getting exhausted just reading about it! I washed clothes & linens all day yesterday and we started repacking the Littler House on the Highway for the upcoming nine-day hike. My right big tow still has inflammation & itch from last Wednesday's hike in the toe-pinching boots, but beginning to look & feel slightly better as I began H2O2 soaks last night. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grazhina Posted October 5, 2014 Share Posted October 5, 2014 I signed up for free trials on genealogical sites this week. It's amazing how many men came from various countries all bearing the same first & last name as my Grandfather, including his brother. My great grandfather had 2 sons with the same first name, both after him, kind of like George Foreman named all his boys George. I find it interesting how often some of the relations I found went back and forth from the US and Lithuania. I'd been puzzled for years by one man who had to be a relative of mine, but I couldn't figure out how. It hit me today. the data matches up for him to be my dad's uncle. they just spelled his name wrong on one of the ship's manifests. They never spelled the name of the village they came from right, so that's always deciphering on my part. He's one who went back and forth at least 4 times. I even found the ship's passenger list with my grandparents and their 2 oldest boys going back to Lithuania in 1913 for a visit. The boys' names and ages were mixed up. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KathieB Posted October 5, 2014 Share Posted October 5, 2014 I signed up for free trials on genealogical sites this week. Uh, oh ... say goodbye to Grazhina for a while! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted October 5, 2014 Share Posted October 5, 2014 A lot of that info is from different branches of families, too. I remember one site gave my father's brother's wife's name as my father's first wife; when I sent the person posting the correction (my mothers name) I gat a very nasty reply that I didn't know what I was talking about. Our middle son is the family genealogist on a well-advertised site and he won't post any info without at least two independent references. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grazhina Posted October 5, 2014 Share Posted October 5, 2014 Uh, oh ... say goodbye to Grazhina for a while! I'm a fast reader and frankly, there's still not much to find. I looked a couple of years ago, and haven't found much more this time except for the shining moments of grandad taking the wife and kids home for a visit and a mention of my grandparents' marriage. Of course, Grandma's last name was spelled wrong but it was close enough for me to know it was her. A lot of that info is from different branches of families, too. I've only found my surname in family lists 3 times. One turned out to be a cousin in Lithuania (he didn't know much either), a member of my godmother's family (she was my dad's second cousin or something, I forget), and some guy looking for relatives in Austria or Poland and of no interest to me. Genealogy became a fad with Lithuanian-Americans a few years ago. They were all hunting for royal ancestry. I'm quite sure I have none - just farmers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Debra from Olde Cape Cod Posted October 5, 2014 Share Posted October 5, 2014 Mine came over from England and were a bunch of whalers out in Chatham.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparklepuppies Posted October 6, 2014 Share Posted October 6, 2014 We are very lucky, my dad's great-aunt actually wrote and published a book about our family, telling the story about her parents who founded a town, and telling of all the family and a little about them. My name actually just made it in there, as it was published the year I was born. There are pictures of a lot of the people, and even a neat family tree from each of her parents. Cool to see the resemblance in some of the people. Unfortunately, it is written entirely in Icelandic, and we can't read it. We can make out bits and pieces, like the part about my grandmother "marrying an Amerikan man", and my dad going to "Georgia Tek". We did some garage cleaning today, took 2 full truckloads to goodwill. You can't hardly tell though, seems those spaces got filled right back up as we were moving things around. It's progress though. Our renovation is still at a standstill. I think I do finally have the leak under control in Anslee's room. Hopefully next weekend I can finish up filling up holes that were cut to find leak, and mudding. Daddy told me tonight he talked to the guy that's working on the bathroom, and he would call me to tell me what he said. Guess he fell asleep, as I haven't heard, but I'm sure he'll tell me what's going on tomorrow. That will be huge to get done, as the bathroom (and 2 bedrooms) was torn up in January. I so want to get all this done so I can put those rooms back together, and get the stuff out of my garage! Lawson took his final driving lesson this week (first 2 were 2 years ago!), and she said he is ready. I hope to get his license this week, and also get Brennen's learner's. I can't believe I have to start all over with the driving thing again already! I'm scared to death for Lawson to drive, but at the same time I'll be glad. It's time, he was 18 in April. He's even got a car that my sweet MIL bought him a couple weeks ago. He's got a job, it sure will be nice to not have to take him, although most of the time we are going to the same place... And when he starts school in January, he can get to the park and ride (he's not ready to drive in downtown Atlanta yet). I've also been doing a lot of baby shopping for the new grand baby. Which, by the way, is a boy! She lives 3 hours away, so me and mama are giving her a shower up here, in about 6 weeks. Still pretty early, but that is the latest the doctor wants her driving this far. Which means she won't be home for Christmas, and maybe not Thanksgiving either. Pretty soon I will need to switch to Christmas shopping mode, so I'm glad I started baby shopping early. Now we are in shower planning mode, that is going to drive me insane. I need to start figuring out what I am going to make, of grifts and food. Mama hired someone to do the cupcakes. My feelings are a little hurt, because I ALWAYS do the cakes and stuff for everything, but I guess now that's one less thing I have to do. Holly, hope you have a great trip! Kathie, good luck with that list. Not sure when you will sleep... And Jeremy, I'm still thinking about you and your job hunt. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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