I really do need to remember to update my blog more often. I took Donny for the endoscopy and we should get the results either the 5th or the 13th. I expect that all will be fine, but it's nice to have a doctor confirm it.
On Tuesday afternoon, as I was getting ready for Donny's appointment, my mom called me into the other room to talk to me. I go in and she tells me that she's having chest pains that radiate to her left. She wasn't sure if she needed to see a doctor. As I was working on convincing her to go to ER the nurse from her doctor's office called. After they talked to her doctor it was decided that she needed to go to ER. My uncle was getting ready to take my grandma to see her sister who's in the hospital, so I asked him to take my mom to the ER that she likes on his way out of town. I called my dad and arranged for him to meet her there since I couldn't go.
A few hours later I was waiting for Donny to finish his time in recovery so we could go home when my dad called to let me know what was going on. The doctors couldn't find anything wrong with my mom so they wanted to keep her overnight for observation. She would need her CPAP machine and was not wanting my dad to drive all the way home, pick it up, and drive all the way back again. I agreed to take it to her once I got Donny home since I wanted to go by and check on her anyway.
I got there and my mom was still in ER waiting for a room. My father and I both decided to sit with her for awhile. For some reason the ER had not yet put an IV in her, so when it was time to get her ready for a transfer they had to do that. My dad and I are both squeamish around needles, but for my dad it's almost a phobia, so you can imagine what that was like for us. It sounded like the nurse was finishing so my dad looked over, just in time to see the nurse pull the needle out. From where he was standing it looked like she broke the needle in my mom's hand, and you could see the blood drain from my dad's face. He sat down and recovered some of his color and then he left to go home.
When it was time to take my mom upstairs she decided to go in her wheelchair, so the transport was a lot less dramatic than you usually see. We got to her room and the ER guy helped her into bed and then he left. We sat there and visited for about a half hour before a nurse came in and acknowledged that there was now a patient in the room. I know nurses are busy people, but it seems to me that somebody could have poked their head in the door and said hello before then. Even if all they said was that her nurse would be with her shortly, at least we would have known that somebody on the floor was aware of our presence.
The nurse came in to do her part of the admit and she seemed like a really nice person. She asked all the questions that we expected and seemed to really know what she was doing. She changed my mom's wristband from the one that ER had given her to one that looked like it was designed to last a little longer. That's when she noticed that my mom hadn't been given an allergy bracelet. Since my mom has several drug allergies that cause her throat to close this is an important item. She said that she'd bring it in later. When I left around 11:00 it still hadn't happened.
The next day I went back to the hospital to pick my mom up and was still rather unimpressed with the nursing staff. My mom was told by the doctor around 9:30 that he would be discharging her. Somewhere around 10:00 the nurse stopped in for a moment and said that she'd be back shortly to start the discharge. I got there around 11:30 and the nurse hadn't been back yet. We waited patiently and about 15 minutes later the nurse came in to check on my mom. When my mom asked about the discharge you would have thought the nurse had never heard about it from her reaction. She checked the paperwork and said that the order was in there, then she left.
Somewhere around 12:30 the nurse popped in for a minute and my mom asked about getting her IV and heart monitor removed so that she could take a shower. The nurse talked to her for a minute and they decided that after lunch she would be discharged. Then the nurse said that she needed to go get gauze so she could remove my mom's IV. We didn't see her again until after lunch.
When the nurse finally came in and removed the IV my mom repeated that she needed to shower and the nurse seemed a little put out at the 5 minute delay, but went and got her some towels. After my mom showered we finished packing her up and the nurse came back to finish discharging her. It wasn't until the nurse said something that I realized that my mom's allergy bracelet was still in her chart, rather than on her arm. I was glad that we were leaving, since I started getting really angry at this point. It seems to me that there's a reason that allergy bracelets are used, and it was rather risky not putting one on somebody who has a lot of severe allergies. All in all, I was really disappointed with the hospital on this visit.
Now that mom's home things are settling down again. Which is nice since I seem to be fighting off a flu bug. I'm really hoping for a few more days of calm.
Friday, April 25, 2008
Friday, April 18, 2008
Just a note
It's 1:30 in the morning and I'm barely starting to unwind. I spent my day yesterday closing out my office. My manager, the most senior preparer and I met at 9:00 for breakfast and then we attacked the office. I didn't get done until a little after 7:00, and we didn't take any breaks. It was a long day.
I found out yesterday that I'm not getting hired to work off season. They had a lot of really experienced preparers apply, and seniority always counts. Today Donny and I looked at our finances and realized that we can actually afford for me to take the time off, so I'm not worried. I thought that I'd have to get a job at Burger King to make ends meet, but all is well. I'm really looking forward to the break.
Of course I'm not real good at relaxing, so it won't be long until my schedule is full again. Tomorrow (I guess it's actually today) I'm taking Donny to get the final fitting on his teeth. Last time we tried this he puked on the dentist, so I'm hoping for better results this time. Next Tuesday Donny's scheduled for an endoscopy. He's complained of black tarry stools off and on just enough for me to be worried, but not enough for me to be convinced that I'm right to worry. Which is why I'm thrilled that the liver doctor considers this a routine test for anyone with cirrhosis. The test was ordered and I don't have to look like an overreacting idiot for worrying about nothing.
I know that I thought of something earlier today that I wanted to blog about, but now I'm too damn tired to remember what it was. That must mean it's bedtime.
I found out yesterday that I'm not getting hired to work off season. They had a lot of really experienced preparers apply, and seniority always counts. Today Donny and I looked at our finances and realized that we can actually afford for me to take the time off, so I'm not worried. I thought that I'd have to get a job at Burger King to make ends meet, but all is well. I'm really looking forward to the break.
Of course I'm not real good at relaxing, so it won't be long until my schedule is full again. Tomorrow (I guess it's actually today) I'm taking Donny to get the final fitting on his teeth. Last time we tried this he puked on the dentist, so I'm hoping for better results this time. Next Tuesday Donny's scheduled for an endoscopy. He's complained of black tarry stools off and on just enough for me to be worried, but not enough for me to be convinced that I'm right to worry. Which is why I'm thrilled that the liver doctor considers this a routine test for anyone with cirrhosis. The test was ordered and I don't have to look like an overreacting idiot for worrying about nothing.
I know that I thought of something earlier today that I wanted to blog about, but now I'm too damn tired to remember what it was. That must mean it's bedtime.
Sunday, April 13, 2008
April 13th
I've been looking at the dates on my posts and realized that I've had nothing to say for a while. My job must be boring, since I don't even have any good work stories. That could explain the lack of tax blogs available. There really isn't anything exciting about taxes.
Although, the other day I was excited about a test I passed. We're required to do continuing education hours to get rehired next year and several of us started working on our hours already. There are a lot of courses available to us online and we'd do those when things were slow. By taking the same classes we've been able to help each other pass.
There's a preparer in my office who this was her ninth season and she'd been helping all of us. She decided that one of the courses that she wanted to take was unitary theory. This is something that you see mostly with big corporations and is considered a rather advanced class. Half of the text for the class is just citing which court cases had decided the issues. It was not easy to read. This experienced preparer had taken the test a couple of times and couldn't pass it, so she decided to challenge me to see if I could do it. I passed it on the first try. I printed out my results and left them on her desk for her, I was so proud. (I still don't understand any of it, but I passed the test!)
Tax season is almost over and it's a little sad for me. I've become friends with my coworkers and now I won't be seeing them on a regular basis. If the statistics aren't lying then one or two of us won't be back next year. It'll be different and I don't want different. I don't like change, the unknown is my biggest fear. This is strange for me.
One last bit of advice, if you haven't done your taxes yet, HURRY UP!!! There are only two days left if you want to get the rebate that everybody is talking about. Quit dragging your feet and get it done. If you need help, just ask. I love answering questions because it shows me how much I've learned, and how much I have yet to learn.
Although, the other day I was excited about a test I passed. We're required to do continuing education hours to get rehired next year and several of us started working on our hours already. There are a lot of courses available to us online and we'd do those when things were slow. By taking the same classes we've been able to help each other pass.
There's a preparer in my office who this was her ninth season and she'd been helping all of us. She decided that one of the courses that she wanted to take was unitary theory. This is something that you see mostly with big corporations and is considered a rather advanced class. Half of the text for the class is just citing which court cases had decided the issues. It was not easy to read. This experienced preparer had taken the test a couple of times and couldn't pass it, so she decided to challenge me to see if I could do it. I passed it on the first try. I printed out my results and left them on her desk for her, I was so proud. (I still don't understand any of it, but I passed the test!)
Tax season is almost over and it's a little sad for me. I've become friends with my coworkers and now I won't be seeing them on a regular basis. If the statistics aren't lying then one or two of us won't be back next year. It'll be different and I don't want different. I don't like change, the unknown is my biggest fear. This is strange for me.
One last bit of advice, if you haven't done your taxes yet, HURRY UP!!! There are only two days left if you want to get the rebate that everybody is talking about. Quit dragging your feet and get it done. If you need help, just ask. I love answering questions because it shows me how much I've learned, and how much I have yet to learn.
Thursday, April 03, 2008
Improvements
This was supposed to post last night, but due to technical problems that didn't happen.
Things started looking up today. I went to the doctor with my grandma and there's no blood clot in her leg. Apparently the swelling is just the normal post-op fluid build up. So she has to wear support hose and keep elevating her legs. The good news was that her kidney function is up to 80%. This is higher than we thought we'd get it, so it's really wonderful news.
The doctor has released grandma to return to physical therapy. The guy who was doing her therapy at home signed her out of his care when she had to stop because of her leg swelling. So instead of getting her back on with that guy she's being sent to a place here in town. The nice thing is that it's the same physical therapist that my mom's doctor is sending her to, so they can get appointments at the same time and save trips.
My mom's liver test came back and they're saying that the whole problem is the weight. As it comes off her liver should improve. Her kidney test is back and they told my mom to drink lots of water and she'll be fine. Again, true improvement won't happen until the weight comes off, but the water will keep her okay in the mean time. This pancreas test came back fine, so they're running another one. If the tests continue to be all over the place then more in depth testing will be done. All in all, I'm not so freaked out about her health now, it's all fixable.
Donny has agreed to continue seeing his regular doctor. I don't know if he came to his senses, or if he's just tired of fighting with me, but I won this round. I called them today for an appointment and when I mentioned that he's having black tarry stools there was suddenly an opening tomorrow morning. I finally feel like we might be able to get him back on track.
This latest ordeal with Donny got me thinking. He absolutely refuses to see the truth about himself in some areas. He has this ideal person set in his mind as to who he wants to be and there's no convincing him that he's different. Realizing that I started wondering if I truly see who I am. I try to be honest with myself, but am I successful? Do I see the truth about myself? And if I don't, would I like the things that I don't see? Are they good or bad? It's something to ponder.
Things started looking up today. I went to the doctor with my grandma and there's no blood clot in her leg. Apparently the swelling is just the normal post-op fluid build up. So she has to wear support hose and keep elevating her legs. The good news was that her kidney function is up to 80%. This is higher than we thought we'd get it, so it's really wonderful news.
The doctor has released grandma to return to physical therapy. The guy who was doing her therapy at home signed her out of his care when she had to stop because of her leg swelling. So instead of getting her back on with that guy she's being sent to a place here in town. The nice thing is that it's the same physical therapist that my mom's doctor is sending her to, so they can get appointments at the same time and save trips.
My mom's liver test came back and they're saying that the whole problem is the weight. As it comes off her liver should improve. Her kidney test is back and they told my mom to drink lots of water and she'll be fine. Again, true improvement won't happen until the weight comes off, but the water will keep her okay in the mean time. This pancreas test came back fine, so they're running another one. If the tests continue to be all over the place then more in depth testing will be done. All in all, I'm not so freaked out about her health now, it's all fixable.
Donny has agreed to continue seeing his regular doctor. I don't know if he came to his senses, or if he's just tired of fighting with me, but I won this round. I called them today for an appointment and when I mentioned that he's having black tarry stools there was suddenly an opening tomorrow morning. I finally feel like we might be able to get him back on track.
This latest ordeal with Donny got me thinking. He absolutely refuses to see the truth about himself in some areas. He has this ideal person set in his mind as to who he wants to be and there's no convincing him that he's different. Realizing that I started wondering if I truly see who I am. I try to be honest with myself, but am I successful? Do I see the truth about myself? And if I don't, would I like the things that I don't see? Are they good or bad? It's something to ponder.
Monday, March 31, 2008
Update
I've been promising myself that I'd take the time for an update, but it's been way too long. My grandchildren came and left again. It was great to see them. We had a lot of fun. There's even talk of a return visit in a few months.
Last week I was having a morning at home when the phone rang. It was my mom's doctor calling to give her some test results. Not a receptionist or a nurse, but the doctor. Mom wasn't home so I gave the doctor her cell number. When the doctor is willing to take the time to track you down you know it's not good. I waited a few minutes and then I called my mom.
I was right, the news wasn't any good. It appears that my mom's kidneys, liver, and pancreas are all having problems. The extent of the problems aren't clear right now, more tests had to be ran. Tomorrow she sees the doctor to get those results. She's also being sent to specialists to get everything taken care of. I'm really worried about her.
Things with Donny aren't going too well either. Last Friday he had an appointment to see the doctor. I was planning to ask about getting his morphine prescription changed to a form that the insurance will cover. Right now we have to pay out of pocket to get him any and we can't afford it. There were some other questions that I had for the doctor too. It was a really important visit.
Friday morning Donny decided to inform me that he wasn't going to his appointment. He's decided to change doctors since this one's not doing anything for him except shoving pills down his throat. I tried to explain that there's nothing left to do besides use medication to keep him comfortable and his symptoms under control. He just doesn't get that there are no more tests, no more treatments.
I really think that the real reason for not going to the appointment is because he's drinking again and he doesn't want to get yelled at for it by his doctor. He knows that our doctor will take the pain killers away if he finds out about the alcohol. The drinking is bad again and he doesn't want to hear about it.
The latest bit of idiocy that I think will put Donny in the hospital though is his insistence that he just stop taking morphine. He says that he doesn't want to be addicted to it. He's been on the stuff for 2 years now, I think he's a little late on that one. And at this point, what does it matter if he is addicted to morphine? The doctor is willing to let him have it for the rest of his life, so I don't see the problem.
Speaking about the rest of his life, his latest thing is to tell me that he's dying soon. He usually says it when he's trying to get me to do what he wants. If I want to leave the room when he wants me to sit there he'll be sure to let me know that we don't have much longer together. And he loves to tell me how if I were the one about to die that you wouldn't be able to get him away from me. He is a master at guilt trips.
Also, this weekend my uncle moved in with us. It's supposed to be a temporary deal, but there's no time limit or anything. Donny's dealing well with it, which was my biggest concern. Everybody gets on my nerves at some point, so I know I'll be complaining about him at some point in the future, but right now it's been fairly smooth sailing. He's helping take care of grandma, and today he did the dishes for me. That's almost enough to classify him as a superhero in my book.
Well, I think that's all the current stuff. I'm sure there will be more soon.
Last week I was having a morning at home when the phone rang. It was my mom's doctor calling to give her some test results. Not a receptionist or a nurse, but the doctor. Mom wasn't home so I gave the doctor her cell number. When the doctor is willing to take the time to track you down you know it's not good. I waited a few minutes and then I called my mom.
I was right, the news wasn't any good. It appears that my mom's kidneys, liver, and pancreas are all having problems. The extent of the problems aren't clear right now, more tests had to be ran. Tomorrow she sees the doctor to get those results. She's also being sent to specialists to get everything taken care of. I'm really worried about her.
Things with Donny aren't going too well either. Last Friday he had an appointment to see the doctor. I was planning to ask about getting his morphine prescription changed to a form that the insurance will cover. Right now we have to pay out of pocket to get him any and we can't afford it. There were some other questions that I had for the doctor too. It was a really important visit.
Friday morning Donny decided to inform me that he wasn't going to his appointment. He's decided to change doctors since this one's not doing anything for him except shoving pills down his throat. I tried to explain that there's nothing left to do besides use medication to keep him comfortable and his symptoms under control. He just doesn't get that there are no more tests, no more treatments.
I really think that the real reason for not going to the appointment is because he's drinking again and he doesn't want to get yelled at for it by his doctor. He knows that our doctor will take the pain killers away if he finds out about the alcohol. The drinking is bad again and he doesn't want to hear about it.
The latest bit of idiocy that I think will put Donny in the hospital though is his insistence that he just stop taking morphine. He says that he doesn't want to be addicted to it. He's been on the stuff for 2 years now, I think he's a little late on that one. And at this point, what does it matter if he is addicted to morphine? The doctor is willing to let him have it for the rest of his life, so I don't see the problem.
Speaking about the rest of his life, his latest thing is to tell me that he's dying soon. He usually says it when he's trying to get me to do what he wants. If I want to leave the room when he wants me to sit there he'll be sure to let me know that we don't have much longer together. And he loves to tell me how if I were the one about to die that you wouldn't be able to get him away from me. He is a master at guilt trips.
Also, this weekend my uncle moved in with us. It's supposed to be a temporary deal, but there's no time limit or anything. Donny's dealing well with it, which was my biggest concern. Everybody gets on my nerves at some point, so I know I'll be complaining about him at some point in the future, but right now it's been fairly smooth sailing. He's helping take care of grandma, and today he did the dishes for me. That's almost enough to classify him as a superhero in my book.
Well, I think that's all the current stuff. I'm sure there will be more soon.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Excitement
Part of the problem with posting is that I feel like nothing exciting ever happens in my life. I go to work and then I come home and take care of Donny. What is there to talk about? I suppose I could regale you with stories from work, but how excited do you get about taxes? My profession is one that I have never seen a movie about.
Last night there was finally some excitement in my life. As I sat here playing on the computer last night I heard a loud boom. At first I was going to ignore it, but then I got worried about Donny. What if something happened and he went outside to investigate and got hurt? So I went to check.
When I opened my front door I was rather surprised to see that somebody was having a bonfire on the street. And they were using crazy Dan's car for fuel instead of wood. It was an impressive sight. The car was completely engulfed in flames.
Once I saw Donny was okay I called 911 to report that a car had just exploded across the street from me. Then I went to watch, but Donny wouldn't let me go outside because he was worried that the gas tank would explode. So I stood at the door and watched for a few minutes, then I headed outside.
Despite being told that the fire department was on it's way, and being warned about the dangers, crazy Dan grabbed his hose and started trying to put out the car. When it became obvious that he wasn't going to listen I had Donny get our hose and go help him. (I was starting to worry about the fire spreading.)
By the time that the first police officer arrived they had the fire under control. Donny asked the officer to grab an extinguisher and go help them, but he never did. By the time that the fire department got there the fire was down to a few hot spots. The firemen coated everything in their chemical stuff and made sure that there were no hot spots and then they left. They probably spent a total of 5 minutes on the car.
The police are still investigating, but right now they think that some kids did it. The lady that lives with crazy Dan is pretty sure that it's gang related. Her daughter's boyfriend, who happens to live there, flies red. The house two doors down from us flies blue. She's sure that they did it. I'm sure that this is going to get ugly.
I've decided that I don't need excitement in my life. Not when it's like this.
Last night there was finally some excitement in my life. As I sat here playing on the computer last night I heard a loud boom. At first I was going to ignore it, but then I got worried about Donny. What if something happened and he went outside to investigate and got hurt? So I went to check.
When I opened my front door I was rather surprised to see that somebody was having a bonfire on the street. And they were using crazy Dan's car for fuel instead of wood. It was an impressive sight. The car was completely engulfed in flames.
Once I saw Donny was okay I called 911 to report that a car had just exploded across the street from me. Then I went to watch, but Donny wouldn't let me go outside because he was worried that the gas tank would explode. So I stood at the door and watched for a few minutes, then I headed outside.
Despite being told that the fire department was on it's way, and being warned about the dangers, crazy Dan grabbed his hose and started trying to put out the car. When it became obvious that he wasn't going to listen I had Donny get our hose and go help him. (I was starting to worry about the fire spreading.)
By the time that the first police officer arrived they had the fire under control. Donny asked the officer to grab an extinguisher and go help them, but he never did. By the time that the fire department got there the fire was down to a few hot spots. The firemen coated everything in their chemical stuff and made sure that there were no hot spots and then they left. They probably spent a total of 5 minutes on the car.
The police are still investigating, but right now they think that some kids did it. The lady that lives with crazy Dan is pretty sure that it's gang related. Her daughter's boyfriend, who happens to live there, flies red. The house two doors down from us flies blue. She's sure that they did it. I'm sure that this is going to get ugly.
I've decided that I don't need excitement in my life. Not when it's like this.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Oops
When I posted yesterday I wasn't really thinking about the fact that my mom reads my blog. It didn't occur to me until she came out of the office with suspiciously wet eyes and told me to get dressed. I wasn't given a choice, I was going out.
We went and saw 27 Dresses. It was really funny. It was nice to laugh again. Then we went out to dinner at IHOP. Talk about comfort food! After that a trip to WalMart and then we headed home. (It was about midnight at this point, home was the only place left to go.) I hadn't realized until last night how long it had been since I'd played. I really enjoyed myself.
My mom explained to Donny that she was concerned about depression and so she wanted to take me out. We thought that it was best not to tell him how bad things were because he doesn't handle that kind of stuff well. But this morning things hit the point that I had to tell him what's going on. It was a nice surprise when he responded in a loving and supportive manner. I know that he loves me, but in the past he's dealt with this type of situation very poorly. I really didn't expect much out of him. It's been a good surprise.
It's nice to know that I can admit to being human and people won't think I'm awful. I put a lot of pressure on myself to be perfect and I wind up thinking that's what everyone expects of me also. I'm not perfect and I don't think I ever will be. I fail people sometimes. I forget things, even important things. I struggle to balance my time between work, the people that I love and taking care of myself. I'm a work in progress, but I think that I'm improving. I hope to be like a fine wine and just improve with age.
For now I'm just human, and prone to human mistakes. Maybe someday I'll achieve perfection, maybe not. One thing that I know for sure is that along the way I'll need reminded that it's okay to be imperfect. Thank you for helping me remember that.
We went and saw 27 Dresses. It was really funny. It was nice to laugh again. Then we went out to dinner at IHOP. Talk about comfort food! After that a trip to WalMart and then we headed home. (It was about midnight at this point, home was the only place left to go.) I hadn't realized until last night how long it had been since I'd played. I really enjoyed myself.
My mom explained to Donny that she was concerned about depression and so she wanted to take me out. We thought that it was best not to tell him how bad things were because he doesn't handle that kind of stuff well. But this morning things hit the point that I had to tell him what's going on. It was a nice surprise when he responded in a loving and supportive manner. I know that he loves me, but in the past he's dealt with this type of situation very poorly. I really didn't expect much out of him. It's been a good surprise.
It's nice to know that I can admit to being human and people won't think I'm awful. I put a lot of pressure on myself to be perfect and I wind up thinking that's what everyone expects of me also. I'm not perfect and I don't think I ever will be. I fail people sometimes. I forget things, even important things. I struggle to balance my time between work, the people that I love and taking care of myself. I'm a work in progress, but I think that I'm improving. I hope to be like a fine wine and just improve with age.
For now I'm just human, and prone to human mistakes. Maybe someday I'll achieve perfection, maybe not. One thing that I know for sure is that along the way I'll need reminded that it's okay to be imperfect. Thank you for helping me remember that.
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