Weird Weather of '09!! ....... #4

Thanks for the info Shelly, I will make sure we get very specific instructions for her.....I think things should go pretty well...she is definitely motivated to follow instructions.This is the Doctor who did my husbands emergency hip replacement, and according to some of our Doctor friends he is one of the best around.....has people driving up from California and Nevada to see him. With his hip replacement, Bill was walking the next morning, back at work in less than five days and back on the bike in less than a month.......we have friends who used a different doctor for basically the same surgery and were on crutches for over three months and still have problems. Bill has no problems at all with the replacement....the other one gives him trouble occasionally.

I am about to fall asleep on the keyboard so think I had better call it a night. Thanks for the input, I do appreciate the info.

Thanks Judi I will pass the info on to mom, it will make her very happy.....my brother had his done also and it worked out well for him.....but she worries a lot about it, after all she is only 80....but before this she was getting around better than I do!!

Night everyone, maybe I will be awake next time I am on!

Good night!

Morning everyone!
Welcome Mortswife! We are a very interesting group at times, and talk about everything under the sun!
Trisha, I hope the surgery works for your mom and she gets back on her feet again (pun intended)!
Boy do I feel like an idiot, all this time I thought I lived in zone 5b turns out I live in ZONE 5A!!!
Susan

This message was edited Feb 11, 2009 9:29 AM

This message was edited Feb 11, 2009 9:30 AM

Thanks Susan....I do too, all I hear is "I will be so glad when I can drive again!"......think she doesn't like MY driving??......actually I still drive her most of the time even when she can drive...it is just knowing she can get out whenever she wants....I know the feeling. I don't go out all that much but if I don't have my car I can think of a dozen things that I really NEED to do!! We are funny creatures aren't we?

Good News!!!! Laura and Sean put a deposit on a duplex about six blocks from me this morning!!!!! Going the other direction is the High School, the Football stadium then the Elementary that Sage will go to.......they will be three blocks from the little neighborhood store, there is a major bus stop almost in their front yard.....walking distance to Safeway and several eating establishments..... It isn't as large as they would have liked, and the yard is small and predominately Shade garden, but she can landscape/garden pretty much as she wants and it is $600 per month less than what they are currently paying!!!! This is definitely going to take a huge stress load off of them.....and they got their car out of the repair shop this week.....the world is looking much brighter today....we may get back to semi normal around here before too long.

and we even have Sunshine!!!! Still awfully cold out but do love the sun!! Got three inches of snow yesterday....it stopped and melted just slightly during early evening then got down to around 29 overnight.....skating rink out this morning....at least Bill is working the late shift today so wasn't bad by the time he left. Sounds like we will have lows in the upper thirties highs in the forties for the rest of the week....at least until the next weather report!

Hi, all. I've got to learn not to click on this before I'm done... It's snowing still, yet, ever,again, all day, etc. THIS TOO SHALL PASS! I'm so frustrated I ordered some AV leaves this morning from Drew's. Well, I have to know who's best, don't I!?
To you folks in Bend: any recommendations for AVs, episcias, and begonias? I stopped at Cascade Gardens the last time I was up there, and they were reopening in March. I go up there regularly on business so I can shopalot.:-)

Trisha- What wonderful news about Laura, Sean and Sage! Glad to hear that your mom is feeling better and is on the mend. I am soooooo ready for this snow to go away!

Hi Rachael, me too....on all counts!

Tomorrow is going to be a long day.....if we make it through the weekend...keeping mom off her feet as much as possible....we should be on our way....it is going to take a bit longer than she thinks...but we will get through it!

Be so glad to get them moved and settled so we can all go back to having a little fun for a change.......we have so many projects we need to work on.....

Trisha,
Good luck tomorrow and please tell your mother that we are thinking about her. Maybe the surgeon can give her something to help her sleep so she will stay down for a few days. I was given vicoden & crutches - which was a very bad combo for me! Totally stoned on crutches, not a good idea.

And congratulations on the duplex find! Great news for all of you.

Mom says thank you and sounds like she doesn't want Vicoden and Crutches!

Great news, Trisha. Give mom my hugs and tell her I tie my mom down, so she doesn't want me coming out there. LOL
Yippee to Laura and crew. What a relief that is for her.

Thanks Jan, mom has been surprised and really appreciates all the well wishes from our DG friends......if I could ever get her on a computer I think she would love it....but nope...doesn't want anything to do with 'em......

We are all excited about Laura's move......is going to relieve so much stress for them...now maybe we will be able to get back to having some fun!! Do some gardening, work on our leather and clay crafts....make some more Victorian Santa's.....yippeee is the right word!!

Glad to hear the good news Trisha, for your whole family. Tell your mom things will get better faster with a little patience. We'll be thinking about her. My mom is going to be 95 in May, would be a go getter too if she hadn't had polio as a child. She does great with her walker, just can't trust her legs.

Mom seems to have covered it all, so all just say "Hi" and "thank you all for your good wishes".

You're Welcome Laura!!

glad that you checked in Laura!

Sally, sorry to hear about your mom and the Polio. After she got over it, what effects did it leave her with?

She has one leg that is smaller than the other, but didn't bother her much until about 15 years ago. That's when she got Post Polio Syndrome and drop foot on that leg. Has to wear a brace and use the walker, hard to deal with after years and years of ballroom dancing. But like I said she's a trooper, you deal with what you're dealt. She's glad she can walk and she had all those years of dancing. DH had polio too, as a teenager, no problems so far, knock on wood!

That's too bad that's she's had to deal with it the last 15 years. That's a long time. However, it sounds as if she was more fortunate than others. Good thing about your DH too. That has to be tough knowing what he could be facing. But, hopefully that won't come.

With a bad heart and lousy lungs, that's the least of his worries. But he has the same attitude, it's part of life and you deal. Didn't think you would still be up, I fell asleep on the couch, still had the computer on. Now I really should go to bed, lots to do tomorrow.

Sounds as if your DH has a way of handling it, that's good.

I agree. bed time!

Trisha, that's great news about Laura, Sean and Sage! I hope your mom's surgery goes well and she has a speedy recovery!
Mortswife, I'm sorry but I don't know what AV's or Episcia's are. Please enlighten me.^_^ However, Begonias do well here in the shade but have to be dug up in the fall as they're considered an Annual in this Region since it's so cold in the winter.
Susan

Wow, Sally - two of my brothers (living in Oregon), had polio as children, too. Both cases were pretty mild. One brother has a leg/foot shorter than the other and general weakness in that leg. I saw a great piece on American Experience (I think it was) on polio last week. The program really captured for the viewer the absolute terror that polio inflicted on people in the U.S. from the 1930's through the first vaccinations in the late 50's. I think surviving an illness like that really brings out the fortitude in people.

Trisha - hope your mom's surgery goes as well as every else's has. My neighbor (in her late 50's) had complete hip replacement earlier this year and is thrilled with the results. Her pain is pretty much gone. And I'm amazed at the size of the incision - I'm sure I have scars from growing up that are bigger than hers.

Laura - congratulations. I've been through my own worries in the last couple of years and I know how it can drain you of energy. Once you're moved it sounds like you'll be able to relax and heave a big sigh of relief. And we'll have fun helping you design a new shade garden. There are so many cool options out there for this.

Waiting to hear about AVs myself . . .

Susan, AVs are African Violets; I only collect standards. I do not have an episcia yet.....but I do have a glass vase to plant one in. I love the ones with pink leaves. They are a Gesneriad; related to Sinningas and Streptocarpus I believe. I tried the streps, and they all died. Their little flowers are just breathtaking. I have ordered some [12] leaves to pot when the weather [excuse me] IF the weather ever clears up. Right now snow is clear up to my ankles.

LOL. Sounds like you'll be stuck inside awhle longer. Thank goodness you have the GH. You must have a beautiful collection. Wanna share some pictures while you're stuck inside?

ooohhhhh. I'd love to take photos but I recently had the office PC upgraded and now I can't get the digital to work with it. [never did like that camera] and I am thinking of trying to add it to my lap top at home. I just repotted 5 violets, two in the office and the rest under lights at home. Right now my best violet is a no id one I got at the grocery store that was mostly dead. I may be sorry when all of my leaves start sprouting :-) You may hear a loud h-e-l-p!

That's a bummer. Hey, my wonderful Brother and SIL got me this for Christmas. It has a little USB device that pops out of the back. All the software you need with it is automatically loaded the first time you use it. They got it because they knew I was on DG all the time. You can actually take pretty nice videos (with sound) with it, too.

I wouldn't call if cheap, but it's pretty reasonably priced for what you get. I try to keep it in my pocket when I'm working in the yard so I can take a quick video or photo of the animals.

http://www.laptopmag.com/review/camcorders/kodak-zi6-pocket-video-camera.aspx

Thanks Katie, she is doing really well except for the pain pills.....she went to bed when we got home a bit after four and slept until about five thirty and was feeling great....had some soup and salad for dinner.....loved it....then she took the prescribed pain pill......about five minutes later she is very woozy....shortly there after....we got it all back.....said she will put up with an awful lot of pain before she takes anymore of those....we may try a half......if I can get her to take it. She is allergic to several medications.....guess we will see how the night goes and check with the office tomorrow if we need to switch meds...may be a long night.

I love African Violets....if I can keep them away from the cat.

Trisha, so sad your Mom has to deal with that on top of the surgery....not fair at all.

Kathy..yes, there were lots of people who had it. Both Mom and DH had it pretty bad. DH said he probably wouldn't have walked again except for a big black nurse that wouldn't hear of it. She pushed him to the limit. Needless to say he loved that lady! Good your brothers had mild cases.

I love African Violets too. Found out after joining DG I haven't been growing them right at all!! LOL

Trisha, I'm glad the surgery is over but sad that the pain pills are causing trouble. That's a very common side effect for many of them so definitely let the doctor know. There are lots of others to try. Vomiting is hard on your body and especially so for people who are a little older. I hope you get some sleep.

Sally, how were you growing your violets that wasn't right?

I wasn't repotting, so I get 'leggy'plants. LOL Never even heard of doing that until I read it here. I do get them to bloom nicely, but always ended up replacing plants. Only have a couple right now, I'm into Orchids mostly.

I got on today too, but that's because I have a cold (sore, sneezy, and full of snot) so I haven't really felt up to do anything today. I get sick easily when stressed out; I hope it goes away soon, I have too much to do to be sick. Last time I moved DH and I both got the flu right before we moved and therefore it was a chaotic move; I really don't want to do that again.

my s-i-l has had an orchid for years. it sits in her south window. they look hard to take care of but i don't think she ever does anything with it. but it probably could look better too.

She is sleeping pretty well so far....part of the problem was I couldn't get her to take the phenergan earlier (for nausea)......maybe later when she isn't so dopey she will listen when I explain that she needs to take it... and some food THEN take the pain med (maybe only half) a little later when the Phen. has had a chance to do some good. Guess we will see......

Trisha - I do really well with surgery, recovery quickly, etc. But I'm always nauseous from the anesthetic and it takes me awhile to get over that part.

Maybe when your mom has a full stomach and has recovered from the anesthesia the meds will stay down better. And, of course, as Judi says, there are other options.

I have a relatively high pain threshold, so I tend to be more like your mom. I'd rather hurt than feel naseous. Hope she doesn't have to make that choice. And I hope you get some sleep tonight.

Thanks Katie....we are both stubborn so I imagine we will get through......the surgeon who did my gallbladder surgery is one of my husbands customers. He was working me in for a quick surgery between two previously scheduled....took him twice as long as planned, I had 14 gallstones......said he got in there and I "was really a mess". That was 6-8 years ago and he still brings up my pain tolerance.....can't believe I went as long as I did in my condition without going to the emergency room!

I think if mom will just take the meds we were given, with food, at the correct times she should be okay......I do think we may go to a half dose at a time on the percocet like she suggested because she is very sensitive to pain killers.

Most orchids aren't any harder than AV's. But they don't bloom as often, spectacular and long lasting, but not very often.

Trisha....sounds like a good plan, hope she'll go along with it. I can certainly understand not wanting to make yourself sick though. Makes me hurt just to think about it. I'm the same way, usually half is all I can tolerate, or I just do without.

Trica... I'm so glad to hear that your mom is doing well. I've had the nausea with pain pills before. I absolutely have to take them with food, it sounds like you know that might be her problem. I couldn't take them with more than a few minutes between the pills and food or with just a little bit of food like a couple crackers. I think the least I could get away with is maybe a container of yogurt and half a banana. Once, I finally figured out that I couldn't get away with just a few grapes and the pills, the nausea wasn't a problem. So hopefully she'll listen to you and life will be much better!

I did get her to take the nausea meds a bit before taking the pain pills and that seems to have helped.....enough that this morning she decided to take the whole instead of the half....so she will be asleep for awhile...I am going to try and catch a nap....both she and her neighbor have electric heat pumps....and are they noisy....sure glad I changed to gas heat....don't miss that racket at all.......

Trisha it sounds like you are getting things under control and taking good care of mom. Nap when you can! Red I totally agree with your suggestion of substantial food before the pain meds. It is better to reduce the pain since healing is faster when the body is not stressed.

Trish my parents, 86 & 92, love their computer and send email daily. If any of us don't answer quickly they start calling "just in case something happened" - it drives my kids nuts! Your mom would probably love it once she got into it.