how about drinking?

Good Morning, Loungettes!Happy Thirsty Thursday! I've got three appointments for estimates for installing a heat pump for a week from Friday. The second office Clinical Manager has had a nurse give notice and has asked me to work 2 days a week for her for a while. CM#1 at the main office wants me to commit to 2 days a week through the summer. CM#4 and one of the other Per Diem nurses are still playing games. I am not making any long term commitments, especially through the summer. Got some thinking to do this weekend, I can see. 4 days of work a week would put me in a really good place financially, but cut into my time off. If I give in and admit I need some help and hire some housekeeping help that won't be an issue. Ah, decisions, decisions! Started talking it over with Sadie last night. Her only comment was that she doesn't care what I do as long as I get her a wading pool for the yard and take her swimming at least once a week. She drives such a hard bargain!

Goldie--"end stage" COPD means the disease has progressed to the point where preventing infections like pneumonia and bronchitis is not possible, and that recovery from those infections is a 50/50 proposition at best, and the patient's lifestyle is severely limited. People who choose to aggressivelytreat every infection and keep up with the ongoing breathing treatments and oxygen supplementationcan exist with end stage COPD for years. Eventually a bout of pneumonia will not respond to any treatment and the patient will not recover. One option for end stage COPD management is comfort based care (Hospice or Palliative care), with careful thought given to the use of antibiotics and advanced breathing treatments like CPAP or intubation and breathing machine support each time pneumonia comes around. The big trick is to keep looking one step beyond where the person is now. A person with end stage COPD who gets pneumonia and needs more oxygen than just the little under the nose cannula can be put on anoxygen mask, but if that doesn't work then CPAP is next, which requires hospitalization. If CPAP (a mask held tightly to the face that provides oxygen under pressure) doesn't work then putting in a breathing tube and putting the person on a breathing machine is next. Most people with end stage COPD will not be able to come off the breathing machine once it's started, and spend the rest of their life (usually days to weeks, sometimes a few months) in Intensive Care and sedated so they aren't gagging on the breathing tube. When comfort care is the focus the patient and family often choose not to go as far as putting in the breathing tube and using the breathing machine. You'll hear this referred to as a "Do Not Intubate" order. Whether to go to the hospital and try CPAP or not is a decision point, too. Many families choose to try antibiotics to see if they will work, increase the oxygen from the under the nose cannula to a face mask, but not to send the person to thehospital any more. You'll hear this referred to as a "Do Not Hospitalize" order. The focus then becomes giving the person medication, usually morphine and lorazepam (Ativan) to the point that the person's breathing does not feel uncomfortable, and maintaining that comfort until death comes peacefully. Hospice works closely with the Nursing Home staff to make that happen. It sounds like your Mom's COPD has progressed to the point that she needs a bit of morphine to make her breathing feel comfortable even when she doesn't have an infection--this is very common. People can go along at this level for weeks or months, occasionally longer. The combination of morphine and slightly low blood oxygen levels is interfering with her ability to think clearly, so her mind is creating all kinds of entertaining thoughts. When this kind of thing is going on I warn family members that the likelihood of the person surviving the next bout of pneumonia is very small even with very aggressive treatment and talk with them about how far they want medical care to go, starting with talking about doing CPR when the breathing and heart stop. The chances of CPR working--meaning getting the heart beating again--is almost zero, and when it does happen there is almost a 100% chance of brain damage, and the person will live the rest of their life on a breathing machine, and that life expectancy is hours to days. A "Do Not Resuscitate" (DNR) or "Allow Natural Death" order will prevent that scenario, if that is not wanted. I'd recommend that you make an appointment to talk withyour Mom's doctor while you are home and ask about these kinds of things. There may be something totally different going on, something that can be treated successfully, but these things will need to be talked about sometime, and it's much easier for everyone involved to talk about them before the person is ill and declining rapidly and decisions and choices need to be made very quickly. The Nursing Home Social Worker can help you with setting that up if you want to do that. In the meantime, enjoy being married to a Prince of Egypt and all your Ladies in Waiting!

Chi--The hand problem sounds miserable! Which is the better scenario for you, a surgically fixable problem or the OT/PT route? I've been giving some serious thought to hiring a housekeeper. The daughter of a friend of mine has started her own cleaning business, and has grown it to the point of hiring another person. I'm thinking of talking to her to find out what she is charging and if she will help with decluttering projects, too. I know she loves to organize things, and that may be just the boost I need right now. Even if she only cleans, that will be someone coming in regularly and that will give me accountability, which I need badly. Funny about the Tempur-Pedic not dying and not comfortable. It seems like 16 years is a long time to expect ANY mattress to work! I bet the split king would be absolutely heavenly for you.

Ingerp and Egads007--Welcome!Yes, we do talk about drinking, and about a lot of other things. We also don't always remember things super well and repeat things, so going back and playing ketchup, as we call it, isn't necessarily helpful. Jump in here and join us!Pull up a bar stool, check out the pool with the swim up bar and huge screen TV and tell us about yourselves!Egads--drinking Perrier does not get you banished, not everyone here is imbibing alcohol all the time, sometimes we just talk about it!

Countess Bunty Rothchild's DOTD:

The Welcome Home Cocktail

Ingredients

• 1 oz. gin
• ½ oz. lemon juice
• 4 oz. champagne
• 1 oz. simple syrup
• Ice
• 1 brandied cherry

Instructions

1. Combine the gin, lemon juice, simple syrup and ice into a shaker and shake well for ten seconds
2. Pour champagne into old fashioned glass
3. Add mixture to champagne
4. Add cherry
5. Drink!

(1) Ingerp, yes indeedy-do

(2) not a fan of ketchup either

(3) waves & thank yous to Native, cool tour of the thread, love what you’ve all done with the place!

(4) On Gin - my half prude/half swears-like-a-drunken-sailor mother used to say *cue high pitched prudish voice* “only women if loose morals drinks gin” How she equates a liquor of choice to a woman’s honour is anyone’s guess. Think I’ll mix up a batch of Natives Welcome Home, give mom a call and say “hey ma’, no morals!!!” I won’t completely break her heart by waiting till noon

Morning ladies (gents if you're lurking) Funny how things work, I went to chat with my GP yesterday about my left ovary cyst - not 1, but 4 , 3 on left and 1 on right ovary...and she assures me they are simple cysts to be followed up with in a year. She then checked my chest as I had been in emergency Sunday and was told infection in chest wall or plugged mucus or some such, prescribed penicillin and doxycycline, so no alcohol (or Ibrance) for me till done. She went through the chest xray and it states mild COPD!! When I read above I figured wow - here is a wealth of COPD information (NM ) Seriously COPD! cysts! What next??!! DH figures cancer in lungs etc so I have not told him I am having a brain scan done (I will let him know at some point)...sheesh, I am sure the copd is nothing to fuss about - right??!

I am having a retirement/birthday bash for DH Sunday. Today is his last day after 36+ years, and Monday his birthday - I will be done penicillins so Happy Hour (s) can begin!!! Double Cheers!!

Good Morning, Loungettes!Happy TGIF day! June is coming in with true summer weather (finally) complete with humidity and the possibility of thunderbumpers this afternoon. Got a shipment of rose wines in yesterday, got several in the fridge, can't wait to try them. Got a couple of favorites, too. Lovely to sit out on the back deck with acool drink of rose, listening to an audiobook, and petting or fetching with Sadie in the evenings, as long as the bug spray is handy as the mosquitos have come out in force. Love this time of year!

Ingerp--must be a pretty good drink, to be pre-mixed at graduation!

Egads--LOL, your Mom sounds like quite the character!

Goldie--Oh my goodness, your poor Mom. That is so hard to see. She's in the best place possible for her safety and care. Does her roommate have a TV on much of the time? I have found that many confused people hear things on TV and incorporate that into their mental ramblings. Now that Law and Order: Special Victims Unit is on during the daytime regularly I've been hearing a lot more confused people talking about being raped or attacked. Even the morning and noontime news reports are full of stuff like that these days. Hang in there. This is what years of smoking does to people. I wish more young smokers could see this kind of thing.

Janky--Mild COPD may not be anything to fuss about but is something that needs to be taken into account, like asthma. Happy Birthday and Happy Retirement to DH!Have a good celebration!

Chi--oh my Lord, what a torture session! I'm not sure I would have gotten through that, and I am amazed that you could! I'd have needed a lot more than a yeast-raised Oreo-crumb-glazed donut after that. Like a milligram of Xanax and a glass of wine with the donut!

Countess Bunty Rothschild's DOTD:

Lime and ginger Monkey Shoulder cocktail

Ingredients

50ml Monkey Shoulder Whiskey

80ml Ginger Ale

1 fresh lime wedge

Method

Add all the ingredients to a mixing glass. Stir gently with a bar spoon, a long teaspoon or a chopstick, until the glass feels nice and cold.

Carefully fill a long glass with ice and pour in your cocktail.

Garnish with the lime wedge and enjoy!

Good morning, Loungettes!Happy Saturday! We got our first really good thunderstorm yesterday evening, was great fun to watch and listen to. Got a solid quarter inch of rain in about an hour. I've got 3 people coming next Friday to do estimates for installing a heat pump, so I MUST get the living room and kitchen picked up this weekend,cuz I'm working 4 days next week.The Clinical Manager at the second office wants to go with me to the October workshop in Orlando, and has family in Orlando, and has offered to let me stay with her and her family! She has said I can have as much work time as I want to be sure to be able to go, cuz she wants to go but really does not like going to things like that by herself.There's a pretty inexpensive direct flight from here to Orlando, so I think I'm even going to be able to stay a couple extra days to play at Disney and get a mini vacay along with the workshop. I am pretty excited!Sadie won't be quite so happy, but I've got a line on a really good Doggy Hotel where she'll get lots of extra attention and I think she'll forgive me eventually.

Misty--I don't think it's mean to be looking forward to a get away with the sisters. I think everyone enjoys time apart occasionally. Or at least comes to appreciate the other more for a brief absence. I say go and ENJOY!

Countess Bunty Rothschild's DOTD:

The Vacation Cocktail

Ingredients

• 1 Teaspoon(s) Peeled and chopped fresh ginger
• 3/4 Ounce(s) Fresh Lime Juice
• 1/2 Ounce(s) Simple Syrup
• 1/2 Ounce(s) Light Rum
• 1/2 Ounce(s) Dark rum
• 1 Ounce(s) Mango juice
• 1/2 Ounce(s) Cranberry Juice
• 1/2 Ounce(s) Orange juice
• 1/2 Ounce(s) Spiced rum
• Mango slice

Directions

Muddle ginger, lime juice, and syrup in mixing glass. Add all but spiced rum. Shake with ice. Strain into chilled cocktail glass and float spiced rum on top. Garnish with mango. Serve in a Cocktail Glass.

I got my summer highlights today. What do you think?

Gorgeous, Jazzy! Great 'do, too.

Goldie0827 - A year does seem long, so I will push for a check in 6 months! I don't really think I have brain mets, though the headaches don't leave, vision blurry (SE prob), so I guess one more scan is not gonna do harm at this point . To top off my woes I had a chest xray done and it indicates COPD rearing its ugly head. I was being treated with Penicillin for the travel 'bug', but I still have the cough, so I go back to my GP Wednesday to discuss options - sheesh!!! The cough is quite wearing...we lived in Florida many years ago but left shortly after the birth of twin boys (already had a 1 year old), so we moved to Alberta, where I live now, though originally from Quebec. Another long story

To all of us a Sunday Toast - Healing, health, happiness along with the bevvy of choice - Cheers!

Wow Janky, from FL to Quebec, a little bit of a difference there! But if that is where you are from originally, then you knew what to expect. Wishing you luck and cheers on your upcoming doc and scans.

NM, nothing wrong with havine a lazy day! As for humidity, we are pretty much nil. I will find out what moms meds are when I get there. Brothers are not concerned and I think females are just more caring and concerned than men. Hoping you get to meet up with our DW, Disney Whore for our newbies. And if you do, give her a hug for me.

Cami, I'm sorry for the loss of your BFF. It's hard losing someone. When my mom passes over, which I hope is soon, I will be sad, but only for myself, cuz I will miss her. She has no quality of life, whatsoever. I will be fine, and I will be fine when I come home. Going to take that time to take a break from my FU pills. A friend of my son's is going to help with the sale. I've never had a garage/estate sale before.

Hi girls,

Just popping in to say hello and that I miss you goils. Things here are still bad, no job. I am going to a job fair on Wednesday, hoping and praying that something happens.

I see a lot of new goils here in the lounge, welcome, muah muah muah. I love this place, jest been lurking here and there to see how mese goils are doing.

Cammy, sending love and hugs, sorry over the loss of your BFF.

NM, have a nice trip. Hope it is relaxing and loads of FUN!

Lori, prayers for you and your mama too. and some huggles as well!

Miss you all, take care. Until next time,

ChEeRs!

Sorry about losing your BFF, cami. May her memory be for a blessing.

I would love to be able to try your haircut, Jazzy, but for three things: first, my hair is baby-fine, though porous when I sweat--then when it dries it looks & feels like old carpet if I don't flatiron it or hadn't gotten a keratin tx w/in the past 3 mos...which I haven't. I have to clip it up when I sleep or exercise to keep the neck sweat from frizzing it up, and when it's the slightest bit windy out (or cabdrivers refuse to roll up the windows and turn up the AC), because it tangles easily--and tangles=breakage when I try to brush or comb it (unless I painstakingly separate the knots strand by strand with my fingers). It's thinnest on top, and if I wear it anyway but long or up, it looks unbalanced. Back in the '70s I tried a Dorothy Hamill wedge cut--looked great at the salon but it was a bear to blow out properly without it waving the wrong way.

Second, unless & until I lose a considerable amount of weight, I need the length and volume to balance out my bodily bulk. Third, Bob is change-averse. When he met me, I had auburn hair (lightened from brown); several years into our marriage when money was tight and I couldn't afford root touch-ups, he took a long time to get used to dark hair on me (and never did get used to my wearing it mid-neck-to-short). In my early 30s, I was sort of strawberry-blonde, which was another shock. Been blonde since 1986, and it took him awhile to get used to that--once I'd grown it long again he said that's how he prefers it.

We went to brunch atop the Hancock today. Had champagne--and the waiter recognized me from having hosted a large group at Easter, so a mimosa magically appeared as well. With dessert, I had Inniskillin ice wine, from ON. Teetotaling the rest of today & tomorrow.

My singing partner & I will figure out tonight (either by phone or Skype) what songs to do with the "guitar-dulcimer duets" workshop we're co-teaching at the dulcimer fest next weekend. Others in the past have just demonstrated songs to which they strum their dulcimers very simply while the guitar does the heavy lifting. We're going to show how it goes both ways--and in some songs, both instruments swap solos. He will also be teaching yodeling and storytelling workshops; I will do a "beyond folk music" workshop (wish I'd thought to title it "I Can Do That Diatonically?"), and a demonstration of my Dulcimer Petting Zoo--will play a song on each of my different sizes of dulcimer, and then turn people loose to try them out for the rest of the hour. We also will play a main stage concert set. The dulcimer stuff shouldn't hurt (much, if at all), but for the main stage set I will have to soak my wrist in warm water beforehand and ice & elevate after. Our main stage set is Sunday night, so we needn't resort to Skype or Face Time (which can buffer & delay) during the week to rehearse.

My hair had started to thin a bit even before the letrozole (my stylist hinted at perhaps temporary extensions if I had a big formal occasion coming up). I am nearly halfway through my 5 years. Not sure if my MO will want me to do 10, or will order the BCI test as I get closer to the 5-yr mark. It'll depend on how bad my side effects are by then, too. I'd be nearly 70.

I spoke too soon--my MRI results just came in. Not horrible but not as benign (in the generic sense) as I'd hoped. Good news: no fracture or dislocation, carpal tunnel syndrome, knuckle arthritis, ulnar tendon tear or tenosynovitis. Not-so-hot news: I didn't just strain the the TFCC (triangular fibro-cartilagenous complex) disc--I tore it, along with part of the "volar distal radial ulnar" ligament. (Hey, I don't do anything halfway). There's edema & synovitis of the wrist joint--and there's a little teeny chunk of either the disc or ligament floating around in the synovial fluid. There is "degenerative disease" (hello, osteoarthritis, my old friend) at the basilar and triscaphal joint, with mild bone-spurring. There is some edema in the "pronator quadratus muscle belly," which explains why it hurts like an m.f. to turn my hand inward. And that clicking I first had when supinating (turning outward) that seems to have healed is not my tendon flopping around, but that little chunk of disk or ligament getting in the way.

At least I know it's not wearing the AppleWatch that is causing this (there is some tinfoil-hat cuckoo-nutso theory going around the Apple message boards that the emissions from the pulse sensors on the back of the watch--and radio waves from the cellular version, which I don't have--are causing people's wrists to hurt)--I actually injured my wrist when I fell (and likely aggravated it trying to open that stupid Tylenol bottle to boot). If anything, my watchband is acting sort of like a wrist support.

Unfortunately, the report in my portal doesn't include the pix. Will ask Dr. Gray if he can e-mail them to me. And it's a good thing I held off on scheduling PT/OT--I need to find out what he wants me to do. If surgery is indicated, I might as well go ahead and try to play my gigs, since the same injury would have to be repaired either way. (June is a $1000 month for us--which also is AFM pension-eligible).

Not gonna tell my singing partner the results yet till I speak with Dr. Gray--no point in worrying him needlessly. We have a couple of Skype rehearsals Wed. & Thurs. afternoon, so I should know before then. Worst comes to absolute worst, I can still sing.

Good Morning, Loungettes!Happy Monday Monkey Day! What a beautiful day we had here yesterday. I got the raised bed garden planted AND got 3 out of 4 sections across the fence done. Need to buy some more hostas and plant some sunflower seeds to finish the last section. Didn't think I could get that much done in one day! Got a bit of sun color to show for my work, too. Sadie likes it when I work along the fence, she can sit across from me and supervise from inside. Should be an interesting day at work, got an appointment with a family in the afternoon to discuss the ongoing care of a person with end-stage Parkinson's Disease that has developed the paranoid form of Parkinson's Dementia. Going to be a difficult discussion, but one that has to happen. Prayers would be appreciated.

Goldie--I think females are more detail oriented when it comes to health care stuff. I will certainly give DW a hug for you if I can!

Cammy--I'm not going away until October, but am looking forward to it! I imagine work is pretty busy for you these days, just make sure you take care of yourself. So sorry your BFF passed on, it is sad when someone we know moves on. And at our age it's happening more and more often. Hugs.

Goldie--Glad you've got help with the garage/estate sale. They can be a lot of work. Praying for peace for you and your Mom.

Jazzy--Wow, the jamming sessions sound like they were a lot of fun for you! So good to have something like that in your life. I wonder if the TaylorX results were behind the report I just heard on the news that most women with the most common form of bc (hormone positive, her2 negative, node negative) do not need chemotherapy. The report said surgery and hormone therapy alone was just as good as surgery, hormone therapy and chemotherapy. Just looked at the article, yup, this is based on the TaylorX results. I am really looking forward to the conference and a couple days of vacay in October. Sadie will be fine, and it's actually kind of funny how she tries to ignore me and still get tummy tickles when I get home from a trip.

Dara--Good to hear from you, I've been wondering what's going on with you. Sorry things are not going well. Still praying for you.

Readytorock--Welcome to the HTL! What kind of wine are you drinking?

Chi--the dulcimer fest sounds like a real blast!Love the idea of the Dulcimer Petting Zoo. Do take care of your wrist, though. Ooh, that MRI report sounds painful and complicated. You really do not do things halfway! Well said about the possible future effects of the TaylorX study results.

Countess Bunty Rothschild's DOTD:

Paranoia Cocktail

Ingredients:

• 1 part Malibu
• 1/2 part Peach schnapps
• 2 parts 7-up
• 1 part Assorted fruits
• 1 part Ice (crushed)

Pour the ice into a mixing glass and pour the Peach schnapps glazing them. Add malibu and transfer to a cocktail glass. Fill up with 7-up, and depending on individual taste, mixed fruit can be added to the top.

Still trying to figure out who y'all are individually but I must ask--you have a Disney Whore?? Because my friends know all too well that I'm a little obsessed with that place. Really not majorly, but my endorphins definitely kick in when I even think about it. (Quick back story--hubs wouldn't be caught dead in an amusement park, so when my kids got older and started asking when they could go, I made the executive decision to take them each individually the summer after fifth grade. There just is nothing better than a mom and one 11-year-old boy doing the parks. Those were some of the best days of my life. So yes--I've been back a couple of times on my own. DO NOT TRY TO MAKE ME FEEL BAD ABOUT THAT.)

Other than that, the evening of Taxol #3 I finally got the first handful of hair. :-( The good news is it hung on through the weekend for my 40th college reunion. Besides that, we got a new dog yesterday. So yeah--SEs? Ain't got no time for any of that BS. . . (And after indulging quite a bit starting early May with my son's graduation right through this past weekend, trying to put down the bottle until a big fun Pig Roast on the 16th. ;-) )