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Post by Clipper on Dec 14, 2023 10:03:49 GMT -5
I just put an 8 pound pork butt in the crockpot with a 12 ounce can of Dr Pepper, a cup of orange juice and 1/2 a bottle of Sweet Baby Ray's Honey BBQ sauce. I have it on high right now, but I will turn it down to low and let it go all day. Pulled pork, macaroni salad and cowboy beans for supper and plenty of pulled BBQ to portion out and vacuum pack in Food Saver bags for later consumption. I need Kathy to get home here soon. This cooking and cleaning up for just me and the dog is getting old. haha
Kathy is doing remarkably well and will probably only be there until the 17th or 18th. She is still on oxygen all the time but they have cut it back to 2 liters and hope to have her on room air before she comes home. She will still need O2 with heavy exertion and at night but the doctor says her lungs have probably been retaining fluid for a long time and the diuretic she has been taking at home simply was not keeping up with it.
It is a bright and sunny day here today and going into the mid to high fifties.
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Post by clarencebunsen on Dec 14, 2023 10:16:21 GMT -5
Sounds delicious! I hope you have a couple take-out portions for Kathy.
Barb has been struggling for the past couple weeks. Her knees have healed from the replacement surgery but sciatica has hit her hard. Yesterday she had a pain killer injection into her lower spine and I think she is doing too much today. Trying to make up for lost time.
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Post by Clipper on Dec 14, 2023 10:34:43 GMT -5
Oh no. Sciatica is terrible. The shots usually work for a while but trying to over do it while the medication masks the pain certainly doesn't help the healing any. God bless her. It is hard to keep a good gal down. Kathy is the same way. After 6 back surgeries she still insists that the kitchen and bathroom floors need to be cleaned with a cloth and her on her hands and knees and then she suffers with the pain and has to take an oxycodone in order to sleep that night. I hope she gets relief quickly CB. I used to get it after I had broken my back and chiropractic was the only thing that would get me back on my feet.
Yes, there will be take out portions for Kathy for supper tonight. She is not big on smoky flavors. That is why I use the mild and sweet honey BBQ sauce. She has been eating good at the rehab. The food looks very good and it leaves me a bit confused. The food is the same hospital food cooked at the medical center and transported in bulk in heated containers, where it is then plated and served. She says it is quite good. Probably because it hasn't sat around on a cart in the hallway to get cold. She had lasagna last night that she says was as good as what she gets at Olive Garden.
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Post by Atticus Pizzaballa on Dec 14, 2023 16:21:12 GMT -5
I had sciatica in my left leg two years ago and yes it does really hurt. I Googled for rehab exercises and found many. I tried a set of a few I liked and they worked. I had made an appointment with my primary and when I went I said I cured myself with exercise. He laughed and checked me out and said it may come back but whatever you di worked. I do the same thing with carpel tunnel and that also worked. So check it out CB who knows a relief is just around the corner and you save money.
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Post by BHU on Dec 17, 2023 10:35:43 GMT -5
I just put an 8 pound pork butt in the crockpot with a 12 ounce can of Dr Pepper, a cup of orange juice and 1/2 a bottle of Sweet Baby Ray's Honey BBQ sauce. I have it on high right now, but I will turn it down to low and let it go all day. Pulled pork, macaroni salad and cowboy beans for supper and plenty of pulled BBQ to portion out and vacuum pack in Food Saver bags for later consumption. I need Kathy to get home here soon. This cooking and cleaning up for just me and the dog is getting old. haha Kathy is doing remarkably well and will probably only be there until the 17th or 18th. She is still on oxygen all the time but they have cut it back to 2 liters and hope to have her on room air before she comes home. She will still need O2 with heavy exertion and at night but the doctor says her lungs have probably been retaining fluid for a long time and the diuretic she has been taking at home simply was not keeping up with it. It is a bright and sunny day here today and going into the mid to high fifties. Good to hear that Kathy will be home for Christmas & that she's doing much better. Gonna be a green one up here. |
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Post by Clipper on Dec 17, 2023 11:08:22 GMT -5
Probably be a green Christmas here also, but looking at some low temperatures for Christmas day that might bring flurries. We are supposed to get some pretty heavy rains today and possibly some wind from that storm system that is moving up the coast. Right now it is just a drizzle but when I go to visit Kathy and have to walk that walk from the parking lot it will probably be a deluge, haha.
They are working the hell out of her before discharging her tomorrow. 3 one hour sessions of physical and occupational therapy. She hates to OT because part of it is to put all the patients in a circle in wheel chairs and have them play volleyball with a balloon, trying to keep it in the air. She says she is not into playing volleyball with "a bunch of old ladies. News flash sweetheart. YOU are 84 yrs old. What constitutes and "old lady?" LOL.
She is coming home on oxygen and will have to wear it all the time. She is not happy about that, nor is she happy to hear that she needs to use her walker all the time to navigate, even in the house.
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Post by Atticus Pizzaballa on Dec 17, 2023 13:02:36 GMT -5
Glad Kathy is doing well.
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Post by Clipper on Dec 17, 2023 22:33:12 GMT -5
Well we had a setback. Her hematocrit dropped, indicating that she has a bleed somewhere. It didn't drop rapidly or drastically low, but it dropped low enough to require a transfusion. Her white count is also slightly elevated. They will monitor her levels again tomorrow and possibly send her for an endoscopy to see if there is a small bleed somewhere in her upper GI tract. They don't think it is serious, but want to make sure that her hematocrit doesn't dramatically over a short period of time. As soon as they can locate that problem and remedy it, she will be discharged. The doctor says it shouldn't be more than a day or two. She was quite disappointed, as was I, but better to have identified a problem before she was sent home, to end up back in the hospital in a day or so.
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Post by Atticus Pizzaballa on Dec 18, 2023 11:44:23 GMT -5
Sorry and I agree with you about making sure all is well before going home.
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Post by Ralph on Dec 18, 2023 18:22:32 GMT -5
I am hoping today was a better day for her Clipper. I know she must be as anxious to go home as you are to have her back. Prayers to you both!
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Post by Clipper on Dec 20, 2023 18:23:30 GMT -5
Late Monday afternoon the treatment team met to evaluate Kathy's case and the Doctor decided she was ready to come home. I think she is still losing blood because yesterday she started out strong and able to walk. By last night her legs were like noodles again. I was taking her to the bathroom and her legs gave out. Thank goodness I had the gait belt on her. I eased her down on the living room floor, in a sitting position against a recliner. I called my neighbor and he came over and helped me get her up, to the bathroom and into her bedroom. I tried getting her to the bathroom again this morning and the same scenario. Ben came over and we got her to the kitchen table. She stayed there until the visiting nurse arrived. They drew her blood, took her vitals, and we wheeled her into the living room on the seat on her rollator. Tomorrow a new commode chair will arrive along with a transport chair. ( a smaller and lighter version of a wheel chair that I can use to get her around the house and out to the care if she has an appointment.)
I am exhausted. I only slept 4 hours last night and today we had friends show up to visit and when they left the nurse was here for an hour. When she left I made a big pot of cream of potato soup with onions, celery, cilantro, garlic, bacon, heavy cream and butter. It came out delicious.
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Post by Atticus Pizzaballa on Dec 21, 2023 12:15:04 GMT -5
I not sure what to say but I continue to pray for the two of you.
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Post by BHU on Dec 21, 2023 15:40:02 GMT -5
Sorry to hear that Clipper. I hope there's improvement in her condition soon.
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Post by Atticus Pizzaballa on Dec 21, 2023 17:10:18 GMT -5
Hopefully you get a nurse aid in there daily to care for Kathy until her strength increases. Hope the blood test reveals something as to why she looses strength in her legs.
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Post by Clipper on Dec 22, 2023 8:07:40 GMT -5
Kathy went back into the hospital yesterday with low hematocrit and received 2 more pints of blood during the night. They still have not done a scope to try and locate the bleed. Hopefully today. Keep us in your prayers.
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