CoTT 2 House of Cards

[Headstall]

53 minutes ago, Bucket1 said:

Hi there Gary

How is life on Turkeyview Farm?

Quiet.  

[Bucket1]

2 hours ago, Albert1434 said:

How you doing Bucket? We have armed Garys turkeys

That did make me giggle

[Albert1434]

Aloha All

[Albert1434]

I have a few picture for ya Val

[Albert1434]

[Albert1434]

[Albert1434]

[Marty]

1 hour ago, Albert1434 said:

Aloha All

Greetings, young Albert!

[Headstall]

3 hours ago, Albert1434 said:

Aloha All

Hi, Albert.  

1 hour ago, Marty said:

Greetings, young Albert!

Hi, Marty.  

[Albert1434]

Aloha Gary

[Headstall]

Rainy, lonely day here. Hope y'all are well...  

[Albert1434]

Hugs for you Gary

[Page Scrawler]

22 minutes ago, Headstall said:

Rainy, lonely day here. Hope y'all are well...  

Hey, Gary.      How's Cookie?   

Edited October 1, 2020 by Page Scrawler

[Albert1434]

Aloha Page

[Headstall]

18 minutes ago, Page Scrawler said:

Hey, Gary.      How's Cookie?   

She's well.  

[Marty]

6 hours ago, Headstall said:

Hi, Marty.  

Hi, Gary!

Sorry for the late response; have been out for the evening.

Only just home, and it's after midnight, so I'll wish everyone a fond goodnight.  

Spoiler

 

[clochette]

Nice way to meet my new upstairs neighbor when the rescue team/firefighters rang my doorbell at 1.15am for a call for a suicide attempt... apparently it's for one of his friends. 

[Headstall]

1 hour ago, Marty said:

Hi, Gary!

Sorry for the late response; have been out for the evening.

Only just home, and it's after midnight, so I'll wish everyone a fond goodnight.  

  Hide contents

 

Night, Marty. Sweet dreams.  

[dughlas]

This was a day I hope not to repeat. The day started well enough. The pup and I went for our usual morning walk. It was nice. On the way home we stopped at Starbuck's for a caramel latte and a breakfast sandwich. It was a triple star day so there were bonus stars to be had. We also ran the car through the carwash. Got home right around 8am. About 8:20 as I was about to get in the shower my phone chimed with a text. It was dad's caretaker/companion. Dad was on the way to the er by ambulance could I meet him at the hospital? After a rushed shower I headed to the er. There's ongoing road construction between me and the hospital so it took longer to get there. Parked my car in the designated lot for er patients and headed inside. I had no idea why dad was here, was it his heart, back or hernia. Each had potential. I went to the checkin desk and told them who I was and that I was told my dad should have arrived via ambulance about 20-30 minutes prior. Well they checked their system and dad's not there. Okay. Since the place was empty they allowed me to sit down and try to find out what was going on. I texted my dad and his caretaker (she has a day job as assistant to the administrator of the memory care unit at a local facility and they had just opened a new building and were moving patients in). No answer from either so I called dad's cell phone. It seems that when the er doc saw the results from an mri he had done Tuesday evening he said you need to see a neurosurgeon. He called a local neuroscience practice and was able to get dad an immediate appt and since he'd arrived by ambulance they packed him off by cab to the specialist. So off to the neurosurgeon's I went. The thing is I passed that office on my way to the hospital as it's less than a mile from where Thistle and I walk each morning. When I arrived dad was already in an exam room answering preliminary questions so the receptionist took me there. Now dad already has severe stenosis of the lower spine but the mri showed compression fractures to two of the vertebrae in his lower back (likely the result of stepping in a hole in my yard two weeks ago when we were grinding brush) just above one he broke in 1952 when he was ejected from a car during an accident. The neurosurgeon called his back a mess and offered four options. A brace to stabilize his back for the next 4-6 weeks while his back heals; physical therapy for the pinched nerves though with his current pain level probably not something he could endure; an outpatient procedure to insert a small needle into the injured vertebrae to inject a cement to stabilize them and finally the least advisable, surgery (because of his heart he takes blood thinners, he's 86 and this would be major surgery with no guarantee of a positive result). Dad opted to try the brace. An appointment was made for an evaluation and fitting for 3:30 this afternoon. Meanwhile dad needed to consult his family doc about pain meds. We got back to dad's from the neurosurgeon with about 30 minutes to spare before we needed to leave for the noon appt with his family doc. Accomplished that with a prescription increasing his pain meds. Got him home again with a bit over an hour before we needed to leave for the 3:30 appt so I ran home to my house to let Thistle out and have a little lunch. Then back to dad's and off to the orthotist for his brace. The guy was very good and explained about the brace and had one that wouldn't require customizing. He brought one in and showed it to us and helped dad put it on. Typically once the brace is on the patient feels immediate relief. About one in fifty cases  the pain in the leg intensifies. Guess which group dad belongs in. Yep, he experienced additional pain and numbness in his leg. He wanted to try walking in the brace because sometimes walking helped ease the pain. So we walked out the hall then started back. We'd gone maybe 100 feet and I had to go get the wheelchair the pain was so bad. We had to wait a bit while the guy helped another patient. While waiting I asked dad how tight he'd pulled the brace (the brace wraps around the torso and secures with velcro, then two cords, one one each side, are pulled to cinch the brace tight). He told me he pulled it as tight as he could. I asked if he thought it might be too tight. When the orthotist was with us again we asked if that might be the problem. So he helped dad take it off and reapply it without cinching it as tight. Well that made a considerable difference. Dad was able to walk further without difficulty and was more comfortable. The trick was to initially only wrap it around his waist to fit, not to wrap it snug, and then cinch it snug with the cords. Fortunately, we left with dad more comfortable and wearing the brace. Hopefully between the support of the brace and the medication he'll be comfortable while his back heals. 

It was along day I left this morning just after 8:30am and got home a little before 6pm. I'm tired, my head aches and Thistle missed me. 

[dughlas]

1 hour ago, Marty said:

Hi, Gary!

Sorry for the late response; have been out for the evening.

Only just home, and it's after midnight, so I'll wish everyone a fond goodnight.  

  Hide contents

 

Well loosen your tie and you might feel more comfortable ...

[Valkyrie]

35 minutes ago, dughlas said:

It was along day I left this morning just after 8:30am and got home a little before 6pm. I'm tired, my head aches and Thistle missed me. 

Wow... that was quite the day!  I'm glad your dad has some relief from his back pain.  I hope the brace does the trick and he's able to heal without further intervention.       

[Page Scrawler]

55 minutes ago, dughlas said:

It was along day I left this morning just after 8:30am and got home a little before 6pm. I'm tired, my head aches and Thistle missed me. 

Glad to hear your dad is faring somewhat better now.  Sleep well, Dugh.   

[CassieQ]

3 hours ago, clochette said:

Nice way to meet my new upstairs neighbor when the rescue team/firefighters rang my doorbell at 1.15am for a call for a suicide attempt... apparently it's for one of his friends. 

Whoa.  

[Page Scrawler]

7 minutes ago, CassieQ said:

Whoa.  

Hey, Cassie.   

[Headstall]

1 hour ago, dughlas said:

This was a day I hope not to repeat. The day started well enough. The pup and I went for our usual morning walk. It was nice. On the way home we stopped at Starbuck's for a caramel latte and a breakfast sandwich. It was a triple star day so there were bonus stars to be had. We also ran the car through the carwash. Got home right around 8am. About 8:20 as I was about to get in the shower my phone chimed with a text. It was dad's caretaker/companion. Dad was on the way to the er by ambulance could I meet him at the hospital? After a rushed shower I headed to the er. There's ongoing road construction between me and the hospital so it took longer to get there. Parked my car in the designated lot for er patients and headed inside. I had no idea why dad was here, was it his heart, back or hernia. Each had potential. I went to the checkin desk and told them who I was and that I was told my dad should have arrived via ambulance about 20-30 minutes prior. Well they checked their system and dad's not there. Okay. Since the place was empty they allowed me to sit down and try to find out what was going on. I texted my dad and his caretaker (she has a day job as assistant to the administrator of the memory care unit at a local facility and they had just opened a new building and were moving patients in). No answer from either so I called dad's cell phone. It seems that when the er doc saw the results from an mri he had done Tuesday evening he said you need to see a neurosurgeon. He called a local neuroscience practice and was able to get dad an immediate appt and since he'd arrived by ambulance they packed him off by cab to the specialist. So off to the neurosurgeon's I went. The thing is I passed that office on my way to the hospital as it's less than a mile from where Thistle and I walk each morning. When I arrived dad was already in an exam room answering preliminary questions so the receptionist took me there. Now dad already has severe stenosis of the lower spine but the mri showed compression fractures to two of the vertebrae in his lower back (likely the result of stepping in a hole in my yard two weeks ago when we were grinding brush) just above one he broke in 1952 when he was ejected from a car during an accident. The neurosurgeon called his back a mess and offered four options. A brace to stabilize his back for the next 4-6 weeks while his back heals; physical therapy for the pinched nerves though with his current pain level probably not something he could endure; an outpatient procedure to insert a small needle into the injured vertebrae to inject a cement to stabilize them and finally the least advisable, surgery (because of his heart he takes blood thinners, he's 86 and this would be major surgery with no guarantee of a positive result). Dad opted to try the brace. An appointment was made for an evaluation and fitting for 3:30 this afternoon. Meanwhile dad needed to consult his family doc about pain meds. We got back to dad's from the neurosurgeon with about 30 minutes to spare before we needed to leave for the noon appt with his family doc. Accomplished that with a prescription increasing his pain meds. Got him home again with a bit over an hour before we needed to leave for the 3:30 appt so I ran home to my house to let Thistle out and have a little lunch. Then back to dad's and off to the orthotist for his brace. The guy was very good and explained about the brace and had one that wouldn't require customizing. He brought one in and showed it to us and helped dad put it on. Typically once the brace is on the patient feels immediate relief. About one in fifty cases  the pain in the leg intensifies. Guess which group dad belongs in. Yep, he experienced additional pain and numbness in his leg. He wanted to try walking in the brace because sometimes walking helped ease the pain. So we walked out the hall then started back. We'd gone maybe 100 feet and I had to go get the wheelchair the pain was so bad. We had to wait a bit while the guy helped another patient. While waiting I asked dad how tight he'd pulled the brace (the brace wraps around the torso and secures with velcro, then two cords, one one each side, are pulled to cinch the brace tight). He told me he pulled it as tight as he could. I asked if he thought it might be too tight. When the orthotist was with us again we asked if that might be the problem. So he helped dad take it off and reapply it without cinching it as tight. Well that made a considerable difference. Dad was able to walk further without difficulty and was more comfortable. The trick was to initially only wrap it around his waist to fit, not to wrap it snug, and then cinch it snug with the cords. Fortunately, we left with dad more comfortable and wearing the brace. Hopefully between the support of the brace and the medication he'll be comfortable while his back heals. 

It was along day I left this morning just after 8:30am and got home a little before 6pm. I'm tired, my head aches and Thistle missed me. 

Wow. What a day. I'm glad he's doing okay. and more glad this happened before you left for Mum's house. Take care of yourself, bro.