BS: Curmudgeon's Latest Adventure

Subject: RE: BS: Curmudgeon's Latest Adventure
From: maeve
Date: 04 May 12 - 03:19 PM

Well done indeed, Linn and Tom. I'm so happy for you both!

Subject: RE: BS: Curmudgeon's Latest Adventure
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 04 May 12 - 03:16 PM

Okay! Last post here and I'll start another thread...

Tom is HOME! And got safely into the house (plastic bag around his cast, cat in the cellar) despite the general dampness. At least it wasn't actively raining when we got here.

Took a little maneuvering, but, despite slippery steps and deck (geez, isn't where this all started seven weeks ago?!?) he's in the house and only slightly winded.

Rufus is vacuum cleaning the wheelchair...walker...rollator...and more or less ignoring Tom. I'm sure Tom will have two cats fighting over him tonight.

Linn

Subject: RE: BS: Curmudgeon's Latest Adventure
From: catspaw49
Date: 04 May 12 - 12:27 PM

okay....lol

Subject: RE: BS: Curmudgeon's Latest Adventure
From: Jeri
Date: 04 May 12 - 11:48 AM

Still part of the adventure- the BEST part!

Subject: RE: BS: Curmudgeon's Latest Adventure
From: SINSULL
Date: 04 May 12 - 10:29 AM

Time for a new thread: Home Again, Home Again Jiggity Jig?

Subject: RE: BS: Curmudgeon's Latest Adventure
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 04 May 12 - 09:47 AM

I'm trying to accomplish some small decluttering chores (see declutter thread) without wearing myself out before heading to Dover to get Tom...with a multiple stops on the way: post office to mail an item off the table to my cousin before it gets lost again, Mustard Seed for the incense I've been out of for months, Rite-Aid for a waist strap to more safely get Tom into the house, and Market Basket for BEER and lunch and supper fixings

A neighbor should be coming over sometime today to relieve me of some (or all) of the big flower pots on the deck that I've hauled out of the cellar. I just really don't need all of them anymore.

Linn

Subject: RE: BS: Curmudgeon's Latest Adventure
From: ChanteyLass
Date: 03 May 12 - 11:27 PM

Linn, whine away. Then wine away!

Hooray for Tom's homecoming tomorrow!

Years ago with a broken foot too swollen to cast, I crawled up the steps from my carport into the garage, across the garage floor, and up a few more steps into my kitchen. Then I used a kitchen stool to haul myself upright so I could put the crutches under my arms. I reversed the process after a few days when the swelling had gone down enough for me to leave the house to get the cast.

Whatever works!

Subject: RE: BS: Curmudgeon's Latest Adventure
From: katlaughing
Date: 03 May 12 - 08:06 PM

When he is stable enough, you might see if insurance(?) would pay for renting one of THESE, or you can hi-tech and use an office chair like Rog. He got really fast scooting around at work.

SO glad you will be together , again!

Subject: RE: BS: Curmudgeon's Latest Adventure
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 03 May 12 - 06:50 PM

I don't think I've explained how much work it is for Tom to get into (and out of) the house. It's quite a project -- he goes up the stairs to the deck on his rear end, and then can pull himself up by the railing to get seated in the wheelchair (with his feet down a couple steps). He can maneuver the wheelchair over to the door. At the door, he gets out of the wheelchair and stands with the walker while I get the wheelchair into the house. He then hops backward to the door and plants his tush back in the wheelchair. It's tightly choreographed . . . and definitely a two-person (him and me) procedure. He won't be able to do it without assistance for awhile -- probably not until he can put weight on the ankle.

Tiring, too.

Good night!

Linn

Subject: RE: BS: Curmudgeon's Latest Adventure
From: gnu
Date: 03 May 12 - 06:29 PM

Tomorrow... tomorrow... welcome home, Tom!

Subject: RE: BS: Curmudgeon's Latest Adventure
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 03 May 12 - 06:24 PM

Nah, Mary. I plan to ignore him... ;-) (Right.)

There are still plenty of things he will need my help doing. And I'll get stuff done for him a lot faster than the over-extended nurses and aides at rehab.

Okay, so here's today's report... (I didn't even turn the computer on when I got home at 2 p.m. but went right upstairs to try to nap. Never actually got it -- the tickling of Sabine's whiskers and Rufus's weight on my hip kept me from napping when I got home. I was physically wiped out after moving more furniture around this morning, then driving (again) all over hell and gone.)

Anywho, I left the house at a gallop at 10:07 so I could get a sausage McMuffin at the local "Scottish restaurant" before they stopped serving breakfast. Had a redwinged blackbird fly right in front of my car to show off his lovely wings as I merged from Rte. 4 onto the Spaulding. Found my friend's house and extricated the wheelchair uneventfully and then drove to another friend's house a short distance away where I'd intended to leave some potted perenniel euphorbia on her deck, but discovered she hadn't left for work yet, so was able to gab a bit over a cup of tea while petting her black schnauzer, Schulz.

Then on to Dover. Tom really wanted to come home today, but when I went to talk to the social services nurse, she said it would be a lot less complicated if she would have until lunch tomorrow to wrap up the releasing paperwork. That was actually fine with me because I was concerned that my extreme fatigue would make his getting into the house today perhaps a bit unsafe. And Tom went along with it. She really wanted him to stay until Saturday, but I said, no -- tomorrow. Tom can settle in tomorrow and I'll have Saturday off with him before I have to work on Sunday.

The wheelchair is actually a little smaller than the one he's been using at rehab -- not quite as comfortable (and the brakes work in the opposite direction), but probably better in the long run as it's 2" narrower and should be easier with which to navigate around the house.

Alas, we WON'T be going to the Press Room session tomorrow, though. One more exit and late evening getting back up the steps to the house would just be too much. But I'm sure we'll be there next week.

I'm having trouble keeping my eyes open (even though it's only 6:30), so, after posting at Facebook and sending a couple emails, I'm heading upstairs to read a bit then go to sleep early. And I can take it easy tomorrow morning, too, before breaking Tom out of rehab.

It will be incredibly good to have him home!

Linn

Subject: RE: BS: Curmudgeon's Latest Adventure
From: Charley Noble
Date: 03 May 12 - 06:06 PM

Linn-

Glad to hear than the home visit/inspection went as well as it did.

I'm not sure if you want or need a new suggestion for getting through doorways more safely but I'll offer it anyway. What I've done for my mother is screw in door-pulls on each side of the door frames. They're easier to grab onto than the door frame itself, and a whole lot better than grabbing onto the door itself which moves. And they're cheap and easy to install.

We also use some inside the house as well.

My mother prefers the 4-wheeler to her old walker for moving around her old farmhouse, and in her front yard. She also has a motorized wheelchair but only uses it for large public buildings such as museums. The 4-wheeler does sometimes get away from her if she doesn't set its brakes properly.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: Curmudgeon's Latest Adventure
From: gnu
Date: 03 May 12 - 02:49 PM

Ahhh... Mother Mary, full of grace... indeed.

Subject: RE: BS: Curmudgeon's Latest Adventure
From: SINSULL
Date: 03 May 12 - 02:47 PM

LOL gnu.
Post open heart surgery. He had to be propped up in bed. Special trip to the mall to buy multiple pillows just to have him decide they were too hard.

Subject: RE: BS: Curmudgeon's Latest Adventure
From: gnu
Date: 03 May 12 - 02:29 PM

You bought 8 pillows for Kendall?

Now, I am not the curious type. I don't wanna know what's in the box... I don't wanna know who that was on the phone... I just ain't the curious type. BUT... 8 pillows? for Kendall? YOU bought them? WTF?

Subject: RE: BS: Curmudgeon's Latest Adventure
From: SINSULL
Date: 03 May 12 - 11:34 AM

Another thought. Tom, although eager to be home, may be getting a little nervous about not being under the watchful eyes of doctors and nurses. He has been in their care for 7 weeks. So maybe a bit of TLC won't be out of order.
SINS

Subject: RE: BS: Curmudgeon's Latest Adventure
From: SINSULL
Date: 03 May 12 - 09:40 AM

Tom's kvetching means he is feeling better. A good thing tho a nuisance. It beats having him unable to sit up in a chair.
Tell him to prioritize his requests and they will get done in their order of importance to him.
Then let him kvetch.
Visions of purchasing eight pillows to spec only to have Kendall dismiss them with "They're too hard."

Subject: RE: BS: Curmudgeon's Latest Adventure
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 03 May 12 - 09:17 AM

Medicare, as I understand it, will pay for ONE mobility device during Tom's lifetime. We have absolutely nowhere to store one of those scooters, it won't fit in my car, and, the theory is he'll only need the WHEELCHAIR for a few weeks. Electric scooter is overkill. He'll be on his own two feet again and all an electric scooter would do is guarantee he'll never walk again. He WILL be able to put weight on the ankle, probably at the end of the month.

Meanwhile...I came downstairs for the second time this morning a few minutes ago and what do I find? Fresh cat barf on the rug and another spot on the floor. Not in a spot where I can let it dry and then brush it off.

I am soooo physically drained and I still have to move some furniture and take other things to the cellar for temporary storage before I can head to Portsmouth to pick up the wheelchair, drop off some other things, and go to Dover to, I hope, spring Tom.

I don't think he can get to the computer in a wheelchair before I do some more major rearranging, but I can do that when he's home...

I'm not whining (well, yes, of course I'm whining...), but Tom has way too much time right now (way more time than I have) to come up with more things for me to do that he wants done RIGHT NOW. They're usually not major things, but they are just One More Thing...and I'm so on the verge of just crumbling (which is NOT an option) that I snap at him and then he apologizes way too much and I feel guilty and...and...ach!

I think I need a vacation...or a nice neat Teutonic nervous breakdown (which, by the way, I NEVER GOT after Tom's heart surgery in 2004!)

Linn

Subject: RE: BS: Curmudgeon's Latest Adventure
From: catspaw49
Date: 03 May 12 - 08:33 AM

Medicare pays? Wow.....I can't wait til I'm 65 so they can get me something. Reckon they'd pay for one of these? I would definitely be mobile! I could offer up my '85 Sabre in trade..................


Spaw

Subject: RE: BS: Curmudgeon's Latest Adventure
From: SINSULL
Date: 03 May 12 - 08:21 AM

Wonder if Tom would qualify for one of those electric scooters you see advertised. Medicare supposedly covers it 100%.
Might be worth looking into.
SINS

Subject: RE: BS: Curmudgeon's Latest Adventure
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 03 May 12 - 05:42 AM

ditto

Subject: RE: BS: Curmudgeon's Latest Adventure
From: ChanteyLass
Date: 02 May 12 - 10:04 PM

I'm glad you were able to get hold of a wheelchair so quickly. Things are looking up!

Subject: RE: BS: Curmudgeon's Latest Adventure
From: katlaughing
Date: 02 May 12 - 06:20 PM

Forgot to say we both used an office chair on wheels to get around the house as a wheelchair was too tight of a fit, plus you can turn 360 on a chair. Rog used one at work which he just put his knee on and used his other foot to propel. We later found out they have specially made things that do the same thing only safer.

Good news!!

Subject: RE: BS: Curmudgeon's Latest Adventure
From: SINSULL
Date: 02 May 12 - 06:07 PM

All good news and ladyslippers as well. Great!
SINS

Subject: RE: BS: Curmudgeon's Latest Adventure
From: gnu
Date: 02 May 12 - 05:38 PM

And now a wheelchair. Things are coming together well!

Subject: RE: BS: Curmudgeon's Latest Adventure
From: Bill D
Date: 02 May 12 - 05:27 PM

We LIKE progress! *visions of Tom across the table for many happy meals to come*

At some point, as he gets better, it may be easier to use the rollator than the wheelchair... I hope it would be possible to switch.

Subject: RE: BS: Curmudgeon's Latest Adventure
From: maeve
Date: 02 May 12 - 04:52 PM

Happy for you both, Linn.

Subject: RE: BS: Curmudgeon's Latest Adventure
From: Elmore
Date: 02 May 12 - 04:44 PM

Read most of this thread. My wife and I have been undergoing similar difficulties. So, Bat Goddess, I wish you the best, and hope you and Tom have better days ahead.

Subject: RE: BS: Curmudgeon's Latest Adventure
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 02 May 12 - 04:33 PM

Well, after a bit of a message flurry at Facebook, there's good news on the wheelchair front. I'm picking one up tomorrow -- a friend's mother needed a smaller one, so this one is up for grabs. After I pick it up (with maybe a bit of socializing and drop-off of euphorbias and a few other de-accessioned items in between), I'll take it to Langdon Place for them to see if it might need any adjusting or modification to best fit Tom.

More progress!

Linn

Subject: RE: BS: Curmudgeon's Latest Adventure
From: gnu
Date: 02 May 12 - 03:41 PM

Dang... nearly cried there. Good news.

Subject: RE: BS: Curmudgeon's Latest Adventure
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 02 May 12 - 02:53 PM

Charley, I wish it had been DRYER today! (But at least it wasn't actually raining.)

This morning was wildly productive. Picked Tom up and Katie and Phil more or less following us back to Nottingham. I backed the car into the spot next to the house so it would be easier for Tom to get from the car to the steps. Everything worked fairly slick. Tom got up the steps on his tush as planned (too bad everything is still wet from yesterday's rain) and into the rollator at the top of the stairs. From there he could swing around to the door and, while holding on to a walker while I got the rollator into the house, he as able to sit down into the rollator without having to step up the single step threshold. Voila! In the house.

After a little planning of Tom's life inside the house -- couch for a bed, commode, comfy chair, where he'd sit at the table (and on what), wheelchair vs. rollator access in kitchen to sink, coffee, stove, fridge, etc. -- they came to the conclusion that a wheelchair would be safer and more secure than the rollator.

So...Katie's project this afternoon is to find out whether what would be more practical (and economical): to rent a wheelchair for a couple months or buy one (that Medicare will probably pay for). So when Tom comes home is dependent on when we can get a wheelchair.

Tom had been most concerned about getting out of the house and DOWN the steps, but that went smoothly as well. And we used the wheelchair. I learned probably as much as Tom did about technique and procedures.

Then Tom and I went on an excursion on the way back to Dover. We stopped at Good 'n Plenty for lunch. The have excellent handicapped access (a long entry ramp) and the waitress was waiting at the door to find out why he was in a wheelchair. He was soooo hungry for corned beef hash. So he ordered from the breakfast menu and I had a mushroom smothered burger from the lunch menu. I cannot tell you how happy it made me to have Tom across the table from me at a meal! Seven weeks is a very very long time...

Got him safely back to Langdon Place after a leisurely lunch and then I dropped some stuff off at Goodwill on my way home, tearing up my hand trying to roll an unfinished plywood tabletop into the building with one hand (as my other was carrying in something else). I'll survive.

And on a further note of Spring, I counted at least 16 ladyslippers at the head of the driveway. They're not "ripe" (pink) yet, but they are definitely early development flowers. There will probably be a lot more than that. They're only about three weeks early...

Gotta go pot up some perenniel euphorbia for a friend and then start moving furniture and stuff around to make things even more easy for Tom to navigate.

We made major progress today!

Linn

Subject: RE: BS: Curmudgeon's Latest Adventure
From: gnu
Date: 02 May 12 - 02:01 PM

It sounds like Tom is getting pretty good care. The homecoming will be good for both of you. I hope all goes smoothly.

Subject: RE: BS: Curmudgeon's Latest Adventure
From: Charley Noble
Date: 02 May 12 - 11:55 AM

Wow! It has been seven long weeks.

Wish it were sunnier today.

Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: Curmudgeon's Latest Adventure
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 02 May 12 - 08:08 AM

Just talked to Tom -- he's waiting for breakfast and is very achy...he thinks from sleeping wrong. Well, he slept "right" in that he got a decent night's sleep. Too bad the position didn't agree with him.

In about a half hour I head over to Langdon Place to pick up Tom and bring him and the rollator to the house -- with two of his therapists trailing along behind. Then they can see exactly what he has to contend with to get in and out of the house safely so they can help him do it. And, of course, see if there are any other suggestions they can make to help him live on the main floor for the next few months.

I'm REALLY looking forward to getting him home to stay! This seven week separation has been a really long haul.

Linn

Subject: RE: BS: Curmudgeon's Latest Adventure
From: Nancy King
Date: 02 May 12 - 12:04 AM

What a lovely surprise! And just when you needed it, too!

Been thinking of you....

--Nancy

Subject: RE: BS: Curmudgeon's Latest Adventure
From: katlaughing
Date: 01 May 12 - 11:39 PM

Nice town, Nottingham! What a wonderful thing to do. Glad to hear things are moving along.

We wove May baskets out of construction paper at school and at home, usually with a small pot of pansies in them. I always loved doing them.

At Caprilands in Coventry, CT, they have a real Maypole around which they dance every year. I really miss being able to go there.

Subject: RE: BS: Curmudgeon's Latest Adventure
From: gnu
Date: 01 May 12 - 10:14 PM

How nice.

Subject: RE: BS: Curmudgeon's Latest Adventure
From: ChanteyLass
Date: 01 May 12 - 08:58 PM

Your May basket sounds wonderful, and it arrived during a time when you deserve a treat.

If you get leg cramps often, you might try drinking tonic water daily. My daughter-in-law, who is into all things natural, suggested it because the quinine is supposed to help. I drink diet tonic water with lime. I know this is just anecdotal and not scientific, but it seems like I get foot and leg ramps if a day goes by without my drinking it. (And I suppose you could add gin to it.)

May baskets in RI are often sold or raffled at May breakfasts. The first May breakfast was held on May 1 as a church fundraiser in Cranston, RI. Now many churches and civic groups hold them. The best ones (in my opinion) include eggs, bacon, baked beans jonnycakes, and apple pie.

Subject: RE: BS: Curmudgeon's Latest Adventure
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 01 May 12 - 12:58 PM

Not really traditional around here, at least not in recent years that I've heard of...

My last experience with May baskets was back in the early '50s when I was about four years old in West Milwaukee, Wisconsin. My mother and I made little paper baskets and filled them with flowers and left them on neighbors' door knobs. Mom said that's what she and her friends used to do up in Stetsonville, Wisconsin when she was a kid.

Actually, now that I think about it, when I was in early elementary grades our school would have a May pole and we'd dance and weave the colored crepe paper streamers. Disappeared early in my life -- before age seven, I think.

Linn

Subject: RE: BS: Curmudgeon's Latest Adventure
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 01 May 12 - 12:18 PM

wow - I've never heard of May baskets, are they a tradition in your neck of the world?

Subject: RE: BS: Curmudgeon's Latest Adventure
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 01 May 12 - 12:00 PM

Just had a lovely surprise -- the arrival of a May basket from the Town of Nottingham!

It's a couple gallon sized splint basket with a bail (like an apple basket) and when I started unpacking it I found -- under the pot of pansies on the top -- everything from banana bread and homemade cookies, a pistachio Lindt chocolate bar, frozen cream of squash soup from What a Crock, blueberry preserves, spearmint goat's milk soap from Jenness Farm, Post-it notes, candy, small package of tissues, fancy Spring-ish paper napkins, tea towels, pancake mix and a small container of maple syrup (ayuh, I checked, it's New Hampshuh maple syrup), more crackers and cookies, a really nicely scented (and strong!) potpourri held on the basket by a decorated wooden clothespin, and even a berry/seed suet cake for wild birds.

What a delightful surprise on such a rainy May Day!

Called Tom immediately to tell him and unpack the basket so we found out together all of the treats it contained.

I had no idea the Town did this -- I'll have to see if we can get involved next year in preparing or delivering the baskets. Such a great idea! I don't know how many they deliver, Tom's tag said number 5 and our address.

Linn

Subject: RE: BS: Curmudgeon's Latest Adventure
From: Charley Noble
Date: 01 May 12 - 09:36 AM

Good luck on the home visit.

My mother's old farm house was a challenge to the home-visiting physical therapist coordinator. The house is not the most accessible one in the world, and there's all that distracting artwork cluttering up the place. Some day we may need to nuke the entire kitchen ell; the sills are rotted, the studs are rotted as well, and all seven door frames are at, shall we say, unconventional angles. When we had the floor vinyl redone a few years ago, the contractor said "How do you expect me to level that?" We finally persuaded him to just relax and follow the contours.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: Curmudgeon's Latest Adventure
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 01 May 12 - 08:25 AM

Actually I had a nice horseradishy bloody mary before dinner to wind down from the day -- and what I nuked was Healthy Choice Sesame Glazed Chicken which was rather quite nice (though the red bell peppers were a bit too abundant and I tasted them all night).

Talked to Tom for a few minutes a little while ago. He slept well, I think he said. Alas, a nasty thigh cramp woke me around 3:30 and, despite laying there with my eyes closed until 5, reading for a bit, then closing my eyes again until 7, I don't think I got any sleep after 3:30.

Gotta get the trash together to take up to the road (in the rain) for pick-up and spiffify the house in preparation for tomorrow's home visit. (Guess I better get the almost useless vacuum cleaner unclogged, too -- you might be interested to know I use a fencing foil for that task...) All mindless things, which is about all I can handle today, I think. And some phone calls. There always seem to be necessary phone calls...

Linn

Subject: RE: BS: Curmudgeon's Latest Adventure
From: ChanteyLass
Date: 30 Apr 12 - 09:19 PM

Have something good to drink with your dinner. Unwind. Sleep well.I hope Tom sleeps well, too.

Subject: RE: BS: Curmudgeon's Latest Adventure
From: gnu
Date: 30 Apr 12 - 08:38 PM

"If I didn't love him so damned much, I could be seriously annoyed with him."

Do I need to comment at all?

I have tears. That's beautiful.

Subject: RE: BS: Curmudgeon's Latest Adventure
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 30 Apr 12 - 07:15 PM

I know he'll have visits by the Visiting Nurses; don't know yet if he'll have any continuing physical therapy. There will be a home visit by his therapists (with Tom) on Wednesday. I have to go over there and pick him up (with the rollator, which he's been practicing on) and they'll follow us home and then not only find out exactly what he has to accomplish to get safely into (and out of) the house.

He really needs to stop scaring the bejaysus out of me on a regular basis... If I didn't love him so damned much, I could be seriously annoyed with him.

He suggested I not visit him tonight on the way home from work because it just takes too much out of me. (I sort of snapped at him this morning; too much stress for way too long. I'm just constantly on the verge of...I dunno. Something. Do I get a nice, comfortable nervous breakdown out of this sometime? I was promised one after he recovered from his heart surgery, but it never happened.) It was pretty much a typical Monday today -- not many sales, but CONSTANT phone calls, problem after problem interleaved with repairs and dispensing. For a while there I'd finish one phone call just to pick up the other ringing line -- back and forth, back and forth, while customers waited for me to fix their glasses or solve some problem.

Meant to call him as soon as I got home, but got distracted by posting here. Better go call him!

'Spaw, I read him your post -- he really appreciates it. Thanks!

Tonight I'm just going to nuke a frozen meal. It's not like I actually concentrate or appreciate any "fine cuisine" (and actually, I've been cooking some decent dinners) while sitting in front of the computer. I miss my dinner companion. (And I DON'T mean Rufus!!!)

Linn

Linn

Subject: RE: BS: Curmudgeon's Latest Adventure
From: SINSULL
Date: 30 Apr 12 - 08:54 AM

It appears Tom will be home in time for Cinco de Mayo. Let the margaritas flow!
Will he have continued physical therapy at home? Or home visits from helpful professionals to see that he is keeping up his exercises?
Once he can put weight on his ankle, there must be other therapy to build strength without straining it.
What a damn nuisance! Tom, stay upright from now on!
SINS

Subject: RE: BS: Curmudgeon's Latest Adventure
From: jacqui.c
Date: 30 Apr 12 - 07:45 AM

Been keeping an eye on this thread. Glad to hear that Tom is improving.

Subject: RE: BS: Curmudgeon's Latest Adventure
From: Bill D
Date: 30 Apr 12 - 12:47 AM

Two or three events missed for the sake of more healing will mean more confidence and appreciation of the next ones that feel 'right'.... but you knew that.

No trampoline lessons or clogging for awhile...ok?

Subject: RE: BS: Curmudgeon's Latest Adventure
From: ChanteyLass
Date: 29 Apr 12 - 06:52 PM

Sorry you'll miss your long-anticipated weekend, sorry Tom's not coming home sooner, but happy that one problem after another is being addressed.