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Very cool that you were able to repair it, Ron. I need to learn how to repair stuff like that. I took electronics in high school and electronic engineering in college but that was well over 20 years ago.

I went to the store to grab a few items-- wanted to see if some stuff I didn't get yesterday was still on sale but it was gone. No big deal though. Went to TSC and got a new cat tree that was on sale for a good price. All of ours are in various states of disrepair. Decided I needed to do some major cleaning to clear space for the new cat tree and get rid of all the trash that spread all over the floor, under the table, under the chairs, etc. I was doing well-- filled 3 bags of trash when my broom decided it had enough.

RIP broom. You served well for years.
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Its metal coated in plastic and the metal finally gave. I had quite the collection of trash on the floor. Have a ton of cardboard boxes to haul out and stuff. Had to use a push broom to clear the path so people can get through to get to the living room. Hauled out more trash bags and some cardboard packing stuff (from large objects and such). My brother still won't take out the trash and it had overflowed again and he just kept throwing stuff on the floor.

I really was in a good cleaning groove when it happened. Had to go back to the store and get a new broom. My back hates me now so I took naprosyn and am resting a bit before I tackle more of the trash.

Current state of the kitchen. I know it is a huge mess but it has actually looked worse. I can see floor-- and where the parquet floor came apart and is missing large sections. Some stuff is really stuck on there so I'm going to have to work on getting it up. Piled a bunch of stuff out of the way that will be cleaned and put elsewhere or thrown out. Found some roach nests behind the 2nd refrigerator. Ugh. Doused everything with diatomaceous earth.
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The white-ish stuff to the left is where the old cat tree was sitting. I managed to lug it on top of the table. We only use the table to feed the cats now.
 
Thanks, Shan. I'll probably need to rest for at least a full day because I know how my body reacts when I push myself too much.

I assembled a 6' cat tree and that thing was heavy and a pain. Cats kept getting in the boxes, sitting on the parts, sitting in it while I was trying to move it, etc. But its put together and Aminatu approves. The old cat tree that this one replaced is behind to the right. I set it on the table to get it out of the way. Too heavy for me to haul out by myself. I had a hell of a time getting the new one in. I had to roll the box from end to end to get it to the kitchen and then rolled it on top of a cooler to get it high enough to work with.
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Bethesda didn't want to leave when it was time for me to move it into place
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Senator Snugglebum decided to sit on one of the cushioned tiers before it went up.
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@zannej that's a fancy one. They will get tons of use out of it. Looks like the old one was well loved by them lol.

I have not every had a cat that would use one of those, so it's interesting to see 3 that like one.

It's been pretty boring around here. I have been battling my stomach for the past 12ish days (gastroparesis). It feels GREAT this morning but it's because I haven't eaten anything in 20ish hours. Thankfully I am not the least bit hungry yet.
I am trying to decide if I want to put my Christmas 🎄 tree up this year.or not. It's brand new, never been put up because I didn't want to fight the cats. Now that there's only 1.... I'm undecided. I have decorations that I bought on clearance the past couple of years also.... so we shall see.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and are doing well.
 
So far 4 of them have shown interest. When I got up this morning Aminatu was in the higher square "cave" and Rupert was in the hammock in the lower middle area. I was too tired to get a picture though. Legs hate me today.

Sorry to hear about your stomach issues. Hope they can be resolved quickly.

I should eat something but I'm exhausted. I need to take my vitamins & my allergy meds. Other than feeding cats and cooking, I'm not planning to do too much today.
 
Watched a documentary on Near Death experiences and Reincarnation, both of which I have researched extensively. There was the story of a toddler who was being changed by his Dad when he said "When I was your age, I used to change you." The Dad's father had passed a few months before the baby was born...

The Man's Wife was extremely interested, and showed the toddler photographs from his Grandpa's life, and the kid stopped when he saw an old car, saying "That's my car"... He also picked his old incarnation out of a school yearbook... "That's me."

Even if I were skeptical, which I am not anymore, I would say "There is no way it can be faked"... Kids are brutally honest before they learn how to lie, they can't fake anything.

The Near Death Experience part talked about how people come back knowing what happened in the ER, knowing things that happen outside the ER etc... One lady ventured out of her body to the rooftop of the hospital and when she was back in her body, she told the Doctor that there was a Red shoe on the roof... He sent an orderly up and sure enough, the shoe was there. I know NDE's are real and they are Scientifically validated, and lots of people come back with the knowledge that we live multiple lives... My only question is why don't we all remember them?

I think I was in every War this country has had since the Revolutionary War. I have always been into everything Military related, and make a joke with the family that I was probably shot in the back in Korea or WWII since my back has always been in pain. I could be right though... I suspect now that I was probably famous in a past life, as I cannot stand the thought of being famous now... I wouldn't even want to be the Weather guy or otherwise locally famous. I would rather be homeless than famous. Something must have happened in a past life that strongly resisted any unconscious possible desire I might have had to be famous while growing up.
 
More of the kitties have shown an interest in the cat tree. Gravy Jones has been sharpening his claws on the lower scratching posts. Bethesda has been hiding in a cube and swatting at any other cat that gets near. Itsy perched on one of the cushions. Aminatu has slept in various parts, and Rupert is still favoring the hammock. Although, he still prefers sitting on me. He tries to climb up my legs like I'm a tree and wants on my shoulder. Right now he and Itsy are sitting on me.

My legs still hate me & don't want to cooperate. I have a curbside order from Walmart and have to go to the post office today. Need to put seafoam in the gas tank- it helps the performance of the vehicle it seems.
 
Had a frustrating day and am feeling run down. Went to Samsclub for curbside pickup and wanted to get takeout from Flying Wok. Got an e-mail that my samsclub order was ready before I left. Let Mom know I was going and she asked me to set her purse where she'd be able to reach it from bed. I initially started setting it near the foot of the bed but it kept falling so I put it up near the head of the bed. She was in the bathroom at the time. I told her where I put it and she said "OK". Drove an hour up to samsclub behind a bunch of fracking morons who don't know what a turn lane is, what turn signals are, or how to go speed limit. Tried to use the app to check in but it said my order wasn't ready. Limped into the store and was told I had to go wait for someone from curbside to come over. Was told to get a cart and they wanted me to load the stuff myself. The reason I did curbside was bc I'm too sore to lift the stuff myself. I said something to the employee about that so he agreed to load things for me. Normally I'd do it myself but my body hates me. He also told me the magnesium that they canceled on my order is never in stock and recommended getting a different kind. Went to order from the chinese place and it was closed. Forgot they close on Tuesdays.

Before I left, I called to see if the RX mom is out of was ready. They said they needed approval from the doctor and that they had faxed to ask for it but not received it. I called the doctor's office and they said they would send in approval. Said they never got any fax. So, 3hrs later I'm at the pharmacy and the RX isn't ready. I call the doctor's office and they tell me that the order will be sent in when the nurse gets around to checking her messages. I told them it had been 3hrs since I called, Mom was out of the meds, I was already at the pharmacy & was already having a crap day & they couldn't go find the nurse to ask her to check her messages? Nope. I hung up and told the people at the pharmacy about the conversation. They tried to do an emergency fill of it but they said she picked up a 3month supply in October. IIRC, in October I tried to pick it up but it wasn't ready so it never got picked up. But my memory could be wrong on that. I'll have to search her desk and see if she misplaced the bottle but I do remember going to pick it up more than once and being told it wasn't ready yet.

I decided to call her to let her know. I call and call and call and call for 20min and she doesn't pick up. I messaged my brother to say she wasn't answering and I was worried and asked if he was still at work. It was in group chat so friend said my brother was on his way home. He messaged later saying she fell. She apparently fell shortly after I left and couldn't reach the phone. She said she told me to put her purse in a different spot and it was my fault blah blah. My brother managed to get her back up. She was all enraged and stuff but she calmed down once I got her some food. I then helped her get to the bathroom and caught her when she started to fall. She was able to make it back to bed OK.

Then she had a tizzy because the pills of a certain type of medicine were the wrong color. She told me to return it, but the pharmacy doesn't take returns. She yelled at me that she wanted me to return it anyway. So, I'll have to deal with that later. Right now I'm going to take a nap.
 
She fell a couple more times-- once in the bathroom trying to get to the toilet. I braced her feet & my brother got her on her feet and I got her to the toilet. Then when she was ready to go back to bed I helped her up off the toilet, helped get her pants up and was guiding her back to her bed when she stepped on my feet causing my slippers to come off. She tripped on my slippers, I tripped bc my slippers were coming off & I started to fall. I caught myself but couldn't hold her up. Fortunately, she landed somewhat on the doggy steps (which are padded) and was able to scoot herself toward the bed more while up high. My brother braced her feet while I got behind her and pulled her onto the bed. I had to keep scooting back and them grabbing around her waist and pretty much pulling her on top of me until she was far enough on to the bed that she could scoot herself over more. I had to throw my leg over her head from behind to get out from behind her. Good thing for heated seats in the truck bc I wouldn't have been able to do that if the heat hadn't helped the muscles in my leg. My brother got her leg pillow set up and I got the blankets on her and got her tucked in.

This morning she asked me to go get her a bedpan. She was too weak to get up to go to the bathroom. She later admitted to me that she crapped and peed in the middle of the night but she had a puppy pad under herself. Got her the bed pan and she threw up in it so I dumped it and cleaned it. She wanted fresh fruit so we got her some peaches. She threw up the peach. My brother got her some milk in a water bottle and she drank that and got enough strength to wipe herself off & pull the puppy pad out. She was able to get the bedpan under herself and cleaned herself off more. I'm hoping that we can get her to the toilet so she can use the bidet to clean herself better. Got her hand sanitizer and a lot of wipes.

Friend got a wheelchair and said he's going to come over with it so we can try to take her to the truck to get her to the hospital for IV fluids and assessment. I just spent the past few hours disinfecting the inside of the truck, cleaning it out, cleaning the pathways to make sure a wheelchair could fit. There is one spot in the front room where there is a bottleneck I need to clear but I can't do it by myself. My brother helped for all of 2 minutes before whining and going back to his room. Well, he whined while helping and then went back to his room when I asked him to do something. To add insult to it, he kicked more trash out of his room into the hallway that I had just cleaned. He kicked about 15 empty water bottles out. Ugh.

My back hates me right now, but I'm hoping when my friend comes over, we can get things organized better. Going to need his help to get Mom into a wheelchair. He actually offered to come wipe her up and stuff too. Said he's been changing diapers since he was 9 and it wouldn't bother him. I said she'd be too em bare assed. :p

She's feeling better at least but is still exhausted.
 
@zannej Can you not call the squad to come and get her? I mean, on one hand... you don't want people to see the inside of the house if it's in the states you have described.... but she really needs to go to the hospital, and she needs to go to a skilled nursing facility for rehab to strengthen up. Don't let her talk you out of it, medicare will pay for 20 days rehab at a SNF before you will have to either bring her home if she isn't progressing or apply for medicaid and have to list all assets at that point. And her refusing to participate will also lessen those days available. So she needs to participate.

If I lived closer I would help you get stuff cleaned up some. Maybe one of your friends could help clear out her room, kitchen bathroom and walkways to those rooms while she is admitted (because I would be shocked if she wasn't admitted)
 
I was easier getting my friend over. I cleared most of the bottlenecks that would block a wheelchair and friend got the last couple ones where I couldn't lift the stuff. Moved furniture and such to make it a clear path. He sat on the bed next to her and lifted her up and then passed her to my brother and then they both helped get her into the chair. We ended up having to back her out the entire way so my friend could lift the chair more easily to get her down the steps. Got her to the ER & her bp was 222/100 and blood sugar was 900. DKA so they said she needed to go to an ICU. No ICU at local hospital. Took a few hours but they found one another hospital a few towns over that was willing to take her. She fell asleep and I needed to get home and take my meds and lie down so I didn't wait for the ambulance to come. Back was hurting too much. They said I wouldn't be able to sit with her in ICU anyway.

So tomorrow I will have to find out if they allow visitors at all and how I can go see her. I think the average stay for dka is 32 to 37 hrs. I'll call her doctor in the morning to update him.

My whole body hurts and I need to sleep but my brain is not cooperating. Will have to clean up her room better while she's in the hospital. It smells awful in there from her soiling herself.
 
@zannej In my experience DKA is a little longer stay more like 3 to 5 days. She would need a 72 hour inpatient stay to qualify for a SNF also (ingeneral). Get some rest, nothing you can do at the hospital besides moral support.
I'm sorry your mom is ill and in the hospital.
You're both in my thoughts and prayers.
 
Good luck and Prayers, Z... Those Allopathic Doctors can't help her after she gets out, she needs a Functional Medicine Doctor to drastically change her situation or it's the end of the road. If she wants to eat snack cakes and Chinese take out and whatever she likes, then so be it, but there is zero chance of recovery if so.
 
Thanks Shan & Spicoli.
No calls from the hospital thus far. I called our GPs office this morning to tell them what happened and that she probably won't make her appointment on Friday.

No news is usually good news with hospitals. I'm trying to motivate myself to eat something and to get up and clean. Pets knocked the trash can over. Not sure if it was dogs or cats.

Been reviewing the route to get to the hospital on google maps and looking at street view. Still exhausted but hopefully I'll be more alert when its time to drive. ICU has weird visiting hours. only half an hour and I need to be there by 1pm
 
We went to visit & it went well for the most part. Her feet were cold so I asked them for socks and they let me put them on her. She was asking for a wedge pillow but they didn't understand so I explained the type of pillow she keeps under her legs at home so they went and got one for her. Got her more comfortable. They let us stay an hour past normal visiting hours. She was lucid and feeling a little better. BP was still high and sugars were still over 200.
They had a potassium drip as well as insulin with her saline. I relayed what led up to her getting this sick and the nurse explained it to the doctor over the phone. Said the key was that she thought she had low sugar and took mountain dew and it made it go higher.

When I was driving up there they asked if we could bring her meds so they could see what she was on. She keeps them in separate containers in different rooms and I was already driving so I gave the doctor's # to call and get the info. They wouldn't allow outside meds to be administered anyway. She couldn't take anything orally because she was still having nausea. She asked them to adjust the bed to have her head lower and then started throwing up just as we were about to leave. My brother handed her a barf bag and the nurse rushed in, got her sitting up more, and got her some towels to wipe her face. Everyone there was very nice. The ER nurse told me that its "a very good hospital". So that made me feel a little better. The one in Ville Platte was described as "decent".

My brother wanted to go back again tonight but I don't trust driving on those roads in the dark. The long twisty ones don't have street lights. It rained really hard on the way home so the roads were slick and people can be morons. Had a few d-bags not use indicators. I'm going to buy more bins to put her stuff in to move it off the bed so I can change the sheets. I got the crappy stuff cleaned off her bed but she needs a sheet change and waterproof mattress cover.

I need to find something to keep her wedge pillow from sliding off the bed during the night, but if we clear stuff off her bed she should have more room for it to not do that.
 
Nice. Glad you fixed it! Is there some sort of anti-corrosion fluid or gel? Dielectric grease or something in there?

Visited Mom yesterday and they had her in a chair-- a small recliner-- and she was able to get herself back to the bed without help. Visited again today and they had put in a stent to try to get a large kidney stone out. It was too big to come out so Wednesday the laser specialist is coming in to try to break it up. They moved it out of the way to allow urine flow. They said the kidney stone caused the UTI which caused the bp spike which led to the dka.

Her bp is still high and she still can't keep any food down. Hopefully that will change before Wednesday. It's an hour drive each way so I'm exhausted after going. Resting a little before I have to go back to the store to get some milk.
 
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