MetaChat - TPS update, parental units version.

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06 July 2007

TPS update, parental units version. →[More:]
It seems like there have been health-related issues for some of the mechazen parental units this week. Updates please :)

1. My Dad was admitted to the hospital on Tuesday morning because his feet and one of his legs were retaining fluid. His stupid wife is incapable of making necessary decisions. She woke me up to see if she should take him to the immediate care center OR the ER even though Dad's doctor told her to take him to the ER. WHAT THE FUCK, LADY? (Dad's been hospitalized four or five times in the past few years and every single time she has wanted to know what I think should be done BEFORE taking action. Even though on at least 3 of the occasions she's already had a doctor tell her what to do.)

2. The doctors think the fluid retention is because of high blood pressure/diabetes. His heart is apparently fine. Oh and he will also have to get a sleep apnea mask set-up for home. I'm actually quite pleased about the sleep apnea mask because the last couple of times he's been in the hospital - I've mentioned that I think he has sleep apnea.

2b. Dad will likely be released from the hospital today or tomorrow.

2c. Dad's wife is going out with one of her friends today because she is feeling "ragged" - she pulls this shit every time he's in the hospital. And it pisses me off to no end because HI, SHE'S NOT THE ONE IN THE HOSPITAL and since she's really made no decisions - what the fuck are stressing about, bitch?

2d. People show their true colors during stressful times. Apparently, Dad's wife's true colors are made up of indecision, stupid, laziness, and bad dietary choices.

2e. Speaking of dietary decisions - I do not know how I'm going to get both Dad and his wife on board with healthy eating decisions. They are both diabetic and they both eat crap. And I don't want to be responsible for planning/making meals for them but I also don't want my dad to die because he was eating complete CRAP.

2f. I have to get my Dad doing some exercise because since he retired a few years ago - he went from being in good shape to gaining 60-80 pounds and sitting on his ass all day. However, I walk too fast/too far to invite him to walk with me and the dogs. I am thinking I'll see if I can get him to swim. I'll probably still have to go with him but at least he'll be doing something. (He can swim or walk laps in the pool while I swim.) It's not that I walk super fast or even fast - it's just that it's too fast for him. At this point if I can just get him moving for 15-30 minutes a day it will help out greatly. His wife isn't going to do jack shit on getting him to exercise.

3. On Monday I had my mom at the doctor because she's got a sinus infection. (Mom is not Dad's wife. I like my mom.) Sinus infections normally turn into pneumonia in mom because she's an idiot and always waits too long to go to the doctor. Her doctor even said to her, "Well, hey, you made it in before it turned into pneumonia." HAHHA. So I've also had to be checking on Mom all week. Antibiotics and steroids always make her loopy. Fortunately, she's married to someone who actually pays attention to what is going on with her.

post by: fluffy battle kitten at: 05:25 | 7 comments

I get the feeling that you don't think very highly of your father's wife. :>

I feel for you on this. My parents are both disgustingly healthy, but I'm sure that some point in the not-too-distant future I will have to start dealing with similar issues, and I'm honestly not sure how well I will do. Good luck, my thoughts are with you.

posted by deadcowdan 06 July | 06:30

The sleep apnea mask will do wonders for your dad. Don't be surprised if he is more interested in exercise after using it for awhile. He'll actually be feeling like it!

posted by bunnyfire 06 July | 07:51

I'm sorry to hear about your parents' illnesses, and the frustrations that come with the illness. It's tough to control the eyerolling sometimes, at least for me.

It seems like there have been health-related issues for some of the mechazen parental units this week. Updates please :)

1. My mother, whose blushing vigor defies her advanced age, is off visiting her widowed SIL, who is having a health scare of her own.

2. If Mom doesn't return today, I promised to go spend a day with her kitty, for the petting and the loving as well as the feeding.

3. My father remains dead.

posted by Elsa 06 July | 08:55

1.) Well, my mother finally got FED. So that's a plus. She hates the hospital bed, it's like an air mattress to prevent bedsores. She says she can't sleep in it. She's not sounding great & she's clearly weak, but I don't think it's life threatening right now. The doctors still haven't said exactly what's going on, they keep doing tests. (God I hate western medicine.) It's pretty clear she had a stroke & lost most of the use of her right hand and leg. Still no idea how long she's going to be in the hospital or anything.

2.) My niece has continued to kick ass and be there for my mom. Although my mom has five kids, this is the first time anyone has worked as a team with me like to help care for my mom in 10 years. I am so insanely proud of my niece that I think I will probably crush her with love when I see her.

3.) Really can't afford to leave town but I know I have to. It'll be hard because I'll have to miss classes and work that are both important. I am playing it day by day to see what the doctors say before hopping in the car. Hoping to go next week.

4.) This week I had decided it was time to take a break from Mefi for a while but then went in there on a whim yesterday for about 15 minutes to distract myself. Discovered the MeTa about me this morning and it made me laugh out loud for about five minutes. So that was fun & cheered up my morning. When I woke up yesterday did I expect to inspire people to write limericks about a woman who puts live bunnies in her hooha? Why no, I can honestly say that I did not. :)

posted by miss lynnster 06 July | 09:38

hugs and kisses and more hugs to miss lynn and fluffy. Please stop thinking about what others do (or don't do). Like your siblings lynn and your step-mom fluf. It is not helpful. I hope I raise children like you.

posted by carmina 06 July | 12:42

erm, not that I want them to be like you so that they take care of me, but that they will be compassionate and caring. I hope I will never need any help.

posted by carmina 06 July | 12:47

3. My father remains dead.

Good evening. I'm Chevy Chase, and you're not!
Well, I hope that means you can handle a joke.

Took me a moment to remember that TPS=Three Point Status, and not ThePinkSuperhero or ThePinkStainlessTail...

1. My Dad tried to cut an onion thinking it was cheese. He threw out a special grill-cleaning sponge because he thought the special grill-cleaning stuff on the special grill-cleaning sponge was gunk he couldn't get off. He asked what a container of strawberries was. He didn't want the girls' slip-and-slide to get wet from the basement leak so he threw it over the hot water heater, where it melted.

2. Several bad days with my ED nieces have been followed by a few tolerable ones. After two weeks of pushing they are finally cleaning the kitchen. You don't want to know what the floor looks like.

3. Not my parents per se, friends of my parents. They were on vacation in Utah when the tree next to their house was struck by lightning. It smoldered for hours unnoticed before igniting the house. Somebody driving across a bridge a mile away saw the fire and called it in. The house, a custom split-level they built forty years ago and had customized further with DIY built-in cabinets and even murals painted by local artists, was a total loss. They've been huge assets to the community -- the wife worked with my mom on starting the local LWV in the 1960s, just for starters -- and everybody expects them to retire to Georgia where they have family.

posted by stilicho 06 July | 15:33

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