Fogbow

Slim Cognito wrote: ↑Fri Feb 10, 2023 1:47 pm

Phoenix520 wrote: ↑Fri Feb 10, 2023 12:49 pm ... What a … I can’t think of a word strong enough for this worm [Kitara Ravache].

I can, but I'd probably get baned.

Young lady, you should know better than that by now.

I don't bane people for cussing, and I got a potty mouth myself. The use of obscenities is very much optional and a matter of personal choice on Fogbow. I remember my father teaching me that people cuss when they aren't smart enough to come up with a better way of insulting people (or things, or ideas), and I try to follow that, but every so often I will get annoyed or exasperated, and then look out, because I know all the cusses.

The only obscenities that aren't allowed here are those that are specifically designed to be demeaning to women, like the four-letter C word or the four-letter T word. If you try to write those words, the auto-censor will change it to "vagina". Vagina is a word that doesn't carry a lot of negative connotations, thus far. I know, it's early. But you can say vagina here, and even think about vaginas every once in a while. Some of my best friends have vaginas.

And even then, I can't ban all the words that are demeaning to women. I can't ban bitch, because it's too universal. You saw this week, Trump got furious when Chrissy Teigen called him a pussy ass bitch in a tweet. That's demeaning to women, but you can post all those words on Fogbow and nothing bad will happen to you.

So, umm ... no, no, you're not gonna be baned.

But I am worried about Big D some more, and I am going to pry a little. Whatever you want to tell us, and also how are you doing?

Why swearing is a sign of intelligence, helps manage pain and more

Science has also found a positive link between profanity and honesty. People who cursed lied less on an interpersonal level, and had higher levels of integrity overall, a series of three studies published in 2017 found.

“When you’re honestly expressing your emotions with powerful words, then you’re going to come across as more honest,” said Jay, who was not involved in the studies.

https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/26/health/s ... index.html

Oh hell yeah!

Thanks Foggy. I will be good, well, relatively.

Kinda like what Bill said, it's hard to do updates when you're not sure what the next day will bring. One hates to jinx things, but overall D is doing much better and my stress level is down to maybe 6-7 from 9-10 a few weeks ago.

D's pneumonia has improved, I think, significantly. His HR is down from the low 100s, which his heart doc explained was bc it was struggling to move oxygen from his poorly functioning lungs, to upper 80s, which is really good for him, especially considering he just had, I think, his sixth heart attack at Moffitt right after he started chemo (Iz lost track). Said doc said his heart is in pretty good shape, relatively.

He's doing well enough we're working on dropping his oxygen requirements. He's on 3L now, from 4L the last 2-3 weeks, so fingers crossed we can keep going in that direction.

Anyhoo, his color has improved, he's able to do physical therapy without major pain, much thanks to his therapist. She's tougher than a grizzly, but I'm seeing great improvement. (I really like her. She spotted a little snake living in my rock garden and brought me outside to see him. She likes snakes, and I like the little ones.)

His chemo regimen is two weeks on, two weeks off. He just finished his five-day infusion and still has one more week of oral therapy before he gets his two week break. Hopefully, this course he'll be able to finish in toto. Before, he ended up in the hospital before he got through it all.

I'm glad to hear things are going better.

Slim - ah!

All we can really do is just stand there and face the wind.

bill_g wrote: ↑Fri Feb 10, 2023 4:20 pm Slim - ah!

All we can really do is just stand there and face the wind.

RVInit wrote: ↑Fri Feb 10, 2023 4:34 pm

bill_g wrote: ↑Fri Feb 10, 2023 4:20 pm Slim - ah!

All we can really do is just stand there and face the wind.

You've had your own share of harsh winds blow your way. How are you doing this year?

good to hear things are going better.

bill_g wrote: ↑Fri Feb 10, 2023 4:43 pm

RVInit wrote: ↑Fri Feb 10, 2023 4:34 pm

bill_g wrote: ↑Fri Feb 10, 2023 4:20 pm Slim - ah!

All we can really do is just stand there and face the wind.

You've had your own share of harsh winds blow your way. How are you doing this year?

I'm hanging in there. My mother is getting more able to do things for herself, so I may be able to start thinking about work again. But I don't think I'll be able to go back to full time programming work. Funds are quite tight it's been months since I've had any income, so that has been kind of hard. But I think things are looking like they will get better, I wasn't convinced it was ever going to get better, so that's an improvement.

Since so many of us are giving and/or receiving care, have you noticed your shopping habits change? Are you seeing things that you never saw before? Are you making mental notes on price comparisons? This stuff was always here. We've been walking past it for years. Now all of the sudden we're seeing it. It beckons us.

Examples:
Alcohol free wipes - do you want 48 count, or something bigger? 12 by 48? Larger? Smaller? Aloe and lotion? Ever considered entirely dry wipes?

Examination gloves - nitrile or latex? Just a single 100 pack, or go for the carton deal? Is the fold down face shield you saw some people wear during covid starting to look really sexy now? Are you thinking that pink bedside pan will hold all your wound care stuff perfectly?

How about incontinence pads? Disposable adult overnight underwear? Support stockings? Canes? Walkers? With or without wheels? Tennis ball gliders? One button or two? Commodes for the bedroom anyone? Or hand rail kits for the bathroom?

How did all this stuff escape our attention until now?

Hugs to all!

Tiredretiredlawyer wrote: ↑Fri Feb 10, 2023 9:05 pm Hugs to all!

Ditto!

bill_g wrote: ↑Fri Feb 10, 2023 8:56 pm Since so many of us are giving and/or receiving care, have you noticed your shopping habits change? Are you seeing things that you never saw before? Are you making mental notes on price comparisons? This stuff was always here. We've been walking past it for years. Now all of the sudden we're seeing it. It beckons us.

Examples:
Alcohol free wipes - do you want 48 count, or something bigger? 12 by 48? Larger? Smaller? Aloe and lotion? Ever considered entirely dry wipes?

Examination gloves - nitrile or latex? Just a single 100 pack, or go for the carton deal? Is the fold down face shield you saw some people wear during covid starting to look really sexy now? Are you thinking that pink bedside pan will hold all your wound care stuff perfectly?

How about incontinence pads? Disposable adult overnight underwear? Support stockings? Canes? Walkers? With or without wheels? Tennis ball gliders? One button or two? Commodes for the bedroom anyone? Or hand rail kits for the bathroom?

How did all this stuff escape our attention until now?

Oh my, yes! I now need the industrial size of disinfectant wipes, the size they deliver with a forklift. I used to be very conscious of environmental situations, such as cutting up old t-shirts for rags for cleaning, then wash to reuse. Now it's grab a wipe because that's pretty much all I do* and there aren't enough minutes in the day to do it responsibly (forgive me Mother Earth.) I have at least one canister in every room we use.

*When I'm not loading/unloading/pushing wheelchairs, setting up oxygen tanks or juggling appointments. Higher Power bless Zoom, at least we're not driving to Tampa every week any more.

bill_g wrote: ↑Fri Feb 10, 2023 8:56 pm Examination gloves - nitrile or latex?

Not an expert but if you're using gloves regularly it's probably prudent to go nitrile to reduce the risk of acquiring a latex allergy through chronic exposure. Or, if using latex, switch as soon as any itchiness manifests.

For my hospital work, if our infection prevention and control (IPC) procedures do not mandate gloves (no expected contact with the patient's bodily fluids or secretions other than possibly sweat) I work without and am careful about correct hand hygiene. Of course, hand hygiene is required whether gloves are worn or not.

Slim Cognito wrote: ↑Fri Feb 10, 2023 9:43 pm Oh my, yes! I now need the industrial size of disinfectant wipes, the size they deliver with a forklift. I used to be very conscious of environmental situations, such as cutting up old t-shirts for rags for cleaning, then wash to reuse. Now it's grab a wipe because that's pretty much all I do* and there aren't enough minutes in the day to do it responsibly (forgive me Mother Earth.) I have at least one canister in every room we use.

*When I'm not loading/unloading/pushing wheelchairs, setting up oxygen tanks or juggling appointments. Higher Power bless Zoom, at least we're not driving to Tampa every week any more.

I still have that bag-o-rags. We used the serger to give them a finished edge, and/or sew several layers together. Thin bath towels became face cloths. Tee shirts became polishing pads, oven mitts, etc. Worked great.

Sam the Centipede wrote: ↑Fri Feb 10, 2023 10:33 pm

bill_g wrote: ↑Fri Feb 10, 2023 8:56 pm Examination gloves - nitrile or latex?

Not an expert but if you're using gloves regularly it's probably prudent to go nitrile to reduce the risk of acquiring a latex allergy through chronic exposure. Or, if using latex, switch as soon as any itchiness manifests.

For my hospital work, if our infection prevention and control (IPC) procedures do not mandate gloves (no expected contact with the patient's bodily fluids or secretions other than possibly sweat) I work without and am careful about correct hand hygiene. Of course, hand hygiene is required whether gloves are worn or not.

I heard about that from customers. Motor maintenance (mechanics) uses a ton of gloves to reduce solvent exposure and grime buildup (re: pore blockage) in arms and hands. Nitrile is the industry standard, and double gloving has become de rigueur.

Are nitrile gloves stretchy? I know there's some kind that isn't, and neither of the guys can use those, but they've been using latex for years now without any problem, so hopefully that'll continue.

But, yeah, that whole list sounds familiar. We use a lot of paper towels to cut down the cost on wipes. Oh, have you guys come across Comfort Baths yet? They're fantastic for doing sponge baths, and while they recommend using a whole pack per bath, but we've been using less than that without any adverse effects for years. And the packs are resealable, so I figure it must be ok to use only part of a pack, or why else would they make it easy to save the rest of them?

I like Scrubzz for sponge baths. I like them for train travel, particularly. Even though we travel in a sleeper and have access to a decent shower, sometimes it's just easier. I carry them, cut into quarters or halves, in the car, and now I don't travel without them.

I've been getting supplies for mom's care from Carewell. They carry lots of brands of all of the necessary supplies. And their delivery turnaround time is very fast. I bought some reusable bed pads and then decided to buy waterproof fabric and make my own. I use a large and small bed pad and then double over a towel and her night time brief leaks enough that I have to roll up the pads and towel, but her sheets are dry. We bought an electric bed because she needed changing so many times per day and throughout the night that trying to change her in a normal bed just killed my back. The first bed we ordered was supposed to be here before she got home, but they kept giving up updated delivery dates and I finally asked them what the fuck bed can you ship out TODAY - just substitute. We ended up with a decent electric bed but my freaking back was just about gone by the time it came in.

I set up once a month delivery of briefs, gloves, large size wet wipes (they are much larger than what you buy at the grocery store, those are useless for serious care for incontinence). butt paste, and other supplies. She resisted every attempt to become more self sufficient, but I stuck with it enough to make very slow progress. Just this week I finally got her to be willing to get out of bed herself and get on her commode and then back in bed by herself. She resisted every small bit of progress every step of the way and can't believe I finally got her to that point. I'm pretty tenacious, though, and was able to out-stubborn her.