One Month to Go!
I mostly HAD to post this here today because it's Maine*Grandson's 6th birthday, and he is really excited about getting a ride in Grandad's new red hybrid truck when it finally arrives (about one month from today)! Only, you need to picture this truck with a black textured hood protector, black side window deflectors and mudflaps. But this "hot pepper red" is the colour. It will also have a tailgate assist...because eventually we get old. LOL. We have never pre-ordered a vehicle before. If it really does arrive for Valentine's Day, it will have been an 8 month wait exactly.
My folks ordered a 1950 Oldsmobile 98 from the factory, light yellow with a black roof, red leather upholstery and (hydraulic) power windows. One of my distinct childhood memories (3-4 years old) is riding down a ramp out of the Oldsmobile dealership, with a view out over the city of Eureka, with the boats and cranes in the distance.
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DeleteOh, Bill--I just saw your post about Penny and listener's response. There isn't anything I can add to what listener said. Oh, my.
ReplyDeleteThanks to Alan and everyone who posted wishes on the last thread. Penny had dialysis last night and when I talked to a nurse around noon she said they were rechecking Penny's hemoglobin/RBCs to confirm that she needed a transfusion. The original results were described as "wonky."
DeleteAnd she seemed surprised to hear that Penny had been essentially independent a week ago. If Penny can recover to that baseline (IF), we won't need to think about a nursing home.
Sometimes there is so much heparin in those dialysis blood samples that the blood tests can indeed be wonky; they don't poke the patients more often than absolutely necessary. And the hormone that raises hemoglobin values above baseline is produced by the kidneys. Here's hoping for the best.
DeleteThanks, Alan. I didn't know this.
DeleteBill, thank you for the update. Please keep us posted. We care.
DeleteIt helps so much to have information at a time like this, when you’re thrust into an unexplained situation. We are lucky to have Alan’s expertise! Thanks again for your many years of careful work, Alan.
Unscrupulous athletes have been known to take exogenous erythropoietin to increase the oxygen carrying capacity of their blood. It is far more convenient than training at high altitude and living in houses with oxygen-depleted air when they come down to sea level or thereabouts.
DeleteI came here to post these TV news snippets, and suppose I might as well. But it seems disrespectful.
ReplyDeleteTrump Nightmare? First Sedition Charge In Jan. 6 Probe For Overthrowing Election [Click]
MSNBC: First Sedition Charges Filed In Capitol Attack [Click]
MSNBC: Smoking Gun? Foreign Plot Inspired MAGA Insurrection, Says DOJ [Click]
Hopefulness is never disrespectful.
DeleteI'm intrigued with the "smoking gun" possibility.
Southern US hospitals grapple with staff shortages amid record Covid cases [Click] “About a third of the state’s hospital nurses have left for other jobs, . . . many of them to better paying positions out of state.” Nothing new there. The small rural hospital in California where I used to work became dependent on traveling nurses from the South. As memory serves me, they would be flown out from their homes in the South, be put up in motel rooms, receive a meals and miscellaneous allowance, then be flown home. Ten days on, ten days off. Their wages were so low in the South that the travelers wages made it well worth while. Of course the cost to the hospital here was far more than what the nurses received, because they had to pay all the actual expenses plus the costs and profits of the agencies providing the traveling nurses.
ReplyDeleteWe have a similar situation here right now, but not because nurses and other staff have quit. It's just that we have 400+ people out due to Covid and quarantines.
DeleteI am putting together a care package for our ICU nurses. My plan is to mail it to my friend, whose son is codirector of the ICU, and have him carry it in. I'm waiting for his okay at this point, but likely he'll say "of course."
Suggestions for what to include in the care package?
So far I am planning:
Mount Hagen organic, fair trade, freeze-dried coffee (instant and actually delicious); Nut Pods creamer in 4 flavours; home made brownies; home made soft ginger cookies; pecans and raisins and possibly some fresh fruit. Oh, and a nice "thank you" card. Anything else?
Such things being unheard of in my forty-odd years' experience of working in hospitals, I am completely at a loss to suggest anything. But presumably they have cardiac defibrillators to hand and people who know how to use them! [grin]
DeleteOh, you have no idea what we've done in the past, then. I did discover that one nursing unit was particularly fond of Green Mountain Coffee Roasters' Vermont Blend and made sure they got some with a note of gratitude.
DeleteAlso, we sent treat to the nurses on the unit our (then teenage) niece was on when she had her bone marrow transplant. It was to thank them for being in cahoots with us. She had acute myeloid leukemia, was very ill, and was in Boston while we were in Vermont. Her BMT was scheduled for December 9th, and there was no knowing how she would fare. So I called her nurse and said we wanted to do something special for Sarah. Could we send the particulars through the nurses? They were GREAT. We sent Sarah a catalogue and told her she had $100 to spend. She could choose gifts for her family members, we would wrap them and send them in her name to her family. The nurses snuck the catalogue in to her, took her order, and sent us the choices. We bought the items, wrapped them, boxed it all up and sent it to her home address, with Sarah's return address (same address. LOL.).
The gifts arrived a few days before Christmas. At that point, Sarah was still VERY weak from the BMT. When her twin called their parents to say a box of gifts had arrived, they asked who the gifts were from. He said he was stunned to reveal they were from... Sarah! And, she being the weakest person they knew at the time, they were flabbergasted.
Long story short, they brought the whole box to the hospital and opened them with Sarah present. She had all the fun of watching them open all the great gag gifts she had chosen. (Gag gifts are a thing with them.) All I recall of the specific gifts is that she gave her parents a Fisher Price Doctor Kit, so they could take good care of her when she got home. Hahahaaa.
Later, her Mom told me that it was the very first "Make a Wish" she had ever heard of, and was so moved that we gave Sarah power when she was weakest, and a special secret to giggle to herself about as she went through the Valley. Her Mom later became director of Make-a-Wish in her state.
That's very good; but I don't think I will be holding my breath waiting for someone to tip a phlebotomist.
DeleteA Simple Plan to Solve All of America’s Problems [Click] “The U.S. doesn’t have enough COVID tests—or houses, immigrants, physicians, or solar panels. We need an abundance agenda.”
ReplyDeleteThe Worst of the Omicron Wave Could Still Be Coming [Click] “A long descent from a peak in cases could exact a larger toll than even Omicron’s blistering ascent.” Long story short: keep your guard up until further notice.
ReplyDeleteWEDNESDAY
ReplyDeletenew cases 813
new deaths 0 (490 total)
in hospital 85
in ICU 37
THURSDAY
new cases 1963
new deaths 0 (490 total)
in hospital 91
in ICU 28
FRIDAY
new cases 2295
new deaths 3 (493 total)
in hospital 100
in ICU 24
Positivity Rate has jumped to 13.4% today
^Vermont, of course
DeleteOur 90 year old next door neighbour has lost her sense of taste. She got a PCR test this morning and is waiting for the result. So far, that's her only symptom.
People tend to lose their sense of taste as they age. But it's not abrupt.
DeleteYes. She found her birthday cake delicious just 10 days ago. Something's not quite right.
DeleteI hope she is fully vaccinated.
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