Post a good thing that happened in your life today

[Betty LaRue]

19 hours ago, Ed Rooney said:

 

Yeah, Betty -- poco a poco.

I’m not getting much PT. They are having to work me in, and I only had PT last Monday for the whole week. But she gave me a set of leg exercises to do at home, and I’m doing them every day. I still have a nasty scab left from the incision infection, but I’m trying to ignore it! Easy to do since I can’t see it unless one of my kids takes a picture with a cell phone for documentation.

 

I need to cough and clear my lungs so bad. I’ve not gotten to clear them since surgery and the collapse of one lung. I’m still using that thingy I blow into to reinflate the small air sacs.  But when a cough erupts suddenly, it rips the severe pain in my groin and I can barely stand it. Otherwise, I get a tiny cough out that clears nothing but still manages to make me tear up.

Jeff cooked up some dirty rice for dinner yesterday, and some delicious fresh corn on the cob, buttered and salted. He also made a pear cobbler yesterday. He’s quite the cook, and doesn’t just closely follow recipes, but is inventive.

It’s supposed to be in the 60s today and hopefully will melt the last of the snow. But Tuesday, the cold settles in deep again for the next 4 days thereafter. Winter doesn’t seem to want to let go of it’s grip. During that time, we might get a bit of sleet & snow. Oh, joy. It makes no difference to me actually, other than mentally. I haven’t been out of the house since the 15th, my daughter’s birthday.

[Betty LaRue]

5 hours ago, sb photos said:

 

Re your reference to Oxycodone Hydrochloride I recently read this "The Sackler family owners of Purdue Pharma have proposed a settlement worth up to $6 billion to resolve allegations the company and the owners contributed to the U.S. opioid epidemic, according to a mediator's report."

Someone I know who had the same kind of back surgery as I, said most of her family, brothers, etc, got hooked on Oxy through legitimate surgeries or injuries. So when she had her back surgery, they gave her Oxy and she tried to not take it and suffered. Finally, she took it for a couple of weeks as little as she could get by with to manage the pain, then went to acetaminophen. She was terrified of getting hooked.

The thing is, the severe kind of pain caused by the kind of back surgery I had truly is best managed by Oxycodone. It offers the deep pain relief that other meds don’t. They gave it to me at the surgery center for the first two days and I did well, pain-wise. The third day I went to the rehab place and refused to take any more Oxy. What was given me was still an opioid, but one with a low dependency occurrence. The rehab place didn’t use it properly to manage my pain for a couple of weeks, though. 
 

What I came to realize is that Oxy can give complete pain relief. Anything else gives pain relief, but only to a certain level, and not complete. It just knocks down the pain to a manageable level, and if not used properly and consistently, the patient suffers unduly. Thereby the opportunity for addiction while using Oxy is very strong unless the patient is very aware of what can happen. If I’d have had this surgery 10 years ago, before all the publicity and backlash, I would have happily taken Oxy and completely unaware, became addicted.

 
I’m off of pain meds now, other than when I had a series of coughs and sneezes yesterday evening, causing unmanageable pain in my groin until I took pain meds. I thought I was stronger than that, but weeks and weeks of it breaks down defenses and makes a mewling, crying kitten of one. I can truly understand how people get hooked without realizing it, and those people should be pitied, not condemned.

[sb photos]

1 hour ago, Betty LaRue said:

I’m off of pain meds now, other than when I had a series of coughs and sneezes yesterday evening, causing unmanageable pain in my groin until I took pain meds. I thought I was stronger than that, but weeks and weeks of it breaks down defenses and makes a mewling, crying kitten of one. I can truly understand how people get hooked without realizing it, and those people should be pitied, not condemned.

 

I'm surprised how the medical profession dished them out so freely, you can only guess. In the distant past I was cut from my belly button to the bottom of my rib cage to remove my spleen and stitch my liver. Even now I remember coughing and the pain as the stitches pulled. Pushing down on the stitched area minimised the pain when the effect of the pethidine pain killing injections were wearing off. The other complication at that time was both lungs were collapsed and I was on oxygen via a face mask while under a general anaesthetic.

Edited February 20, 2022 by sb photos

[Michael Ventura]

I have taken Oxy on a number of occasions and it does a great job when used properly and with a limited scope.  I could never allow myself to get addicted since they mess up your digestion so badly.  Besides, my doctors have always limited a prescription to just a small handful of pills and if I kept coming back for more, I think they would have a talk with me.  I have never gone back for more, just used what I had very judiciously.

[CAROL SAUNDERS]

Well a very entertaining evening/morning yesterday at A & E Watford with my other half.  His right foot had swollen and lower part of his leg, didn't look good so off we went.  Arrived at 11pm, he got seen at 1am and had bloods taken, his temp was up slightly.  3.30 a.m. they decided he needed intravenous antibiotics, said it would be about another half an hour and no need for them to keep him in.  2 hours later the doc came out said he had a bad faint on the first intravenous antibiotic, went unresponsive!  They sorted him out and and gave another different antibiotic, told me they would keep him in for a short while and for me to go home.  By this time it was 5.30 a,m.  They also said I would have to bring him daily for intravenous antibiotic this week.  They've said cellulitis but don't know what the cause is and all his other vitals were ok but he will have bloods done again tomorrow.  The NHS were very good despite our wait but it's to be expected.  I really think anyone who attends A & E who is peed out of their skull should be at least charged!  I could write a book about the goings on at Watford A & E on a Saturday night!  However, onwards and upwards until......the heating packed up this afternoon.  I have temporary heaters at the moment one downstairs and one upstairs so all toasty at the moment.  Ed's heater is also bookmarked!  Our neighbour who is a heating engineer is popping over shortly, he sorted our boiler out a few years ago so have complete faith in him.  I'm not really expecting him to get it working as it will probably need a part as the boiler is not firing up but the lights are on, on the timer clock.  Also I have found the instruction book for the boiler.  The boiler is old but a very good make and our engineer said last time so long as there are parts for it, it can be sorted.   Luckily we have an immersion heater so at least we have hot water.

 

They say things happen in 3's - that's fence panels/A & E/ Heating.  Trying to keep positive🙂

 

My bamboos are still standing though no longer attached to anything 🙏

 

Carol

[NYCat]

My drug of choice is Percocet (Oxycodone and Acetaminophen) because it really works for me. It apparently can be highly addictive but I never felt the need to continue beyond the end of the pain. They only gave me a limited number of pills and I usually would have two or three left over to keep in my cabinet for emergencies. I probably still have some but I hope it wouldn't take me hours of pain to figure out where I put them! Codeine knocks me out completely and Morphine leaves me with pain but just an emotional distance from it.

 

Paulette

[Ed Rooney]

 

Wow, people. Don't think I'll be feeling sorry for myself anytime soon. As a jazz musician in my teens, more than half the guys I played with were addicts. That and the fact that I'm a morning person got me to leave that world. Three days is the most I've allowed myself with Oxy. The US medical community pushed statins and other meds too, a conspiracy of doctors, pill makers, and med insurance companies. 

 

Edo

Edited February 21, 2022 by Ed Rooney

[Bryan]

Wow Carol, lots of problems !

 

Hopefully you'll get your boiler back running OK and that himself is OK.  As for the bamboo, it's as tough as old boots. 

 

Our boiler makes dodgy sounding "whoofs" occasionally, as if the ignition has not occurred until there has been a build up of gas.  Not  sure how to proceed, as I know from experience that most heating engineers are not that clued up on these matters.  Then there is the switch from gas to electric coming at some point, so is it worth renewing the boiler? Currently gas is much cheaper than electricity (they are still using gas to generate peak electricity), and the electric heat pumps that are around don't provide a high enough temperature to work with the existing radiators and levels of insulation.  Could do with some sensible guidance from national government, a plan.

 

Back to good news. We got out to a chamber concert last night to hear Emma Johnson play, amongst other things, Brahms Clarinet Sonata, Op.120, No.1. Lovely stuff.  The musicians said how pleased they were to be back performing in front of a live audience.  Got home way past my bedtime.

[spacecadet]

19 hours ago, Bryan said:

as if the ignition has not occurred until there has been a build up of gas

There is (or should be) a safety mechanism for that. If the ignition doesn't happen after a quite small number of attempts  the boiler locks out. If your boiler is still running, and you haven't reset it, you haven't had a failed ignition. Don't know what the canine noise is though, possibly it isn't firing first time as you say, but as I said it gets a few goes.

I'm not a heating engineer of course, but if yours doesn't know the above you may need a different one. I got it from the manual the installer left behind..

Edited February 21, 2022 by spacecadet

[Betty LaRue]

21 hours ago, Michael Ventura said:

I have taken Oxy on a number of occasions and it does a great job when used properly and with a limited scope.  I could never allow myself to get addicted since they mess up your digestion so badly.  Besides, my doctors have always limited a prescription to just a small handful of pills and if I kept coming back for more, I think they would have a talk with me.  I have never gone back for more, just used what I had very judiciously.

That is so smart, Michael. I’ve had bilateral bunionectomies, shoulder then knee surgery. I don’t remember what I was given for pain, but there was at least a 2 week supply, of which I took 2-3 pills over the first 2 days, then no more. I’ve always hated what they do to my head.

This surgery was on a whole new level because of the severe nerve and bone pain. Putting multiple screws in my bones had to be part of it. It took 4 weeks to get completely off pain meds but the 4th week I was weaning off. The nerve and bone pain is gone. I’m left with the short side of my body, pulled that way by scoliosis, that has been forced straight causing a lot of growing pains. I’ll get there. But it took over 4 years to go bad, I fear it’ll take a while to reverse and stretch out the shortened parts. If this groin thing was done I’d feel like a new woman and could only concentrate on getting stronger. I do have PT this morning, the first since last Monday.

[Allan Bell]

 

Sold another canvas through Photo4Me.

 

Allan

 

[Betty LaRue]

The last of the snow melted today…just in time for more come Thursday. I’m so glad the Olympics are over. I watched figure skating, not much interested in the rest. And figure skating was too much drama.

 

[Bryan]

12 hours ago, spacecadet said:

There is (or should be) a safety mechanism for that. If the ignition doesn't happen after a quite small number of attempts  the boiler locks out. If your boiler is still running, and you haven't reset it, you haven't had a failed ignition. Don't know what the canine noise is though, possibly it isn't firing first time as you say, but as I said it gets a few goes.

I'm not a heating engineer of course, but if yours doesn't know the above you may need a different one. I got it from the manual the installer left behind..

Cheers Mark, that makes sense. However the last time we had a boiler fault only one out of four heating engineers was able to diagnose it correctly, the other three could only suggest either replacing the circuit board or the boiler. In fact a switched sensor had failed. One chap was quite honest about it, he was clued up in dealing with combi boilers as most houses have them, but ours is an old system with a hot water tank and was beyond his experience. As it happened, the fault would have been applicable to either system, so my trust in local heating engineers isn't great ! We've had the man who correctly fixed the system back, but he hasn't been able to find a cure this time.

 

Moving back to good things, the work on building our house extension is coming to an end, maybe another four days of mess and noise. The dust gets everywhere, despite the builders taking precautions and we cleaning up as best we can. They've started to plasterboard the walls, then they have to lay the new floor, skim the walls and ceiling, and second fix the electrics and reposition a radiator. The contents of the affected space are distributed about our house and garage which means we're tripping over stuff, but there's light at the end of the tunnel ! I've then got to build a fitted bookcase, before we can have new floor covering laid and paint the walls.

[spacecadet]

6 hours ago, Bryan said:

Cheers Mark, that makes sense. However the last time we had a boiler fault only one out of four heating engineers was able to diagnose it correctly, the other three could only suggest either replacing the circuit board or the boiler. In fact a switched sensor had failed. One chap was quite honest about it, he was clued up in dealing with combi boilers as most houses have them, but ours is an old system with a hot water tank and was beyond his experience. As it happened, the fault would have been applicable to either system, so my trust in local heating engineers isn't great ! We've had the man who correctly fixed the system back, but he hasn't been able to find a cure this time.

 

Perhas you can become your own troubleshooter. I did. Our non-condensing, non-combi boiler is nearly 20 years old now and it's never had professional attention- the much-vaunted (by boiler engineers at least) service is mostly just inspection and cleaning anyway. I've replaced a circuit board, down to a well-known design fault, and descaled and flushed radiators as well, and replaced two radiator valves. As long as I stay away from the gas supply it's well legal.

[John Morrison]

16 hours ago, Betty LaRue said:

The last of the snow melted today…just in time for more come Thursday. I’m so glad the Olympics are over. I watched figure skating, not much interested in the rest. And figure skating was too much drama.

 

And curling: 'housework on ice'...

[Dave Richards]

10 hours ago, spacecadet said:

Perhas you can become your own troubleshooter. I did. Our non-condensing, non-combi boiler is nearly 20 years old now and it's never had professional attention- the much-vaunted (by boiler engineers at least) service is mostly just inspection and cleaning anyway. I've replaced a circuit board, down to a well-known design fault, and descaled and flushed radiators as well, and replaced two radiator valves. As long as I stay away from the gas supply it's well legal.

No annual servicing by a qualified engineer? Good luck if you have a gas explosion because the gas valve has been letting by unnoticed.................I wonder what your house insurer would have to say about it? I would be concerned that you are probably in breach of your contract with your insurer.

[Chuck Nacke]

Skied all day in the sunshine, 26 miles and hit a top speed of over 40 mph.

Does not get much better than that....

 

Chuck

[Betty LaRue]

8 hours ago, John Morrison said:

And curling: 'housework on ice'...

Love your wit & humour. See there, I spelled it right. (For you)

Edited February 23, 2022 by Betty LaRue

[Betty LaRue]

We had a 50 degree drop in temperature from yesterday, yes it’s freezing, A dusting of snow this morning and more coming Thursday. 
I’m seeing a noticeable improvement in the quality of light as the sun slowly is moving up in the sky 2 months past winter solstice.

I love those ethereal light changes that I see in the autumn, also. There is a special sparkle to the air. Do y’all notice it, too?

Spring has to be just around the corner in spite of my spirits being at an all-time low.  For a non-depressive, I’m flirting with it.
I need to see birds building nests or something.

I see one of my doctors Friday to see if this horrible groin pain upon the slightest move could be a hernia or something fixable, and ask for anti-nausea meds so I can stand to eat.  Surely, things have to get better. I see the surgeon next week for my post-op.

I asked Alexa to play bird sounds for Echo this afternoon and she tweeted and whistled along happily.

Edited February 23, 2022 by Betty LaRue

[sb photos]

When an image is zoomed or licensed I always undertake an image search. I have previously read here that it's not important, why bother, it's the sales revenue that's important. Most searches are fruitless, but not all. A repeat search for an image that was zoomed and licensed found its usage. This was certainly worth while as the publisher had credited the image use to Stephen Bell/Alamy CC BY. A copyrighted image should never have been identified as Creative Commons, allowing anyone free usage. I emailed the publication asking for the credit to be corrected, and asked how this could have happened. Had an email by return from the news editor apologising and advising the correction was made. He never answered my question how the mistake was made. I wonder how common the publishers mistake was. A previous image used by them was correctly attributed.

[spacecadet]

14 hours ago, Dave Richards said:

No annual servicing by a qualified engineer? Good luck if you have a gas explosion because the gas valve has been letting by unnoticed.................I wonder what your house insurer would have to say about it? I would be concerned that you are probably in breach of your contract with your insurer.

I'll defer if you're a boiler engineer or insurance lawyer, but otherwise, wrong on both.........thanks for your concern.

Edited February 23, 2022 by spacecadet

[Allan Bell]

A sale dropped in today.  Things must be bad when a sale has to be reported as a "good thing".

 

Allan

 

[Dave Richards]

2 hours ago, spacecadet said:

I'll defer if you're a boiler engineer or insurance lawyer, but otherwise, wrong on both.........thanks for your concern.

I spent 50 years as a building services engineer working on large commercial projects down to houses for the rich and famous. I also qualified to oversee gas installations both large and small. You do not know what you are talking about and are encouraging others down a dangerous path.

[CAROL SAUNDERS]

1 hour ago, Allan Bell said:

A sale dropped in today.  Things must be bad when a sale has to be reported as a "good thing".

 

Allan

 

Well I had one also Allan, let's think positive😄

 

Carol

[CAROL SAUNDERS]

Well, our lovely neighbour who is a heating engineer came over Sunday evening and worked his magic on our ancient boiler yet again.  It was something called an overheat thermostat.  Anyway he managed to get it going but said we could really do with a new boiler.  I do actually agree, our boiler which is a Vaillaint was installed in 1997 when we bought the house, so we can't really complain other than the cost of a new one.  Even he said new ones don't last as long.  He said he doubted whether we would still be able to get the necessary part but gave me the details and suggested I contact Vaillant for a part no. so I could order one.  Vaillant were very good and got back to me with a part no. and I managed to order one from a plumbers merchant, it was only about £30 so not so bad.  However, they called today and apologised but it may not be with them until end of next week so I asked them to keep it on order anyway.  Our boiler is still working and our engineer said just to get it and keep anyway for that price i.e., if it ain't broke don't fix it, he's doing us a quote for a new boiler anyway.  He has always been very good with us and our relic of a boiler so I wouldn't want anyone else to do it even if I could get it cheaper.  I am so lucky to have amazing neighbours.  My other neighbour also helped yesterday when our 4 new fence panels were delivered and put them in his garden and will put them up later in the week when the storms have hopefully lessened....

 

Carol