Update on Dad

*sigh.

So.... my dad is in the nursing home/rehab center. Still is not managing his pain because the only time they gave him a strong pain pill was that one time when Donna demanded it. She saw him today and she told the nurse to get the doctor to prescribe something stronger again -- even the Physical Therapists agreed he needed it because he is in so much pain he will not cooperate with therapy.

The therapists said that they think it will take approximately 12 weeks of rehab for him to get to a point where he could possibly go home. However, chances are he will not ever be able to go home unless he gets a live-in care taker.

Donna said he is still very confused and wakes up not knowing where he is. He still isn't eating much because he hates the food. Donna actually got the nurse to order him a pizza for dinner tonight. Hopefully he liked it and it agreed with him.

Anyhow...... I feel really bad for him. But it's going to take a few days to get adjusted. This is his first day there. So, we just need to give it time.

So while I'm worrying about him, I also have a dear friend who called me last night and wanted her life to end. She swore to me she wouldn't commit suicide but she wants God to take her. She is done living. All of this stems from a relationship that ended yesterday. It was doomed from the start and deep down she knew it, but she wanted it so badly she refused to see the red flags.

I was very concerned because her speech was slurred and she could barely talk or make sense and she finally told me she had taken two xanax.  (She usually only takes a half, so this was 4 times the normal amount). I wasn't sure if she'd wake up this morning so I made her text me to let me know she was still alive.

She was. But she is a mess. She is at the end of her rope. This man broke her heart to bits and she just wants to literally lay down and die.

In fact, she is making plans to die. she has this list of things to do, get her house cleaned up, get some stuff finished up at work, and then she wants her husband to come get her and take her to heaven.

I told her I think she may have a long wait because it doesn't work like that.

*** sigh..............  why is life so complicated?

Wow, Really?

They hired a new girl at work last week. I noticed that this girl hasn't been in for about 6 days. Nobody has said anything.

Finally asked where the heck she is and was told she Quit after three days! For "personal" reasons.

Wow. that is rather surprising!

But why would they keep it hush hush? Do they think nobody is going to notice the office is empty again????

Finally some GREAT news.

   George and I were a bit concerned because hardly any taxes were being taken out of his checks. I was sure that come April we were going to owe a couple thousand. So we started taking a huge chunk of his checks and putting it in savings so we'd have the money to pay the taxes.

I gave our info to my tax man last week.... told him to do his best but I was sure I'd be writing a check to the IRS.

Lo, and behold, we got a REFUND!!!  Not a big one. Just $200, but I'll take that over owing ANY DAY OF THE WEEK!

So now........... all that money we set aside for taxes has been added to our "let's build a house" fund. Not sure if we are going to build, or if we are going to buy an existing. But we will definitely get into a house within a year.

I am so excited about that I can't hardly contain myself. LOL.

Update on Dad

Just talked to my sister and she told me about her visit yesterday. She said dad looked really bad. He was exhausted because of the pain. He can't sleep because of the pain. She found out the ONLY pain medication they have been giving him is Tramadol and Tylenol. NOT STRONG ENOUGH!

So she got on the nurses case. The nurse called the doc and they gave him some hydrocodone in pill form. Then he tried to eat some dinner. A few minutes later he started gagging and threw up. Donna actually went through his vomit to see if the pill was in there, but it was not so she figured it stayed down. About 20 minutes later he relaxed a little bit and his pain eased somewhat. I must have called him right about the same time Donna left. So when he told me his pain was gone, it was because the pain pill had kicked in finally.

He has not eaten much. Physical therapy wears him out completely. They are discharging him tomorrow to Pine Heights for rehab. He is in adult diapers now. He's very depressed and Donna feels like he doesn't have much fight left in him. She was also concerned that he may be getting pneumonia. She heard the same rattle in his chest that I did. She said he did NOT have a spirometer in his room which is standard issue for post surgical patients to prevent them from getting pneumonia. So she was calling the hospital to tell  them to get him one.

She said she couldn't sleep last night because she just kept seeing his face and how pitiful and sad and in pain he looked. At that point she started crying on the phone and so did I.

I asked her if I should go back there to see him, but she was thinking the same as me.... to wait and see. If he starts going downhill, then I should. Right now it could go either way. She said he kept talking about how he should just die because he can't enjoy life anymore.

So my prayers have changed from "Please bless him to get well" to "Please bless him with whatever is best for HIM."  If it is his time to leave, then it is. I'm not going to hold him here for my own selfish reasons.

God bless him with whatever is best for him and god bless me with the strength to deal with it.

Time To Heal

 I talked to my dad last night. At first he sounded awful and he was complaining a ton. But by the end of the conversation he sounded better and told me his pain was gone. LOL.

He was confused a little bit. But that is normal. He did say he was going "home" on Tues or Wed. and I told him I didn't think that was going to happen.

He might go to a rehab facility then, but he is NOT going home.

I felt bad for him because he is not able to go to the restroom or use a bedpan, so he pretty much messes his bed and then has to wait until somebody comes to clean it up.

He can't find the button to call the nurse (he can't see, remember) and so sometimes he just hollers for help (I'm sure the nurses really like that!)

One thing that did concern me is that he was coughing a lot and it sounded very rattley. I told him I hoped he didn't get pneumonia and he said they thought he was and put him on some medicine for it "but it ain't doin' nuthin".

Guess we shall wait and see what happens. Keeping him in my prayers.

Power of Prayers

Last Thursday my 81 year old dad fell on the ice when he went to the mailbox. He landed in a snowbank and broke his hip. He used his lifeline alert bracelet and was able to summon help and get an ambulance to take him to the hospital.

He was not able to have surgery until Sunday because his blood sugar and blood thinner levels were too high. But he did get the surgery yesterday. Originally they thought his hip was shattered and he would have to have a full hip replacement. But once they got inside during the surgery they saw that it wasn't as bad as they originally thought and they were able to fix it with pins and screws. I believe that all the prayers going up in his behalf was part of that little miracle.

Less than 24 hours after his surgery he was in physical therapy learning how to use a walker. I don't think even "I" could handle physical therapy that soon!  It wore him out but he did as he was told.  I believe this man will make a full recovery. He actually likes rehab. I remember after his quadruple bypass he had to do cardiac rehab and he did EVERYTHING the doctors told him to. He did all the exercises. He was faithful to going to his rehab every week. And years later, he STILL likes to go for walks every single day.

I believe, he will get back to going for walks even with this setback.

He was in a lot of pain waiting for that surgery. He is more comfortable now, they have been able to manage the pain.

Shoot, a couple of hours after his surgery he was eating dinner and having visitors.

All of these are very encouraging.

I still haven't talked to him on the phone yet but will call him tonight when I get home from work. I haven't wanted to disturb him. I did try calling once and got no answer. But if I don't call him soon he's going to get upset with me.

It's been hard for me to be far away and it has reopened a lot of emotions from when my mom went through the same thing. I have kind of been an emotional wreck this past weekend. Drowned my sorrows in Ben and Jerrys. LOL  

I hope he makes a full recovery.

In a dream that I had a few months ago, I moved in to an apartment at some college with a bunch of other girls. They didn’t like me and were not very welcoming. I didn’t even have a bed to sleep on, they gave me a flip out chair on the floor.

Last night I dreamed that I was at the same school but living in a different apartment building. Somehow I ended up going back into the first apartment from the previous dream and the girls there were furious at me because I had moved my stuff in and never came back and now rent was due and they wanted the rent money whether I was living there or not. And they were also in the process of packing my stuff up to throw it out.

 I had completely forgotten that I moved in there! But when I saw the mattress on the floor I remembered the other dream and that I had moved in there. It was so weird. I told them I had forgotten I was living there  but I would give them the money for the rent even though I wasn’t going to stay there. I would move my stuff out that day. But I needed to go to the bank to get the money. They were all cranky at me because they had used their own money to cover my part of the rent, but now they needed to buy text books and had no money. So they needed my rent money. And they needed it immediately.

I was going to call George to ask him to transfer some money to me. But I couldn’t because my  phone had a dead battery. I couldn’t find my purse so I didn’t have my wallet or any ID. My keys were gone. I couldn’t find my car in the parking lot. I somehow got back to my “real” apartment where I was actually living, but I couldn’t get in because my key was in the purse that was missing.

I looked down, and suddenly my clothing had also disappeared! I was buck naked, stranded. So I was trying to find something to cover up with but couldn’t.

Finally one of my roommates came home and let me in. I was looking for my purse in my room, but it wasn’t there and all of the clothes that I could find did not fit me. They were like little children’s clothes. I couldn’t find my phone charger either. I needed to charge my phone so I could call someone for help.

I couldn’t use anyone else’s phone because I don’t know the numbers to call, since they are all programmed in my phone. I knew that I had them written down on paper somewhere, but I could not find it.

I was still naked and trying to cover myself with my hands.  I went down to the parking lot to try to find my car. I thought I might have a coat or something in it.  I walked all around and could not find it. I kept running into groups of guys who were trying to catch me to rape me and I was terrified.  People could see I was naked but nobody would offer me something to cover up!  

I remember feeling so frustrated and afraid, and panicked. 

It happened AGAIN!

I came in to work extra early this morning (AS REQUESTED). I was here before 7am.

The machine that we use for packaging has to be turned on and allowed to "prime" for at LEAST one hour prior to using. Two hours is better. The gal who comes in at 6am is supposed to turn the machine on when she gets here.

I did some paperwork upstairs and went downstairs at 7:30 to start packaging.

THE MACHINE WAS NOT ON.

Let me say it again.....


THE MACHINE WAS NOT ON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Michelle is not a happy camper. No she is not. Nope. She. Is. NOT.

Last night's lasagna

Last night I made some lasagna. The second pan this week, but this time I changed it up a bit and it turned out fabulous.

I fried up some ground beef with granulated garlic and toasted cumin. Then I microwaved a whole package of Jimmy dean sausage patties and cut them up small. Added that to the cooked ground beef. Poured in two bottles of Prego onion and garlic spaghetti sauce.

I used the "no boil" lasagna noodles and some shredded parmasan and grated medium cheddar and a few dollops on each layer of some cottage cheese (I prefer this to ricotta).

It was absolutely delish! I think David ate 3 plates of it.

Why can't people manage? I mean, why can't managers manage? We have to package 75 antennas today for the sterilizer. It has to be done TODAY. But we don't have the labels that have to go on them..... My job is to inspect each antenna, label them and package them for sterilizing. I was told to be here at 7am to get started.

But ............. we still don't have the labels................ they are in OREM.  So somebody has to drive down and back to get them which will be at least an hour and a half or more depending on traffic.

And so I sit here doing what? Blogging. Because I can't do my job. That I came in early to do.

And they knew it yesterday that the labels would not be here. But  nobody seemed to care.
It will all work out, they said.
How? I asked.  I can't label things without the labels.
The room I work in is very tiny and so I could possibly inspect some and let them pile up while waiting for labels.... but.... there's not a lot of room to stack them.

So.......... why am I here again?

Happy Birthday to ME!

   I got the best present in the world. A visit from Karin and Adelyn at work. And they brought me a delicious white chocolate raspberry mini bundt cake! OHH BOY!

I'm just sad that Lisa, Pam, Polly, Jennifer, and others were not working today so they didn't get to see them. But it's their loss.

Anyhow.... awesome fun for me!!!!