Seniors Health chat

thinking about the pillow issue:

Dominique is a friend here. She's developed a very clever range of bed 'linen', for elderly and people with disabilities who find it difficult to turn in bed. The range grew out of her family's need to care for her father, who had Parkinson's or motor neurone (ALS). I've known her for years, the range is really wellmade and lasts well. (She's also very approachable; if you contact her, tell her Joanne from breakfast* said to find out more than what's on the website)

The satin isn't as slippery as you'd think, for someone who had little movement control. And as you can see, the pillows aren't satin. 

*we meet monthly for professional network breakfasts.

http://neeki.com.au


Go to the wound care center at Overlook Hospital.  They are great, and they know what they're doing.  I speak from personal experience.


Not quite the same, but along the same level of constant background sadness and loss: it turns out that when FIL fell the other day, and they did basic X-rays and wellness checks, as usual no-one remembered this fragile man with advanced Alzheimers has osteoporosis. So no-one bothered to check his neck or spine...

Monday it's discovered he's fractured (they're trying to say 'cracked') C2 and C6 vertebrae, but nothing can be done to help so he's sent back to care with soft collar and painkillers. 

For both Emergency visits, they asked family to transport him. Worse, no-one bothered to let me know yesterday after the first call (I had the car), so he waited in pain for at least 8 hours before BIL-J could be located. Then had to wait about 4 hours in Emergency. J has put up with a lot over the past few months, yesterday was superhuman. FIL must be feeling like a lost child. 


Joanne, I can relate to the sense of being powerless to change the course of events and the conviction it didn't have to happen to your loved one.

When I am out from under the hysteria of dealing with the health care system, I may share our experiences. 

I sent a three page letter recounting my husband's trip to the ER and short stay in the hospital to 8 medical hospital officers and physicians back in June. Also Medicare and the state office on aging.

Only response to date was from the president of the hospital saying that  a staff review would be conducted.

I did get a load of anger  and emotional pain out of my system and that was a good thing.


Being on the Consumer Advisory committee of the hospital and health service, I not only know how things are meant to work, I know the steps involved for feedback/patient experience committee (or whichever committee) review... I've only just missed out on being appointed to the Committee that looks at Recognising and Responding to Clinical Deterioration.

In a way, our having been in emergency so recently means I can speak from personal experience, when I then ask why FIL's history in the hospital was not consulted, so the osteoporosis was noted even if it wasn't mentioned? Why it wasn't even thought of, considering advanced age...etc. 

much more importantly, the agency which runs the care home is one that I have a collegial relationship with. It's meant to be better than this. I can only think staffing issues in the middle of winter are creating problems. My BILs don't want me involved at all, but there are ways...


the NYT science section shines a bright light on the "new" concept of hospitalization. We had a first hand experience in the "discharge police" in May...

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2016/07/25/in-a-hospital-health-care-until-the-clock-runs-out/?ref=todayspaper


This makes me more angry and anxious than I can really express adequately. I'm really sorry your family fell victim to this developing disaster, mtierney. I have a feeling Joan Crystal knows all about this phenomenon.  LOL  That article is truly terrifying, but as medicine becomes more about the bottom line and less and less about "care," I doubt this will change.


This is depressing: I need info on blood pressure. For about the past ten years I have been getting intermittent nose bleeds. They come out of nowhere: driving a car, typing on my computer. A few years back my physician recommended that I see an ENT, and he said that I have a deviated septum, and he recommended surgery. It was an awful experience, and the problem got worse. Before I left Maplewood and almost immediately after I fell and broke my hand I had a bad case of it that landed me in the ER three or four times in a row. In the US they packed the nose and then they cauterized it a few days later.

Two weeks ago I had my first nose bleed in Chile, and here they treat it very differently. They gave me a medication in the ER to thicken the blood, and because they said that the bleeding was in the front of the nose, not really deep, they didn't stuff it with gauze which is extremely painful. I actually fainted one time while they did that. The doctor in the ER took my blood pressure, and it was through the roof: 165/120 I believe. Before i left the ER it had gone down to 130/90. He sent me to get the blood pressure checked instead of sending me to the ENT.

I went to the ENT, because I would rather pass out from pain than deal with blood pressure meds. Today the ENT sent me to check the blood pressure which was pretty high today as well while he cauterized it for the second time. He said he can't treat the recurring problem if the cause is blood pressure.

They want me to have round the clock readings of the blood pressure to determine what triggers my blood pressure to spike. I think it is the stress of moving for the third time in a year-and-a-half. Also while I had lost weight when i came here, in these last six months I gained it all back because in this town there is no gym and there is no really safe and convenient place to walk the dogs; no exercise.

So what's the story on borderline blood pressure? I searched WebMD, and I am not finding it really helpful. It is not engaging me. Maybe it's because I am being resistant. What are your stories/insight on the subject.

Thanks.



Monitoring blood pressure is easy to do. You can get a monitor to use at home, a prescription for the monitor is not required in the US. I don't know about Chile.. They come with easy to follow instructions. Use a small notebook to keep a log of the times of day when you take your readings. You should take a reading a minimum or three to four times a day. You might want to take additional readings to try and determine what triggers are causing blood pressure spikes. Your doctor can advise on this. In addition to listing your upper and lower numbers, which will display on a screen, you may also want to list the time of day, your weight, and any possible triggers such as activity engaged in or foods eaten just before taking the reading. Stress can be a factor in increasing blood pressure. Strenuous activity, diet, and genetics can also be a factor. If you blood pressure goes as high as 165/120 with any frequency, you need to go on blood pressure medication and should probably be seeing a cardiologist. Even a reading of 130/90 can be considered pre-hypertensive.


I bought a good one, and I have been taking my blood pressure. In a day-and-a-half the systolic has ranged from 138 to 116 amd the diastolic from 67 to 83. I am thrilled. I will keep it up for a week. The systolic tends to range in the 130s.

Today I also took no meds to thicken the blood, and I had no nose bleed which was also great. I did take an antihistemine, because we are in the middle of spring, and the pollen count in the countryside is in the stratosphere. I have a deviated septum which a NJ ENT worked on and made it worse, hay fever, and with the stress of moving into the new house the combination may be what is triggering the nose bleeds. By now the inside of my nose must be like fortress given all the burning that it has been put through.

Nothing like a nose bleed that will not disappear to change one's perspective on life. It is a very grounding, humbling experience.


You should probably keep it up for at least a month to get a good picture of what is happening with your blood pressure. 130 and higher is considered pre-hypertensive, not alarming just a warning that it might get worse.



Copihue said:

This is depressing: I need info on blood pressure. For about the past ten years I have been getting intermittent nose bleeds. They come out of nowhere: driving a car, typing on my computer. A few years back my physician recommended that I see an ENT, and he said that I have a deviated septum, and he recommended surgery. It was an awful experience, and the problem got worse. Before I left Maplewood and almost immediately after I fell and broke my hand I had a bad case of it that landed me in the ER three or four times in a row. In the US they packed the nose and then they cauterized it a few days later.

Two weeks ago I had my first nose bleed in Chile, and here they treat it very differently. They gave me a medication in the ER to thicken the blood, and because they said that the bleeding was in the front of the nose, not really deep, they didn't stuff it with gauze which is extremely painful. I actually fainted one time while they did that. The doctor in the ER took my blood pressure, and it was through the roof: 165/120 I believe. Before i left the ER it had gone down to 130/90. He sent me to get the blood pressure checked instead of sending me to the ENT.

I went to the ENT, because I would rather pass out from pain than deal with blood pressure meds. Today the ENT sent me to check the blood pressure which was pretty high today as well while he cauterized it for the second time. He said he can't treat the recurring problem if the cause is blood pressure.

They want me to have round the clock readings of the blood pressure to determine what triggers my blood pressure to spike. I think it is the stress of moving for the third time in a year-and-a-half. Also while I had lost weight when i came here, in these last six months I gained it all back because in this town there is no gym and there is no really safe and convenient place to walk the dogs; no exercise.

So what's the story on borderline blood pressure? I searched WebMD, and I am not finding it really helpful. It is not engaging me. Maybe it's because I am being resistant. What are your stories/insight on the subject.

Thanks.

Also have high BP..............runs on my mother's side of the family.

For years I took herbal meds in an attempt to avoid standard medications. Had some success but only marginal

Finally I gave in and my MD prescribed Metoprolol. More or less stabilized my BP but still ran high

Some where along the line was prescribed Losartan to compliment the Metoprolol. Wonder of wonders.........

BP is respectable so I have one happy doctor and at least some relief from the worries that can accompany

that condition,


Thanks. I want to avoid having to take meds. I think that i will keep up the measuring of the blood pressure and working on my diet. Right now I have not gotten any exercise because of the nose bleeds, but it is healing, and soon I will be able to take walks with the dogs in the new house; I hope that helps.


What did your doctor advise regarding the meds?


No high blood pressure meds, and I am off all the other meds for the nose bleeds as well. That blood thickner gives me the creeps.


When do you go back for a follow-up appointment to see if adjustments need to be made going forward?



marksierra said:

How good is this?

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-11-07/glass-toasters-and-other-inventions-for-home-care-assistance/7988358

We purchased a toaster oven earlier this year after our op-up toaster died. These offer the ability to peek thru the glass window to evaluate doneness -the settings are more exact, and provide Cooking options, not just toast smile

Little did I realize that a few months later we would become painfully aware how tough it would be going forward to accommodate new needs.

I am looking for long trousers for my husband who has a supra pubic catheter -- something suitable to wear to Church, visits to friends, restaurants, etc., which don't look like sweat pants, but do have elastic waists! He can't wear his comfortable cargo shorts too much longer!



joan_crystal said:

When do you go back for a follow-up appointment to see if adjustments need to be made going forward?

Before I moved I had been monitoring my blood pressure (bp) as you recommended, and it was normal for about two weeks. Since then the blood pressure monitor has been packed, and I don't feel like going back to tracking it, but I will to make sure that it is still in the normal range. It appears that I have to watch my bp when I am upset, that is difficult to do.



Copihue said:



joan_crystal said:

When do you go back for a follow-up appointment to see if adjustments need to be made going forward?

Before I moved I had been monitoring my blood pressure (bp) as you recommended, and it was normal for about two weeks. Since then the blood pressure monitor has been packed, and I don't feel like going back to tracking it, but I will to make sure that it is still in the normal range. It appears that I have to watch my bp when I am upset, that is difficult to do.

Be kind to yourself. Unpack the blood pressure monitor. Make sure it is still working. If not, replace it. Get in the habit of keeping a journal of your blood pressure readings. Let your doctor know if/when the readings go up. It may not be just being upset that triggers a higher reading. Take medication if your doctor strongly suggests it. I've seen your nose bleeds and they are nothing to ignore.


Are hearing aids covered by insurance?


Pretty sure they are not covered.

rhw said:

Are hearing aids covered by insurance?



In order to add a comment – you must Join this community – Click here to do so.