One of those days nothing goes right

Did you ever have one of them days when you are fairly certain you would be better off if you just crawled back into bed and stayed there? That's the day I am having.

Last night my dad was complaining he had a sore throat. When I woke this morning with one myself I asked him and his was still there. Clue 1.

The upgraded channels I added onto the TV system last night are not working. Can't seem to get them to work, even after two calls to talk to the folks at the Dish Network place. It seems the little dish is only seeing one of the two satellites it is supposed to see, so we apparently have to have a repair dude come out and fix it before my dad can get the channels he wants to watch. Clue 2.

You would think that would be enough clues, huh? Went out to the porch and noticed the sun roof on the Cadillac is partially open. Only way to get it cooled off inside when driving along is to open the sunroof, since the windows no longer work, and I forgot to close the sunroof when me and dad got back from our last outing. And you know it rained last night, huh? Both driver and passenger seats are soaked. Clue 3.

Now, most people would take three clues and say enough was enough, but I was not about to let that stop me. I can toss a blanket over the seats - right? So, I'm taking inventory to see if we have to go all the way to town, or if the town run can wait for Monday. There are a few things in front of the hall closet that were headed for the storage area in one of the back bedrooms, so I move that and am stepping into the room where it is to go when I step on something. I don't know how in the hell broken glass got in there, but I found it. Bare foot, just in front of the heel on soft tender part of the foot. Deep and wide - took a while to staunch it with Kleenex and pressure. Clue 4 was enough for me. I conferred with my dad and he agreed that since his throat was still sore and it was cold and rainy was a good day to stay home rather than risk making things worse by going out in the cold rain.

I called the therapy place and told them we'd see them Monday, then went and doctored the foot up. Is now all bandaged and I don't care what we need, I am not leaving this house until Monday. I don't need a 5th hint that it's a bad day to be doing stuff.

Slow blog changes

I'm making a few modifications to this site, but it is going to be a little while before I am finished with it all. It is part of some things I have going with a couple of websites that I am working on, so I will not be finished with things here until after I am ready to send those sites live.

So, expect minor alterations here and there, but the modifications are going to be slow as I work my way toward what I am trying to get sorted out without actually taking down and rebuilding the entire blog theme.

Sleep better with a wedge pillow

Rather from a simple preference for having the head elevated or for a medical necessity such as acid reflux, many find that the simple addition of a wedge pillow underneath their head and shoulders can make all the difference between getting a decent night's sleep and waking up exhausted.

A wedge pillow is a long wedge shaped foam pillow that is placed on the bed to elevate your chest and head. This can be anywhere from a few inches to a full 12 inches depending on your particular needs. For some, this is an inexpensive alternative to costly adjustable beds.

If you think that you or your care recipient might sleep better with a wedge pillow, then you might want to check out the wide range of wedge pillows that Allegro Medical carries. Allegro Medical also has an assortment of body positioning pillows to allow you to help stay positioned in your bed, and pillows that are specifically designed to reduce snoring.

Selling medical supplies online since 1997, Allegro Medical has over 50,000 products in over 50 categories of items, subdivided into hundreds of subcategories that let you search by condition, product brands, even specific parts of the body. And now, for items that you use often, you can enjoy easy auto reordering by selecting a frequency you would like items shipped to you.

Sarah Palin sees seniors standing before "death panels" with new healthcare plans

I have been watching the news about the back and forth that is being tossed about over the health care bill and what everyone thinks about what is on it and what is not on it and... The grrrrr point for me was when the former governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin, reportedly stood up and said that that if the bill passes then seniors were going to be pushed into standing before "death panels".

Now, I know we have a lot of baby boomers here that are headed for their own old age pretty soon, but give me a break people. At least READ the bill before you paint the pictures.

This "death panel" is a part in the bill that allows someone to have the visit paid for if they make an appointment to see their doctor to discuss end of life and living wills and stuff. We are not talking about "OMG they're killing the elderly!" we are talking about the seniors having the ability to talk to their doctor about how much of an effort is to be made to save them. If they are to be placed on life support or prefer not to be kept alive via machines, or what to do if they fall into a long term coma... these are things someone has to talk to their doctor about, and the bill is listing that as one of the legitimate reasons to see their doctor that would be covered by the new plan.

Home Alarm Systems

Anyone that has been a family caregiver for a while can tell you that there is enough to cause stress without also worrying about your home while you are away. And, ATD is unlike other security companies, ADT's multiple monitoring centers ensure that trouble at one center will not leave your home unmonitored because the coverage automatically transfers to a second, or even third, center if there is a power outage or computer trouble at your local monitoring center.

Listing itself as an authorized ADT security system provider, Home Alarm Expert provides information on the ADT system as well as details on their website on the benefits of selecting to protect your family and home with ADT's 24 hour monitoring.

To find out more about the Home Alarm Expert website and the home security services which they offer, visit the link above.

No matter how bad it seems. You are not in this alone

There are times when family can just drive you completely insane. I'm talking about those times such as when something trivial causes a rift within a family, or a misunderstanding will start an argument that spirals out of control. These are universal things that every family has to deal with, but when they impact the care of a loved one it is particularly difficult to take.

A search of Google quickly brings up a large number of results that concern family stress and caregivers. A couple of examples of common issues in these articles are old arguments that crop back up - even from childhood rivalries or issues that arise from the division of tasks in caring for a relative. There might be different points of view on what is best for the care recipient, where the children of an elderly woman might be divided in their feelings about providing care at home vs placement of her in a retirement home - even if it is against her will.

These are only a very few of the things that can cause strife in a family, and the main thing I want to convey here is - whatever is happening, however hard it seems to be, chances are, somewhere out here, there is another caregiver that has, is or will face the same kind of issues that you are facing at the moment. My only advice... grab a diary and pour your heart out into it. Or hop on the phone or a chat program and pour your heart out to your closest friends. If you need someone that can talk to you and understand the issues you are facing from a similar perspective then you might look around online for caregiver forums or support groups. Shared stories can go a long way toward shared healing.

Can't trust people

I came across an article in the Sierra Vista Herald out of Sierra Vista, AZ that detailed the theft of $25,000 from a disabled man by his paid caregiver over the course of four months.

The article is a little confusing, since it quotes two different amounts - $25,000 and $40,000. I'm not sure which is the accurate amount of the theft, but in my opinion it is ridiculous that a caregiver should be stealing even $1 from their care recipient, for someone that is paid to provide the care to steal through intentional fraud is just... grrrr. And people wonder why I don't trust strangers to care for my dad with all the stuff like this I see. I'm distrustful of people as it is, so to see stuff like this just reinforces for me that people are as a rule very untrustworthy.