Subj : Re: food and family was: To : Nancy Backus From : Janis Kracht Date : Thu Nov 07 2019 11:01:56 Hi Nancy, >> It's neat that Wegman's food is generally good to great Even my >> son likes some of their dishes we grab..well, I should qualify that >> with "even my son eats _some_ of them" > Yes, I remember how picky he could be... :) Actually eating them is a > high compliment from him... hahaha yep :):) He reminds me in some ways of my oldest sister who passed a while back from Pancreatic cancer... As a child she'd delay eating by organizing the peas, or rigatoni or whatever in various designs hehe... I always burned up food so fast, I just wolfed it down :) >> Yes, indeed. She was extremely unwilling to cooperate with the rehab >> staff in the beginning and wouldn't do any of the Rehab work needed to >> make a difference in her condition. We went in and talked to her and >> that helped some but lately it's sad but it doesn't seem to make a >> difference.. she's 97 going on 98 in Feb. so geez it's understandable.. >> Her oldest sister lived to be 100 but her sister really wasn't all >> there towards the end. > It can be an ongoing struggle to get someone like her actually motivated > to do the rehab... the surgery itself can take so much out of them... > and the healing as well.... The meds they give her don't help with mental clarity either.. most days I think she's in a state of confusion from that, though honestly before her latest fall she was really out of it often enough that we had to keep an eye on her so she didn't 'escape' out the back door when we were sleeping (making sure the back door and the storm door were locked was a necessity.) >>> She's in a facility near us in Ithaca, Oak Hill Manor; it's a nice >>> place, people seem happy there. That's a big plus to me... And she's >>> not complaining so that's a good thing. >> Both good things... close enough that it isn't a hardship to be there >> regularly, and a place that she's happy enough with... :) >> Unfortunately, it has become a hardship for the two of us.. Ron is >> still recovering from the Sciatica (he had the injection and goes back >> for another one in a few weeks I think)... but he still can't sit for >> long, or walk for long :( Eventually he'll be better but driving is >> rough for him. I'm doing generally ok but tire out fast. That lung >> infection this month knocked me out for a bit.. luckily my doc was able >> to find an antibiotic that I could tolerate so I was happy about >> that... But we're really just run down and can't deal very well with >> "stuff". > Oh, that is not so good at all... even though it might have been > worse... I'm sorry that it is such a hardship all the same.... It gets better for Ron as the days go on, so that's a good thing, and I seem to have recovered now from the chest infection. >> It was a heavy load when she was here before she broke her >> hip, and now we're trying to 'catch up'. Her doc thinks she'll be >> staying at Oak Hill for a number of reasons... I think her mind is >> going a bit as well as her sister's did. That's sad. > I wonder if some of it is institutional delirium... her brain not making > total sense of the strange surroundings... Could be true but she wasn't "all there" many days well before her latest fall. > But if she can't/won't do the > rehab to get better enough to get out of there, there's not much you can > do... We kept our mom home at my sister's after she broke her hip, as > she was very prone to the delirium, and that helped some, but it was a > lot of work for us as well as for her... We had therapists coming to the > house to work with her.... Probably more than you'd be able to do > though, with your health not so great, either.... I'm doing ok now, and Ron has been doing better as well, but I'm not ready to commit to going through that kind of rehab at home when she could take a turn for the worst at any moment. I'm glad her doctor decided that it was time for her to have supervised care in Oak Hill. >>> As far as how the rehab itself goes, it's slow going. It makes sense >>> when you think about it... she does NOT tolerate pain well (she's >>> going to be 98 this Feb.), and so when they try to work with her for >>> this kind of stuff she's not very keen on working on it. Everytime I >>> see her I keep reminding her that if she can deal with the discomfort >>> she'll get back home sooner than later.. but you know.. it's rough. >> Yes, I know it can be very rough on you... you want the best for her, >> and it can be hard to get across why she needs to put in that effort to >> get that best.... She has enough brain left to be able to explain how >> things can be helpful, doesn't she...? Not just to encourage working >> through the discomfort, but also explaining how each exercise could be >> helpful in the process.... >> Before this last fall happened, I would have said yes.. but after she >> fell I think it really took a toll on her... mentally especially :( > That's not that uncommon, either.... Yep... >>> Well, I have been trying to force myself to eat 'decent' food as >>> opposed to junk (cookies, ice cream Lol) but I'm not even eating the >>> junk food.. my weight is down to 114.. geez. I'll disappear soon if >>> this doesn't change :( >> Just need to keep at it... nibble on good stuff between meals if you >> can... make the cookies specially nutritious... ;) >> I've been making pumpkin bread - that's great :) > And eating nice thick slices of it with plenty of butter...? ;) Well, pumpkin bread at least haha :) >>>>> I have some not totally ripe pumpkins sitting under plant lights in >>>>> the living room... they are ripening there, so that's great :) >>>> Sounds good... :) >>> They are doing really well there, they like those plant lights, so >>> that's great. >> Another use for your indoor garden... :) Have you made any goodies yet >> with the pumpkins...? >> Maybe next week.. we'll see :) > Anything yet...? ;) Today I'm going to start baking some of the pumpkins.. :) Take care, Janis --- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-4 * Origin: Prism bbs (1:261/38) .