What are you doing today?

cbum said:
Have to disagree. There is a reason there are several regimens combining multiple vaccines - the combo's are usually more effective, i.e., long acting immunity.
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We have doctors and scientists in our family and they all say the same thing: combos are more effective
But you need all your strength. The usual effects for me is that I feel very tired and for few days.
 
Citysnaps said:
Recovering from last Friday's hernia surgery.
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Hope you get better soon!
Alli said:
I've always been pretty demented.

I'd do it again. I'd rather spend a week vomiting than get Shingles.
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Sorry for @Eric , but I completely agree with you
As women we know what nausea is..having had children. Both times 2 months of nausea and vomit.
Now other worries 😉
 
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Nycturne said:
We're seeing progress, but at this point it's clear dementia is slowly eating away at her memory and ability to recognize folks, and she's mid-stage Chronic Kidney Disease.
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My mom was in late-stage kidney failure when she died, so be aware it can and will change their personality.

She became very suspicious of anything and anyone. She became convinced her food was being poisoned (at an assisted living facility), that she was being kept there as a prisoner.

She then decided I was her husband and was cheating on her with some tramp (my wife who she has always gotten along very well with).

She was at about 10% kidney function when she passed.
 
Dementia is a terrible way to go, and our progress in understanding and preventing it has been dismal so far. Chasing after amyloid has been a fool's errand so far. Perhaps the tau protein assay will allow new progress.

But with the new regime destroying intellectual America, that's not going to happen anytime soon. Perhaps Chinese science will pick up where we left off and will lead the way ...
 
Eric said:
Working with a real film production company, pretty big league for little old me but am looking forward to learning the ropes.
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awesome! Say hi to ScarJo for me, and let her know she left her umbrella over here.
 
rdrr said:
You know I have been consumed with the crap show that is going on in the stock market, that I completely forgot about spring time storms and tornado that impact the country. Glad it didn't overflow, how is the rest of the week weather wise look for you? We have a week of rain up here.
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It was actually nice to be distracted by the weather. It's gorgeous and sunny, but it's gotten chilly again.
 
Herdfan said:
My mom was in late-stage kidney failure when she died, so be aware it can and will change their personality.
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We don’t even know for sure where she is yet, because she has a fungal infection in the bladder. When it isn’t being treated, kidney function takes a dive, but improves when it is. For us, the taste disorder is the worst part. Everything has been tasting bad since December which has made pretty much everything worse.

But she *is* sundowning, which has been causing trouble for the night shift nurses. Medication seems to be helping so far. And yes, a lot of dementia patients seem to get very paranoid. My partner’s father went that route and started threatening his son with violence (and he has guns), so both kids cut him off and after multiple attempts at interventions, he is now a ward of the state.

cbum said:
Dementia is a terrible way to go, and our progress in understanding and preventing it has been dismal so far. Chasing after amyloid has been a fool's errand so far. Perhaps the tau protein assay will allow new progress.
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Well, when you try to study an umbrella of issues with similar symptoms, progress will be slow. I expect it’ll be like cancer research in the long run.

Meanwhile, the hits keep coming. Cat went in for a CT scan to try to understand better why she isn’t eating well lately despite being hungry (usually her IBD eating issues include lack of appetite). She just had her regular bloodwork which showed nothing unusual, and an ultrasound gives us no suggestion that it’s related to her IBD or lymphoma. So we were looking for something else, possibly related to her smell. And instead we find a tumor (Meningioma) in her brain. This sort of tumor is right up against the skull, so can easily be removed surgically, and good odds of recovery. It’s also known to cause all sorts of symptoms as it grows. Smell, hearing, vision, and/or balance can be impacted depending on where it is and how large it’s gotten. Can also change behavior. So flip a coin on if this is why her eating issues are erratic, and it’s going to be expensive. They also took a nasal biopsy for a discharge in her left sinus which may give us answers.

This is getting expensive, but not sure we are at the place to draw the line of "we’ve done enough" yet. Need to talk with the neurologist and my partner to figure this out.

Considering how the last 6 months have been… I wish this was all a joke. If it is one, it is cosmic.
 
Very sorry, you are in a tough spot. The meningioma is basically good news, as you described, it should be removable without too much damage. The dilemma comes from what to expect afterwards, which is very hard to predict from your description, it is definitely possible that most of the downward spiral may be reversible if she hasn't progressed too far. I would try to discuss with the neurologist and with a competent neurosurgeon - they should have the experience to give you the best possible advice.
 
cbum said:
Very sorry, you are in a tough spot. The meningioma is basically good news, as you described, it should be removable without too much damage. The dilemma comes from what to expect afterwards, which is very hard to predict from your description, it is definitely possible that most of the downward spiral may be reversible if she hasn't progressed too far. I would try to discuss with the neurologist and with a competent neurosurgeon - they should have the experience to give you the best possible advice.
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Hopefully I'm not confusing too much here, since there’s both my mother and my cat both having health issues at the same time. My cat is the one with the brain tumor, so I’m not sure how much I can realistically shop around for a neurosurgeon. And the place I’m working with now has an over 90% success rate with feline meningiomas.

The cat I think does have a good chance of recovery, but there’s the "but…" that I think we need to consider as well. The thing with the cat started because she showed signs that the IBD/Lymphoma was making a comeback, and when that came up clean, the question was then, "but why is her eating behavior impacted if the current stuff is looking good?" Hence the CT scan of the head looking for sinus issues, only to find the tumor (in addition to some persistent sinus issue). My main worry here is that if we pour resources into making her a two-time cancer survivor, will we actually get more time, or will the eating issues remain and we’re left chasing educated guesses? How much do we want to keep going in that scenario?

My mother though, I do think we are looking at the end game, so to speak. Not necessarily right now, but with dementia, kidney disease and being bedridden, even if we get her mobile again, it’s really about improving quality of life for whatever time she has left, be it months or years. I’m just hoping we can get her stable so she’s not in and out of the hospital at the end. My worry there is that with her being in and out for the last 6 months, we might not get years if she’s declining quickly. I already suspect that the last opportunity for a full family thanksgiving was 2024, where I went to my partner’s family (we alternate every year). Not much I can change about that, but I can make sure that I’m there now.
 
Nycturne said:
"but why is her eating behavior impacted if the current stuff is looking good?"
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Ummm. Cat! 😉

It’s just how they are. With our last cat my wife would chase her all over the house trying to get her to eat. But once she got started, she would eat it all.

Drove my wife crazy. And we have one now that will eat a certain food great one time and walk away the next. To the extent my wife has a chart to keep track of what food she feeds on what day so as to not feed them any flavor too often.

Best of luck with her.
 
The time my cat caught a small bird is etched in my memory. She showed to me, I said cool, now go eat it, so she took it in the other room. The sounds of her eating it were unbelievably cringeworthy. I then went to clean up after her: there was a small clean bone and a feather.
 
About to board a flight BOS -> RDU, rent a car and drive to Wilmington NC. A lot less expensive than hopping on a flight to from Boston to Wilmington. Then after the two hour drive, we are meeting up with 14 of my SO’s family for dinner. Outnumbered… but hopefully I will outlast.
 
Took the cat in to get blood typed prior to her upcoming surgery this morning, and planning on going down to the hospital to visit mom as I have been doing.

My father signed the papers to set mom up for hospice on Friday. The palliative care doctor we worked with suggested it's likely 1-3 months that she has left (as a guesstimate). Being there, one could see he was visibly distressed when it came time to sign, and had to take a moment to keep his composure. Made it clear to me that this was the point where it actually sunk in that hospice for her is end-of-life care. I think he's been holding on as hard as he can to the idea that she might fight through this.
 
Nycturne said:
Took the cat in to get blood typed prior to her upcoming surgery this morning, and planning on going down to the hospital to visit mom as I have been doing.

My father signed the papers to set mom up for hospice on Friday. The palliative care doctor we worked with suggested it's likely 1-3 months that she has left (as a guesstimate). Being there, one could see he was visibly distressed when it came time to sign, and had to take a moment to keep his composure. Made it clear to me that this was the point where it actually sunk in that hospice for her is end-of-life care. I think he's been holding on as hard as he can to the idea that she might fight through this.
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My mother was a brilliant woman who was diagnosed with dementia in the last decade of her life. We put her in care eventually, where she was reasonably happy most of the time, as far as i could tell, but from my perspective it was a sad existence for someone who had achieved remarkable things - none of which she could remember.

She was hospitalized suddenly and died after a few days. The day she died - still in hospital - I had visited her. About to drive home, I suddenly felt the need to visit again. I found her in some distress after a less than stellar interaction with medical ‘carers’ who were trying to draw blood (this was the weekend and definitely the B team). They dispersed when I appeared and I was able to reassure her. The last thing I said to her was "it’s alright mom, go to sleep". She looked at me, then put her head down and did exactly that.

By the time I got home some 90 minutes later she had passed.

These things are hard but there was a lot of healing and celebration of her life afterward. I wish you and your father and family the best for these last months.
 
Dropped cat off at the hospital for surgery, and on the way home made copies of the house keys (new locks recently), got breakfast, and then picked up a new John Scalzi book from Third Place Books. Once I got home, I pressure washed the driveway. A good mindless distraction while I waited. Dropped my iPhone and cracked the back glass in the process. Gotta deal with that as I’m already getting glass shards in my fingers.

But the good news. Just got the call from the neurologist saying she’s awake (but groggy) after the surgery. They are confident they got it all, and sent the tumor to NY to confirm what exactly it is so we can get an idea of risks/etc going forward. There will be a bit of a recovery process and they will keep her under observation until at least Saturday. Despite the surgery, and the anesthesia, she’s trying to butter up the staff with affection. She now has fans in two departments there.

The trick will be juggling visiting my mom this weekend in hospice and bringing home the cat. Also need to replace the mail box as someone broke into many of the locked mail boxes on the street that don’t have anti-pry features (which includes mine which is at least 12-15 years old).
 
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