The Old Folks Home

[Wickedchicken6]

The puppy is to cute. Getting to experience it's first snow with a good buddy is just the perfect entertainment. I hope he has a long and joyful life with you, @cynthia12.

For all of you that are caregivers, it's a tough job and depression or anxiety or both are commonplace. My parents both began to decline within a year of one another. Mom passed first and after a few years of taking care of dad I was pretty well fried. One thing I recommend is to find a support group for either caregivers or for dementia family members who are caregivers. There is also a book I highly recommend called 'The 36 Hour Day" I found it on Amazon and I truly think it saved my sanity.

First and foremost, I urge every caregiver to take care of themselves. I know it's hard to put yourself first but you have to from time to time. Get out of the house and away from your family member needing intensive care. Find somebody you trust to come in and stay with your loved one for a few hours. Take in a movie, go shopping, go for a long walk and whatever you do, do not feel guilty for doing it. Caregivers shorten their lives just from being caregivers.Try not to shorten it too much. I like having y'all around the forum and this thread too much.

I had my first nights uninterrupted sleep since I injured my ribs 3 weeks ago. I usually fall asleep on my right side but since that was where I broke the rib I couldn't tolerate laying on that side at all. Moving was just painful and finding a position that I could fall asleep in was just impossible so I wound up tossing and turning for hours before I was just exhausted and fell asleep.I've also been sleeping a lot during the day--unusual for me but given I haven't been sleeping well at night understandable. I was finally able to stand laying on my right side last night so hopefully this means that my fracture is finally starting to heal. I hope so. I have so much to get done, and that is where I need to just sit back and put my body first. DH has been after me for pushing myself too much and telling me that the projects would wait. I told him that I wish I would break something that a cast could be put on. This is the second time I've broken a rib and I tell ya, it sux!

I hope your rib heals well. I broke a couple ribs when I was 28 and they healed well, but they stick out slightly from the rest. Irritating and uncomfortable sometimes.

And that's true. A person needs to take care of themselves. It's more important that taking care of someone else because one can't take care of another person if they're not well. It's so easy to lose yourself and sight of your health when depended upon so greatly.

Thank you muchly Latestarter. I think I rant too much on BYC. So many have much more serious problems than I, and they take it in stride. They are my heroes.

No...that's why we're all here. For one another.

Isn't it? I'd much rather come here than any where else on the web. Even if I don't feel like being part of the conversation...I feel much better just listening to your discussions. Everyone has insightful words of wisdom. It's surprising how much those tidbits can help a person.

Quote: SO true!
Just like I said above...words of wisdom.

 

[whoop whoop]

@drumstick diva in fact stuff that I shall send you some of my corn fritters- almost popcorn

 

[Cynthia12]

I need a dog too but, can't do it! Nothing better for depression than a dog. They get you out of the house whether you want it or not, and have a way to make you laugh through your
tears.

Diva, you are soo right. My dogs help me a lot! I have to get out that door with the pup now...often! lol..it's getting to be less and less for potty time now..nights..ahhh..much better. I am up late, so he gets taken out late, and can last until my hubby gets up. He takes him out in the mornings. I work with him through out the day most of the time. DH takes him out once in a while in the day. He is easy to let out now that he can handle the steps!

And yes, Diva said it..Jack is his name. Took me a while to decide. But this one is sticking.

Thanks all, he's a fun one, a smarty too. Learns quickly.

 

[Cynthia12]

Many breeders of Goldens are downsizing them slowly but surely. The "accepted" size for a "proper" golden is now down in the 50-60 pound range and much shorter in height. I think it's a shame. As a retriever, how the hell can it be expected to do what it was bred for when you turn it into a foo foo dog? A retriever needs to weigh at least 75-80 pounds to be able to handle geese in cold/freezing weather/water. If you look at any of the Goldens that are now TV commercial stars, they are all very small in stature. It's a shame. OK, end of my rant... I don't have one anymore so it shouldn't bother me. Your dog and pup are both very handsome Cynthia.

It's 1:30am here and I'm still rockin and rollin so I'm one of those owl type folks too. Love to sleep in till 10 or beyond. Mostly because I don't sleep well at night and rarely for more than a couple of hours at a stretch. Fall is my favorite season, but I STILL like a little sunlight every now and again. Sucks that I no longer have emojis...

Diva, you really shouldn't be so hard on yourself... It seems you've spent most of your life with everyone close to you being hard enough on you.

Time to put it aside and lighten up on yourself.

And Deb, you're just stuck in the middle of a nasty situation and can't leave it because both sides that are squeezing you need you. Hope you can hold on and make it out alive to where you can recover and have a few years to do for you.

Oh I agree with you on the size for a Golden Retriever. I love em big! This little guy is a Goldendoodle. They come bigger too, but he's supposedly a mini..oh, they make them even smaller now. I guess they decided the foo foo for the Golden would be great by adding the poodle.
I am on my third Golden R. This is my first girl. She weighs a good 60 lbs now..up for winter, will have her weight down to 55 for the summer.
My first Golden Retriever..a male, was close to 70! Man that dog had big bones. He was gorgeous! They are such great dogs. Having had two males and now a female, I can say, I prefer the male.
Here are some photos of my first boy. He was young in the first photo..got pretty big...but didn't fill out until his third year!


Pretty young here




Getting older





A year before we put him down.



The summer before we put him down. All of his joints were bad. His shoulders would
pop out while walking. Man, that was hard to do. :/







Here is my female now. In the summer. A couple of years ago.




Last year.




Love me a Golden. She will be my last big dog. Hopefully this pup won't get real
big. I know he will be a mid size dog though..that is still a pretty good sized dog..bigger
than the Schnoodle we have, that is now getting very old.

 

[Wickedchicken6]

For those that need a good laugh. Omg...hubby just clicked on this when I walked into the room. What a hoot!
There's bad lip reading for all sorts of shows and things, not just football.

 

[Cynthia12]

I grew up with a lark and an owl ... Dad Was the Lark up at five am tinkering and in bed at least by nine. Mom an Owl was the opposite... Up at noon and never going to bed till around 1 or 2 am.

I learned to function in spurts but I am more of an Owl than a Lark. Left alone I am like you....

I was able to hold down a job with hours like my dad.... then stay up till midnight Get about five hours sleep and do it all over again... For about twenty years. Then my son came along.... I learned how to live with little to no sleep at all catching cat naps when ever I could....

Consequentially my biorythm is all F d up.... and again I find myself in another situation where I need to be up at night and up in the morning.....

So I been quiet of late. Grandma had some trouble with her ear which needed a visit to the doc... who missed it and consequentially needed a visit to the ER with a huge blood clot in her ear.... Course of antibiotics required she not have milk or calcium products within an hour or so after taking it.... Diet had to change.... Then a visit after ten days to an ENT specialist.... All the while she couldnt use her hearing aids and she was stone deaf now in her only good ear... So spent the last three weeks with the TV volumn up so loud Dean and I were getting jumpy... intercepting the phone and explaining... stuff like that.

ENT had probably the BEST bedside manner of all the doctors wed ever seen... He dug the clot out then suctioned her ear out.... and suddenly she could HEAR....

Not only hear but hear without her hearing aid... He said her ear drum was fine YAY... and probably what had happened in the course of putting her hearing aids in she had made a sore spot... and with her 100 year old skin it finally burst something.... he also said that as a surgeon he found anyone on Prophylactic Aspirin tended to retain it in their systems as a blood thinner for a very long time. Adding to the issue...

So now shes on a four times per day course of antibiotic ear drops while it heals... I wake up in full anxiety attack mode sometimes... So my sleep is extra messed up. Consequentially once she is finally on the mend I am going to get counseling... Hopefully come up with a way to manage depression and Anxiety and still be an effective helper in the family here.

deb

A clot in the ear? Man, I would never have thought of that. I have had the worst winter ever with my head being woozy as I call it. Not dizzy..hard to explain. I've had it for years. Gone to many drs. They could never tell me what was going on. Then, a couple of years ago, they send me in for some tests...then tell me I have less fluid in my left ear. That I would have bouts with it..no kidding. Well, the longest bouts had lasted a couple of weeks. This has been going on for three months now. I am ready to go see what in the world is going on. It can't just be less fluid..can it? I have finally gone to a cane because I find myself reaching for something..like a wall..a person.. oh dear...anything, to keep me from falling over. It's pretty bad. Makes me mad!
A clot? Who knows, but I'm ready for more tests, and not the kind that I went through. I'm thinking MRI. Now that should show if anything is going on in there! Should show the inner ear too if they do it in that area. My thinking has really gotten bad too. Have to take time to think of the most simple word. Did I say..Makes me mad! I have a sister that is 5 years younger than I am. She's been having mini strokes for a few years now. Who knows? I just want to know what this is. I have a feeling that it's here to stay though. Makes me mad! And sad.

 

[Cynthia12]

Wicked, got a kick out of that!

 

[chickadoodles]

Diva take care of yourself we all care about your!

I struggle with depression some. When I was in the hospital back in 2013 they gave me a disease that I have not talked about on here or to anyone really.
At first I felt it was a death sentence. But now I just try to live day to day as God gives it to me and I am thankful for all he will give me.

Deb take care of yourself also you need to try to get some kind of help so you can take a break now and then. I know some people got help from the State of Calif. to help with sitters so they could get a break now and then. Be good to yourself your a very kind soul and we all care about you and appreciate you.

Cynthia you look so good with your dog.

Wicked

Thanks I needed that.

 

[Wickedchicken6]

Quote: Could it be allergies? The reason I ask is because I had my ear pop when we were picking up a truck box last fall and I had no idea my ear was plugged. Not long after I experienced vertigo out of the blue. DH had to come with me to do my chores. I guess my allergies were kicking me (I take allergy meds 24/7/365) so I switched it up to my allergy sinus medication that has a decongestant. Now I'm watching closer on things so I don't get vertigo again. I went to a specialist for allergy testing with the 100+ injections for several years. I learned from the testers more about allergy triggers but otherwise it was a waste of time for me. Allergies can present themselves in many ways. I soon as I moved here when I married (only 20 miles from my home) I was sick for several years...saw many doctors, specialists...got no diagnosis. I eventually got better on my own only to have one of the "inhalants" that I was injected with cause the exact same pain and issues I felt several years before. Bingo!

And I just went through the most awful shavings; sawdust and splinters is actually what it was and it was so dusty. Every time I went out to the chickies, my whole body but especially my skin would be in pain, not itchy or irritation but pain until I bathed. I finally realized it was from the dust. When I was a little girl, Grandma got a live Christmas tree. I can still remember waking up in the middle of the night screaming and crying in pain. I'm sure she was alarmed and didn't know what to do. The only thing that had changed was the Christmas tree and they chucked it outside right then and there. And then I was fine. They never tried a live tree again. What am I bedding with? Probably "pine" shavings.

If the shavings are course without the dust I seem to ok. This whole realization occurred to me the other night a 4am. I was already falling asleep here so when I went home I just crashed on the couch. And I woke up in pain. (But I wasn't crying or screaming this time.) And that's when it occurred to me it was the same pain. Life is weird.

I'm glad you got a kick out of the video.

 

[Wickedchicken6]

Diva take care of yourself we all care about your!

I struggle with depression some. When I was in the hospital back in 2013 they gave me a disease that I have not talked about on here or to anyone really.
At first I felt it was a death sentence. But now I just try to live day to day as God gives it to me and I am thankful for all he will give me.

Deb take care of yourself also you need to try to get some kind of help so you can take a break now and then. I know some people got help from the State of Calif. to help with sitters so they could get a break now and then. Be good to yourself your a very kind soul and we all care about you and appreciate you.

Cynthia you look so good with your dog.

Wicked

Thanks I needed that.

You need a hug!

I glad the video helped a little.

I'm watching some of their videos. I just need to laugh right now too. DH is overfilling my quota with hugs, which is nice. Same with the boy.


So on that note a big hug to everyone who needs it and also to those who don't.