Silver Stream Stories

It seems that I had my own 9/11 disaster this week, which in retrospect would have been funny enough to win $50,000 on AFV if it had been video recorded! This past week physical therapy obtained an UpLift seat for me to use.

UpLift seat in a chair

 It gives me a boost to lift myself from a low chair to grab my walker and make a transfer and works great -- well a little to good in this case.  At 6:30 in the evening after dinner, I was straightening up my room.  Needed to add some distilled water from a gallon jug  on the floor to my CPAP reservoir.  Put the reservoir on my bed, and then rolled to the side in my wheelchair to grab the gallon water.  Remember that I am in my wheelchair on the UpLift seat and the wheels of the chair are not locked!   As I leaned down to pick up the water, my weight on the seat shifted enough for the lift mechanism to go into action.  It ejected me, the wheelchair moving backwards, and I landed sitting on the floor.  Thank goodness, other than a sore bottom, I was not hurt.  In reach was my nurse call bell, my room door was open and I yelled "help" and the nurses were quickly  in the room.  They got the Hoyer Lift to get me off the floor and into bed.

Hoyer Lift machine

The next morning, I had an appointment with my infectious diseases doctor, whose office is also located two blocks away on Silver Stream Lane.  The attendant arrived and tried putting me in my wheelchair in the back of the van that they have for transport.  BUT my wheelchair was an inch or two too  wide to fit on the lift mechanism.  So deciding that she needed the exercise to lose weight, Kim pushed me on foot to the doctor's office.  After the appointment was over, she hoofed it back to get me.  I got some sun and fresh air and Kim got some exercise!

Dr. Berthold was pleased with the progress of my healing leg cellulitis.  She said that the IV antibiotic

IV pump at work

would run for another week via the PICC line.  Then the PICC line

PICC line where it enters my right arm

would be removed and I will start the same antibiotic (Keflex) by mouth.

Left leg cellulites unwrapped on 9-12-2014 

TMI this week from Sean, the Just A Jeep Guy

TMI:  CALL ME

1. Do you still have a land line?

No, I got rid of it when I retired almost 7 years ago and no longer needed a fax machine.  I would have done it earlier because I hated all those annoying calls at dinnertime.

2. Which cell phone do you use and why?

I have had a Samsung Galaxy Note II for exactly one year now.  Being a smartphone, I cannot believe how much less I use my computer now. It is a wonderful gadget and I spend entirely too much time playing with it, especially playing Solitaire.

3. Which provider do you use? Is there really a difference?

AT&T, which I have been using for many years.  One reason is that they have a cell tower very close to my farm in rural NC and I get great service everywhere I go.

4. If you call someone and they don't pick up, do you leave a message? 

Most of the time.  But phone tag (voicemail) can become very frustrating.

5. When you have a missed call (with no message), do you call the person back?

Almost never, but yesterday my doctor’s office called without leaving a message, so I did call them back later.

6. Do you txt willingly or reluctantly? How are your skills? 

The only person that I text with is my older son, because he loves to text and does not like to talk on the phone.  I would rather talk than text.  I am pretty good at texting, because my phone completes words and makes suggestions, so I can be pretty quick.

7. Has your cell replaced your camera?

Pretty much as it has more pixels than my Nikon point and shoot, which is about 8 years old.  And I take more pictures now because it is always with me.  For the past two months, I have been undergoing wound (ulcer) treatment on my leg, which doesn't want to heal because of lymphedema and diabetes. Twice a week when I go to physical therapy to get my leg unna booted, I take pictures of the wound with a tape measure to document any improvement.  I now have a whole folder of those photos. 

measuring the ulcer

unna boot on my left leg

8. Selfies....

In my case they provide too much age related TMI, but since you asked . . .

9. How many apps do you have? Which is your favorite and why?

Wait, while I count . . . uh, 45.  Some are medically related such as keeping records of my blood glucose levels, my INI (blood thinner) levels, etc.  My favorites are reading emails, news articles, and of course, the aforementioned Solitaire.

10. What would life be like with no cell/smart phone for one month?

I would go stark raving mad, because I even read books on my phone or my Kindle.  Don’t need it much as a phone, but I surely do like all the other apps.