What have you been doing today?

[Harry Bloomfield]

Your waking in the night may contribute to fatigue.

I am still very much trying to get an handle on it, but what seems to happen...

The fatigue, is more a lack of stamina. My energy, just runs out and it is quite unpredictable. I can be sat in the living room, watching TV, decide to get up and deal with a chore, part way through, just a few minutes in, my energy can run out, and I'll need to sit until I recover and can carry on. My legs just turn to jelly.

Other times, like this morning, an easy pottering task, I managed without needing to rest at all.

Walk the slight 100 yards uphill, to the bus stop, I will need to stop and rest, maybe two or three times, then plonk myself down for a few minutes to recover. Once recovered, I can stand and feel absolutely fine.

Do you get accused of snoring?

Often.

It may be worth doing a Epworth test.

Epworth-Sleepiness-Scale.pdf https://share.google/7kfKebWUEXERLaquR

All zero there. The only times I might doze briefly, is if I've woken up in the night, decided sleep wasn't going to return, and so got up, and missed a few hours of sleep - where I would deliberately allow myself to doze, during the day. I need and normally take my full 8 hours. Come bed time, bedroom TV goes on, I might manage a few minutes watching, but not usually long before I'm in the land of nod, confirmed by Avril. She is one, who can manage on little sleep.

 

[diy_fun_uk]

Went with Mrs Mottie to see her mum in the care home yesterday. She has dementia ... Only good thing about it, if there is such a thing, is that she knows nothing about it and seems perfectly happy - it’s not like a person that has a physical illness and is in pain or suffering. It’s a horrible, horrible disease.

This is exactly what I think about this disease, if needing to find a silver lining, let it be that the person is actually quite content in their own world and doesn't realise the reality, which would be torture.

I watched a tv prog a few years back about a care home (somewhere abroad) that exclusively catered for people with dementia. One of the stories was heart breaking. A woman who essentially had a memory reset at the start of every day. At the start of every day and throughout the day, she would ask if her husband was coming to visit and the staff would say 'he'll be here later, he's at a meeting.' Her husband had in fact died x years previous. Every day staff would have to say this to her to reduce her stress and anxiety. She sat, patiently waiting for him.

Stating the obvious but I hope at some point in the not too distant future they'll find more effective treatments for such diseases. Imagine a time when the scenario might be 'Mr Bloggs, we've detected the early signs of dementia. We're going to prescribe this 10 day course of medication to stop it in its tracks.'

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

I watched a tv prog a few years back about a care home (somewhere abroad) that exclusively catered for people with dementia. One of the stories was heart breaking. A woman who essentially had a memory reset at the start of every day. At the start of every day and throughout the day, she would ask if her husband was coming to visit and the staff would say 'he'll be here later, he's at a meeting.' Her husband had in fact died x years previous. Every day staff would have to say this to her to reduce her stress and anxiety. She sat, patiently waiting for him.

A colleague, suffered it at 56, died soon afterwards as a consequence. I gave him a little Dictaphone thingummy tape, so he could record things he needed to remember, but couldn't.

 

[diy_fun_uk]

I am still very much trying to get an handle on it, but what seems to happen...

The fatigue, is more a lack of stamina. My energy, just runs out and it is quite unpredictable. I can be sat in the living room, watching TV, decide to get up and deal with a chore, part way through, just a few minutes in, my energy can run out, and I'll need to sit until I recover and can carry on. My legs just turn to jelly.

Other times, like this morning, an easy pottering task, I managed without needing to rest at all.

Walk the slight 100 yards uphill, to the bus stop, I will need to stop and rest, maybe two or three times, then plonk myself down for a few minutes to recover. Once recovered, I can stand and feel absolutely fine.



Often.



All zero there. The only times I might doze briefly, is if I've woken up in the night, decided sleep wasn't going to return, and so got up, and missed a few hours of sleep - where I would deliberately allow myself to doze, during the day. I need and normally take my full 8 hours. Come bed time, bedroom TV goes on, I might manage a few minutes watching, but not usually long before I'm in the land of nod, confirmed by Avril. She is one, who can manage on little sleep.

Has your heart been checked out?

KardiaMobile do gadgets for self-checking, not to replace a pro of course, but useful to monitor 24/7.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

Has your heart been checked out?

KardiaMobile do gadgets for self-checking, not to replace a pro of course, but useful to monitor 24/7.

A few years ago, they had me on a 24/7 monitor, nothing found then.

Just a couple or so months back, I was asked if I would volunteer to take part in some heart research. A heart stress test during an MRI scan, then ECG on an exercise bike. The declared no problem. My GP has me booked in for another ECG in a few days.

 

[securespark]

Harry, I'm really sorry, I forgot to mention as I had completely forgotten until DIY fun mentioned it, my Dad had a problem with a narrowing of the Aorta.

He was breathless and had an Aortic Stenosis carried out.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

Harry, I'm really sorry, I forgot to mention as I had completely forgotten until DIY fun mentioned it, my Dad had a problem with a narrowing of the Aorta.

He was breathless and had an Aortic Stenosis carried out.

I don't think I have any such problems. I do suffer from narrowed nasal passage, compounded by a near permanent cold, choked nose. I cannot walk, and chew a toffee at the same time, because I then cannot breathe.

During the heart research, they also investigated breathing, CO2, and oxygen take up, and did say it was weird, but never explained further. I think the anomaly, was the fact that I habitually stop breathing when exercise starts, then my lungs struggle to catch up. I find myself nipping upstairs for something, then back down, plonk myself on the settee, only then, seconds later, does my heavy breathing begin, to catch up.

 

[Mottie]

Coming up to spending 20 hours at Queens Hospital with my sister. I had a call from my mums cleaner yesterday saying my mum wasn't looking quite right. I went round immediately and she had worsened in the 10 minutes that it took for me to get there. She was unable to speak and had lost the use of one arm. I suspected a stroke so we called an ambulance. They were there within 10 mins and took her to hospital. They did a scan and found she had a bleed on the brain. Seemed stable at 2.00 yesterday when my sister was with her. She left around 5.00 and came round to me to let me know what the hospital had said. They said they were going to give her an injection to clear a blockage which they did and she was fine at around 8.30 when my sister called back to check. I then had a call around 9.00 from the hospital saying she had worsened and could we come up. We went straight up there. They took us in a room and basically said the bleed had got worse and that unfortunately there was nothing that could be done. She was intubated and they asked if we would like it removed. We said yes so they took it out and said it was just a matter of time so we are just basically waiting for the inevitable. We both spent the night there. The staff are wonderful and caring and they are just keeping her comfortable. She's completely out of it so she's in no pain or discomfort. Mrs Motties mum had also been taken to hospital this week and we found out her friend had passed away yesterday too. Not one of our best weekends.

 

[fillyboy]

Coming up to spending 20 hours at Queens Hospital with my sister. I had a call from my mums cleaner yesterday saying my mum wasn't looking quite right. I went round immediately and she had worsened in the 10 minutes that it took for me to get there. She was unable to speak and had lost the use of one arm. I suspected a stroke so we called an ambulance. They were there within 10 mins and took her to hospital. They did a scan and found she had a bleed on the brain. Seemed stable at 2.00 yesterday when my sister was with her. She left around 5.00 and came round to me to let me know what the hospital had said. They said they were going to give her an injection to clear a blockage which they did and she was fine at around 8.30 when my sister called back to check. I then had a call around 9.00 from the hospital saying she had worsened and could we come up. We went straight up there. They took us in a room and basically said the bleed had got worse and that unfortunately there was nothing that could be done. She was intubated and they asked if we would like it removed. We said yes so they took it out and said it was just a matter of time so we are just basically waiting for the inevitable. We both spent the night there. The staff are wonderful and caring and they are just keeping her comfortable. She's completely out of it so she's in no pain or discomfort. Mrs Motties mum had also been taken to hospital this week and we found out her friend had passed away yesterday too. Not one of our best weekends.

Sorry to hear that.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

Thursday, I received a call from the hospital kidney department, to go in to have a familiarising session with the dialysis systems, possibly on Monday. We were expecting it, and Avril wants to be there, plus me have her there, so we are both familiar with things, so couldn't agree an appointment because she wasn't with me to check at that time. Having agreed it was passible, I made the agreed the appointment for Monday, and they asked me to bring along a record of my weight, a series of blood pressure readings, and a measure of my urine output volume, over 24 hours.

I've never been asked to do that before, nor had Av., but we firstly decided the best way was to collect for 24 hours in a bucket, then measure in a calibrated plastic jug. After the first delivery, I wondered if they might really want to know, when and how much, rather than just the total over 24 hours, so I reverted to just using the jug, and logging the time and quantity.

The jug, was an old one, from the kitchen, relegated as a measure for measuring sand and cement, recovered from the back garden.

A second call, came from my new GP's admin department, a follow-up to an email I sent then three weeks ago. The email set out the horrible side-effects, the anxiety and panic, I was waking with as a result of what seemed likely to be the Atorvastatin, I had been prescribed. Admin said, they had spoken to a doctor, and the doctor advised to carry on taking them, despite the side-effects - so that is now two doctors saying stop taking them immediately, and two doctors saying I should carry on taking them, despite the misery the stains were causing me. I in fact stopped taking them weeks ago, and no more symptoms since. The doctor, at the new to me surgery, at an urgent F2F appointment, had agreed I should hold off, until they have the results of a blood test, and ECG, next week. Then make a decision, based on that.

 

[Mottie]

Coming up to spending 20 hours at Queens Hospital with my sister. I had a call from my mums cleaner yesterday saying my mum wasn't looking quite right. I went round immediately and she had worsened in the 10 minutes that it took for me to get there. She was unable to speak and had lost the use of one arm. I suspected a stroke so we called an ambulance. They were there within 10 mins and took her to hospital. They did a scan and found she had a bleed on the brain. Seemed stable at 2.00 yesterday when my sister was with her. She left around 5.00 and came round to me to let me know what the hospital had said. They said they were going to give her an injection to clear a blockage which they did and she was fine at around 8.30 when my sister called back to check. I then had a call around 9.00 from the hospital saying she had worsened and could we come up. We went straight up there. They took us in a room and basically said the bleed had got worse and that unfortunately there was nothing that could be done. She was intubated and they asked if we would like it removed. We said yes so they took it out and said it was just a matter of time so we are just basically waiting for the inevitable. We both spent the night there. The staff are wonderful and caring and they are just keeping her comfortable. She's completely out of it so she's in no pain or discomfort. Mrs Motties mum had also been taken to hospital this week and we found out her friend had passed away yesterday too. Not one of our best weekends.

So, my sister and her husband decide to stay with her tonight and I went home just after 9.00 and was due back to relieve them at 7.00 this morning. Came home, had my tea, jumped in the shower and was reading in bed when the phone went. My sister told me she'd gone so I went back up the hospital. I was pleased to see that my sister (who had been breaking out in tears every 30 minutes) was calm about it. She said she felt a wave of relief when our mum passed, which is how I felt when our dad went. We sat around her bed talking and even laughing* and then my sister and her husband went home and I spent some time with her before I left. Lots to sort out in the coming weeks so we are having a day off tomorrow before finding out what we've got to do.

* One thing we laughed about was that when I had popped out to get some coffee earlier, my sister discovered she had a hair on her chin. Our mum had one of those hand held lady shaver type of gadgets in her wash bag so my sister went about removing the offending hair using the shaver thingy. Did the job but when she went in the bathroom, she noticed in the mirror that she had shredded her chin with the shaver and it was all red and bleeding!

 

[fillyboy]

So, my sister and her husband decide to stay with her tonight and I went home just after 9.00 and was due back to relieve them at 7.00 this morning. Came home, had my tea, ju oled in the shower and was reading in bed when the phone went. My sister told me she'd gone so I went back up the hospital. I was pleased to see that my sister (who had been breaking out in tears every 30 minutes) was calm about it. She said she felt a wave of relief when our mum passed, which is how I felt when our dad went. We sat around her bed talking and even laughing* and then my sister and her husband went home and I spent some time with her before I left. Lots to sort out in the coming weeks so we are having a day off tomorrow before finding out what we've got to do.

* One thing we laughed about was that when I had popped out to get some coffee earlier, my sister discovered she had a hair on her chin. Our mum had one of those had held lady shaver type of gadgets in her wash bag so my sister went about removing the offending hair using the shaver thingy. Did the job but when she went in the bathroom, she noticed in the mirror that she had shredded her chin with the shaver and it was all red and bleeding!

Sounds like it was a good death if there is such a thing, and she was was surrounded by loved ones.

All the best to you and your family.

 

[danfre]

Sad times, sorry for your loss Mottie.

 

[noseall]

Sounds like it was a good death if there is such a thing,

My old Ma always said she didn't want to be a burden, what with all that mopping pìss, wiping dribble and so forth. Dropped down dead in her bedroom, bless her old socks.

 

[kingandy2nd]

Sorry to hear that news Mottie. Wishing you all the best.