What did you do today? 2016 version

[ivinsfan]

Lisa, I'm not trying to be hard hearted about this, but at your mom's age and condition, it might even be cruel to try to make her stop. Whatever damage the cigarettes are going to do has already been done, and living out her last weeks/months/years trying to fight that addiction would be miserable. I've seen it a couple of times with my in-laws, and with all that goes on during surgeries and treatments and such, trying to stop smoking is just a lot of added trauma. It would be different if she was going to recover and have many years of additional life. Then stopping could add to her quality of life.

DW and I don't smoke, and we despised the fact that smoking took her parents so relatively young. But after watching them battle both the cancer and the forced (by the doctors) attempts to stop smoking, I don't think it was the right thing to do. Especially since it didn't work. They would both smoke whenever they got the opportunity to do so.

JMO. I'm sorry your mom and your family are going through this. Good luck.

+1 I had a neighbor who got kicked out of hospice care because of smoking issues. Once I accompanied a family member to a VA hospital for some testing. Since it was a nice day I got a coffee and went outside to sit on the patio. There was a yellow line on the pavement that said no smoking inside this line. On the smoking permitted side of the line sat at least half a dozen older veteran's in wheelchairs, with oxygen tanks, smoking away. My first thought was how sad they still can't quit, followed by the thought, I'm going to find a safer place to sit.

I'm sorry about your Mom too, my Dad passed at 58 from lung cancer.

 

[harley]

+1 I had a neighbor who got kicked out of hospice care because of smoking issues. Once I accompanied a family member to a VA hospital for some testing. Since it was a nice day I got a coffee and went outside to sit on the patio. There was a yellow line on the pavement that said no smoking inside this line. On the smoking permitted side of the line sat at least half a dozen older veteran's in wheelchairs, with oxygen tanks, smoking away. My first thought was how sad they still can't quit, followed by the thought, I'm going to find a safer place to sit.

I'm sorry about your Mom too, my Dad passed at 58 from lung cancer.

Odd...it was hospice with MiL that showed me the empathy of not adding suffering to a terminal patient by demanding they quit an addiction while in the process of dying. I guess things are different in different places.

 

[ivinsfan]

Odd...it was hospice with MiL that showed me the empathy of not adding suffering to a terminal patient by demanding they quit an addiction while in the process of dying. I guess things are different in different places.

I suspect that's not the whole story. I've never heard of anybody being "kicked out" of hospice either. He had the reputation of being a very unpleasant individual.

 

[johnnyfuego]

Lisa99, at the risk of seeming hypocritical, I see Harley's point. After 45 years of Tareyton's, my mother had to quit, but the damage was already done. She suffered another 15 years of COPD and CHF until her death. I sometimes wonder if her Pulmonologist, though brilliant, just prolonged her agony. He takes it very personal when he loses a patient, but he also has a big ego. As Mom used to say, 'the nurses think they are doctors, and the doctors think they are God', lol. She did seem less uptight in her smoking days.
On the other hand, one of my best friends lit and held his elderly Mothers' last cigarette for her on her last day of life. And he is a judge and an ordained minister who never did smoke. He gave her eulogy and shared that story. Compassion...

 

[johnnyfuego]

Oh, I'm sorry. I do wish you well during this tough time...

 

[Walt34]

Dentist appointment in the late AM for routine cleaning/inspection, Dr. appt. in the afternoon for follow-up on the happenings of last week, and stopped for a therapeutic pizza on the way home from there. Now DW is baking a chocolate cake. That was NOT my idea!

Doc says it is going to be quite a while before the swelling in my leg and foot subside and aside from light walking and keeping it elevated there isn't much else I can do. He did suggest that the next few weeks are not a good time to go sky diving or anything like that.

 

[travelover]

House was officially listed for sale today. I thought I'd have more time, but agent shot photos yesterday as soon as I signed the papers, and slapped it on the MLS.

I spent the day running around doing last minute cleanup / fix up stuff so it is ready for the first showing. He wanted to do an open house this weekend, but I declined. Perhaps a mistake, but I see these as agent publicity and neighbor snooping opportunities as opposed to a real selling tool.

 

[spncity]

He wanted to do an open house this weekend, but I declined. Perhaps a mistake, but I see these as agent publicity and neighbor snooping opportunities as opposed to a real selling tool.

My friend - a real estate agent - agrees with you.

 

[W2R]

Lunch, haircut, oil change, laundry... just one of those days when I wonder how I ever had the time to work (before I retired).

 

[spncity]

therapeutic pizza

I'm always learning new vocabulary on this forum!

 

[Moemg]

Started up my poor neglected pickup truck for the first time in about three weeks and drove it around for about an hour just to run it. DW was with me for backup driver in case too much pain came up. Ate a package of Lima beans for lunch and took a three-hour nap. DW has expressed concern that I'm sleeping so much but I think it's just catching up on sleep lost while I was in the hospital and general recovery. Leg and foot ever so slowly getting better with time, follow up with PCP on Tuesday, hopefully he will have thoughts on accelerating recovery.

You are sleeping because you are healing . Take all the time you need to get back to where you were .

 

[Ronstar]

Went on a spending spree - new running shoes, 4 pair of socks, maps of England and Ireland, A how to book on Photoshop Elements and Photoshop Elements software.

 

[Dreamer]

Took Federal and State taxes to the Post Office and sent by certified mail. Who knows, maybe next year I will get with it and try doing them electronically. Bought a present for my aunt's 85 birthday party on Sunday and browsed 3 stores that have opened recently. Then went grocery shopping at Wal-Mart and Sam's Club. Talked with my sister tonight and when I discussed my day with her, she said, wait a minute, did you say you went shopping? I am not much of a shopper, but do occasionally get in the mood to see what they are selling in the stores. Been on the computer tonight.

 

[Hermit]

DD showed up as I was working on the house. She had a block of foam she wanted to cut into 12 inch squares and slice them a couple of inches thick. Turned out she was making a case to hold chess pieces. I built her a quick box with a lid out of construction scraps and helped her cut the foam. It all turned out pretty well and only took a couple of hours. She headed home happy.

 

[pb4uski]

My friend - a real estate agent - agrees with you.

+1 it is more beneficial to the agent for prospecting.... a very small percentage of open houses result in a sale.

Open Houses May Be a Waste of Time for the Homeowner

Note that this is an article on realtor.com!

 

[38Chevy454]

Odd...it was hospice with MiL that showed me the empathy of not adding suffering to a terminal patient by demanding they quit an addiction while in the process of dying. I guess things are different in different places.

My wife is/was a hospice nurse. While it is quite sad to see a person smoking when it is the cancer caused by the smoking that is killing the person, it does seem less than compassionate to suffer the smoking withdrawal on top of the cancer effects. So they let patients smoke, after all it is not like it made a significant change in their lifespan at that point. They did have to go outside, no smoking inside the hospice facility. DW now works for VA and it is definitely no smoking policy.

As for my day, still working so no need to mention more than that. I did stop on way home and bought a couple get well cards for a very dear friend that is going in for aorta valve replacement in 3 days. His valve is leaking, so he will be getting a pig or cow valve replacement. He has no real other symptoms besides a high resting heart rate at times, and pretty good shape for nearly 80 years old, so hope he has good recovery and is back to normal activities quickly.

Also completed the trust tax returns I am trustee for and dropped the forms and check in the mail to IRS. I e-file my personal stuff, but the trust is pretty simple and only a few forms so I just use the IRS fillable pdf's.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

Worked on cashing in all my credit card points so we can close out the current crop of cards and get new sign up bonuses for this year. For dinner we tried a new Mexican restaurant for margaritas and Taco Tuesday.

 

[RobbieB]

Got up on the roof with the leaf blower and blew the valleys and gutters clean.

 

[Marita40]

First really warm spring day here in the frozen north. Everyone is already out in shorts and flip flops, and the smell of barbecue is wafting from two neighbors' yards into my den as I type this. Yesterday we had snow and were still in parkas. April in my fair state is less a cruel month than an exceedingly weird one.

 

[pb4uski]

DW and I went skiing for the first time this season today. Boy, am I out of shape! Conditions were good, but it got too warm/soft in the early afternoon.

We foolishly bought tickets for 3 days for the season even though we were planning to spend January to March in Florida. We had planned to try to use one before we left and two spring ski days in April..... but we had no snow before we left... so one down, two to go.

 

[Gumby]

Took the young wife to the range for the first time today. She liked it and said that it would be fun to go again.

 

[haha]

Fortunately the drama with my health issues seems to finally be resolved. <>
So, hopefully the atrial fibrillation issues that started me down this trail have been solved at least for a while and then the complications from the bleeding from within the catheterization site have also been fixed.

I hope to be back full bore at the gym within two to four weeks!

Very good news Walt. I am, glad to hear that you are on the mend.

Ha

 

[MBAustin]

Writing large checks today. We're getting our fence replaced and they should finish up this afternoon, check #1.

Took DH's van to the shop for timing belt replacement and inspection, found out it also has a hole in the boot on the throttle body intake (letting dirt get into the throttle body, so that needs to be cleaned), a burned out brake light, and needs an alignment (I had noticed some odd tire wear a few months back but forgot about it). Also needed transmission and power steering fluid flushed. Don't think it's had any maintenance in several years, so not surprised. It gets driven less than 5000 miles a year now, but vans with wheelchair ramps are pricey so we want it to last, so check #2.

 

[Hermit]

Writing large checks today. We're getting our fence replaced and they should finish up this afternoon, check #1.

Took DH's van to the shop for timing belt replacement and inspection, found out it also has a hole in the boot on the throttle body intake (letting dirt get into the throttle body, so that needs to be cleaned), a burned out brake light, and needs an alignment (I had noticed some odd tire wear a few months back but forgot about it). Also needed transmission and power steering fluid flushed. Don't think it's had any maintenance in several years, so not surprised. It gets driven less than 5000 miles a year now, but vans with wheelchair ramps are pricey so we want it to last, so check #2.

With all that work, let's hope its good for at least another 100K miles!

 

[Walt34]

A how to book on Photoshop Elements and Photoshop Elements software.

Yup, that's how my addiction started too....