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DAY 6 AFTER EMERGENCY SURGERY
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Sep 7, 2011 9:49 am
306 Views
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They finally removed the ventilator tube from his throat, but he still has not regained consciousness. For his own safety, light restraints remain on his arms.
He has not been awake though from time to time his eyes open briefly. Nourishment has been through a tube as well as the pain medications and sedatives. Today, they hope he will wake up. He heard Melinda ask him to squeeze her hand, and slowly he was able to do that.
It is expected he will remain in the Critical Care Unit this week, and then perhaps there will be some rehabilitation training. My daughter stays with him after work for as long as she can. She says he appears calmer.
A "permanent" iv tube was put into one of his arms so no one will need to stick in needles all the time for blood work. I had never heard of this before, but the tube can remain up to two years!
Things look good that he will recover now. It was extremely bleak last week so I want to thank all of you again for your prayers and good wishes.
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A BEAUTIFUL PIGEON
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Sep 6, 2011 6:14 pm
301 Views
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Among the bird pictures Melinda sent to me was the Nicobar pigeon.
I had never heard of this species, but found it stays on small islands off of India, Malaysia, Cambodia, Viet Nam and all the way to the Solomon Islands and the Philippines!
The birds sleep on small uninhabited islands with no predators. They are the largest of the pigeon species, often hunted for food and for a small stone in their body which is used for jewelry.
A few are pets, but it is mostly illegal for them to be shipped to foreign markets. Some zoos do have them in their aviaries.
I found their feathering reminds me of watercolors! They have greens, and copper tones, but their short tail feathers are pure white!
Have any of you seen these lovely birds in real life?
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STILL UNCONSCIOUS ON LABOR DAY
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Sep 5, 2011 6:59 pm
332 Views
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Melinda went to the hospital early today as they wanted to try and bring him to consciousness. They also tried again this afternoon.
The pain medication and the sedatives are given together so perhaps if they cut back on the sedatives but keep the pain medication high enough they might get him to respond.
The antibiotics seem to be keeping the peritonitis under control, and his temperature is all right though his blood pressure did spike a bit today. Using the stomach tube, he was given some nourishment today. He appeared calmer today and did open his eyes, but sleep appears most important right now.
So, it is hoped he will wake up some time tomorrow. Melinda won't be at the hospital until late afternoon. She needs to be at work since this is the start of the college semester. We believe all the prayers and good wishes are helping because his prognosis was extremely poor last week. Thank you for your help. They were married on September 11, 1999.
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SON IN LAW STILL IN ROUGH SHAPE
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Sep 4, 2011 10:12 am
310 Views
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Morphine did not help at all, and another drug was used to sedate him for awhile. Then still another was added to the list to try and keep him calm.
Despite all this, being heavily drugged and in restraints, unconscious, he was able to rip off some of the tubes which included the colonostrophy bag. This caused that matter to go all over him, the bed, floor, and into the surgical area. I would imagine the pain to be awful.
With Melinda holding his hand, soothing his brow, and talking quietly to him, he seemed to respond by not thrashing around and attempting to get free from the tubes.
Today, they are talking about perhaps removing him from the ventilator and bringing him to consciousness. I don't know how this will work. In the past, he was able to endure great pain as a martial arts instructor. I have seen various trophies which he won as a young man.
The problem is that the pain could still be so intense that he would be unable to act calmly and logically. And he could cause even more havoc to his body by ripping out the stomach tube as well as the other ones.
Thank you all for your prayers and kind thoughts. His sisters remain here in Las Vegas. It is encouraging that he is still alive after this horrific problem and surgery. I shall keep you posted. Melinda still is getting little sleep, but is driven to stay with him as much as the hospital staff allows her to be by his side. He just turned 58 in July.
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PRAYERS WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED
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Sep 2, 2011 8:26 pm
399 Views
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Last Monday night, my daughter arrived home to find husband in great pain with bleeding rectum and blood pressure 291/189. He was taken to emergency, and then transferred to ICU. Wednesday they discharged him because bleeding had stopped, vomiting had stopped, and blood pressure was under control. He had zero food while in the hospital.
Melinda wanted them to keep him, and find out what was causing the bleeding. He was also very constipated. Thursday night he was pounding the walls and screaming in pain as he was unable to urinate or have a bowel movement.
She took him back to emergency, and they did surgery on him this morning. They said the colon was perforated/exploded rectum. He is under heavy sedation, restraints, pain medications, anti biotics, blood pressure medication AND has a tube inserted in his stomach.
They have been together 15 years, and Melinda does NOT want him to die. Prayers would certainly be appreciated. Thank you.
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ANOTHER BEAUTIFULLY COLORED BIRD
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Aug 30, 2011 4:09 pm
385 Views
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This handsome bird is called a Himalayan Monal. The multiple shades and blue blend in with the deep reddish purple with the contrasting golden and red feathers on black. The head appears to have blue-green coloring!
I would love to see this kind of bird in an aviary along with all the other colorful birds of the world. Does the United States claim any "fancy" specimens?
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WHAT A LOVELY BIRD
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Aug 30, 2011 12:03 pm
336 Views
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This is a photograph of a Formosan Magpie that my daughter sent to me. Ir appears that it has red anklet socks to match the red beak!
I especially like the end of the tail feathers which look rather like white ballet slippers to me.
While a bird hoarder gave Wayne Newton 200 pretty mostly blue and white lovebirds, I have not seen any colorful birds at all in Las Vegas. Private owners probably have some beautiful feathered creatures, but I don't think Nevada has any colorful wild species.
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I THOUGHT THEY HAD BEEN SHOT!!!!
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Aug 29, 2011 4:54 pm
324 Views
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When I first saw the picture of these two pigeons, I thought someone had shot them with a BB gun! Instead, this is an unusual breed called the bleeding heart pigeons!
Has anyone seen this in real life? Someone must have been very dedicated to developing this unusual color pattern since I have never seen the color red on any wild or domestic bird like this.
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DO YOU LIVE IN A GATED COMMUNITY?
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Aug 29, 2011 12:32 pm
432 Views
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It seemed like getting an apartment in a gated community strictly for seniors was a great idea. Across the street is a magnet school for children with grades kindergarten to fifth grades. A few blocks away on the same street is Rancho High School. Many older students walk to school.
Now our managers have decided to keep the gate open from 8 am to 5 pm EVERY DAY. There is both a walk-in gate and double swing-in or swing-out gates for vehicle traffic.
The problem is that people who do not have keys to either gate (which means they DO NOT live here) have decided breaking the gates is okay. Some have broken the walk-in gate by brute force. The gates into the property are broken by driving their cars or trucks into the closed gates until they are sprung open!
It costs a minimum of $250. each time a gate repairman comes to fix the damages. Today, I suggested welding some rebar onto the metal sections of the gate, sticking out far enough that they would break the headlights and puncture the radiators on these rouge vehicles that are breaking not only the gates, but the peace of mind of our seniors in here.
Has anyone else had these problems? Before all the apartments were completed, we had security men here after normal club house hours. They were stationed near the gates, and did walk-arounds during the night to make sure there were no problems here.
Do you have any suggestions about improving the gates? With earlier darkness and very hot weather, I must take Shaq for his walks later than I feel is safe. He does bark very loudly when he sees strangers (like three young men last night), but he certainly is not a great protection dog like the Rottweilers and Dobermans I have owned in the past. Pets here are not supposed to weigh more than ten pounds!
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THE HEAT IS AFFECTING ME!
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Aug 26, 2011 10:29 am
312 Views
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This week in particular has been brutal with temperatures of 110 and 112 degrees, record setting during this past week. Monday was particularly bad as I went to Walmart at 9am on the bus, and got home about noon. At 12:30 a neighbor drove me to Walgreens to pick up my much needed eye drops for glaucoma.
At 2:15 pm a para transit bus stopped to pick us up for Vic's cardiology appointment. A young man with autism? was on one side of the bus, violently rocking back and forth. He was taken to his home along with a teddy bear about 15 minutes later. The driver apologized that the air conditioning on the vehicle was NOT working.
Finally we arrived for the 3:15 appointment. A lengthy time was spent with the doctor, and oxygen was approved for Vic at night. An antibiotic was prescribed with a new high blood pressure medication.
Shaq was out of water when we got home. Fed and watered him, and then out for his walk. Ordered philly sandwiches from Sophia's.
Was extremely happy to get into bed and go to sleep with air conditioning and fans running.
Tuesday, I remembered the doctor or nurse saying they would phone in Vic's prescriptions. Called, and found they were waiting. My same neighbor offered to take me to get them. Sigh. Windows on car wide open as his air conditioning doesn't work.
Wednesday another trip on bus to Walmart. Waiting area was filled to overflowing with people and their shopping carts, walkers and wheelchairs so I went outside to wait. Bus was late and weather was way over 100. It reached 112, but by then I was home again.
I did not even remember the date yesterday UNTIL this morning. It was August 25, 1958 that Jeffrey Eugene was born in San Andreas, California. Totally forgot him yesterday....blame it on the heat.
It is supposed to remain 100 and above for the next week...have already had well over 60 days of that kind of weather. I cannot believe the football and soccer players are practicing in this weather prior to schools opening next week.
When I talk to the family in Alaska, they are enjoying weather that rarely goes above 80 and lots of cooling rain! Alaska is
always so green in summertime with zillions of colorful flowers as well as the wild raspberries and blueberries covering many hillsides.
One thing about the heat, Shaq doesn't want to spend much time visiting our neighbors. He just wants to briefly stop, and then get home to his water bowl and the cool tile floors here.
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