Britesea - Living the good life in rural Oregon

Denim Deb

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Glad he's not worse! I hope he recovers quickly as well. I'll be praying for him.
 

Britesea

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some better news today- now that the swelling has gone down a little, the doctor determined that the ankle is only sprained, not broken, and only one finger is broken. His angel was definitely on his shoulder! The abrasions are still very painful of course, but nothing serious.
 

Britesea

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I finally got a good night's sleep last night. Now I'm faced with a house that has been ignored for 3 days (and it wasn't clean before that!)
DH took a fall again this morning- he was trying to get to the bathroom without waking me up. I think having to do all the walking he did yesterday to get in to two doctor visits robbed him of what little strength he had left in his arms and shoulders so he couldn't keep his balance on the cane. I've rigged up a 'chamber pot' out of an old bleach bottle by cutting a wider opening for him, but I still had to help him get to the bathroom for "the other thing".

The second doctor suggested that I try to figure out a way to keep the abrasions moisturized so they heal better with less scarring. He had talked about rubbing hand cream on them, but right now everything is so hypersensitive that if my shirt drifts across the hairs on his arm he inhales sharply so I can't see doing that to him. I think I'll go buy one of those cans of spray-on cooking oil (they have them in the organic section with better oils than the usual stuff)-- I think just a light spray of sunflower oil or olive oil might do the trick without hurting him. I also have to pick up a prescription he wrote for some special gauze dressings for his poor heel (NO skin left!) that are coated with petrolatum and antibiotics- they won't stick to the wound that way.

In other news, the ducklings are 3 weeks old today and nearly as tall as the adult Khakis. It's been so warm I had to completely turn off the brooder light. They've been spending the days for the last week outside in a temporary run, and I'm sorely tempted to put them outside permanently with the adults, but they aren't feathered out yet. Any advice would be welcome.
 

frustratedearthmother

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There are some first aid spray with numbing agents in them that might just do the trick. I know some of the things for burns have benzocaine which is a great topical numbing agent.

Dang, I know he's hurting and I feel so bad for him.

No advice on the ducks though, cuz I'm not a duck person...sorry!
 

Britesea

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Thanks Fem, I'll look for something like that next time I go into town. Today I need to spend at home though- the kitchen is so bad there is literally no place to put another dish except on the floor. DS didn't wash any dishes while I was gone yesterday, but the two of them made plenty more dirty ones!

I visited with my girlfriends (we like to meet up for lunch every Thursday), but didn't feel comfortable staying more than an hour, because I had errands to run and had left DH at home with DS. When I showed up at the pharmacy to pick up the special-order dressings, I found out that someone had forgotten to put the order in, and now they would not be available until Monday. UNACCEPTABLE! So the pharmacist got on the phone and called every pharmacy in town until he found one that had some of them actually in stock. He faxed the prescription and insurance info to them, and I got in the car and drove off into the sunset, looking for bandages...
After waiting in line at the new pharmacy for over 45 minutes, I discovered they only had a partial box, and they are NOT covered by DH's insurance, and they are $1.10 for EACH DRESSING :ep .
I ended up buying about a 2 week supply, hoping that will be enough. I have no idea how long it will take for the skin to come back on his heel.
Then I stopped at the store to pick up some frozen yogurt as a treat for him, and my friend's house to pick up some books so he'd have something new to read.

Came home 4 hours later, checked the garden- A lot of the potted plants were showing stress because of the heat and DS hasn't been watering them- he just hooks up the hose to the raised beds. I've lost the oregano, but I think everything else can be saved. The weeds are getting too big, and I don't feel comfortable having DS weed by himself- I'm not convinced he knows which are weeds and which are plants I want to keep.

Struggled to cook in a kitchen with no counterspace and having to wash each dish and pan in order to use them (yuck! I hate that!) but I managed to turn out some curried meatballs on couscous. It was a new recipe and I would have preferred to do something simpler only all the frozen ingredients had already been thawed so I didn't have much choice.

I think I've finally convinced DH to stay in bed today-- He's been standing and walking way too much- and both his hands are swollen because I wasn't there to make sure he had icepacks and kept his hands up close to his heart. Part of the problem is he has amnesia from the accident, and he doesn't remember very much of what happened in the ER either- so he doesn't remember the advice the doctor gave him on what to do to facilitate healing. He's fallen twice this week, and when he sits in his chair in the living room he nods off and starts to slump and I'm worried he'll fall out of the chair. When I told him to stay in bed he said he can't because everything is going to h*** in a handbasket- to which I rather testily replied that if he would just stay put in bed I would be free to take care of some of the things that need to be done! GRRR!
 

Denim Deb

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Sounds like you have your hands full.

And I'd tell the pharmacy that you expect them to cover the cost of the prescriptions they didn't order since they place you had to buy them isn't covered by your insurance.
 

frustratedearthmother

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Oh my... I wish I could come help you!

My DH had a low blood sugar episode this morning where he became a tiny bit combative - and he doesn't remember any of it! So, I know a bit about what you might be dealing with.

I feel bad for your DH - but I feel just as bad for you. I've said it before and I'll say it again - it's hard being a caretaker!
 

Britesea

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Thanks. I'm just so grateful that he's still here... it could have much, much worse.

I managed to keep him in bed today, and got ice on one of his hands (the one that looks like a rubber glove balloon) and his knee.
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I'm still struggling to get him to drink more-- his urine is deep yellow which is not good.
My friend L was a corpsman in the Navy and she's promised to come over and take a look at his wounds. I will feel a lot better if she says things are progressing the way they should.

Spent some time watching the ducklings this afternoon after refilling their water. I have a nasty suspicion that every one of the Golden Cascades is male. They all are developing orange feet and legs. I am having the worst luck getting a decent laying flock! I may have to just buy some adults this fall to get hens. DS says he doesn't mind-- he's looking at all the duck dinners, lol.

Well, time to go check on things again.
 
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