Ellie - I have a couple of margaritas waiting for you. I had 2 last night at dinner with my friend. But I'm back to coffee now! How is it that we always seem to pony up to the bar instead of the coffee house?
LOL, my top shelf margaritas were on the house (and so were my friend's). We were at a Mexican restaurant. I ordered a quesadilla and got a philly cheesesteak and fries. WTF? The waitress offered to replace it for me, but it was snowing hard and my friend and I were starving and needed to keep things moving so she could get home safely and I could pick up D16 at her dad's. The cheesesteak looked and WAS good, so for my efforts, drinks were on the house. My 2nd margarita was made with a splash of grand marnier along with some really good Jose Cuervo. Let's just say I was happy...
Kat, we got a little over 4 inches here last night/this morning, but another storm is blowing in later this afternoon. We shall see. It's 16 and I'm working from home today. Okay, I'm hardly working, but who can blame me? My next item on the to do list is to crawl in my bath and soak for awhile. No halter dresses for me OR flip flops!
This weekend I'm keeping things low key. Cleaning. Grocery shopping. Laundry. Putzing around. Going to Superbowl party. God, I hope I don't come home from that disappointed. This town can use a little happy lately - from the theater shooting to the floods, I think we're ready for some happy.
Gineen, I know you're sick of winter. So let me have some for you. We're still in a drought situation and could use the snow. Unfortunately, that comes with cold, but... I truly hate extreme heat so you won't hear me complaining. I was actually on top of my covers a good portion of the night last night, thanks to night sweats. Blech.
Time for the grand soak...
"There are only 2 ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle."
TGIF DB people! I am ready for a drama free, fun-filled weekend. Tonight I'm heading out for some Indian Cuisine at a favorite restaurant of mine. Saturday evening I'm going to a comedy club. Haven't been to one of those and I can't tell you when. This one hosts a dinner before the comedians come out on stage. It should be fun. Then on Sunday I am off to some friends house for the Superbowl with an invite to stay the night in their guest room so that I don't have to drive home with all the crazy drunks leaving their own parties. I'm taking them up on the offer and taking Monday off from work to boot.
Latest news on my Dad isn't the greatest. He is done with the 10 radiation treatments and that did provide him some relief in the neck area, however he still has a lot of pain in his lower back. The meds only work marginally for about 2 hours. According to my mom he was denied hospice because he is undergoing kidney dialysis and they look at that as treatement which disqualifies him for their care. WTF?? Doesn't sound right to me. Anyway, he has another appointment with the Oncologist on Monday.
I know that our hospice here has changed mindsets some, but the rule used to be terminal illness with 6 months left to live, focus on palliative care and pain management, but no treatment. Dialysis is a life saving measure and their focus is on assisting with end of life.
That being said, I know Hospice of Metro Denver now accepts patients who have long term illnesses without an end date and they allow for sustaining measures in most cases. I think they focus on pain management and getting the patient comfortable without dictating personal choices. I believe this was all part of the healthcare initiative and Medicaid rules changing. I know when I did the volunteer work, their hands were tied by healthcare laws and they absolutely had to have families meet the criteria in order to get paid. (I stopped in 1998 when D16 was a baby, and the laws have changed a lot in that time.)
Maybe Florida hasn't expananded their healthcare platform on the legal side to allow for this to happen? Not sure. But there are typically a few hospice orgazinations around. We have a private one too, but another one was forced to close last summer for a variety of reasons - all of them financial.
I hope your dad can get some pain management, though. Please tell me the docs support that?
"There are only 2 ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle."
I don't know about in the U.S. but in Ontario hospice care is limited stay...and not because you pass! I had a friend who had brain cancer and was admitted to a hospice but had to be moved to a convolescents hospital where she passed on because she lived longer than the stipulated time allowed in hospice. Unbelievable! My Dad never went to hospice because they said that he would probably be gone before the paperwork was put through. Anyway, we were glad he didn't go because the hospital he was at was the one he'd known his whole life, he was comfortable there, knew the nurses and the routine and it was close for my Mom to walk to. It's a tough haul, BA. Hang in there and enjoy your fun filled weekend. Btw, our Mayor Rob is pulling for Denver so I'm going for Seattle...sorry Betsey lol.
Hey Wii - I wonder if Rob and the Beibs will represent Canada at the Super Bowl??? Let's hope not.
BA - Hugs. I've been in your shoes. I know how hard it is. If he can't be in hospice (as happened with my Mom). Just make wherever he is the most comfortable & upbeat. My personal recommendation is to make sure family & friends know (as long as that is ok with him). It meant so much to my Mom that she had visits from people she loved, some she had not seen in a while. They made the effort to come. To pay their respects while she was still alive (some did this instead of flying to attend her funeral). It was hard - but it was meaningful.
As for you - is there any chance of taking a leave of absence and spending that time with your Dad? I lived near my Mom so balanced my career, raising kids and getting a divorce while Mom was dying but I still spent time daily with her and that's time I could never get back. My siblings did the same and my one out of town sister ended up taking the last week off (I flat out told her too) and thanks me for telling her to do it. I did not want any of us to live with regret.
Josh and I are going to the movies tonight to see Labour Day. I never got to see Saving Mr Banks (regret) but since this one starts tonight - Ashley offered to stay with Ryan so we can have dinner and a movie. We will not be together for Valentine's Day or our Anniversary (of dating) this year since I'm getting out of the North Pole ASAP.
Thanks everyone for the excellent medical information on Hospice issues. I'm going to pass it on to my Mom and hopefully they can find some other options available for him. To me dialysis isn't a treatment for cure. The man has no functioning kidneys so it's become simply a necessity of life - much like eating food, drinking water and breathing air. If he stopped getting his blood cleansed three times a week, he'd die quicker than if he stopped eating.
As for taking a leave of absence from work, unfortunately financially that's not possible for me. However, the upside is I do have quite a bit of vacation time saved up and I plan to use it to make some frequent trips down to spend some time with my Dad and try and give my Mom a break as well.
I hope I have a relaxing weekend - I'm certainly going to try. Unfortunately, the stuff with my Dad is only part of what I'm currently dealing with - the other stuff is just even more depressing/disturbing and I'm not interested in putting it in writing at the moment.
WTF? The waitress offered to replace it for me, but it was snowing hard and my friend and I were starving and needed to keep things moving so she could get home safely and I could pick up D16 at her dad's. The cheesesteak looked and WAS good, so for my efforts, drinks were on the house. My 2nd margarita was made with a splash of grand marnier along with some really good Jose Cuervo. Let's just say I was happy...
I am ready for a drama free, fun-filled weekend. Tonight I'm heading out for some Indian Cuisine at a favorite restaurant of mine. Saturday evening I'm going to a comedy club. Haven't been to one of those and I can't tell you when. This one hosts a dinner before the comedians come out on stage. It should be fun. Then on Sunday I am off to some friends house for the Superbowl with an invite to stay the night in their guest room so that I don't have to drive home with all the crazy drunks leaving their own parties. I'm taking them up on the offer and taking Monday off from work to boot.