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Need: Prayers sent. Definitely you shouldn't become your brother's caregiver. Hugs to you. 💙
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Thanks for prayers, Golden

Well, they are going to transport my brother on the 11th to a different hospital to see if they can help him there. Hopefully his situation will be resolved soon.

A neighbor is going to feed his fish. He brought my brother the charger for his phone. I am glad about that because the hospital that he is being transferred to is across town from where he is now.

I am not going to drive there daily to check on him. I will call him to see how he is doing though.

Way,

He hasn’t made it that far yet, although I am thinking that he will probably have to go to rehab afterwards. They are having issues with the removal of his gallbladder. Two surgeons have tried unsuccessfully to do the surgery. Don’t know the lab results about the tumor that they removed. They also have to look at something with his heart. A lot to deal with at 65 years old.

Golden,

You’re absolutely correct! I cannot allow myself to become a caregiver for him when he is released from the hospital. I have done enough caregiving in my life.

Honestly, I don’t know how this will pan out. He doesn’t have any resources for assisted living but I am not going to allow his circumstances to become our problem. I deserve to be alone with my husband.

My daughter is thoroughly enjoying her new apartment. It’s small but it’s just her and the dog. Less rent so she can save up to return to Denver like she wants to do. She has a short term lease, six months and if she isn’t ready to return yet, the landlord will rent to her on a month to month basis.

So, my closet is temporarily filled with her stuff, until she moves it out! Oh well…it’s okay for a short while.

Way,

It’s kind of fun to pop those bubbles on bubble wrap! Someone needs to redesign the packing tape dispenser. That thing drives me crazy! I was constantly looking for the end of the tape. The problem is that the tape doesn’t stay where it should. It pops out of the slot too easily.
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Need - prayers for your bro for solutions to his surgery. Gall bladder pain is nasty. I a si gad you drew the boundary about him coming to your home for after care. You and your hub don't need that - you need the peace of your home to yourselves. depending on what all they find out bro may need something like AL.

Good for you helping to your dd to pack. I know you will miss her. I'd take the mail back to the post office or what we do here is write "Not at this address" on the envelope and stick it into a mail box.
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@Need,
Hope brother gets better IN rehab . I’m glad you are listening to your therapist .

Take care of yourself. Pop more bubble wrap if you need to😀.

I agree about going to the right person for therapy . I never understood people going to a Catholic priest for marriage counseling. What do they know about marriage ? They aren’t married .
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MD,

I am 67. Yeah, I spent a lot of years caring for my mother.

They are consulting other doctors to figure out how to remove my brother’s gallbladder.

I agree with you on listening to what the therapist says. Why bother going if we aren’t interested in exploring all options?

The reason that I am so comfortable with my therapist is because he is a no nonsense kind of guy. He is a licensed professional.

I could never see myself going to a woo woo, new age life coach kind of person. So many of those don’t have experience in important areas, they simply don’t have the proper qualifications to truly help.

Some life coaches remind me of the pastors of churches who make it up as they go along. They have never been inside of an actual seminary or accredited university. They don’t have a theology degree or a psychology degree.

Some life coaches participate in these brief programs that are a few months long and jump right in with no experience. No thanks! I’ll pass on that type of therapy.

I feel the same way about going to a pastor for counseling. I wouldn’t do it. Unless they have an additional degree in psychology, they aren’t trained for helping with emotional needs. They are trained for spiritual needs.
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When I was helping my daughter pack up the rest of her stuff. She showed me a huge pile of mail that she had. All of this mail was for the previous tenant.

Geeeeez! Did he not have a forwarding address? Anyway, her lease stipulates that nothing can be left in her apartment or else she will be fined.

I said that she could just drop it off at the office at her complex or bring it to the post office. My husband said that if he hasn’t been concerned about his past mail in a year that he would just trash it.
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Does anyone else find popping those bubbles on bubble wrap satisfying and fun? It’s a good stress reliever! LOL 😆 I found myself doing this when I was helping my daughter pack up the last of her belongings.
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cw,

I do think that he is eligible for rehab. I just know that sometimes they assume that the patient is going home with family members. It’s too hard to get someone out of our house if they are invited. I don’t want to have this problem.

My dad’s doctor did that with my mom. She had to tell him that she was unable to care for my dad after his long hospital stay. Then he ordered rehab.

I had to push them to order rehab for my mom after long hospital visits. The doctors don’t always automatically place an order for it.

I want him to fully recover. I have done more than my share of caregiving with my mom. I’m never opening that door up again.

I keep hearing my therapist’s voice in my head when he told me, “You have more years behind you than ahead. You cannot spend the remainder of your life caring for others more than you care for yourself.”

Hahaha, my brother just said to me a couple of days ago. When did we get old? I want to be young again! 🤣
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I didn’t go to the hospital yesterday. I was with my daughter all evening. I tried to call him and they had moved his phone out of his reach. So, I called the nurse’s station and had them give him a message that I wouldn’t be visiting him.

My daughter’s last day for her lease in her old apartment is today. Yesterday around 4:00 she asked me to help her pack the last bit of her apartment. I was at my daughter’s old apartment until after 10:00.

I don’t want to see bubble wrap, boxes or packing tape for awhile! LOL 😆 I do love seeing her dog. I have fallen in love with his sweet disposition.
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Why on earth do you think he wouldn't he be eligible for a stay in rehab, getting support while recovering is the whole point.
If for some reason he can't go to rehab then perhaps he will need to pay for a short stay at an AL.
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I am trying to think things through with planning ahead for my brother.

My brother mentioned that the nurse was speaking with him about needing help after he is released.

I don’t want to upset him because of his pain right now. He said that he was told that all of the bed rails can’t be up at one time. Not sure why he was talking about that. I think he may be afraid of falling.

I don’t know what shape he will be in when he gets out. The nurse must be trying to prepare him for how he will be doing afterwards. He casually mentioned something about coming to our house.

Nope! I love my brother but I don’t want to put myself or my husband in that situation. I’m not on HIPPA. He gave a verbal consent to the hospital staff to speak with us.

I have not spoken with any of his doctors. I am talking to his nurses. The nurse says that he will need a bit of help. They are helping him with everything now. He has a catheter in right now.

Should I say something to him while he’s in pain or should I speak with his nurse about him not being able to stay with me?

I am thinking rehab will be better for him but not sure if his doctor will order it for him.
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So, yesterday they were supposed to do gallbladder surgery on my brother. They couldn’t do it, just like the other doctor couldn’t do it.

So, now they are going to consult with others. I have never heard of this before, can’t remove due to his anatomy. The nurse says that it does occasionally happen.

I hope that they find a solution soon. He’s still in pain. I have never had gallstones. My dad had his gallbladder taken out without a problem. My oldest daughter did too.

This reminds me of my older brother. He has had numerous heart surgeries. He was clinically dead in one of the surgeries but they were able to bring him back. There was another situation with one of his surgeries and it took them eight hours to do his surgery.

The longest surgery that I have had was four hours. I had severe endometriosis and had surgery with my fertility doctor, two specialist and med students. They asked me to sign a release for them to film the surgery for the medical students.

It’s frustrating for my brother to have these delays but he is in fairly good spirits considering his discomfort.
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golden: Thank you. It's wide reaching!
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llama - smoke from Canadian wildfires is apparently going as far south in the US as North Carolina. Stay safe!!!!
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Today our area (20 miles due south of Baltimore) has issued a red/dangerous air quality alert. I went out at 4:15 PM and the haze was noticeable.
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Ahhh, Need. That's a lot happening with your bro. But I am glad he is getting the medical attention he obviously needs. I am going to guess that he is not fond of doctors. Glad you had some fun with him watching Beverly Hillbillies. We used to watch that too.

These are difficult times. Make sure you get enough sleep/ rest, hydration, nourishing food of some sort and time out just for you. I know you are there for your brother and I am sure he knows that too. Glad the prayer time was good for him. ((((((Hugs)))))

eva - so sorry you have been going through a tough time, I have been wondering where you were. Good to hear that you are starting to build yourself up again. Please keep in touch. We care. Looking after an ill loved one is a very rough journey. (((((Hugs))))) to you too.

gershun - I do hope in time that your foot will sort itself out. Meanwhile it's good they are taking another look at it, and I think a break from physio would be a relief. I understand that you are getting weary of the whole thing. (((((Hugs)))))) to you as well.

Prayers for all!!! 🙏🙏🙏
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Need: You're very welcome.
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Thanks much, Llama.
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Need; Prayers continue.
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Yes Need, it does feel like forever since I could just get up and walk without thinking about it.
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Barb,

Yeah, all at once is kind of hard.

It was good to hear him laugh today. He’s tired of laying in bed. He put on the television and we watched The Beverly Hillbillies. We used to watch that show when we were kids.
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Gershun,

It must seem like you have been suffering forever with your foot.
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Good lord! What a lot he has going on!

Good health to him!
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Thanks everyone, second surgery is scheduled for tomorrow, gall bladder removal. After that they will address the issue with his heart.
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Gershun: Hope that your foot is feeling better. Prayers and hugs to you.
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Thx Barb, I have good days and bad days with the old foot.

Today I'm skipping my physio exercises and just resting it. I think maybe I have been too dogged about doing them. My physio guy has been irritating me lately to be honest. He loves to be right and when I tell him an exercise is getting easy he likes to constantly raise the bar. I don't know why he won't just let me bask in the small victories sometimes.
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Nhwm, I'm so glad that your brother found some comfort from the Deacon's visit. Hoping that he AND you are healing tonight.

And Gershun, hope your foot is feeling better!
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Need, I'm glad your brother is getting the care he needs.

I'm like you. I lose my appetite when I'm stressed. I've lost six pounds in the last couple of weeks just cause I've been feeling anxious about things.

My mom used to put peanut butter, honey and banana sandwiches in our lunches growing up. I still make them for myself occasionally. I also eat a lot of oat meal too.
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Need,
Take care of yourself . Take comfort in that your brother is getting the care he needs .
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NHWM,
Sorry about your brother. I know some of your journey with your Mom and knowing Parkinson’s disease that was not easy and now it is overwhelming to see your brother in his condition.
I was not on this forum for 2 months as lots of thing happened.
Like you I don’t eat much when under stress.
So now I need to gain weight and strength.
Please take care of yourself, your brother is well taken care of, we often forget about ourselves with those crises.
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