OT: Heads up on my personal issues

Pugsy wrote: ↑

Tue Sep 12, 2023 5:25 pm

. . .
She told the doc that she got in a fight with another resident.
Refuses to admit she screwed up.
. . .

Orneriness is a sign she is still full of fight.
Not any easier for you, though, but she has the gumption it takes.

So a quick update.
Toby is doing much better with the snake bite wound. If I can get some pics I will share the improvement.
Looks like he won't be losing his leg.

My parotitis illness has left me with still having some vertigo and I don't know what to make of it.
Is it my "normal" BPPV thing or is it remnants of the parotitis??? An ENT appt would be 3 months out and I doubt they could tell me what was going on 3 months ago....and you can't see an ENT around here with any urgency at all.
Gotta make an appt to get sick kind of thing. I hate them.

Status quo with my mom...she has good days and bad days. Yesterday was a bad day.

I wonder if the glands are pressing on your carotids or ?? and causing the vertigo?

Julie wrote: ↑

Wed Oct 18, 2023 12:23 pm

I wonder if the glands are pressing on your carotids or ?? and causing the vertigo?

You know that is a thought. The glands aren't horribly swollen (not like they were when in acute stage) but they are still a bit enlarged and minor tenderness mainly on the right side.
I also have some minor tenderness on the right side mastoid and the right side sure seems to be the likely vertigo culprit but of course I can't be absolutely certain.

I have sort of "good" days that may show a very slight reduction/improvement with the vertigo but then next day it seems like 2 steps backwards again.

At least I feel safe enough to drive but I am still wobbly....can't bend over or look overhead without immediately realizing that I shouldn't have done that. Nausea sometimes accompanies the vertigo but at least no puking this time.

I have had the "normal" BPPV thing off and on since I was 15 but it has never lasted this long so that worries me more than anything at this time.
Since I am still experiencing some parotitis symptoms it also wouldn't be impossible for it to be related to that and just hanging on to annoy me.
Not annoying enough to make me call and make an appt for 3 months out though. I am a terrible patient. I know just enough to cause problems.

I probably need a big dose of a patience pill but those are in short supply for me at the moment.
I am no where near as bad as I was initially though....so there has been some improvement...extremely slow improvement.

I need to get back on the Flonase just in case it is a fluid in the ear problem and not so much the rocks in my head moving around. I quit it for a few days because I was wondering if my elevated BP was related to the Flonase use but that doesn't appear to be a factor.

I don't like doctors in general but that's another problem. I normally avoid them like the plague if I can.

thanks for the update, pugsy!

My parotitis illness has left me with still having some vertigo and I don't know what to make of it.
Is it my "normal" BPPV thing or is it remnants of the parotitis??? An ENT appt would be 3 months out and I doubt they could tell me what was going on 3 months ago....and you can't see an ENT around here with any urgency at all.
Gotta make an appt to get sick kind of thing. I hate them.

Pugsy, Sorry to hear about your mother and the vertigo. I have not heard of parotitis, so I don't know if it can leave you with vertigo. However, I've had BPPV for over 15 years now and I've seen numerous doctors and had many tests. I can tell you from my experience that BPPV can last for months.

I'm not a doctor, so this is not medical advice. My disclaimer. However, numerous specialists have told me that BPPV is usually precipitated by head movements to the affected ear (rolling over in bed, bending down, etc.) and will only last for a minute or less; that is the spinning part will last that duration. You may still feel off balance and crummy without head movements. If these are your symptoms, then it is good evidence of BPPV. Doctors have told me if the spinning lasts for longer than a minute, then it is probably not BPPV and could be caused by a virus or something else. I had so much BPPV that I sought a doctor about surgical options, but the surgery was scarier than the BPPV. LOL. If you do have BPPV and it won't go away, you may need to go to Physical Therapy to have those manevours done. The Epley has almost always resolved my BPPV, but it was extremely difficult for me to do it correctly by myself. Unfortunately, you will have to see a doc first. You can also look at YouTube as they have many videos that show you how to do the maneuvers yourself. I got it to work a few times without needing to see a doctor by looking at you tube videos. LOL

Funny thing though since starting CPAP every night, BPPV has not returned in many months now. I've not heard CPAP could help BPPV. We will see as I usually get BPPV around September (which didn't happen this time around ) and November/December.

Hope you feel better soon!

Sorry to hear about all your troubles, Pugsy! My father passed away from dementia; I didn't have to deal with it (he was in a different country), just my mother; I saw him a few times and he wasn't that rowdy, but he was helpless. There is just no good way to die... I'd share recovery tips from a broken femur (I broke mine in January), but I'm afraid, there are no parallels between me and your mother (I climbed back the mountain peak where I broke it just six months later). Be strong and remember - you cannot help anyone else if you don't help yourself first!
Wishing you all the best!
McSleepy

Dear impatient Pugsy, why not set up and ENT appointment for 3 motnhs from now, and cancel it if it's no longer necessary?

ozij wrote: ↑

Wed Oct 18, 2023 8:37 pm

Dear impatient Pugsy, why not set up and ENT appointment for 3 motnhs from now, and cancel it if it's no longer necessary?

A very reasonable idea.
The monkey wrench in all this is I fired my PCP a couple of weeks ago and I have no one to make the referral.
Not really wanting to eat a bunch of crow and see that bitch again.

I have never tried doing the Epley maneuver on my own (nor had it done by a doc)....too scared. I have a metal plate in my cervical spine that is throwing another monkey wrench in things. My head and neck don't work like most people's because of the metal plate.
My neck is a big mess...which is why I have that plate to stabilize it.

Yesterday it wasn't so bad but today it has been more annoying and I have been nauseated since late afternoon....I probably overdid things a bit today.

I lurk and your posts are always so helpful. Sorry to hear about what you are going through... My Dad is 90, and 2023 has seen him decline physically (uses a walker now) and mentally (not like your Mom, but he loses his train of thought easily). Wishing you all the best through this difficult time.

I believe there may be specific alternative approaches to the Epley maneuver for those with limited neck mobility.

https://www.betterbalanceinlife.com/epl ... -rotation/

So....I went to Urgent Care today to see about getting an ENT referral but it was suggested that I try another medication first and I was given instruction on how to go about doing a modified Epley maneuver which I am going to try here in just a little bit. Gotta get ready for bed first. So I got more pills and we will see what happens.

Some of you may know that I fired my PCP a couple of weeks ago...so now I have an appt with a new doc in about a month.
I have to drive a little further but not horribly so.

fwiw - I have successfully done an Epley on family before. Found it on YouTube.

Pugsy wrote: ↑

Wed Oct 18, 2023 8:54 pm

The monkey wrench in all this is I fired my PCP a couple of weeks ago and I have no one to make the referral.

iirc - on Original Medicare No Referral is needed. Might be time.

Jan. is like 2.5 months away. Find out if ENT takes Medicare.

My heart goes out to you, Pugsy. I went through this with my mom, and deal with this nearly every day in my work. I wish I could send you an "easy button", but there just isn't one for this. Just know that you have hundreds of people here willing to listen and sending you their good wishes.

Hang in there, wishing you strength and the peace of knowing you are doing your very best for your mom.

You have my sympathies on your struggles.

With your mother: redirect. Don't directly challenge or correct her, because it will just stress her out. Tell her Don is at work (or at the grocery store, or....) Have the nursing home call you (instead of the long-disconnected house phone) and then, assuming she knows it's you, tell her Don just left. If she goes into the "I wanna go hommmmeeeeee" redirect the conversation, or tell her something like, "Don't you remember? we're having the carpets replaced" or whatever other fantasy you want to insert here. If you tell her Don is dead, it will be like she's just hearing of his death for the first time, and will only distress her.

My grandmother, who divorced my grandfather in 1945, thought she was in a hotel in Mexico and wanted the nursing home (in 1997) to call and tell Matt to come get her. They called my parents, and my mom told the nursing home, "Tell Mrs. Davis that Matt is in court and as soon as he's finished, he'll go get her" (my grandfather had been an attorney and later a judge). Nevermind that they divorced in 1945, he died in 1967, and it was 1997 when this took place.

Dealing with people with dementia is like being in some kind of alternative reality play. You don't want to challenge or correct them directly, because they won't remember, and it will just distress you and them. Ask her questions, especially about her parents and siblings. You might find out all kinds of wonderful things about them. You can ask, "what have you been doing today?" or "Has anyone come to see you?" or even "when did you see Gram last?" and just go with the flow.

One day we visited my mostly bed-bound grandmother, who told us she had been out riding horseback with Mrs. Nibbe earlier. After the visit, I asked my dad who Mrs. Nibbe was. She was a friend of my great-grandmother, and she and her husband owned a business in Mexico, and they fled across the Rio Grande with Pancho Villa's bandits shooting at them. I exclaimed, "Hot damn! If she's been out riding with Mrs. Nibbe, she's had more excitement than she's had in YEARS!!!"
Who cares if it was all in her head?