Headnote
It’s been a year. And the help from the posters here has been immeasurable. I want to keep my original posting of the events of that time available - mainly for selfish, personal reasons. But also to tell my story. So I’m going to repost a few threads from the old boards.This is partly a memorial and partly a tribute to those who helped me though probably the hardest couple of weeks of my life. So pretty please treat it as such. I don’t need further condolences - the time for that has passed. But I also don’t want to forget these events. Hence, the reposting to hopefully keep these writings for posterity.
There is no reason to respond, although further responses are welcome. My only request is that you read through all of these reposts before responding to any of them. Lots of questions were answered, some in the thread and some in later threads. I’m not sure how many there will be, but there will be several.
There are also several side issues brought up. I’m leaving those in place as originally posted. If you want to discuss one of those side issues, I’d ask that you please start a new thread.
Author: ptheland
Subject: Sunday, a day of rest
Date: 10/31/2021 3:08 PM
No. of Recommendations: 5
Not.
Been sick for a couple of days now - coughing, fever, general blah feeling. The symptoms stay under control with DayQuil - my goto choice for colds and flu. I took a quick covid test Friday evening which came back negative. Just to be safe, I scheduled a proper test on Saturday afternoon with the pharmacy. Still waiting for results from that. (Yes, I’ve had two shots of Moderna. No booster, yet.)
But there is no rest for me.
Son woke up as soon as I did. He was probably already awake and just waiting for me to get up. He knows I’m not feeling well and probably didn’t want to wake me up. He is a caring young man in that way.
But he’s also obsessing over his return to school - which is really getting out to a supervised work site. “It’s not the job I really wanted.” “What about the bus? Is it safe to be on the bus with all the other students?” “Will I need to wear a mask?” (He doesn’t actually mind - he’s worn them plenty of times with no complaints.) “Can’t I get a different job?” “Maybe we should wait until after the new year.” “Do you think I can switch jobs?”
This has been going on for over a week - ever since he got the news that the school was finally ready to take students out to work sites. And the answers don’t matter. The obsession carries on, regardless.
In the mean time, DW had a fall a couple of days ago that left her with a couple of aches and a small scrape that keeps oozing. Both are very painful, I guess. She has almost no tolerance for pain and any discomfort calls for cries of deep anguish. It’s hard to know sometimes if she has a hang nail or a broken bone. They both get the same level of moaning. (And yes, she broke a bone in her foot several years ago, so I do have something to compare with.)
The fall happened while going to the bathroom, so now I’m supervising her bathroom visits a bit more closely to make sure she doesn’t have another fall.
On top of it all, I have my hernia repair scheduled for next week and a pre-op visit tomorrow. If the test comes back positive, I’m sure both will be off. Even if it’s negative, I suspect that surgery date is at risk just from having a cold or flu too close to the surgery date. I’ll know more by tomorrow.
–Peter
PS - Three interruptions while composing this post. Help DS sit up, get a drink for DW, help DS sit up - again.
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Author: sheila727
Date: 10/31/2021 4:09 PM
No. of Recommendations: 1
That is so way too much on your plate—and not feeling well makes it that much worse.
I have 2 small suggestions at the moment, one for getting rid of whatever is causing you to feel poorly (assuming it’s some kind of flu-like something, or in that general realm), and one for helping DW’s scrape to heal.
My medicine cabinet includes 2 basics for any time I have caught something—cold or flu-like, etc. One is Oil of Oregano, and the other is andrographis. I recommend the Super Strength Oreganol by American Herb & Spice. It’s extracted from an organic wild-grown Mediterranean oregano—the best quality and intensity. Oil of oregano is antimicrobial—so effective against bacteria, viruses, fungi. Mix the drops with a little cold water and drink. I start out with 4 drops, taken every several hours. As I begin to feel significantly better, I begin to reduce the dose. But if it’s not helping sufficiently, I add an andrographis tablet to each dose. (The disgusting taste means a tablet for me.) Planetary Herbals is a great brand. Ignore Nature’s Way—it’s not a full-spectrum product and isn’t very helpful. Black Elderberry extract has anti-viral effects. The HerbPharm liquid tincture is very good. Use the dose on the bottle 4x/day.
I always keep on hand a tube of TheraNeem salve. Neem contains a variety of beneficial compounds with an impressive range of benefits (which is why in India and in several African countries they call it the village pharmacy plant), including antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, and promoting healing and healthy growth of new skin cells. I’d use that on DW’s wound. It’s also great on irritations, rashes, bites…cuts, surgical incisions… You can get all of these items from Allstarhealth.com—-great discounts, and where I get most of my supplements.
=sheila
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Author: sheila727
Date: 10/31/2021 4:46 PM
No. of Recommendations: 0
Black elderberry…I should have said that my medicine cabinet contains 3 essentials, not 2.
I should also have made it clear that these herbal products act to get rid of the infection, rather than simply attempting to minimize side effects so that you don’t feel as lousy while you’re sick.
I used to come down with an unpleasant cold every winter, and some kind of flu every several years, until I first discovered black elderberry, and then eventually oil of oregano and then andrographis. I can’t recall the last time I was really sick, other than my covid vaccine side effects.
=sheila
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Author: alstroemeria
Date: 10/31/2021 8:40 PM
No. of Recommendations: 4
Oy!
Will you have help after your surgery?
Costs me $20/hour for taking the hubster off my hands (I get about 5 hrs/week of this now), and she did more for me when I broke my leg (until I had grab bars installed, she helped me into & out of the shower, set up my commode over the master toilet, did my shopping, brought in the mail, put out the trash, helped me down the steps to take me to orthopedist visits, took the hubster for walks, fixed one dinner a week…I managed to cook from my wheelchair).
If you haven’t someone lined up already, think about setting someone up for help while you recover from surgery. S/he’ll be able to help your wife and son, too.
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Author: ptheland
Date: 10/31/2021 9:56 PM
No. of Recommendations: 3
Will you have help after your surgery?
My family is helping us with 4 hours of help a day (M-F) right now. That will expand to 12 hours a day 7 days a week for a couple of weeks after the surgery - assuming the service can actually find people. They haven’t been great about that so far.
I don’t know what I do without their help.
–Peter
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Author: jrdown
Date: 11/1/2021 1:44 AM
No. of Recommendations: 0
=sheila ~
Thanks for the suggestions about supplements, tinctures and the like. I will write these down and look to add them to my medicine box.
Robyn
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Author: alstroemeria
Date: 11/1/2021 7:09 AM
No. of Recommendations: 0
How awesome–you’re so lucky to have healthy, willing family nearby. Oh, wait–they aren’t physically helping, but paying for help? How generous–kudos to your family!!
(The only family I have nearby are disabled, so I help them. Not financially as they are somewhat better off than us, although Mom is ticking down her savings to pay for a pricey nursing home, and bro will be in deep doo-doo when his business fades enough to stop supporting him and he will have to do the same. but doing things for them. My well-to-do elder brother has never offered financial assistance to me or them, but has taken charge of mom’s finances and her POA as he has more time and skills in that area than me–and I insisted as I have been doing everything else for her for years, and of course he helps out his own children and along with a couple of well-off brothers in law, helped support his MIL when she needed assisted living. He wouldn’t do that for my husband or me, or our brother.)
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Author: alstroemeria
Date: 11/2/2021 9:03 AM
No. of Recommendations: 0
Planetary Herbals is a great brand. Ignore Nature’s Way—it’s not a full-spectrum product and isn’t very helpful
I have an almost full bottle of NOW brand andrographis. Is that OK or should I replace w/Planetary Herbals? I note that I think I caught the hubster’s aide’s cold and am taking it and Oil of Oregano now. I needed to add both sudafed and benadryl last night as I was overwhelmed by post-nasal drip.
ASIDE
The hubster didn’t get sick even though he spends way more time with his aide than I do. I just talk to her for a few minutes when she comnes to pick him up and return him. I seem to catch every respiratory infection I’m exposed to. Which is why my dr gave me a pneumonia booster last week.
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Author: alstroemeria
Date: 11/2/2021 9:42 AM
No. of Recommendations: 0
Sheila–
While searching for your recommended supplements, I ran across Planetary Herbals Andrographis Respiratory Wellness (has other ingredients besides andrographis). Would you recommend thst for me over just andrographis?
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Author: sheila727
Date: 11/2/2021 11:27 AM
No. of Recommendations: 2
I have an almost full bottle of NOW brand andrographis. Is that OK or should I replace w/Planetary Herbals?
I’d replace it. The NOW product contains an extract of what has been identified as the critical active ingredient. But there may well be additional important ingredients, and then there is also the fact that in a number of medicinal plants, part of the effect is how different compounds work additively or synergistically to improve the therapeutic impact significantly. Planetary Herbals includes the extract that NOW uses, but added to the complete plant.
Since you are so sensitive to respiratory infections, it’s work it to get the Planetary Herbals product. I’d also get HerbPharm’s Black Elderberry. That’s specifically for viral infections.
=sheila
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Author: sheila727
Date: 11/2/2021 11:40 AM
No. of Recommendations: 1
I ran across Planetary Herbals Andrographis Respiratory Wellness (has other ingredients besides andrographis). Would you recommend thst for me over just andrographis?
It looks excellent.
And while I was looking that up, I came across another Planetary Herbals product too that also looks terrific—as an addition to either of the adrographis products. It’s a syrup. The ingredients are excellent.
“Planetary Herbals Echinacea-Elderberry Syrup is a winter health supplement uniting two Western herbal treasures, echinacea and elderberry, with the primary herbs from the classic Chinese compound Yin Chiao. Together these support the immune system, forming an invaluable defense for winter wellness.”
=sheila
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Author: sheila727
Date: 11/2/2021 11:41 AM
No. of Recommendations: 0
it’s work it…
worth it
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Author: bosslady52
Date: 11/2/2021 8:10 PM
No. of Recommendations: 0
Sending positive thoughts your way, Peter.