I used to wear gas-permeable contacts, for the -14 and the keratoconus. After the cataract operation, they weren’t worth the hassle.
3 Likes
Very tired.
Dad finally got to talk to an oncologist this morning. I took the day off work to go to the appointment with him and Mum, so that I could take notes (they are both partially deaf and I wanted to ensure I heard everything for myself) and with the expectation that whatever we were told might be a lot to take in, and extra support was going to be helpful for the rest of the day back at their house.
With each step to date having been so slow, we’d all stopped expecting anything in the way of immediate action. So it came as a bit of a shock when almost the first thing she said to us was that she wanted to admit him as an in-patient to the oncology ward today and start treatment almost immediately. It’s an aggressive lymphoma, and she said without treatment he’d probably have only a matter of weeks to live. It’s a treatable one, though, and she felt there’s still a window to do successfully.
So instead of spending the remainder of the day at their house, we went back there to collect things he’d need in hospital, made a video call to my siblings to get them up to speed, and then headed to the hospital. We spent a couple of hours in the emergency department waiting room, another couple in an interim room with a bed until they needed to boot us out of that, then about an hour in a corridor until they were finally able to move us to a room in the oncology ward where he’ll be for the next while.
Some steroids have been administered (which will hopefully make everything less miserable), with more testing and prep to happen over the weekend, so that the first round of chemotherapy can happen on Monday.
I was up at 7am (with ~6h sleep) so I could get to the initial 9am meeting, and I got home from the hospital at 9pm after a day which had been very different to what I’d expected. Partly distressing, but mostly we’re all thankful that there’s no more waiting.
20 Likes
I hope the treatment will work. We’ve come so far with cancer. Seems like a good sign when things are moving fast.
This is draining on you, don’t forget to sit down and rest. Maybe with a little solo game. The good thing about games is they take your mind elsewhere for a bit. 
10 Likes
If it had to be cancer, I’m happy that it was, at least, a treatable one.
Best of luck to your father, to you and to your family.
What we did with Grandma when she was many weeks in the hospital was organize shifts. We made sure that at least one of the children or grandchildren would be with her at all times. Grandpa was there from dawn to dusk, but the youngest grandchild was able to stay with him and make sure he slept and ate.
It’s much harder for family members to provide emotional support and help to the patient if they are exhausted and hungry themselves, so make sure you take care of each other as well as you care for your father. Grandma constantly worried that Grandpa was starving without her to feed him and knowing that one of their grand-daughters was taking good care of his diet, sleep and health made her feel better. It’s one less thing to worry about for the person who is in hospital if their loved ones take care of their own health, in between sitting at their bedside.
I hope your father beats this lymphoma like a rented mule.
10 Likes
Awesome that the oncologist is ready to move so quickly. Love that, they’re obvioisly ready to go to war on the stupid thing.
Nothing but good for your dad and your whole family. Now, the biggest piece of advice I have to give, hard-earned: Don’t lose sight of yourself while taking care of your dad. It’s the easiest thing in the world to prioritize the sick one, but being a caretaker is DRAINING. Your siblings will NEED to shoulder some of the burden, it’s too much for one person. Him being hospitalized will be a massive help, but still.
Keep an eye on your mom too, for the same reason. If she won’t take a break for herself, remind her that she’ll be no use to your dad if she’s so exhausted she can’t do anything. It’s harsh, but sometimes it’s the only way to snap them out of it. Had to do that a couple of times.
And of course, go Phil’s dad, go! Kick that cancer straight in the testicles!
9 Likes
It hurts if you hit yourself in the head with a 12 lb sledgehammer.
9 Likes
That sounds indeed very painful. Are you okay?
2 Likes
I have a few questions.
4 Likes
I have a couple sledgehammers I use for mace work. One of the things I do besides the usual swings and rotation work is a static hold. Usually, with the upper arm parallel with the ground, with various amounts of shoulder rotation and elbow position. It is not a challenging load for the big muscles involved, as long as the smaller muscles of the forearm are up to it. The idea is that it trains stability in the hands and wrist, which is directly transferable to lots of other activities. Depending on the exact position, it works different pinger and wrist muscles, choking up the handle changes the moment arm and thus the load.
The problem is when you lose control…
4 Likes
Oh dear. Ouch indeed.
4 Likes
My brain read that as “I use two sledgehammers and a mace at work”
I immediately wanted that job, the dissapoinment when my higher brain functions corrected it was crushing.
3 Likes
I’m not a morning person, but I could be a morningstar person.
8 Likes
Topical, after daylight savings. I am a morning person but not this week.
I seem to recall that our House of Representatives voted to abolish DST a few years back, but oddly chose to codify shifted hours rather than standard hours. It never made it to law so it remains a state/tradition issue. Arizona and Indiana do not change their clocks, possibly some others. Alaska and Hawaii probably shouldn’t, as one has standard length days all year and the other swings too wildly to manage with buttons on the clock.
I also recall that the entire thing was thought up by an Australian butterfly catcher who got out of work too late to pursue his hobby. Yes, many have come after to champion it on health, economic, or energy management grounds but it remains his fault.
2 Likes
Hawaii doesn’t. Indiana does.
I’ve seen some polling that there are more Americans who want to abolish the time change and just leave it in DST, which is horrific to me. Just leave it in standard time. It’s way too dark in the winter mornings otherwise, and I really do hate how it can still be sunny at 9 PM in the summer.
2 Likes
This may be the only other debate as unresolvable as the cream first or jam first question…
1 Like
the north american timezones are pretty big, and don’t align well with reality. I have lived on both the east and west edges of the eastern timezone, and the alignment of the daylight to the clock is very different.
3 Likes
And how far north or south you are also greatly impacts how long the sun shines. I’m only speaking for my geographic location.
2 Likes
If you want people to be going to work in daylight, change the hours of work! (They’re too long anyway.)
4 Likes
Studies show that rates of depression and domestic violence also correlate to where you are in the timezone.
1 Like