Wednesday, December 2, 2015

Dad update

No tequila.  The Margarita was a figure of speech.

Both mom and dad were gassed.  I showed up at six.  It was lights out at seven-thirty.

I have been rereading Corria's Monster Hunters International, so I read that until 9:30, then I went to sleep.

Up at seven.  Mom and the dog up at seven-thirty.  Dad wanted to sleep in.

What happened?


Dad thinks he was dehydrated.  He has always been an early-to-bed, early-to-rise guy.  He had been given the standard instruction sheet...no eating or drinking after midnight.  His procedure was at one in the afternoon.  He did not get home until three.  By my reckoning he went without liquid for eighteen hours and was probably not well hydrated when he went into that period.

He said they ran fourteen tests on him after his fainting spell and the only one that was atypical was the heart rate.

Just think of all the pain, anxiety and cost (14 tests!!!) that could have been avoided if the standard instruction sheet suggested a bottle of "sports drink" like Gatorade or Powerade early in the morning for patients who had procedures scheduled in the afternoon.  Or, if my dad had been handed a half liter of sports drink shortly after the procedure and been instructed to drink it before he would be discharged.

We have all seen those instruction sheets.  They are written in absolutes.  They make it sound like there is an absolute certainty that you will choke on your own vomit and die if you so much as suck on a hard candy after midnight.  It makes you wonder how they can operate on accident victims.

We are smarter now.  I propose that "standard instruction sheets" be amended to incorporate humanities increased intelligence and the universal availability of "sports drinks". Sports drinks are not quite isotonic but they are still absorbed very quickly.  I see absolutely no down-side to suggesting that the patient drink a bottle of sports drink four hours before a procedure...especially when the patient is elderly, or a woman (both more predisposed to dehydration) or the procedure is in the afternoon.

It would have saved my mom and dad a couple of really tough days.

2 comments:

  1. Glad your dad seems to be doing well. I agree those instructions seem a little extreme. I understand about the tequila.
    I can't remember if I wrote, but my wife found us a deal on airline tickets out of
    GRR to St. Petersburg, FL, for only 33$, each way. My wife, I and my 19 year old daughter are leaving Sunday afternoon and getting back Thursday. She also got us a rental car for 90$ for the time there.
    We try and live frugally, and do budget for everything, including money for things like entertainment, meaning the occasional movie night out, etc. This trip will hardly put a dent into that budget. We figure we have to eat no matter where we are. We will go to places like Sam's club and have a slice of pizza and a soft drink for 2 $, etc.
    We have no debt, and we also have no credit cards of any kind, so there is no temptation to run up any charges when we are there.
    We have been there before on the cheap like this. We do cheap or free things while there. Once we saw the Moscow acrobatic troupe at the Seminole Community College, for free. We go to inexpensive museums, local aquariums, small zoological gardens, anything that tourists avoid. We have just as much fun, and don't spend much money.
    We did splurge once and saw a concert by B.J Thomas that cost I think 25 $ total for 2.
    We usually only go down if we figure the entire trip will only cost us less than 300 $ total, including flight, hotel, and car. I don't know how she does it, but she almost always can work it out under budget, or a little bit over, very close.
    She took a course in college for to be a travel agent. She traveled a lot before we married. Now with the internet, she watches for deals. The only caveat is that you must be willing to travel when the deal comes up. If you have only certain dates to travel, it won't work.
    If this isn't crazy enough, she had already booked a trip for April. It was 45$ each way. She is already working on getting a deal from the hotel because we are staying there for 4 nights now. I know her. She will get it. It is a good thing there aren't many good movies coming up. We are saving like squirrels.

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  2. I was just looking over my post, and realized that I forgot to add my daughter was paying her own way down. We couldn't keep close to 300$ otherwise.
    And my wife told me she sometimes has vouchers for hotel nights, and you can get better rates if you rent over a weekend, which we are not.
    I don't know much about any of this, as she is really good at all of it, and she enjoys doing it.
    While thinking of it, while she doesn't work outside the home any longer, she saves us at least 4 to 5 thousand dollars per year from coupons shopping and from selling items on craigslist.
    When we adopted 2 girls, she quit working to be a stay at home mom. Our 19 year old has some emotional issues and will always be with us, and so my wife has never gone back to work, also has homeschooled her through high school.
    My wife is truly an amazing woman. Proverbs 31 .

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