Portland, Oregon

Portland, Oregon

Friday, June 3, 2016

Sometimes Best Not To Know

The best thing that happened to Bob this week was he turned 84.

Otherwise this has not been a good week for him. Sometimes it's best not to know things. In spite of his limitations there's one thing he can do and that's find the results of his lab work on the computer. He had blood drawn this week before seeing his hematologist next week. He called me to the computer to see the results. There was a lot of red (low) on that report, more than usual. He's always kept his hematology reports clipped together but now he can't find them.  I would need to compare those reports with this last one to have a better idea what may be going on. Our biggest concern is the platelet count and it had dropped several points.

This is what I object to about immediately being able to see test results. As patients we think we have to know everything.  I don't think so. At least not immediately. Now here we sit with this report and no qualified medical person to explain it.

I have chosen not to worry until after he sees the doctor next week. Bob is concerned and there's not a lot I can do to ease his mind. We would have been better off not knowing before seeing the doctor. Bob may well be wasting a lot of good worry time.


The coffeemaker situation is still unresolved. He was no better operating the new coffee pot. That also ended in frustration. Daughter is sending him the least complicated Keurig made. Hopefully just off/on and press one button. I couldn't buy it because he would have been upset but she can send it to him as a gift and he'll think she's just wonderful.

He's flooded the new ice maker twice. It's hard to see the fill line. This morning I took a black magic marker and drew a line where he is supposed to stop with the water.
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It's possible to go without air conditioning here. We don't have too many really hot days. I'm just a wimp and choose not to run a chance on being hot.

Our jihadist recycling son who's busy saving the earth has chosen not to have air conditioning in their home. They use ceiling fans and other things but don't have an air conditioning unit.

Grandson has a cello lesson in the morning so I received a text from son asking if they could meet the teacher here for his lesson since it would be cool at our place.


I'm all for keeping the cello player cool but it means I've got to leave the house and entertain grandpa the duration of the lesson. My choice would be a coffee shop to relax, maybe read a newspaper or magazine. Sorry that won't work, Bob would be up in ten minutes wanting to know if it's all right for us to return home.

The only thing I've been able to come up with is grocery shopping. I try very hard to stay out of grocery stores on the week-ends to give working people space to shop. I may have to go against my convictions in the morning.

15 comments:

  1. Sorry about the coffee pot "experiment." It's hard to see and live with the signs of aging that you're seeing Bob. Nothing wrong with frequent trips to the grocery store. Hopefully, yours as a coffee shop within that you can sit and wait for Bob to do his thing.

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    1. My father lived with us the last 13 months of his life and I see a lot in Bob that reminds me of my father. Yes, I can always go to the coffee shop while Bob explores the groceries. It will be fine.

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    2. I share care of dad for five years and your experiences are reminding me of that time as well. You do what you have to do and I think blogging about it also helps.

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  2. Access to our tests on the internet can be good and bad as you say. we can scare the crap out of ourselves if we don't know the background behind the tests.

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    1. Absolutely. I didn't see that until this happened. Now I'm thinking better not to see lab results until after discussion with a medical person.

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  3. The only thing I like about our clinic is that the nurse calls with lab results and doctor's recommendations.

    Happy Birthday to Bob!

    I would die here without my A/C. So - once a week, you'll have to take Bob on an excursion while the boy has his lessons? Maybe plan that day for grocery shopping every week. Will he not sit quietly while listening to the lesson?

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    1. Heat, one of three reasons I wanted to leave the South. I can't take that heat anymore, especially when it's humid. Usually Caleb's cello lessons take place on a university campus but school is out now so these private lessons may be happening at our house for the summer. Not sure yet. It's impossible for Bob to sit quietly. Best we leave for an hour or hour and a half.

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  4. Happy birthday to Bob! 84; quite an accomplishment.

    My doctor's office does not release the results of the labs until she has actually reviewed the results with me. I do think this is best. Even if you do understand the significance of any changes, you want to be able to discuss any plan/strategy to deal with any abnormalities.

    We have central air, but don't need to run it very often. Our house stays pretty comfortable most days. The exception to this is when my hubby's internal thermostat goes out of kilter (thyroid issues). That always makes it challenging to find a happy medium that suits both of us.

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    1. Bob is very cold a lot of the time. He has Raynaud's so his hands are often very dark colored from being so cold. I'm usually hot. I can't sleep with him. He keeps the heat on in his room probably 10 months out of the year. I can't take that.

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  5. Hahaha. That Bob is a mess. Yes, we used to always complain that it took so long to get test results back. Now we get the results but don't know if it is a good thing or not. We just need to be on the Starship Enterprise and have McCoy wiggle that little machine over us and fix things back to normal.

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  6. Linda, I am recommending you for sainthood!

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    1. It is challenging but I signed on for this 54 years ago. I do sometimes wonder what will happen to me when my time comes.

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  7. I am in complete agreement with Linda Reeder. I've never read any medical tests online so cannot comment on that, but I can say that it is my policy to never have a medical question or concern on either Saturday or Sunday when I cannot call the doctor's office. Only kidding of course, but I do try not to start worrying about something health related on the weekends and instead put it on the calendar for Monday. :)

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    1. These days I can't afford the energy it takes to worry ahead of time. Will see what the doctor says this week.

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