OT Febuary Chit Chat

[Virginia]

Agate, thanks so much for calling. I knew that Peg had called, but that was last week and it is nice to hear from him and know that he is alright.

I just went into MS Speaks through the link that Ann gave and I had no problems and no pop-ups. The whole page looked different, so it is something that I am doing.

[Pegakafarmgirl]

a 8 inch snow storm, we had, so busy plowing out, and making sure our cows are doing okay,, then another snow storm, Tuesday night , into Wednesday,, with a possible 10 inches,,:-(,,

things are fine here,,;,, infusion done , no problems,,just waiting, for spring,, hahaha !,, my brother has his bone marrow test, and they say, no leukemia,,; but still getting chemo for his bladder {cancer},,

later then,,

[agate]

Peg, all that snow has to be hard. Good that everyone there is coping!

Your brother must be relieved to know there's no sign of leukemia. I hope his chemo treatments will help.

Somehow you got the infusion done in spite of the snow. That's an achievement.👍

[stillstANNding]

Great news on brother’s health, Peg. Sorry about snow.

Glad Howie is OK. Hens worry.

Hello Virginia and Agate.
ANN

[stillstANNding]

Today is Joy’s birthday. Peter is off and we had some snow so we are drinking tea and thinking of her.

ANN

[agate]

I'm glad that Joy was here among us even though she was taken away much too soon.

[Sunshine]

I haven’t been participating here as much lately. It seems hard to focus, and the eyes are still mid correction after cataract surgery. But, I do catch up on reading, and post here and there. And I am interested to know how all are doing.

[agate]

Hope you'll have a speedy recovery, with better vision from now on! I've heard amazing accounts of how much better people see after that surgery.

[Virginia]

Peg, I heard y'all had 9 inches. Just too much snow for me. Glad to hear that your brother doesn't have leukemia, but sorry he has to have chemo for bladder cancer.
It is good that your infusion is going well.

Ann, I know it is hard for you to be without your best friend. I think of this, and of course Vicky.

Sunshine, hope your eyes and vision get better real soon.

Okay, for my day! I finally went to my PCP. Been feeling too bad to even go, however glad I did. I have a UTI so I am on Nitrofuratin for rest of week. I had another Thyroid test done, so I will find out tomorrow I guess what the results of that are.

I am hurting very bad in my back and unable to do anything. That was not addressed because there was not enough time. I was a work-in. She had no openings for at least the next 3 days. I am now taking Tylenol and trying to sit with a pillow at my back. When I picked up my medicine I also bought a heating pad, but when I read everything about it I became afraid to use it. You are not supposed to sit back on it. You have to lay it on top of your back, which isn't very practical for me. Think I will stick to the pillow.

Edited to add: Sunshine asked how we all are, so I told her.

[agate]

Virginia, what rotten luck to get a UTi! Could the back pain be part of the UTI? If it goes to the kidneys, it can cause back pain, I think. Anyway, I hope you'll start feeling better soon.🐓

[Sunshine]

Virginia, I echo agate. Call the Doc and tell them you are worried its a kidney infection. Do you have a fever?

Do you have a history of back pain: Is this pain diff than what back pain usually feels like for you?

Did she culture your urine so that when it grows out, you will know if Nitro is the right antibiotic? Takes a few days to grow out.

WOndering if Keflex would be a better choice? Thats the one they gave me for my UTI, specifically said no to Nitro. Unsure why....

[Catdancer]

I don't know why you can't use the heating pad?! You shouldn't sit ON it (you could break the wiring) nor should you keep it on your back for a long time....but sitting with it on your back is no different than lying down with it on your back...

[Moderator #7]

Hello forum members!

Some of you probably saw the thread started by someone who wanted to take a survey about treatment satisfaction.

Surveys are allowed here, but ONLY if the survey taker has written to Mike and Mike has approved the survey. If Mike approves a survey, he will always start a thread and post the identity of the survey taker and the purpose of the survey. Mike will also notify the moderators that a survey has been approved.

I received no information that Mike had approved a survey. Since the TOS clearly state that surveys must be approved by Mike and this survey taker's post stated they didn't know if surveys were allowed, I deleted the thread and banned the survey taker. I would also like to warn people not to click on links from survey takers or people they don't know, as there could be a virus on the linked page. You may also report the post of a survey taker if you don't see a post with Mike's approval of the survey posted.

Thank you.
#7

[agate]

Virginia, I echo agate. Call the Doc and tell them you are worried its a kidney infection. Do you have a fever?

Do you have a history of back pain: Is this pain diff than what back pain usually feels like for you?

Did she culture your urine so that when it grows out, you will know if Nitro is the right antibiotic? Takes a few days to grow out.

WOndering if Keflex would be a better choice? Thats the one they gave me for my UTI, specifically said no to Nitro. Unsure why....

They choose one antibiotic over another because whatever bug or bugs are in your urine won't be killed by some antibiotics but will be killed by others. There are some broad-spectrum antibiotics that they might try at first, before they've got the urine culture results, and then you might get a call telling you that that particular drug won't work for the type of bug you have, and so you'll need to change to another.

[agate]

I don't know why you can't use the heating pad?! You shouldn't sit ON it (you could break the wiring) nor should you keep it on your back for a long time....but sitting with it on your back is no different than lying down with it on your back...

Yes, it sounds to me as if the heating pad you got is one of those products that have a zillion cautions in the instructions but some of them are ridiculous. I believe there have been some incidents where the damaged electrical wiring inside heating pads have caused fires, and so they're being especially zealous about making sure you never lie on it. Of course if you go to sleep with a heating pad on almost any part of you, you just might roll over onto it somehow. If you use reasonable caution--try to turn it off before going to sleep if you can and check it over regularly for any possible signs of a problem--you should be OK.

You could try looking the product up by name online wherever it's sold (probably Amazon would have it) and finding out how it's been rated and what people have had to say about it.

If you find some comments that indicate there might be frequent wiring problems or anything else that doesn't sound good, you might want to get a different heating pad.

There's always the heated gelpack idea--the kind with a removable fabric cover so you can apply it to your body without getting burned. You heat it up in the microwave or in boiling water. I love these and have used them for many years. My heating pad just sits in a drawer unused because the gelpack has no wiring issues and is easy enough to set up. There are fairly long ones that almost wrap around your back. The only problem I've had with these is that in the middle of the night they cool off to the point where I have to get up and reheat it. Also, I had one explode in the microwave once but that was my stupidity.