Re: Reasons To Be Grumpy thread

[Randy]

My inner cannulas still haven't arrived and it's been over a week.

I have a trach which is basically a tube in my neck to allow me to breathe. The inner cannula goes inside it and collects the secretions and generally forces them out through a cough or a suction machine.

The inner cannula is supposed to be changed everyday. I've been using the same one for over a week and it's cracked in something like a V shape.

The secretions harden like glue and the tube can sometimes get clogged which means I can't breathe. So I yank it out and tell my caregiver about it. She gets a new one and puts it in. It's something I can do too but she can see my neck easier than I can.

Last night, the one I'm still using, got clogged. I couldn't get it out and I was gasping for air. Panic began to set in and there was nothing I could do about it. I couldn't calm down to breathe normally. i awoke my caregiver and pointed to the trach. She had a hard time getting the inner cannula out but she managed.

Oh, sweet air! How I have missed you so. She cleaned it and put it back in. The crack allowed the secretions to go through and glue itself to the trach which is why it was so difficult to pull out.

Anyway, I'm grumpy because my home care people dropped the ball and it seems like no matter how many times we call the nurse about this he is always so busy he forgets.

As soon as we can find out the organization's name and phone number you best believe I'm raising hell! I'm going straight to someone in charge and get the number for their manager just in case I need to go one step above.

[Tank]

We need to change the title of this thread from 'Reasons to be grumpy' to 'Reasons to be fucking apoplectic!'

[Tom62]

I lost my bankcard. Luckily no-one found and used it to plunder my bank account. Blocked the card and requested a new one.

[Tank]

I lost my bankcard. Luckily no-one found and used it to plunder my bank account. Blocked the card and requested a new one.

I make a prophecy that 5 minutes after the new card arrives you'll find the old one

[No one]

I did no such thing!

[Randy]

Just a few months ago someone hacked my bank account. The transactions looked like ATM withdraws. I called the bank they investigated and refunded me. They also closed my bank card and gave me a new one.

[Icarus]

Phone call today.  Caller ID on my phone made the call appear legitimate.  I answered the phone.  Voice on the phone told me that the social security agency  has discovered that my social security number is being used illegally by someone in Texas.  I replied to the caller: That is a serious matter. I wish to resolve the problem quickly. Give me the address of your office and I will come there almost immediately.  Oh Yes, this is so serious  a matter that I will bring an FBI agent with me to your office. CLICK !! 

[Randy]

I get a couple of phone calls that I don't recognize the number on the screen. I let them go to voicemail. If they don't leave a message I guess it wasn't that urgent.

[Dark Lightning]

I get a couple of phone calls that I don't recognize the number on the screen. I let them go to voicemail. If they don't leave a message I guess it wasn't that urgent.

There was a book out many years ago about how, "Real Men Don't Eat Quiche". There were lots of jokes about "Real Men" then. One of my favorites was, "Why don't Real Men have an answering machine?"- It's because if the call was important, they'll call back. I'm with you on that not answering unknown numbers. I just block numbers I don't know. Backwards lookup is sometimes helpful. If it goes to VM, I will start to listen, and if it's spam, delete and block the number

[Icarus]

I know that Google, Amazon, and others know that I am an old geezer.  Scammers may also have that information.  The premise is that really old guys and girls are easy prey.  That is probably true to some extent.

I am fully aware that my mental and judgement faculties are not as good as they might have been in a younger time.  Praise the FSM, I have not fallen of the turnip truck just yet.  (any day now I suppose)

[Dark Lightning]

I know that Google, Amazon, and others know that I am an old geezer.  Scammers may also have that information.  The premise is that really old guys and girls are easy prey.  That is probably true to some extent.

I am fully aware that my mental and judgement faculties are not as good as they might have been in a younger time.  Praise the FSM, I have not fallen of the turnip truck just yet.  (any day now I suppose)

Just keep that atheist skepticism honed and you should be fine. I see a lot of unquestioning behavior around me. One of my wife's friends is as vulnerable as a guppy for some of what she is told. It's truly pathetic. I won't worry until my wife dies, because believe me, she questions EVERYTHING! It's a good/bad thing.

[hermes2015]

I get a couple of phone calls that I don't recognize the number on the screen. I let them go to voicemail. If they don't leave a message I guess it wasn't that urgent.

I do the same thing.

[Tom62]

I did no such thing!

Don't worry I blame no-one 

[billy rubin]

the voicemail business is an irritant to me. i can't pick up a telephone call while i'm driving, because with a commercial driver's license i incur some US$14,000 in fines, and there's a camera on my windshield that records everything i do when i'm behind the wheel. and sometimes if i'm busy i just don't answer telephone calls anyway.

people used to leave voicemail messages for me that i wouldn't ever receive, because i never remembered to check for messages. so i had the voicemail feature on my telephone de-activated.

if people have something important to say, they can call back, or i'll have their number on my "recent calls" list and i'll do it for them.

[Randy]

Another reason to be grumpy: It started in August. My home care people called to ask why I was discharging them. I told them I wasn't and to please leave me on as a patient. They discharged me instead and didn't tell me about it.

So we'd call my nurse (who is now someone else's) to order inner cannulas. After three days of calling he replied that he put in a rush order and I should get them one or two days. In the meantime I ordered some. They are at a higher rate than the home care people get.

We call him again after a week, and he's on vacation. He told us they were assigning a new nurse and to contact the office for help. We call them and they tell me I'm discharged and there isn't anything they can do about it without a doctor's approval, namely my oncologist. The nurse could have told us unless he simply didn't know.

We called my oncologist's head nurse and told her that since i've been discharged could she recommend someone who wasn't quite so reckless and neglegent. At the moment I don't know what is going on. At least she ordered some.

An inner cannula goes in the trach and helps us breathe. They do wear out and clog up from time to time. I found that breathing is important.