and now for something completely different....

HI Stephany - I'm just checking out the site for a few moments...saw this thread. Glad to hear that you were able to help Doran into and out of the hot tub and that the BP issues seem to be under control - that's great. Glad to hear the tile work is progressing....I got a kick out of Pat's reply! Maybe you should look for a little rubber duck to keep him company in the hot tub!! Margot

Stephany...i just pictured Doran with one of those little kids inner tube floater rings with a duck head on it......sitting there in his hot tub!...I know thats not what you meant by a life preserver but hey maybe there's one amongst the kids stuff you're going to put into storage.......you putting tile everywhere while Doran floats in the tub...!
Actually i need some tiling done....its getting the old stuff up thats going to be the pain...4" white ceramic tiles that have been down 32 yrs and some badly cracked or chipped.
Glad today was a better day...and forgive my levity.......hugs ..Pat

I have the temp set at 100 degrees. the hot tub guy says it only goes to 104, because of the medical issues. Doran complained that it wasn't hot enough, so I turned it up to 101. We'll see.

One of his staff members is going to loan us a life preserver, which I can make him wear, when he's in the tub. That would help my fears.

I stay with him when he's in the tub....I putter. I put down five more boxes of tile this afternoon while he soaked. Pretty soon I'm going to be able to start packing away toys from when our son was young, and then get more storage space available.

He still isn't eating much, but he went from the bed to the bathroom twice tonight without telling me...no dizziness, so it looks like the hydrochlo etc was one of the culprits.

I'll know more tomorrow.

Thanks for all your help.

Stephany in Iowa

Stephanie, I am impressed by you taking on the prep work for the hot tub if you had done nothing like it before. I guess we don't know what we can do until we are called on to do it.
What temperature are you keeping the hot tub at? We see all these warning about being careful if you have high blood pressure and not stay in too long. I will go in the hot tub here but make sure I'm not alone.
I think you are making a lot of sense about reducing Doran's blood pressure medication. You sure don't want him falling again. Julie

Pat, you are absolutely correct. When I talked to the PA today, we talked about the fact that he was taking half a tab of a combo of lisinopril and hydro etc. He asked me "which one do you want to stop?"

I suggested the hydro whatever, and then realized, after he hung up, that it was a combo. But Doran reminded me that he had some lisinopril left over from an older Rx, and I found that, so I could put him on the 10 mg, and try that for a while.

It would make sense, because orthostatic hypotension is one of the side effects of dehydration, and if he's on too much diuretic, that would do it. I'll watch his ankles for swelling, and his BP, and hope it comes up.

I actually got him in the new hot tub today, and had a hard time talking him out. I finally told him that he if was going to balk, I wouldn't be able to let him back in. He got up, and we got him out, dried off, and back up four half flights of stairs to bed. Then his BP was 90/60. So I'm glad he's cutting back.

I took him for a massage today, and seemed to help a little. He's had two showers also, and ate some pureed roast and potatoes, a couple of bites of roasted squash with butter and sugar, and a couple bites of potato with butter. And some pureed melon.

I can actually see some daylight at the end of this particular tunnel!

Thanks, everyone, for your help.

Stephany in Iowa

Stephanie.......the hydrochlorothiazide....is exactly what made my husbands blood pressure bottom out from a sitting to standing position...brand name of Captopril....the doc took him off of it immediatly. Its really a diuretic. But he really didn't need it every day.....his blood pressure drug worked pretty good and if he got swelling he just took a lasix. Mind you i'm not prescribing here...just telling you that that drug may be the culprit.
Never made yogart soup....i would have had to not told him what was in it if i did. You're such a great cook i'm sure you will concoct many more things than i thought of.
I had the Fentanyl pain patch put on me when i was in the hospital...it made me really dizzy...but i don't think i really needed it...i was in "evil Pat" mode back then reacting to all the drugs they were giving me. I'm totally coherent but i'm not really me....make any sense...didn't to them either..but my hubby knew. He got them to wean me down...i lost 2 l/2 weeks to "evil Pat".....she is very sneaky and knows how to take over whenever i'm in surgery.
Hope you get it all worked out......my best to you both...Pat