Yesterday's mail brought the notice for my six month followup since my hip replacement surgery. The appointment is a month away but even so, it has been five months since I have had my surgery. Things are certainly a lot better, there is such a big improvement. No pain in the hip joint. I am still working on mobility, I expect everything to be perfect but I have to do the physio exercises, which I neglect often, and I have to work hard to continue reducing my weight and building endurance. All easy if you say it fast but all take concentration and effort. Sometimes too much effort at the end of a long and tiring day.
This past week has included an eleven hour workday, followed the next day with a funeral for a distant cousin's wife. Emotionally and physically demanding for me. But I have bounced back, I am looking forward to a four day weekend at home, true two days will be work days in my home office, but I enjoy my home office and wish I could work from here everyday.
So what do I want to achieve before my six month check up? Lose at least another five pounds, Do my exercises everyday for the required number of repetitions and to get the rest my body needs and demands.
The six month check up will also be a chance to discuss getting my knee replacement surgery done sooner rather than later.
Friday, February 25, 2011
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Fisherman's Memorial Hospital -- Emergency Room Changes
The Lunenburg Hospital is one of those selected for the changes to emergency room procedures. There will be fewer doctors on staff but they will remain on call. The hospital in Lunenburg has had continuous problems staffing the emergency room. There are of course rumors about doctors living in Bridgewater and not wanting to work nights in a hospital 20 minutes away, there is a conspiracy theory and other pieces of incomplete or misinformation. But the fact remains things are changing.
Nova Scotia cannot afford to do the same old, for very much longer so changes are welcome. The concern is always that government ministers think things through before making changes that are difficult to reverse. For example over 10 years ago, the government of the day, decided to give regions more voice in health care and this was accomplished by creating more health authorities with the all the administration and expense that entails. We can't afford that type of top heavy system and now the work is underway to try and streamline and consolidate functions so they will be more cost effective.
Will it work? Only time will tell. But change is needed, care needs to improve and costs need to be kept affordable...well at least manageable.
Nova Scotia cannot afford to do the same old, for very much longer so changes are welcome. The concern is always that government ministers think things through before making changes that are difficult to reverse. For example over 10 years ago, the government of the day, decided to give regions more voice in health care and this was accomplished by creating more health authorities with the all the administration and expense that entails. We can't afford that type of top heavy system and now the work is underway to try and streamline and consolidate functions so they will be more cost effective.
Will it work? Only time will tell. But change is needed, care needs to improve and costs need to be kept affordable...well at least manageable.
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Nova Scotia's Heatlh Care System ... More Problems
thechronicleherald.ca/Front/9019774.html
Halifax police investigate homicide at nursing home
Halifax’s latest homicide victim is a 92-year-old woman who died Saturday, almost four weeks after she was pushed and fell at the hands of another resident of her nursing home.
The woman succumbed to her injuries at Arborstone Enhanced Care Nursing Home on Purcells Cove Road after a Jan. 7 incident involving her and another elderly female resident, according to a statement from Shannex, the company that owns the home.
The Shannex statement said the victim and the woman who allegedly pushed her were both in their dementia unit and that neither woman had a history of aggression. The injured woman went to hospital for 11 days before her return to Arborstone.
“We investigated the incident fully at the time of the occurrence and determined that the cause of the fall was unpredictable and not something that the staff could have prevented,” the statement said.
Despite the decision to rule the case a homicide – which was made by the province's medical examiner – police have decided not to detain the woman they think contributed to the other woman’s death.
“At this time there’s no believed risk to the public or other residents,” regional police spokesman Const. Brian Palmeter said Tuesday.
The Halifax Regional Police/RCMP integrated major crime unit will investigate. They first heard of the incident after the woman’s death.
“Given the circumstances around the death and the circumstances around the people involved in the incident, there’s a question whether or not criminal culpability exists,” Palmeter said.
A number of factors can play a role in determining criminal culpability, he said.
“One potential one is somebody’s mental condition at the time of the incident. Another one is whether or not self-defence is an issue. Essentially what we have to determine is whether or not the incident on Jan. 7 rises to the level of a criminal offence and then whether or not the person is ultimately responsible for the incident”
According to their website, Arborstone has space for 190 clients, which include seniors requiring nursing home care and young adults with special needs.
In a media session held mid-afternoon Tuesday, Health Minister Maureen MacDonald expressed remorse and concern about the incident.
“It’s a very sad situation … and we will gather extensive information.”
She said the department's critical incident policy will be followed to gather information and determine if proper procedures were followed.
“We will examine it very closely to learn what, if anything, we need to change.”
MacDonald said she’s spoken with family members of the victim, but she declined to say if they are considering any legal action over the killing.
Police didn’t release the victim’s name, but The Chronicle Herald has learned that it is Pauline Ethel Hartling, whose husband of 46 years (Ken Hartling) died just over a week before Jan. 7.
They had no children and both of them worked as school teachers.
Members of her family declined to comment Tuesday.
Halifax police investigate homicide at nursing home
Halifax’s latest homicide victim is a 92-year-old woman who died Saturday, almost four weeks after she was pushed and fell at the hands of another resident of her nursing home.
The woman succumbed to her injuries at Arborstone Enhanced Care Nursing Home on Purcells Cove Road after a Jan. 7 incident involving her and another elderly female resident, according to a statement from Shannex, the company that owns the home.
The Shannex statement said the victim and the woman who allegedly pushed her were both in their dementia unit and that neither woman had a history of aggression. The injured woman went to hospital for 11 days before her return to Arborstone.
“We investigated the incident fully at the time of the occurrence and determined that the cause of the fall was unpredictable and not something that the staff could have prevented,” the statement said.
Despite the decision to rule the case a homicide – which was made by the province's medical examiner – police have decided not to detain the woman they think contributed to the other woman’s death.
“At this time there’s no believed risk to the public or other residents,” regional police spokesman Const. Brian Palmeter said Tuesday.
The Halifax Regional Police/RCMP integrated major crime unit will investigate. They first heard of the incident after the woman’s death.
“Given the circumstances around the death and the circumstances around the people involved in the incident, there’s a question whether or not criminal culpability exists,” Palmeter said.
A number of factors can play a role in determining criminal culpability, he said.
“One potential one is somebody’s mental condition at the time of the incident. Another one is whether or not self-defence is an issue. Essentially what we have to determine is whether or not the incident on Jan. 7 rises to the level of a criminal offence and then whether or not the person is ultimately responsible for the incident”
According to their website, Arborstone has space for 190 clients, which include seniors requiring nursing home care and young adults with special needs.
In a media session held mid-afternoon Tuesday, Health Minister Maureen MacDonald expressed remorse and concern about the incident.
“It’s a very sad situation … and we will gather extensive information.”
She said the department's critical incident policy will be followed to gather information and determine if proper procedures were followed.
“We will examine it very closely to learn what, if anything, we need to change.”
MacDonald said she’s spoken with family members of the victim, but she declined to say if they are considering any legal action over the killing.
Police didn’t release the victim’s name, but The Chronicle Herald has learned that it is Pauline Ethel Hartling, whose husband of 46 years (Ken Hartling) died just over a week before Jan. 7.
They had no children and both of them worked as school teachers.
Members of her family declined to comment Tuesday.
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Pain Can Make You Grumpy
I have had arthritis pain, constant and deep in my joints, for so long I had forgotten about the lighter things in life. That fact was brought home to me yesterday, when a work acquaintance told me that my outlook seemed to have changed, I was upbeat and energized, contributing positive comments to discussions. And it hit me...I had seriously let the pain in my joints make me into a pain, negative and doom and gloom. The acquaintance contributed the change in me to some changes in my work environment, but I know that isn't it, the change is because I am not using all my positive energies to cope with throbs and aches. Well, not as many of them anyway. My knee still aches and throbs at times, but I can usually walk without it constantly paining which I haven't been able to do for years with my aching hip.
I think I knew this on some level but it is never easy to admit that you may not be able to handle everything in life well, especially for an old control freak like me.
So I have once again realized that no matter how miserable I feel, it isn't my right to take that out on everyone in the surrounding area. They deserve my respect and my best and if I can't give that, they deserve my absence until I can.
Let's see how long this will last.
I think I knew this on some level but it is never easy to admit that you may not be able to handle everything in life well, especially for an old control freak like me.
So I have once again realized that no matter how miserable I feel, it isn't my right to take that out on everyone in the surrounding area. They deserve my respect and my best and if I can't give that, they deserve my absence until I can.
Let's see how long this will last.
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