Hang on this is the last one before I catch up.
Garden update – Of course, qvetching from the younger girls about weeding. And it was hot. However, one just kept working. She is the one whose adopted family died.
Anyway, while harvesting, I asked two girls to pick the leaves off the swiss chard. I showed them the size of the leaf they were to pick. Nothing smaller. They pulled the entire plants out of the ground. I had a momentary freak out.
“That’s okay. I’ll just put them back in and give them a good drink of water.”
They were very taken back that I yelled to STOP, but in a moment of passion for the plants I did get out of my usual Ms. Marty routine. I try to never let them see me sweat. At least emotionally.
I FOUND SOME CHARTS!!! I even got to look up some labs from residents I had assessed and now made up that small stack needing homes in medical records.
Last week I had spoken to a girl who even did a couple of wall push ups with me. She is over 200 pounds and is around my height, 5’5″. I was very encouraged. Not ready to dance, but at least she was thinking about herself being healthier.
In her chart her total cholesterol was over 275. A good cholesterol is around 175, 200 and your MD starts talking about medications. I was stunned.
Who let this happen? Why wasn’t this the first thing I knew about her? What MD let it go this high without mentioning it. And guess who gets to tell her? The person who has the least amount of relationship with her.
I spoke to the therapist. She’s new and didn’t want to be the bad guy. So, I took her out of something that was happening in the common area and lowered the boom. I explained as simply as I could what happens with high cholesterol. The conference I went to earlier in the month had a special day just for dietitians. I found out kids in their teens are having strokes. Great! More good news. This kid is a walking heart attack or stroke waiting to happen.
She asked about heart attacks. I was glad she was listening. As with any other high cholesterol resident I explain the stroke will probably not kill you, it’s what happens afterward.
My mother’s stroke around Memorial Day is a very clear image of what can happen. At least my mother has most of her mental faculties and can still walk, eat and use the commode.
I tried to get her to talk to me. But I am not stupid. She is all alone in this place and needs to process. You could see the wheels turning, but the communication was in lock down.
A diet change had to happen quickly, but really does it matter? She is not interested in low cholesterol foods, our menu is bereft of fiber to clear the cholesterol from the colon and she just got here. I’m going to order the labs be redone to validate the number. Other than that, nothing matters until she makes it matter.
No one has cholesterol that high in a day or a month. Someone just kept moving her along hoping no one would notice this little mistake in her lipids. This mistake which just keeps getting bigger and bigger.
