Behind The Scenes At Backwoods Home Magazine » Health http://www.backwoodshome.com/blogs/BehindTheScenes Behind the scenes of Backwoods Home Magazine with Dave Duffy. Wed, 08 Feb 2012 02:14:41 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Annie out of Intensive Care http://www.backwoodshome.com/blogs/BehindTheScenes/2010/02/11/annie-out-of-intensive-care/ http://www.backwoodshome.com/blogs/BehindTheScenes/2010/02/11/annie-out-of-intensive-care/#comments Fri, 12 Feb 2010 03:37:54 +0000 Dave Duffy http://www.backwoodshome.com/blogs/DaveDuffy/?p=1347 Doctors delayed Annie’s transfer from the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) for a day, but she was transferred to the regular hospital ward late this afternoon. I think, but am not sure, she will be released tomorrow. She looks great, is breathing well, and all monitors and doctors’ experience indicate the baby has weathered this interlude in his mother’s life like it was just another day at the beach.

Did I say his? We actually have no idea, but Olga has been hoping out loud for another brother and the baby has a rapid heart rate indicating a boy  … I think … but I’m not as up to speed as I should be on Old Wives Tales.

Erik flew in this aftrnoon just barely before the onset of the big Pacific storm we are now experiencing so Grandma and I gave over the grandkids to him. Annie and the grandkids were obviosuly happy to see him. Erik’c main problem now is explaining to 6-year-old Olga that Daddy is not home for good. “That’s what Daddy told me when he was home before,” she said. “The next time I’m home I’ll be home for good.” Lenie and I tried to explain to her that this visit is just an “emergency leave to help mommy,” but Olga was insistent: “No, Daddy said that the next time he was home it would be for good!”

Kids are very intriguing. Just as Olga can’t quite grasp that Daddy is home only temporarily to help Mommy through being sick, she catches on to the nuances. When Lenie was putting her to bed last night, she asked her, “Is the baby getting enough oxygen?” She must have overheard us talking and it began a process of worry in her little mind.  She’s very precocious … reminds me of her mom when she was that age.

But everything is fine now. Daddy has the next 13 days to explain what is going on.

]]> http://www.backwoodshome.com/blogs/BehindTheScenes/2010/02/11/annie-out-of-intensive-care/feed/ 8 Annie in hospital with pneumonia http://www.backwoodshome.com/blogs/BehindTheScenes/2010/02/09/annie-in-hospital-with-pneumonia/ http://www.backwoodshome.com/blogs/BehindTheScenes/2010/02/09/annie-in-hospital-with-pneumonia/#comments Tue, 09 Feb 2010 23:27:41 +0000 Dave Duffy http://www.backwoodshome.com/blogs/DaveDuffy/?p=1342 My daughter, Annie, the managing editor of BHM, was admitted to the hospital today with pneumonia. She and her 4-year-old son Gavin had been sick for a week, then yesterday Lenie and I decided to take her whole family back to our house to nurse them back to health. I ended up taking Annie to the Sutter Coast Hospital ER in Crescent City, Calif., at 5:30 this morning. I’m with her in the ICU now, and her husband, Erik, is flying back from the Marine Corps base in North Carolina. She’s resting fairly comfortably with intravenous-fed fluids and antibiotics, plus an oxygen tube to help her breathe.

She’s one of several people sick in my circle. Son Jake just got over being sick for a week, son Sam just came down sick a couple of days ago, and John Silveira has been sick at least a week. Gavin appears to be recovering nicely. Annie has asthma and is five months pregnant, so the doctors are watching her closely. Her baby appears to be doing fine.

]]> http://www.backwoodshome.com/blogs/BehindTheScenes/2010/02/09/annie-in-hospital-with-pneumonia/feed/ 12 No vaccine for me! I’m expendable at 65! http://www.backwoodshome.com/blogs/BehindTheScenes/2009/11/09/no-vaccine-for-me-i%e2%80%99m-expendable-at-age-65/ http://www.backwoodshome.com/blogs/BehindTheScenes/2009/11/09/no-vaccine-for-me-i%e2%80%99m-expendable-at-age-65/#comments Mon, 09 Nov 2009 21:39:31 +0000 Dave Duffy http://www.backwoodshome.com/blogs/DaveDuffy/?p=1122 For those of you wondering if government-controlled health care means that government may someday decide old people are expendable because it is cheaper to deliver health care to younger, healthier people, here’s food for thought:

Today, after learning my local health department now has swine flu vaccine for adults with certain conditions like asthma and heart disease, I decided to get a shot because I have heart disease, having had heart bypass surgery. So I called the health department to find out when I could come down for a shot.

“How old are you?” the health worker asked.

“Sixty five,” I said.

“You’re not eligible,” she said. “The cutoff is age 63.”

So there you have an indication of what is in the future. There is now enough vaccine for all the children, pregnant women, and adults “who qualify,” but because swine flu vaccine is government-controlled, bureaucrats have decided my age has disqualified me.

I‘m expendable!

]]> http://www.backwoodshome.com/blogs/BehindTheScenes/2009/11/09/no-vaccine-for-me-i%e2%80%99m-expendable-at-age-65/feed/ 10 Flu vaccinations for Duffy boys http://www.backwoodshome.com/blogs/BehindTheScenes/2009/11/02/flu-vaccinations-for-duffy-boys/ http://www.backwoodshome.com/blogs/BehindTheScenes/2009/11/02/flu-vaccinations-for-duffy-boys/#comments Mon, 02 Nov 2009 23:08:15 +0000 Dave Duffy http://www.backwoodshome.com/blogs/DaveDuffy/?p=1097 Gavin’s fever is down today so the swine flu watch ended as quickly as it began. Meanwhile my three teenage sons got their H1N1 nasal spray vaccine this morning plus a seasonal flu shot.

Sam getting nasal spray vaccine

Robby getting seasonal flu shot

]]> http://www.backwoodshome.com/blogs/BehindTheScenes/2009/11/02/flu-vaccinations-for-duffy-boys/feed/ 1 Swine flu watch at Annie’s house http://www.backwoodshome.com/blogs/BehindTheScenes/2009/11/02/swine-flu-watch-at-annie%e2%80%99s-house/ http://www.backwoodshome.com/blogs/BehindTheScenes/2009/11/02/swine-flu-watch-at-annie%e2%80%99s-house/#comments Mon, 02 Nov 2009 08:47:18 +0000 Dave Duffy http://www.backwoodshome.com/blogs/DaveDuffy/?p=1094 We are on a swine flu watch for Annie’s son, Gavin, who is three and a half. He’s been sick for a couple of days and now has a fever with 100-degree temperature. Gavin has had asthma symptoms in the past so Annie will take him to the doctor tomorrow morning. Annie too is sick: sore throat, loss of much of her voice, but no fever yet. She too has asthma. My wife, who is also sick, assures me this is all just a cold.

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