Although almost every day at Six Apart is Take Your Dog to Work Day, Friday was extra special because it was the official Take Your Dog to Work Day! Plus, as lovers of blogs and animals, we think it's great that active blogger and Human Society's President and CEO, Wayne Pacelle, thinks having dogs around the office is a good reminder of "who we're working for."
We realize some people have it ruff and aren't lucky enough to be able to bring their dog to work, but hopefully these pictures taken at Six Apart last Friday will get your tails wagging... And let me tell you, it's harder than it looks to get all the doggies and their fetching owners in one picture.
For those of us in the northern hemisphere, today is the summer solstice. For ancient civilizations, this day was akin to our modern day New Year's Eve and was viewed as a time to reflect and renew. So why not kick off your summer celebration with a new theme?
See all of our themes in the Design Area.
Or choose from one of these brand-new themes. (Available under "New.")
Saturday:
Mom and sister discussed what to do about infection and decided to call doctor's exchange. Doc said since it is an incision do not take chances go to ER, Mom goes to ER they admit her for antibiotics via IV
Sunday - Monday:
Partner Dr. of her neurosurgeon(her is out of town) comes to assess situation. He has her sent for CAT scan to check for fluid build up. Scan reveals fluid build up. Partner says that if he was to decide he would take her back into surgery and clean up wound. Partner Dr. confers with Mom's Dr.. Mom's Dr. calls her and tells her that he agrees with Partners assessment and plans to do Surgery first things Tuesday morning (he cancels other scheduled surgeries to be able to do this).
Hospital's Infectious Disease Specialist visits Mom and asks questions about her discharge instructions (basically she was not given any), asks if was taking antibiotics after being sent home (Mom says no she was only given pain meds). IDS explains a little more about what was done during initial surgery including something about some packing being used for when Neuro nicked disc. (not positive how accurate this info is because I am getting it second and third hand). IDS also tells Mom that she may need IV antibiotics for 6 weeks after this new surgery, and then possibly pills for rest of life. (I think this is supposed to be severe case possibility).
Some time during all of this they indicate to Mom that she is probably to fault because of not cleaning wound properly at home (Remember no wound care instructions given at discharge) (I am not happy with the sounds of this)
Tuesday:
Mom has surgery at 8:30 am. As is typical Dad forgets to call me later to let me know surgery is over and Mom is in new room. I have to call him and find this out.
Mom is told by doctor's that infection was only in the skin not inside the wound. She is also told that after stay in hospital she will have to be on IV antibiotics for 4 while at home. (I am curious why she would need such extensive amounts of IV antibiotics for only skin infection, when they did not even send her home with pill antibiotics after first surgery)
As of Tuesday night, Mom is in room had dinner (soup and juice and pudding and such). She is on IV antibiotics and pain meds, but doing okay.
I will be heading in to see Mom today while I am in doing Union paperwork, I will also be going over to clean Mom's bathroom thoroughly and replace shower curtain on bath window, because she is worried that some how she may have gotten bacteria on her in there to cause infection (Mom has a clean bathroom, I do not believe this is what happened but I will do this for Mom).
I have told Mom and Dad both that just to be on the safe side they should keep track of everything they can remember being told to them and done or not done for Mom. I then think they should at least consult a malpractice lawyer. Mom and Dad can not afford a second surgery and visiting home nurse care for the IV antibiotics. Maybe when I hear more of the information directly from Mom and Dad and not just over the phone, maybe I will feel differently.
more on mom later
I will not be going into my Mom and Dad's tomorrow, for Father's Day, because Dad told me to save my gas. Dad knows that I am still not working so he suggested I not make the trip in. We did not have big plans, just our traditional 'breakfast and bowling with Dad'. My dad has one hobby, bowling. So it is traditional for my sister and I to go out to breakfast and then go bowling with my Dad on his Birthday and on Father's Day.
I talked to Mom about it a few minutes ago and asked her to tell Dad that I would try to get in to see him on either Tuesday or Wednesday (his days off), when I have to go all the way into St. Louis to my Union Hall. I usually try to make a round trip out of it and stop and see Mom and Dad when ever I do that. Of course that only works on the days that I do not get a 'call', if I get a 'call' I have to go to the contractor for a kind of interview. If I am hired I fill out the requisite paperwork, if not I get 2 hours show up pay. Depending on where the contractor's office is I may still go see Mom and Dad on the times when I get turned down. If I am already halfway home I just put it off until the next time.
So no Father's Day plans with Dad, but still thinking of him.
A couple of months ago, we told you about Blog It powered by TypePad, the first cross-platform blogging application for Facebook the enables you to post to your Vox blog - and ALL your blogs - with a single click.
Within a week, Blog It had nearly 4,000 active users posting tweets and creating blog posts, as well as updating their status messages with the title and link to the published post. Today, Blog It's Facebook application has nearly 10,000 users. But here's the thing: You're not always sitting in front of the computer when the inspiration to blog strikes. And at Six Apart, it is our goal to provide you the tools you need need to blog where you want, and when you want.
Which is why this week we introduced Blog It for iPhone, a free web application just like the one we introduced for Facebook - only now - on your iPhone. Built specifically for iPhone's Safari browser, Blog It for iPhone enables you to post blog entries or status updates from wherever you are to more than a dozen different online services. And just like the original Facebook version, you can choose to share your posts with the people you know across various social networks.
To start blogging with Blog It for iPhone, go to http://blogit.typepad.com with your iPhone's Safari browser and install the Blog It icon onto your mobile desktop. Then, all you have to do is click the Blog It icon and start creating posts!
Whether you're riding the bus to work, cheering on your team courtside, or enjoying a picnic by the lake, now it's easier than ever to Blog It.
I just read an online news article about some very historically significant trees in France being cut down.
It would seem that during their time in France, soldiers stationed at camps near Normandy, soldiers made carvings in the trees near the camps. The carved their own names or names of loved ones or just dates. Despite being carved in the trees still grew and flourished for 6 decades and that is the problem. Because the trees that line the road were overgrown and hanging dangerously over a road, official sited the land owner. He was required to prune back the trees or be fined. Because of the massive amount of pruning that would be required, it was cheaper for him to contract someone to just cut them down. Thus the trees began falling. Someone has finally taken notice and is making an attempt to have the remaining trees designated historical landmarks. Surprisingly they have never been given this status in all the years that they have remained untouched, it is only after many of them have been felled that it is being thought.
It was an interesting story and I thought I would share.
I just checked in with Mom, she is doing well.
I came home Sunday afternoon and left her in the care of my Dad and my Sister.
Mom says that it is slow going but each day she is feeling a bit better and now she does not feel like she has to have someone around 24/7 to help her get around.
Update: Just talked to Mom again today (6/14/08). She is doing okay for the most part, but has a small infection around her stitches. (she had my sister look at them because she was seeing small spots of blood on things that had been touching her back, i.e. sheets, nightgown and such). Mom is supposed to see the Neurological Surgeon on Tuesday, but she is going to call her primary care Monday to see if she should do anything before then (neuro is out of town till Tuesday). I asked her if she had my sister clean it with peroxide or something after looking at it, she said 'no I was afraid it would make it hurt worse'. It is not a severe infection, just a small one around the stitches area. Maybe she will changer her mind and have my sister clean it when she comes back over.
All in all Mom is doing well. It may not seem like it sometimes because she has a very very low pain threshold and she will readily admit to it. For having such a low pain threshold she is a real trooper. She is making sure to try and get some walking in every day like the doctor told her to, even if it hurts a little, because she does not want anything to go wrong.
I am here at Mom and Dad's house so that Mom can have someone around to help her while Dad is at work.
Mom was released from the hospital around 1pm on Friday but I did not get here until about 6pm. Fortunately, even though Dad had to sleep so he could work the night shift, my sister was able to come over and stay with Mom until I got here.
I would have been here sooner but apparently the cats dislodge one of the phone cords at the house and anyone calling just got a busy signal. I had laid down to take a nap since I did not know exactly when I would have to be helping Mom (they did not let her know when she was being discharged until shortly before it happened). When I got up and checked my cell phone (it does not always get a signal at the house) I found that I had 5 missed calls and 3 voice mails. I knew that meant that for some reason nobody could get through on the house phone (my friends and family all know that my cell does not get good reception and to call the house phone first).
I called my sister and let her know that I got the voice mail and would be in as soon as possible. I fixed the house phone cords, packed some clothes so I could stay at Mom and Dad's, put the dogs away and headed in to stay with Mom.
Mom is not doing too bad all things considered. She is in a lot of pain since it was back surgery and has a hard time getting up and down out of a chair or off of the bed, but she can walk around and will slowly get better and better.
I will have to leave for a little while tomorrow to go down to my Union hall to vote for new officers, but Dad will be able to help her if need be because he does not go right to bed after he gets off of work.
Well I best get some rest myself or I will not be able to stay awake to help Mom tomorrow.
We will be performing scheduled maintenance on Vox tonight (Friday, June 6, 2008) from 11:00 p.m. - 11:30 p.m. PDT. Although we don't anticipate this maintenance to be highly disruptive, we always like to give you advance notification when there is a slight chance of some downtime.
As always, thank you for your patience - and have a great weekend!
Update: There WILL be downtime between 11:00 p.m. and 11:30 p.m. PDT. so please plan accordingly.
I went over to Mom and Dad's today, so that I could cook some meals for him and so that I could do a little of the laundry for Mom, before she gets home.
BFF # 3 went with me today so that I would have some help. It was fun just the two of us getting to hang out. I made two different meals for dad and then after he had some dinner I put it all away in the fridge so that he could just fix a plate later this week for lunch or dinner. Since Mom's back has been bothering her so bad she can not stand at the stove and cook, so Dad has been existing on frozen dinners and going out. He has found some dinners that he really likes so he does not seem to mind so much, but I just thought it would be nice for him to have something home cooked.
I did not get a chance to go and see Mom since I was busy cooking two different meals and doing some laundry, as well as doing some of my own errands before I went in. I did talk to her a couple of times on the phone. My sister called me after visiting with Mom to give me a progress report.
The got Mom up and had her sitting up in the chair while she tried to eat her meal. She only felt up to eating her tomato soup. When they opened the lid on her open faced roast beef meal the smell made her nausea. Not because it was bad but because of a side effect from the anesthetic. My sister had told me about something similar happening to her after she had surgery not too long ago.
Mom decided that while they had her up it would be a good time to get them to take her to the restroom before she got back into bed. Just the walking (with a lot of help) to the chair to eat and then the bathroom and then back to bed, gave her muscle spasms and made her very achy. They gave her some muscle relaxers for the spasms and some more pain meds. Other than that she is doing just fine.
After the last time I talked to Mom I knew I was not going to be able to go see her for the night because I was still cooking and she was sounding pretty tired from the muscle spasms and the pain meds.
I probably will make another trip in tomorrow. I might make another meal and do more laundry. Plus if Mom gets discharged tomorrow sometime I have been elected to be at home with her (my Dad is not a patient (no pun intended) person and my sister has to work. That is okay though that is why I made sure to use up one of my vacation weeks this week rather than try to get a new job from the Union hall and then have to ask to take off.
