The vinhale thread?

[evil_physics_witchcraft]

Yay for having casts removed!!! Boo for boots of doom!

[paultuttle]

Yay for having casts removed!!! Boo for boots of doom!

Ditto!

My own inhales and vents . . .

Inhale: My brother and sister-in-law are flying over from Thailand in a week and a half (upwards of 24 hours in the air). It'll be my sister-in-law's first time in the USA and first time meeting my mother in person. (They're both looking forward to it.)

Vent: Dad's house is not quite ready to receive them; my husband and I will probably need to spend a couple of evenings or weekend days helping Dad get the "owner's suite" ready for them.

Inhale: It'll be wonderful, because they'll be here for a month.

Vent: It's also expensive as all hell: $3K for the tickets (and upgraded seats on the longest flights for my 6'2" brother), $1K for the rental car, and another $1K for food, gasoline, and what my father calls "walking-around money"--all of which we're simply giving my brother and sister-in-law because they can't possibly afford to pay it back, because they've just bought a house in Bangkok and he's an ESL teacher there.

Vent: They're coming now because we're not sure whether Mom will recognize them if they wait even 2-3 months longer. Mom's already saying to Dad, sitting across the room, "Where's my husband?" She slips in and out of three realities: now (or sort of now), her life as a young mother, and her life as a young girl. (She's also asked several times where her parents are, and Dad's had to remind her they've been dead for years.)

Inhale: Mom's been so much more alert and full of good humor now that she has this visit to look forward to, so they might actually be able to have several good conversations before her cognition and memory plummet to lower levels permanently. And she loved her mother's day cards and balloon. So there's that.

All in all, very much looking forward to it!

[Puget]

That's wonderful Paul that you get a long visit with them and that they get to spend some time with your mom!

Just a thought from experience with several grandparent with dementia and some research I've read-- It is usually better to redirect than to correct, since the corrections don't stick and can be confusing and upsetting to the person. So e.g., instead of reminding her her parents are long dead, asking what a favorite memory of her parents is, or telling a story you remember about her parents yourself.

[paultuttle]

That's wonderful Paul that you get a long visit with them and that they get to spend some time with your mom!

Just a thought from experience with several grandparent with dementia and some research I've read-- It is usually better to redirect than to correct, since the corrections don't stick and can be confusing and upsetting to the person. So e.g., instead of reminding her her parents are long dead, asking what a favorite memory of her parents is, or telling a story you remember about her parents yourself.

Good point! Yes, we've already seen the frown and confusion and wheels turning trying to get back to an understanding of what she's being told. I'll talk with Dad about how to handle these kinds of memory loss in the moment.

[Puget]

That's wonderful Paul that you get a long visit with them and that they get to spend some time with your mom!

Just a thought from experience with several grandparent with dementia and some research I've read-- It is usually better to redirect than to correct, since the corrections don't stick and can be confusing and upsetting to the person. So e.g., instead of reminding her her parents are long dead, asking what a favorite memory of her parents is, or telling a story you remember about her parents yourself.

Good point! Yes, we've already seen the frown and confusion and wheels turning trying to get back to an understanding of what she's being told. I'll talk with Dad about how to handle these kinds of memory loss in the moment.

Family members and caregivers understandably often want to pull the person back to "reality", but their reality is now different, and it can be much more enjoyable for everyone to just join them there when they are lost in a pleasant past or impossible imagined future. One example-- my grandfather went through a period when he would often talk about renting an RV and going on a trip. Reminding him that he could no longer drive or travel just upset him. It was much better to say that sounded like a really fun idea, and where would he most like to visit? He would then talk about all the places he had traveled earlier in his life-- we got to hear some good stories, and he was happy planning and reminiscing.

[AmLitHist]

Vent:  Everything hurts. And I got my first sunburn in several years (forgot that I probably still have Keflex in my system, which partly accounts for it). I'm a crispy critter.

Inhale:  The yard and gardens look really nice.

[FishProf]

I am back on my daily 10k steps routine, balky knees an all.  The goal is to surpass last year, but this rough start has me ~ 300,000 steps behind last years pace.

But yesterday, I forced myself to do the steps! Yay!

This morning, I entered the data only discover that, on this day last year, I did 26K steps.

So I pushed through all that pain yesterday and fell even farther/further* behind.

* I looked up the usage, and I still couldn't figure it out since I am talking about steps/distances.

[ohnoes]

So I pushed through all that pain yesterday and fell even farther/further* behind.

* I looked up the usage, and I still couldn't figure it out since I am talking about steps/distances.

*more  ;)

All steps are good steps.

[FishProf]

So I pushed through all that pain yesterday and fell even farther/further* behind.

* I looked up the usage, and I still couldn't figure it out since I am talking about steps/distances.

*more  ;)

All steps are good steps.

I can accept both of those.

[smallcleanrat]

Inhale: Presented to my thesis committee and got the green light to schedule my defense towards the end of summer. I was worried I hadn't done enough, that the committee would say something like, "All these years, and that's all you have to show for it?" Instead they were very encouraging and congratulatory. Done with data collection, and almost done with all the analysis.

Vent: Now I have to actually write the thesis.

Overall: So many times I thought I'd never make it, but it looks like I may actually cross the finish line and earn a PhD.

[Puget]

Inhale: Presented to my thesis committee and got the green light to schedule my defense towards the end of summer. I was worried I hadn't done enough, that the committee would say something like, "All these years, and that's all you have to show for it?" Instead they were very encouraging and congratulatory. Done with data collection, and almost done with all the analysis.

Vent: Now I have to actually write the thesis.

Overall: So many times I thought I'd never make it, but it looks like I may actually cross the finish line and earn a PhD.

Congratulations! You can do this! I'll give the advice I give to my own students at this point:
(1) your PI/committee won't let you schedule the defense if we don't think you're ready and will pass, so you ARE ready and will pass.
(2) working backward from your defense date, make a detailed writing plan, breaking down all remaining tasks into small chunks and scheduling them each day. Pad the schedule to account for unexpected delays and inevitable schedule slip.
(3) done is better than perfect-- do a rough draft of everything first, then you can go back and spend remaining time revising, but get it done first.
(4) look at the formatting requirements now, and use the template if the grad school provides one-- it will be easier than trying to retrofit it to the often very persnickety requirements later. At the same time, don't stress about formatting too much-- you can fix it after the defense if necessary, no one but the person in charge of final dissertation deposits will care at all.

[evil_physics_witchcraft]

Inhale: Presented to my thesis committee and got the green light to schedule my defense towards the end of summer. I was worried I hadn't done enough, that the committee would say something like, "All these years, and that's all you have to show for it?" Instead they were very encouraging and congratulatory. Done with data collection, and almost done with all the analysis.

Vent: Now I have to actually write the thesis.

Overall: So many times I thought I'd never make it, but it looks like I may actually cross the finish line and earn a PhD.

CONGRATS!!!!

[Harlow2]

Inhale: Presented to my thesis committee and got the green light to schedule my defense towards the end of summer. I was worried I hadn't done enough, that the committee would say something like, "All these years, and that's all you have to show for it?" Instead they were very encouraging and congratulatory. Done with data collection, and almost done with all the analysis.

Vent: Now I have to actually write the thesis.

Overall: So many times I thought I'd never make it, but it looks like I may actually cross the finish line and earn a PhD.

That's great, SCR!  And Puget's advice is what I also tell my students.  Way to go!

[AmLitHist]

So I pushed through all that pain yesterday and fell even farther/further* behind.

* I looked up the usage, and I still couldn't figure it out since I am talking about steps/distances.

*more  ;)

All steps are good steps.

I can accept both of those.

You should take up crocheting, FishProf.  I don't have a tracker/watch device, but a lot of people on some of my crochet groups say that when they're in a groove and crocheting, the motion shows up as steps on their Apple Watch/FitBit!

[FishProf]

I could also attach my fitbit to a ceiling fan, but that isn't exactly the point.  :)