Please click on the link below to enjoy the Hendricks Minnesota nursing home quilting show.
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Prelude to Nursing Care
While I am still able, I want to send a message to those I leave behind. No matter what happens in your life, never give up, or admit defeat, keep up the good fight, because life is the best gift you will ever receive. Love it, hang on to it and cherish it.
When I was 23 years old in June 1964, I had a car wreck and ended up with a compression fracture and dislocation of my spine at T-12 and L-1.
Sisu is a Finnish concept described as stoic determination, tenacity of purpose, bravery, resilience, or hardiness and is held by Finns themselves to express a national character. It is generally considered not to have a literal equivalent in English. I am happy and proud to be 97% Finnish
I spent three months in the Sioux Valley Hospital at Sioux Falls SD on a Stryker frame. My right leg did not move for over two months. Thankfully Physical Therapy workers continued to work with me despite my resistance and wanting to quit. They prodded me on when I didn’t have the courage to do it myself. After I had been there about a month, I started taking myself to therapy lying face down on a gurney with a cane in each hand that I used like ski poles. I took myself clear to the basement physical therapy department. The Stryker Frame was designed so the patient could be turned every four hours.
You can learn to eat with your food right below your face. After you get turned the top half of the frame comes off. I took myself to physical therapy face down on a gurney with a cane in each hand, like sky poles after about a month.
Dr. Robert Van Demark took bone from my hips and fused it into my lower back a month before I was released from the hospital. I wore a full-body cast for eight months. It went from my hips to the armpits. I was afraid it might start getting a little bit nasty underneath so I devised a way to use two coat hangers, I would slide them up inside of the cast, then hook a clean t-shirt on and pull it down into the cast. I had lost considerable weight by that time. I never had any problems developing insects or worms underneath that plaster shell.
You can learn to eat with your food right below your face. After you get turned the top half of the frame comes off. I took myself to physical therapy face down on a gurney with a cane in each hand, like sky poles after about a month.
I got out of the Sioux Valley Hospital in October and then spent a year with an aunt and uncle the Wayrynens recuperating. I tried selling insurance and a few other jobs before I went back on Highway Construction and started bouncing around in a truck again.
Syringomyelia
I got married to Rose Marie in 1970. One simple ‘I do’ turned me into a husband, father of four daughters, and grandfather to a newborn baby boy. I was driving a truck in Arizona in 1970. One night driving with the window open, the cool air on my arm felt like needles hitting it. It wasn’t long after that I could not tell hot from cold with my left hand.
Paralysis started on my left side at that time. By 1985 I was completely numb on my left side from my waistline to the top of my head. A straight line just like the Joker has. I was not diagnosed with Syringomyelia until 1985. I was going to the Veterans’ Hospital in Sioux Falls. The neurology doctor had no idea what was wrong with me. He felt sure it was some type of stroke.
The Lord does work in mysterious ways, a young lady intern who had just learned about SM was in his office that day. She told the doctor she thought I may have Syringomyelia, ‘he had never heard of it.’
The next week I was in the VA Hospital in Minneapolis having a drain or shunt put in my spinal cord. At that time when I sneezed or coughed it shot pain to the top of my head, so I would almost pass out. The left side of my tongue was even numb, so I was even biting my tongue when I ate. They put a drain shunt in my spinal cord that moved the fluid to the outside of the cord but still in the spinal column. I am very thankful the pain from sneezing and coughing disappeared after the shunt was put in and, I quit biting my tongue. If that young lady had not been in the Neurologists office that day I no doubt would have gone to be with the Lord many years ago.
In 1985 after the first surgery on my back, I started having problems with my left shoulder. The head of the humerus bone dissolved between the months of October and November of 1985. One month the bone was solid, the next month it was gone. That is called a Charcot Joint, that was brought on by all those years of paralysis
I have lived since 1985 with no joint on my left shoulder. I continued to use it as much as I could, even carrying firewood into the house with it without having the arm connected to the socket. The Neurology Specialists told me shortly after the shoulder went bad it could not be replaced because they were sure it would never heal right. So, I told them I think we better just leave it alone. Pain has always ridden shotgun with me.
They became intolerable, so I just let them grow. I had to wear a stiff neck collar for 7 months. They cut a vertebra in half and took it out. Then used a Roto-Rooter tool to clean around the spinal cord. After they got done with that, they used bone bank parts to hold it all in place.
They put a steel plate on the front of my neck to hold my head-on. It has six screws in it. I got sent home three days after that surgery. My throat was still raw from the breathing tube, to help get pain relief I drank water until I washed all the sodium out of my system. I ended up in another hospital again having seizures from the low sodium level. A few years later I had another low sodium level that put me in intensive care. I had to go to a nursing home and learn to walk again.
It does appear like my whole life has been spent in physical therapy departments. This year not too long before Christmas I fell and broke a nice rack of ribs on my left side which put me in the hospital for 10 days. I finally decided I cannot take care of myself, so now I reside at the Hendricks Nursing Home in Hendricks Minnesota. The people here are great, we should all thank the Lord for young people willing to do these jobs.
I can still walk a little with a walker. But the Lord is right there holding me up all the while. The neurology doctors can find no reason for me to still be walking, I will try to continue confusing them by walking from my room to the dining hall. Most doctors have never heard of Sisu!
This is a genuinely wonderful place in a Norwegian community, they took in a wayward Finlander. This might be where the last chapter of my life will be written. I wanted to get a note out to let everyone know that things are going well. I will hopefully get on the Internet on occasion. I’m sorry for not calling people with my cell phone, that cell phone and I have some type of problem having an understanding relationship with each other.
Nursing Home Care
I have been In the Hendricks Nursing Home at Hendricks Minnesota USA for the last four months, everybody in the place, except possibly the cook and the maintenance people have seen my, wrinkled old rear end, ‘many times.’ The first thing, when you come to the Care Center. leave your modesty at the door.
It takes a special person to take care of these old worn-out bodies like mine. I’m glad there are people out there willing to take on the task. In a way, they are angels sent from heaven.
We just got through over a year of the Nasty Coronavirus, the nurses should have been paid extra wages for working in such dangerous situations. What are the results of the virus? The loss of 900,000 lives and the loss of thousands of nurses. Some got burned out, they could not handle it anymore, being eyewitnesses to slow, agonizing death and suffering. The whole world needs a lot of young people to come forward, and possibly some retired nurses to return to their calling.
The demand continues to grow for all levels of caregivers and will continue to get further out of control. As more and more Gulf War Veterans with missing limbs are going to need care. The government continues to sit on its hands and do nothing. In the 1960s there was a program called the Peace Core. America’s younger people could serve their country without joining the military service, by serving in the Peace Core. Spreading goodwill overseas by teaching poor Nations how to produce what they need better and improve their standards of living.
Instead of doing their duty in Washington, lawmakers deregulate nursing homes allowing gangsters to take control of them and steal the money they need for operating. This is a damn disgrace, Rich gangsters with busloads of lawyers fleecing the old people. Law enforcement can’t do much if there are no state and federal laws to protect nursing home residents and workers. Many nurses nursing homes in the state of South Dakota have been driven into bankruptcy. These crooks will lawyer up and never go to jail.
Our elected Washington lawmakers always get hung up on budget issues, if keeping the national debt down is their goal. Why do they continue to give bigger tax breaks to their billionaire friends?
They could possibly move a Mars expedition to the back burner for a while. That shouldn’t be too complicated. It will not surprise me one bit if they start talking about making a trip to the Sun. I see a real clear picture of Congress arguing the technical ramifications of a solar trip. Do we really have to go at night, or can we go during the day too? Wisdom continues to wane in Washington!
While God was putting this wonderful world together, he did have some problems arise. Shortly after he created the lemmings, he became concerned that they had no will of their own, they seemed to follow and imitate each other even if that meant jumping into the ocean and drowning with the other will lemmings. That must have broken the Lord’s heart. He decided right then, that when he put humans together, he would use all of his power to make sure they were all individuals and were going to have their own character, their own personality, and the will to do their own thing. Not follow the leader like lemmings but use their own minds and judgment to better themselves. He did such a great job on humans he even surprised himself. There were no two people alike on this entire planet.
That brings me back to living here at the nursing home I’m approaching my third month here now it is an education that you will not get anywhere else in a school system. It’s a one-of-a-kind experience with the human personality and how the different personalities intertwine with each other and make everything work. It is truly amazing to witness this. I am not trying to be critical or put anyone down. I just want to share some of the things that go on. I realize this could not happen without the Lord leading the whole program and the dedicated staff that makes it all happen. They go out of their way to keep the residents occupied with things like puzzles, arts and crafts, bingo, and movies talking about travel so people can visit and exchange their travel experiences.
When the weather gets warmer the residents can sit outside and enjoy the fresh air and watch all the different birds that come to the bird feeders There is also an aviary in the building with beautiful little birds in it, and there are two aquariums in different areas and large screen TVs for people to watch DVD movies on, or to watch Church programs on Sunday. There is a protestant and a Catholic Church service each week
The food is usually excellent, and each person has a choice of different items that they can order when they get to the dining room. People are encouraged to walk to the dining area if they can. Some people must be pushed in their wheelchairs to eat but most of them can walk with a walker, a few with just a cane, which is quite remarkable if you are in your 90s. The meals are usually particularly good. There is exercise equipment for the residents to use and they are also physical therapy schedules for those who need physical therapy to regain the use of their limbs.
One sad piece of truth is that I have come to realize there are very few visitors coming to see the residents. I know everyone has busy lifestyles and schedules, but it should not be too hard to work on a visit with a loved one from your family.
I suggested to some of the nurses that they remind me of cowgirls. Just before each meal, there is a Roundup to get the residents from their rooms to the dining area and help those that need help eating or ordering their food. There is always a concern of someone falling when they go from their Walkers to sitting in the chairs, so it’s a big responsibility three times a day during meals.
Some residents seem to go out of their way to get attention from the nurses. One thing that comes to mind is there are a few with stern, mean-looking faces like I might bite you! I thought the only way you could get a mean-looking face like that would be if you spent an entire lifetime sorting feral tom cats.
I do not think there are very many occupations that could create a situation like that unless it might be driving a school bus. That was not a genuinely nice thing to say.
Usually, when the nurse gives one of these angry-faced people a hug ‘a big smile’ comes out on their face, that is the goal of having that unhappy face. We all crave and need some attention, and humans need to feel cared about. I came from a family where our dad never hugged anybody, except maybe my mother. I was very thankful to have a grandmother that was a hugger, when she hugged you, you knew you had been hugged. I see different residents who have their own unique way of getting that needed hug. Children will do lots of things to get attention, it is just natural for us to continue that trend as we get older.
If you try to get out the door a buzzer comes on to warn the nurses to be on the lookout. S0me like to open a door and look out to get some fresh air, I have not done that yet, but it sounds like a clever idea to me. There are a few residents who simply refuse to use their walkers I can understand that independent feeling that they cherish, and they want to hang on to it. Using a walker is not a sign of weakness, but many think it is. It’s protecting yourself from broken bones. There are a few residents who walk up and down the hall
We just got through over a year of the Nasty Coronavirus, the nurses should have been paid extra wages for working in such dangerous situations. What are the results of the virus? The loss of 900,000 lives and the loss of thousands of nurses. Some got burned out, they could not handle it anymore, being eyewitnesses to slow, agonizing death and suffering. The whole world needs a lot of young people to come forward, and possibly some retired nurses to return to their calling.
The demand continues to grow for all levels of caregivers and will continue to get further out of control. As more and more Gulf War Veterans with missing limbs are going to need care. The government continues to sit on its hands and do nothing. In the 1960s there was a program called the Peace Core. America’s younger people could serve their country without joining the military service, by serving in the Peace Core. Spreading goodwill overseas by teaching poor Nations how to produce what they need better and improve their standards of living.
Instead of doing their duty in Washington, lawmakers deregulate nursing homes allowing gangsters to take control of them and steal the money they need for operating. This is a damn disgrace, Rich gangsters with busloads of lawyers fleecing the poor people. Law enforcement can’t do much if there are no state and federal laws to protect nursing home residents and workers. Many nurses nursing homes in the state of South Dakota have been driven into bankruptcy. These crooks will lawyer up and never go to jail.
Our elected Washington lawmakers always get hung up on budget issues, if keeping the national debt down is their goal. Why do they continue to give bigger tax breaks to their billionaire friends?
night, or can we go during the day too? Wisdom continues to wane in Washington!
While God was putting this wonderful world together, he did have some problems arise. Shortly after he created the lemmings, he became concerned that they had no will of their own, they seemed to follow and imitate each other even if that meant jumping into the ocean and drowning with the other will lemmings. That must have broken the Lord’s heart. He decided right then, that when he put humans together, he would use all of his power to make sure they were all individuals and were going to have their own character, their own personality, and the will to do their own thing. Not follow the leader like lemmings but use their own minds and judgment to better themselves. He did such a great job on humans he even surprised himself. There were no two people alike on this entire planet.
When the weather gets warmer the residents can sit outside and enjoy the fresh air and watch all the different birds that come to the bird feeders There is also an aviary in the building with beautiful little birds in it, and there are two aquariums in different areas and large screen TVs for people to watch DVD movies on, or to watch Church programs on Sunday. There is a protestant and a Catholic Church service each week
The food is usually excellent, and each person has a choice of different items that they can order when they get to the dining room. People are encouraged to walk to the dining area if they can. Some people must be pushed in their wheelchairs to eat but most of them can walk with a walker, a few with just a cane, which is quite remarkable if you are in your 90s. The meals are usually particularly good. There is exercise equipment for the residents to use and they are also physical therapy schedules for those who need physical therapy to regain the use of their limbs.
One sad piece of truth is that I have come to realize there are very few visitors coming to see the residents. I know everyone has busy lifestyles and schedules, but it should not be too hard to work in a visit with a loved one from your family.
I suggested to some of the nurses that they remind me of cowgirls. Just before each meal, there is a Roundup to get the residents from their rooms to the dining area and help those that need help eating or ordering their food. There is always a concern of someone falling when they go from their Walkers to sitting in the chairs, so it’s a big responsibility three times a day during meals.
My Mixed Blog 
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