h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Pah, don't worry. I've used codeine for decades and I'm still not addicted

Seriously though, addiction is no problem at her age. Let her drink, eat and use whatever makes her day. It may shorten her life but might as well also make her live longer and happier

The terrible thing about opioid pain relievers is that they don't really stop the pain, merely temporarily block uptake of neurotransmitters coding for pain while the neurotransmitters continue accumulating, so that the pain comes back with a vengeance when the opioid is withdrawn.

Something non-prescription that can be helpful is melatonin, a pineal gland hormone that's useful for a mild analgesic and moderating sleep, especially if withdrawal problems are an issue.

I was given morphine for a couple of days after an operation, but the following days a cocktail of 1000 mg paracetamol and 600 mg of ibuprofene was quite sufficient. Not to be used more than once every 6 hours, though

But I am not a so you should probably ask her/him if this cocktail is a good idea

it's the GP who prescribed it, and as she's 93, anything that'll take the pain away. I asked her how it was today (still on normal painkillers, the others haven't been delivered yet) and she said "we're getting there" but when I checked the morning log by the carer, Mum had refused the offered paracetomol

Oh dear, well it is a chance to still assert her independence I suppose

Websailor

err! I'm not always in the same spot

Today my brother and sister-in-law are visiting from Nottingham. They'll arrive at lunchtime so they're treating me to a carvery before heading to Mum's. When I told Mum yesterday she pulled a face like a sulky toddlerthen asked if I could be there while they are (not much for a chance of a day off, then)

I've decided to stay the night so I can have the support of Sunday morning's carer to get Mum bathed, which is not a job I want to attempt to repeat on my own.

So that's my weekend planned, I hope you all have something to do to enjoy the projected sunshine for today/tomorrow (don't think about Monday yet)

oh and happy towel day

http://towelday.org/

Phew. That went well. Home now, and about to have my own breakfast

3:20am PDT here, moon nearly full, moonlight diffusing through high amospheric haze, making only 1st magnitude stars readily visible at a glance, despite otherwise clear conditions.

Mom fell asleep before taking her night-time medications.

Sleepless myself.

Alternating between the PC and Pearl S. Buck's "My Several Worlds".

Just finished a passage on her memories as an eight year old of the Boxer rebellion.

I did pop out at 9.30pm to watch the full moon rise over the Humber, alas it never showed up or was behind clouds. I did get a lovely view of Cleethorpes prom & coastline though, in the dusk & reflections of the setting sun (facing north) which I reckon could have been the Belt of Venus.

These are the photos I took: http://picasaweb.google.com/109163337517290185142/Cleethorpes#

The Belt of Venus is rarely visible here on account of high mountains to the east, north and west, so that the visible skyline is well above the true horizon.

The Earth's shadow is always obscured in those directions.

To the south, the Salton Sea extends all the way to the horizon, creating a false horizon somewhat below the true horizon, since its official level according to the USGS is at 228 feet/69.49 meters below sea level and the level drops seasonally, during the torrid summer months, as much as a meter below that.

Had a magnificent sunrise this morning, magenta rays of hope against a backdrop of scattered light and low altitude strato-cirrus and cumulo-cirrus clouds.

I wonder about "the Earth's shadow" in context.

I think that may be what inspired the Persian idiom, "the Wolf's tail", for the 'crack of dawn', likening the Earth's shadow to the tail of a wolf wrapped around the rim of the world.




http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00ghalib/016/16_10x.html

I had an early night last night, when Ian came to bed he told me there was an enormous orange moon outside my kitchen window and I was so tired I didn't even stir. Not like me at all. Is there a human energy station somewhere I can plug into?

I used to take AMP (adenosine monophosphate) tabs.

These days, its ribose tabs, which also fuel the ATP (adenosine tri-phosphate) cycle.

(Once one is past the jaw-breaking buzz-words, just good nutrition.)

is it the new moon or the full one that is not supposed to be viewed through glass? I saw a beautiful full one a couple of nights ago, but through the double glazed kitchen window it looked like there were two of them.
Continued good wishes to you and your mum

Maybe you should talk to a doctor or nutritionist. I prefer natural boosts to manufactured ones.

Hope your Mum is ok.


Websailor

the superstition is the full one that is not supposed to be viewed through glass, I recall.

Mum's not well at all. From her 4-day headache last week to aching legs yesterday, today she said her (right) arm & shoulder hurt - and she looked dreadful. The chemist's van delivered the next month's meds which should have been in a blister pack for the carers to administer, except they were in normal packs so I trundled off to the chemist to get them changed. While there I popped into the next door to arrange a doctor's visit, I ended up seeing the on-call Dr who just gave me a prescription for soluble paracetomol which she can drink rather than try and get the tablets down. I took that back, made her a drink up, told her the blister packs will be delivered tomorrow and went to go, then I realised she'd forgotten I was there earlier and didn't know what I was talking about.

Ohj dear, she does sound a bit poorly. The soluble tabs are great as they also get a drink as well as medication, and they work quicker. I don't know what I would have done without them when my other half was ill, as the surgery wouldn't give any stronger painkillers without him seeing a doctor, which he refused to do!

Take care,

Websailor