Sunny August Sunday

[JudyJB]

Nice, quiet day now that most campers have left. I have been very lazy this morning/noon, but am now heading out to do my laundry that i was supposed to do yesterday.

Have been watching how long it takes some tenters to set up campsite and take it down, compared to my just being able to back in, put out my slides, plug in electric, and mostly be done. The people across from my pulled a utility trailer and put up a big regular tent, a sun tent, and a large screen tent, plus they had bike and several chairs, plus an extra table!! Does not seem worth it for just two days.

Nice sun today and no threat of more rain until tomorrow.

[Irmi]

Hi Judy & everyone!

Judy, I can remember going out for weekends only when we were working, but since we never tented, life was easy.

Steve and I were presented with a bouquet of red roses for donating our piano to church. We'll be picking the rest of the steamed crabs we bought a couple days ago and will have crab cakes for dinner. We had friends over last night for dinner and had planned to play cards but talked the night away. We're only in the low 80's and the humidity is lower. Maybe Shirl can do something on her patio with the cooler temperatures.

[OregonLuvr]

Good morning. I spent some time online this morning in one of my private nursing forums. This conversation is heartbreaking but thought I would share it with you as these are real nurses NOT the media chosen ones. They are so beaten my heart goes out to all of them.
I dont know if many of you are from Florida but they are in dire straits right now as is lots of the south. Just hope you do not get sick this is a critical time as they do not have the resources to take care of the heart attacks, car accidents, falls, strokes etc.

This is a bit of a long read but at least it is from nurses on the frontline and not the news media. I took out the nurses names for privacy as this is a private group.

ICU is officially full, so full in fact that we have added 4 more ICU beds and we are now running at 120% capacity of our ICU beds with 90% of these patients Covid positive. The problem is we don’t have enough EXPERIENCED Nurses to care for these patients so we are having Progressive Care Unit nurses help fill in. These nurses are highly skilled but they aren’t used to this level of critical care. It’s unfair to these nurses to ask them to work above their scope and it’s unfair to the patients to be cared for nurses that don’t know how to manage some of the drips and equipment the critically ill patients require.
My advice to you… stay out of the hospital because we can’t care for you properly any longer. This is a sad day for medicine in Florida no matter what the government says.
The money doesn’t reflect the urgency.

It’s bad we have people in cots lined the hallway we now discharge people up to 4litersl of oxygen home because need the beds. Told to prone patients as much as possible
wow!

I’m in southeast Georgia. We are busting at the brim. Friday we had 8 Covid deaths before 3 pm. Codes everywhere and rapid responses and pretty much all unvaccinated. It’s so fucking sad right now. We normally have 2 12 bed icus. They have converted 2 more floors into icus and we are desperately needing staff.

In Orlando and it’s crazy. Work ICU. It’s worse than it’s ever been. People don’t care or grasp the severity.

I’m in NW Florida,not on contract. I was on contract in New Orleans (OR RN) and the OR’s got closed due to Covid, so I got cancelled. The same week my mother ended up hospitalized with Covid. It is no joke here right now. We’re wearing our masks if we have to go out, but I’d say 75% of people here are not masking. It’s so frustrating. The hospitals are overrun, the nurses are exhausted. At minimum wear your mask, PLEASE!!!

Im in Jacksonville and IT IS REAL!

Have you guys seen what’s going on in Arkansas?!?! Only 8 ICU beds in the entire state!

I’m curious why they haven’t sent FEMA nurses to help? I thought florida was struggling more than Texas

North Central Florida - we keep converting med/surg floors to Covid floors and PCU units becoming ICUs

We’re not okay. Please send help

Is true, hospitals stopped elective procedure, hospitals are a capacity, floors are turned back to covid floors.

I’m in the Clearwater area and it’s honestly the worst I’ve seen so far. The people are much younger. The ICUs are busting at the seems and everywhere is so short staffed. It’s so unsafe.

I think every hospital in Jacksonville has been at or above capacity for the last month. Now the deaths are trending up. Most unvaccinated or at my hospital immune compromised vaccinated.

L&D and we are not ok. Taking peds/medical/surgical on our unit because there's no beds anywhere. All protocols have been abandoned. Not enough staff.

We had to go on divert and open an ICU overflow on one of our PCUs but we don’t have the staff for it

Lake City Medical Center in north central florida has been over capacity for weeks now doubling up in private rooms, using corners of the hospital that were never meant to carry the capacity they are currently being used to do.

South Florida!!! We are at capacity and trying to make more beds. Not enough staff, crisis mode
It’s bad. Lots of admissions, young people, full, hospitals on diversion. Family in Titusville said one hospital had tents up.

[Irmi]

Karen, that is so sad. I'm happy you are retired and don't have to face these situations anymore, but it so frustrating to read this. My heart breaks for all the medical staff. A couple nights ago, our next door neighbor was in A Fib and the medical team with the ambulance said they couldn't take him to the hospital for the same reason. We will be going to FL but, once again, live in our little bubble. We are both fully vaccinated and our masks are washed and ready for our next trip out.

[Redetotry]

Karen, That is so sad that the situation is so horrible and yet so many people don't believe there is a problem.

I shared a story on Facebook yesterday about a young mother and her choice about a high risk pregnancy. The baby had a pretty slim chance of coming out of the pregnancy alive. Her heart was three sizes too big (called myocarditis) and anticipated to just get worse as signs of heart failure were present already. She goes on to tell how they were offered the opportunity go to a Boston hospital for a risky procedure that could give the baby a chance.
"Not knowing the statistics of how likely any of these risks were, because fetal interventions are so new in the medical world.
And we weighed the benefits:
Life for our baby."
She goes on to tell of the choices they faced almost daily. She ended with the following.
You have the opportunity to choose the benefit of life over the fear of risk, too. Or maybe this is the sign you’ve been waiting for to slip that mask back on in the grocery store. Or maybe it's a little nudge at you to stop sharing hateful rhetoric on the internet and a reminder that there are kids in our schools today who are silently cheering for masks, because up until that point they were going to be homebound to keep their baby sister safe this fall unlike those who are homeschooling solely to push a political agenda upon their kids.

The baby is a year old now and is a happy absolutely beautiful and normal except for her heart. The heart problem is of course still there but she now has a chance. This is a true story , I am distantly related and she lives nearby.

[JudyJB]

I have a couple of cousins whose daughters and/or daughters-in-law are nurses. They are all very frustrated with dealing with COVID and the people who refuse to get vaccinated because they believe they are young, healthy, and don't come into much contact with people, but then end up sick and in the hospital. They are working long hours and are tired of having to wear masks all day at work. The daughter of one cousin whose house did not have power for AC over the weekend because of Michigan storms, ended up having to spend the night with another cousin who did have AC so she could get a good night's sleep.

I bumped into a lady in the laundry room today who also was convinced that since she did not have much contact with people, she did not have to bother getting vaccinated!! I had on a mask but went outside very quickly.

I am eligible for a booster shot so am going to try to get one this week. Dentist appointment tomorrow to get bone graft done, so probably not enough time until Tuesday or Wednesday. Apparently, all I have to do is tell them I am a blood cancer survivor.

[OregonLuvr]

BJ that is such a nice story to be told in these dark days. Most of us have no idea what is really going on behind the scenes but chatting with those nurses I got a better idea. Irmi I am more than glad I am retired. The Board of Nursing is sending out notices to us retired people that they will waive all fees and reinstate us if we will come back. I thought about it for about a nanosecond....nope I will just stay home here in my bubble with my masks and hand sanitizer. Will get my booster when it becomes available as I have an autoimmune disease but so far I am sure I will be fine if I keep doing what I am.

Judy I didnt think the boosters were going to be available until September. Have you heard something differen?? Never mind I just checked and yes it is approved and can be given now. Thanks for making me check LOL

Salmon, squash and mashed potatoes for dinner, was super good. Even Emma thought so LOL I have a couple of very ripe bananas that I am saving to make Banana muffin with, I got the recipe off of One Dish Kitchen and it makes 6 smaller muffins. Perfect I hope.

The smoke is so much better, hopefully it will blow out entirely tomorrow as we have a small front coming in so that would be great. 95 here today but going down to 88 tomorrow and 78 on Tuesday then in the mid to higher 80's the rest of the week. Finally a few good days.

[JudyJB]

No prescription or doctors order needed for booster, at least according to two fellow patients I talked to. Found pharmacy with their brand of vaccine and went in. When asked why they wanted it just told pharmacist that they were blood cancer survivor and no problem.

[Bethers]

Nothing much to say. I'll work two or three hours tomorrow then have two days off. Nothing planned for my days off as rain is predicted both days. That doesn't always mean anything for us as it often hours around us, but would be in it if going on any direction lol. No rain was on the radar today, but we got some for about 15 minutes. Most nights I have my bedroom window open and at some point have to close it when temps drop into the 50's. Good thing I'm not paying my electric because then I need to turn my electric heater on to get up in the morning. A short time later my ac comes on. Today and tomorrow highs of 90 or so. Not what many of you are seeing, but enough to get my ac going. There is no shade here so we know what that does inside a rig.

Karen, it amazes me how many just don't get it. Another friend posted on his page that he wishes all his friends would understand the importance, as he is very compromised and would probably die with what most likely wouldn't be a big deal for many of them. I was shocked by some of the comments made by some of his friends. No compassion whatsoever. I cried at some of the comments. He's a sensitive man and my heart goes out to him reading those comments and I told him so.

[snowball]

a few days ago something was said about something that reminded me of a song but couldn't remember the name of it I finally did today it's a Garth Brooks She Let Herself Go a cute song
just the typical Sunday
went to church and probably 90% maybe more were wearing masks and back to every other row being used.... because this is a tourist town not surprised that the counts have been going up I've have gone back to wearing a mask recently probably should have all along but I choose not to... still planning on going to the wedding think though that since we will be driving perhaps we will eat outside as much as possible..
mom just asked why she has to go to the brother instead of staying home hard to explain but she is going she thinks she gets along ok I said she doesn't eat well who said well that is the report I got back and eating half a senior citizen meal at lunch and maybe the rest later doesn't give one enough to eat ... often she didn't eat the salad or dessert so she just doesn't eat well on her own and we won't even address water
you all take care
sheila

[Acadianmom]

I just don't understand the people that are going crazy over their kids wearing masks to school. If they don't care about the rest of the world it looks like they would want to protect their kids. If anyone disagrees with them they go after them. So far that hasn't happened here.

Didn't do much today. I went and got gas for the mower but didn't get much mowed before it started raining. I had bought some peaches on the side of the road a few days ago. Supposedly they are Ruston Peaches. I decided to make a peach crisp.

I guess I will be going to see about getting my phone activated tomorrow. Still watching the weather to see what the tropical storms are going to do. It looks like Fred isn't going to be much but rain. The track for Grace changes every time I look at the weather. I might go to the lake next weekend if the weather is good.

Martha

[monik7]

I don’t understand those who won’t get vaccinated either. My “adopted” daughter (not really adopted, but because she was a very good friend of my son) is an LVN and is adamant about not trusting the vaccines and refusing to get one. I get so tired of listening to her faulty reasoning on the subject. Seems so strange to hear that thinking from a medical professional.

Tomorrow I have a regular appointment with my rheumatologist at Kaiser. One of my first questions will be asking if Kaiser has started giving boosters to immune-compromised patients. If so, I’ll get mine there. If they’re not up and running with giving boosters tomorrow, I already have an appointment set up to get one at CVS in the afternoon.
Sandi