Sunday 6 February 2022

Storm Malik and The Old Woman

 Or: It Was A Dark And Stormy Night...

It's been another week of "tread-carefully-and-keep-your-eyes-on-your-feet-when-out-walking"...

Storm Malik passed by here last weekend, with various unforeseen consequences in tow. While out walking yesterday (watching my feet, so only one photo), I was trying to start writing this blog post in my head; but for some reason my thoughts went to an old nursery rhyme/folk tale. When I got back home, I went online to check if it's the same in English. I found that in English it's called The Old Woman and Her Pig. It took me a while to find it, because in the Swedish version, there's no pig involved! Here, it starts and ends instead with a boy who refused to go to school. Verbally, ours is also snappier* (see below).  Otherwise it's basically the same - describing a chain of events with one thing leading to another (which is why I came to think of it in the first place). 

...And as soon as the cat had lapped up the milk, the cat began to kill the rat; the rat began to gnaw the rope; the rope began to hang the butcher; the butcher began to kill the ox; the ox began to drink the water; the water began to quench the fire; the fire began to burn the stick; the stick began to beat the dog; the dog began to bite the pig...

*In Swedish though, it's more like this (and should be read very fast): "cat on the rat, rat on the rope, rope on the ox, ox on the water, water on the fire, fire on the stick, stick on the dog, dog on the boy, and the boy to school!"

[Swedish: "katten på råttan, råttan på repet, repet på oxen, oxen på vattnet, vattnet på elden, elden på riset, riset på pojken, och pojken till skolan"]

Anyway, applying this pattern of consequences to my week, it went something like this:

In the night between Saturday and Sunday, while I was sleeping, Storm Malik caused a power outage in my area of town. The power outage (or the power coming back on again) caused damage to the motor of an electrically adjustable backrest that I've had mounted on my bed for nearly 16 years (technical aid originally prescribed for a complicated situation with surgery on top of other pain problems at the time). When the power came back on, the motor started giving off a strange and very loud noise, which woke me up. At first I assumed the noise must come from some machine outside (like a snow plow). When I realized where it did come from, I hurried to pull the plug out - feeling rather scared! It wasn't until a bit later, when a newsflash on my tablet informed me that there had been a power outage during the night, that the whole thing began to make some sort of sense at all. (I also learned the power had come back on around the time when I woke up.) 

As it was Sunday, there wasn't anything further I could do about it that day (except start pondering the consequences).  Thankfully no other appliances had broken down. (I had to restart my TV cable box, but it let me do that without protests.)

On Monday, I called the primary health care rehab unit; and in the afternoon, an occupational therapist called me back. She was very nice, but since we were new to each other, 20+ years of explanations (medical history) were needed (phew). At the end she said that she would call the technical aids centre, and they'd get back to me.

On Tuesday, the same occ. therapist called again and told me the tech guys had told her they would not repair the backrest because it was too old. And what with current rules and regulations, and my needs having changed compared to 16 years ago, she also could not prescribe me a new one. I had anticipated as much, so did not argue with that, but said that in that case, I needed help to get rid of the thing. And perhaps some advice about simpler alternatives.

So on Thursday, the OT made a house call to demount the Thingy from my bed - a procedure requiring acrobatics (getting down on the floor and wriggling in under the bed) that I (still) wouldn't dare try now - even if on the whole, I am more mobile today than I was in 2006. (On the other hand, I'm 16 years older. And, as I keep telling people, the older one gets, things are rarely as simple as just stating that one is "better" or "worse" compared to 5, 10, 15, 20, 30 years ago...) The OT managed the necessary acrobatics, though. So in that respect, all went smoothly - and just now, I'm feeling mostly grateful to have got rid of the no longer helpful contraption. (Actually I think that even if they'd manage to repair it, I'd now have been scared of a repeat experience!)

However, I now have to kind of re-learn some movement patterns. (If someone asked you on the phone - like the OT did me - "How do you get out of bed?" - would you be able to describe the exact procedure from lying flat down in your bed to finding yourself standing next to it?)  And I also need to figure out the right combination of pillows etc needed now for comfortable daytime rest, and for example reading. I had an old bed wedge pillow down in my storage room (from way back before the electric thingy), but I think I may need a higher one. Nowadays the internet is full of stuff like that, only a click away - the problem is just to decide what design, size, shape, angle, height, weight etc etc might work best for me at the moment. (I'd prefer if I could walk into a shop and try them out!)

So the next consequence is that I've spent so much time googling backrests this week that now all my devices (laptop, tablet, phone) are full of 'cookies' from all kinds of places selling various rehab stuff. (From the Big A to specialized smaller websites.) In turn with the consequence that where/what ever else I go or do online now (playing games, using Facebook etc), ads for technical aids keep popping up every two minutes. Not only wedge pillows and backrests (that I've already looked at a dozen times), but a million other kinds of "senior" and medical stuff as well... from walkers to pill poppers and compression stockings (and all claiming to be the best of its kind).

I did of course also discuss pillow/backrest alternatives with the occ. therapist. But decided to give it a bit of time to figure out what I think might serve me best, and at a reasonable price. (Reading customer reviews may also be worth while. For example, there was one pillow that looked good size-wise, but I found reviews mentioning that it had a bad smell...)
 



17 comments:

  1. Phew! That sounds like a lengthy process, but since we do spend quite a lot of our lives in bed (venerally speaking), I guess the investment in time and money is worth it.
    The nursery rhyme reminds me very much of Alla Fiera dell‘Est, a song by Angelo Branduardi which I kmow by heart. There, the smallest link in the chain is a tiny mouse (il topolino) while the chain ends ultimately with the Lord God (il Signore), spanning everything in between from cat, dog, stick, fire, water, ox, butcher, and the Angel of Death.
    You do know that you can change the settings of your browsers so that cookies are deleted every time you close the browser window, right?

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    1. Thanks for the reminder, Meike. The problem with that, though, is that I think I would then also be logged out of places where I find it more convenient to keep being signed in. (?)

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  2. The venerally speaking should of course have been generally speaking!

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  3. Oh I do empathize. I have a C-PAP machine which did a similar thing when I ended up no longer getting air when the electricity failed...in my sleep. My anxiety went off the wall as fortunately a red alert sounded on my phone to tell me the elec. was off. When I mentioned this a friend left a gadget in my doorway (still anonymous) which gives and alert whenever the elec. goes off, so I don't depend upon a phone message. So now I don't worry that I'll suffocate if the C-Pap dies in the night. Oh dear, your comfort level is certainly something to consider, and finding the right products should be high priority, even if ads bug you like crazy. Good wishes that you hunt down the right stuff for you!

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    1. Ouch Barbara, that does sound even more scary!!! As for ads, the "senior stuff" ads aren't really more annoying than all the other ads - it just became very obvious how "Big Brother" knows everything I do online :)

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  4. I have a very hazy memory of this nursery rhyme from somewhere way in the distant past. Gosh, if this had woken me up, I would have been terrified! Maybe the ad-pop-ups will actually help, you never know! Let us know what you decide on, maybe even show us a photo! I almost never buy anything without reading the owner's comments, and they have stopped me from buying quite a few things. I also write reviews myself on Amazon.

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    1. Ginny, you're right - there are both pros and cons with personalized ads. And reviews from buyers/users can sometimes be very helpful - especially when pointing out disadvantages of a product.

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  5. about half way through your part of the story I started to laugh, really laugh. no wonder you thought about the nursery rhymne. It is perfect for your story and on it goes, the laughter almost did me in when you started about the cookeis following you. I saw a car I really liked, was describing it to bob and wanted him to see it. a 2022. within 30 minutes every where i went new cars started to follow me, not just the ones i looked at but all types of new cars, and car insurance has been bombarding my emails, both of them. now i hesitate to research to help a couple of friends that are not good at it because what ever i search is on me until the next search comes along. so sorry you lost your bed contraption and I am sure you still need something but what is the question. and i don't like to order things i have not seen or tried. good luck.. so glad they came and got it out for you, that has become a huge problem here

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    1. Hello MadSnapper, just change your browser's settings so that all cookies are deleted every time you close the browser window. That should get rid of most (if not all) those unwanted adverts related to your last search. You can also use different search engines and, if it's google, make sure you are not signed in while you use it.

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    2. Always glad to amuse, Sandra :) I'm "in two minds" myself about having all cookies deleted every time I close the browser as that would probably also log me out of places where I want to keep logged in. Meike's suggestion of using a different browser than your usually preferred choice when doing searches for someone else (or some unusual purpose) strikes me as a good idea, though.

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    3. Meike, I forwarded your comment to Sandra as I'm not sure she comes back here to check.

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  6. It can be most frustrating when one thing leads to another in this tiresome way. I prefer to think about the ways one GOOD thing can also lead to another! Perhaps you will end up with overall better arrangements, despite the hassle! :)

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    1. Jenny, I agree. Which is why I did not argue with their decision not to repair or replace it. ;)

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  7. What a traumatic time you've had. Though I did smile at the thought of you explaining, over the phone, how you of out of bed. These days I suppose it's easier to just show how you do it on your smart phone!

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    1. CG, I showed her when she was here to help me get rid of the thing. ;)

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  8. Oops - that should read how you get out of bed.....

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