Done yesterday (20090418)

[mdlbear]

0418 Sa
  * up 7:40ish; W=191.2; drugs, nose; coffee, C.
  & 10:30ish visit Colleen
    ! contented.  Even though I forgot her laundry and shallot pepper
  * walk: 3 miles by Los Gatos Creek
  * TJ:  cranberry Emergen-C, other stuff as needed
  & Fry's.  Looked at cheap DECT phones, but didn't: they don't wall-mount
    I like the way GE aux handsets go into clock mode, though.
  * Colleen wants shallot pepper (now in bag with laundry, salad dressing)
  * Emmy making dinner; she wants to visit Colleen later.
    ! happy, pleased with her, proud.
  & update gig list in s.s.net
  & Visit Colleen with Emmy
    ! contented
  & mixing puttering/decluttering with posting "state of" posts
  * see whether Baycon rooms reserved -> they're not, and there's no entry yet
  * check out full electric hospital beds at Amazon.  
    = Under $1000 for Invacare bed+mattress pkgs; no specs.  Check ABC
  . start packing up bedroom for major cleanup
  * bed ~midnight

I don't feel as though I got very much done yesterday. Especially considering how much I'll have to do if I want to get our bedroom cleared out and cleaned up by the time Colleen comes home on Friday.

In fact, I haven't done much during the entire last week, when I had the Younger Daughter home from school to help. She did clean her room and the kitchen; that's something.

I did some cleaning, anyway -- more like puttering, but it's a start. And I researched hospital beds at Amazon. If these are the same beds I saw at ABC Medical Supply locally, I could save somewhere between $500 and $700 buying a pair of them from Amazon. If I trusted them and their third-party vendors, some of whom list "10 pounds" for both the dimensions and shipping weight of the objects in question. Nobody lists the actual dimensions or weight, which worries me. And if the difference didn't get gobbled up in shipping costs.

Apart from these "done yesterday" posts, I don't seem to be posting much. Maybe just as well given how long it takes to write one, but I really ought to get back to writing at some point.

The astute reader may notice that I'm using both colleen-200903 and colleen-200904 as tags. I change the date when something major changes; I figure coming home counts, so I'll use the 200904 tag for planning toward that event.

Comments

[kyrielle]

Would it be easier to rent hospital beds initially, make sure they work as expected, and then buy the same model? I don't know how much renting them runs....

[mdlbear]

That sounds like a good idea, especially if Kaiser will cover a good chunk of the cost. On the other hand they're very limited in what models they provide, if wheelchairs are any example.

[acelightning.livejournal.com]

It might be useful to look up several medical-equipment-rental places in the local Yellow Pages. The ads alone may tell you, but if not, phone the most likely-looking ones and ask them whether they take Kaiser's insurance plan. Renting large medical devices like hospital beds is much better than buying - for one thing, if it breaks, they just bring you a new one and take away the old one, rather than you having to wait for someone to come fix it.

[mdlbear]

Yes, but this would be a permanent replacement for our old bed. Rental adds up -- we were paying $20/month for a wheelchair; when you add in the tax savings from using my FSA, the one we bought has already paid for itself.

[acelightning.livejournal.com]

Are you sure you need hospital beds? There are consumer-grade adjustable beds that may be cheaper to buy.

[mdlbear]

All of the consumer-grade adjustable beds I've seen are about twice the price of a hospital bed, and none adjust vertically. All have much thicker mattresses. The only real questions are whether they'd be sufficiently more comfortable to be worthwhile, and low enough to be safe.

[shadowe_wraithe]

I am so glad to hear Colleen is doing so well.

About the beds...
Go to your local med supply store and look at (and write down the manufacturer and model numbers) the beds you are thinking of buying. Then check Amazon (or Google Shopping) for the same beds with pricing. That way you KNOW the measurements and can ask any questions necessary of the sellers Prior to purchase. Also, do check eBay as they often have very good deals on used things.

For the record, I have used both Amazon and eBay to great results. In over 10 years using eBay I have never had a problem with sellers.

If there's anything I can help with, research/search wise with the beds, please let me know...my old nickname used to be Ferret of the Web.

Love, Hugs and Blessings,
Shadowe

PS: Was great to see Chaoswolf at Norwescon, hopefully next year you and the rest of the family will be up as well.

[mdlbear]

That would have been a great thing to do a couple of months ago. In fact, I started to do it a couple of months ago. Then Colleen ended up spending two months in bed, and my brain turned to mush.

Hopefully we'll get up to Norwescon next year -- we'd been planning on driving up this year, but...

Other than every day

[capplor.livejournal.com]

you aren't posting much? Give yourself credit! This is what's going on in your life and you're posting every day about it.

Re: Other than every day

[mdlbear]

At one point I had a pretty good series of articles going that might be of sufficiently general interest as to be worth publishing. Now I don't and feel the lack.