Bipolar check-in #44

Congratulations!

Hey there SEACAT, CONGRATULATIONS!!!

@TheSeaCat. Congratulations!

Thanks, InnerZone--I really appreciate it!

Just do what you can. Low expectations. Get through 5 minutes, then worry about the next 5--or 1, or whatever. No future-tripping. Try to be aware when/if you are judging yourself and perhaps catch that and maybe try to minimize it, if possible. Try to show yourself some kindness. You have a major, major brain illness. But if you can't, that's okay, too.

We support you and we love you. Don't give up, it will get better. Just do what you can do and don't fret about all the rest. There will be plenty of time to worry about other stuff later.

What a fantastic memory that will be! Congratulations!

Wow! Congratulations, TheSeaCat! What a lovely bit of news for us all to read amidst the scarier stuff. Thank you for sharing that. I wish you and your fiance many many happy years together.

What a beautiful ring that is!

Well, my guitar lessons are cancelled for the next few weeks due to the coronavirus. Kinda bummed, but the guy does run the lessons in his own house, so I understand fully where he is coming from. I can't blame him. I would have done the same. I also think he might be in his 60s, which puts him at greater risk for complications.

He says that he will start lessons back up when schools start opening again, so who knows when that'll be. At least now I have more time to practice and perfect. Plus, admittedly, I was a bit worried to go to his house because lots of people touch his doorknobs, and who knows if one of them is carrying coronavirus?

Anyway, mood is okay I guess. Nothing going on, positive or negative. Just have lots of work to do.

As a side note, I wonder if my therapist is going to start doing teletherapy soon because of coronavirus. She said she was fine with being in the office to see people, but It really isn't up to her, though. The office she works at will decide.

The MH center where I have my doc and t is calling everyone with upcoming appointments and asking if he/she has a cough, fever, or shortness of breath and rescheduling appointments if anyone says "yes." I hope people are being honest.
My leg is really bouncing today haha. I gotta fold towels, and it's cold outside. It's cold inside too. Our furnace hasn't been working consistently, the oven's broke, and something else I forget. Time for a walk!

Congratulations SeaCat!

Mum had the furnace guy here when I got outa bed!!!! She called at 9:45 and they were right here! I go to bed at midnight, read a bit and stay in bed till I get at least 6 hours of sleep. So it's late when I roll out. Embarrassing to have some guy see me. At least mum was able to warn me and I got dressed before he saw me. Furnace is only 3 years old, sprung a leak. They ordered the part and will be back when they get it. Then he changed all the battiness in the thermostats.

Why the heck are they calling people about that? People who contract coronavirus can be asymptomatic for up to 14 days.

If someone sneezes in the air, then their virus particles can hang around for up to 3 hours according to Dr. Mike. (He says it in his latest YouTube video.) I guess the virus particles cling to air particles and just hover there. Plus, if someone sticks their finger in their mouth (maybe to dislodge some food stuck in their teeth), wipes their runny nose with their hand, or wipes their eyes after crying, then they can spread it when they touch stuff. And you would never know they're sick because they may be in the initial asymptomatic stage of the virus.

And yes, you're right that some people will probably lie, so there's that too.

I'm not saying that everyone will pick their teeth, wipe their runny nose, wipe their eyes, or sneeze, but I'm just pointing out that your office is not really protecting itself. I think they should just close their doors for the time being if they're really that concerned. In fact, what I said about people picking their teeth etc. is exactly why this virus has been spreading so rapidly. It's mostly asymptomatic people spreading this stuff. The people who are really ill tend to be in the hospital in quarantined units where they can't spread it.

You're right, but what are they going to do? Say "don't come if you're going to develop symptoms within the next two weeks"? At least they're doing something, which kinda amazes me because a lot of places I've been to would punish you if you were sick and skipped an appointment. They could do appointments over the phone or through something like Skype, but I highly doubt they're going to do that.

I agree that they're taking measures to prevent people from getting sick, but teletherapy is really easy though. All it requires is something like Skype on your computer, or a simple phone call. Everyone has a phone.

If they're seriously paranoid of everyone getting sick, then they should force teletherapy. They're really not protecting themselves right now, even though they think they are. China's outbreak was mostly due to the asymptomatic people who were unknowingly walking around with the virus for 14 days.

There are plenty of practices that are doing teletherapy right now, and I bet your place is doing it too if they are telling sick people to stay home. I doubt they're cutting people off completely.

I find some of the titles on different forums (not here..) quite ironic

Yeah, but at this center getting through on the phone or internet is really iffy. Like, "your therapy notes will never get emailed to your pdoc" and "you might have to call your t multiple times before actually being able to leave a voicemail" iffy. They need to do some updating.
Not saying it's impossible, if they really wanted to they'd make it work, but I don't think they're going to practically shut down.

My brother left a voicemail for me saying he doesn't want our dad to come home from the assisted living at the end of the month. That would mean our dad can't go to the psych intake appointment or the neurologist we scheduled. Frankly, I don't know what's best. I do hate the idea that dad would keep paying $8,000 (plus) every month he puts off going home. My sister and I initially agreed Dad coming home early would be best, but it's my brother changing the tune, so to speak. My brother lives in our dad's house. I imagine my brother just doesn't want our dad back home. I understand that desire, but our dad's house is our dad's house, not my brother's.

I'm going to just leave the decision up to my sister and brother. They will be calling our dad to discuss the current realities and see what he says. It is our dad's money that funds the assisted living. If he really wants to stay in there, it is his decision to do so. Of course my husband disagrees with my siblings on this, but though I love my husband dearly, he is just a son-in-law. And again, at this point, my dad can do what he wants to do, even if that would mean staying at the assisted living until all of his money runs out.

I, honestly, don't believe my father fully comprehends what is going on with this pandemic. He never watches TV. He is completely sheltered. He doesn't see the grocery store shelves. He doesn't go downtown and see most all shops and restaurants closed. I think it would frighten the heck out of him. It obviously frightens most all of us, to varying degrees. I mentioned to my sister that this pandemic situation is something we've never seen in the US. I said that there are some slight parallels with wartime.

Im so sorry once again your faced with another mess...

Honestly your Dad would safer medically if back home.. Nursing homes / assisted living, Once a virus hits its like a wildfire, The Nursing home in Washington State is proof, last I heard almost 50 employees have tested positive, Im not for certain, there is so much jumbled news..

Im sure your Brother doesnt want to deal with him, But as you said its your Dads home !

Is the facility where he is making any announcements yet about how they plan to handle this situation? Maybe your sister can call them or just go there and speak to the DON or Adminstrator ask specifics about there plan?

I hope that a decision can be made, yes this is a time when your Dad should take some time and watch the news

Hang in there

Well another night of no sleep, Not that I thought it was going to happen..

I got a Text that my session with Richard is cancelled for Wednesday. I dont know if the company has closed the office or he just decided to duck out for his own safety, he is 72 after all.. Cant blame him a bit. I really needed the session, but I wasnt sure I was going to go anyway.

My daughter texted me at 9 am furious as hell. The company she works for, (she is a copy writer) is owned by a Scientologist and she has decided that everyone still needs to come to work.. Every bit of work my daughter does is by computer, all of it. The system keeps track of numbers, so she would still keep working and honestly she gets more done if she works from home, no distractions..

The CEO has said that if anyone gets sick they just need to take lots of vitamins and they will feel better in one day...... Hmmmmm OKAY if it was that bloody easy nobody would be dying all around the world.. Scientologist are just a bunch of freaking lunatics

My daughter is always battling a sinus infection or bronchitis, Shes catches any damn crud going around..

I hope that officials will start talking about people working from home as to not spread this. Maybe that will get idiot woman to realize this is not just a freaking cold..

So I am stressing over that and well lots of other crap.

And just because I am dealing with enough !!!!! Im now having a massive issue with dry mouth to the point my tongue is bleeding and feels like razor blades are hacking away. My teeth just ache.. Now I drink at least a gallon of water a day, I have added Gatoraid and warm Teas and I am using Biotin.. no real relief. This happens from time to time, no rhyme or reason.. It is sooo uncomfortable

BirdDancer, I agree with Christina. Nursing homes, assisted living, skilled nursing facilities, etc. are not safe right now. Some places are prohibiting all visitors, but not all of them are. But even if your father's place is prohibiting visitors, all it would take is one nurse to get sick with coronavirus, and then next thing you know, s/he spreads it to everyone there.

Once someone gets sick in one of those places, it spreads like wildfire. Then there are lots of tragedies because the people living in those places tend to be 60 and up, which is one of the age groups that is considered a "high risk" for complications like pneumonia, bronchitis, etc..

I personally would take him out of the facility and bring him home, for his own health safety. I don't think the risk of leaving him there is worth it. I know it will suck if he is not in there anymore, but his personal health is most important. I don't want to see him get sick and suffer.

Thanks, Christina.

Yes, the assisted living facility where my dad is is taking a number of steps. A few days ago, they announced that no visitors are allowed. That includes family members. Also, non-essential staff members will not report to work. I guess only the bare minimum (nurse, cook, cafeteria staff, bare bones cleaning staff, and enough to look after residents). They also stated the following:

"You can still take your loved one out, but if you choose to do this, you would have to take them home until the state and federal restrictions are lifted. Then they can come back on a 14-day quarantine to their room. This does not apply to essential medical appointments."

The above is pretty rough, for sure. It certainly discourages residents to leave. The appointments our dad has are not considered "essential", strangely enough. No matter what, our dad will be uncomfortable with the situation. My siblings called our dad and dad said he wants to stay at the facility another month. Hopefully, this pandemic will have started to lose steam by April 31. But we don't know. I agree with you that facilities like my dad are in have major risk factors. What am I going to do?

Well its just a shyt situation But they have to do everything they can to hopefully keep residents safe..

Does your Dad understand that if one resident or a single employee gets Corona virus every single person will be confined to their room 24/7 ? Literally stuck in there room for weeks and weeks?? This isnt going to be a Oh in 2 weeks life will go back to normal...

There's no other way to "try" and stop the spread once it hits.

I hate that your in a mess like this

I'm sorry that you've been struggling with poor or lack of sleep for so long. I can imagine that many people are losing sleep now even just because of this pandemic.

Couldn't Richard do a phone session? I know that many tdocs do them under certain circumstances. I'm almost thinking that my tdoc should do some for a couple weeks, but I haven't heard her request that or cancel. I'm supposed to see her tomorrow. I feel the same about my pdoc, who unlike my early 50s tdoc, is elderly at maybe 73.

That sucks that your daughter works for someone so ignorant about reality. What can you say? A lot of people have crazy notions. A lot of people believe conspiracy theories and all kinds of weird stuff.

I'm 75% sure my pdoc will likely cancel his trip to Europe. I think his plan was to leave the week of April 12 and return two weeks later. His stated itinerary is to visit his wife's family in Germany and then take a cruise (yea, cruise) around Sicily, of all places. I'm not sure if the travel bans will be still in place then. At his and his wife's ages, I'd cancel. I think the Sicily cruise is definitely cancelled.

I don't think the phone would be an issue, though. You'd be completely bypassing the inept front desk staff, or doctors who ignore their voicemail. I'm 100% confident that your therapist would call *you*, rather than you calling them because you're talking on *their* schedule, not yours... so you most likely wouldn't even need to worry about phone issues where no one gets back to you.

They may have to shutdown at some point, especially if they have lots of geriatric clients or clients over the age of 60. I think it's inevitable because schools are closing, people with jobs are told to stay home, even restaurants are closing, and other nonessential services are being temporarily suspended. etc. etc..

I doubt they'll forget to call you. I mean, I suppose they *could* forget, but if they're already doing teletherapy because the whole office is shutdown, then they are probably in their house doing teletherapy all day, so they would be in "teletherapy mode."

This post is a **** free zone...

Respect to all

Papa bear is reading the



(not about anyone on pc)

Respect to all