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Praetorium Honoris

Monday, November 14, 2022

News and Weather, juvat style.

 Well, Campers, it's been a comparatively busy week here at Rancho Juvat.  Not that anything new is going on, more of the usual routine, albeit with a deadline approaching.

First, on the first order of importance.  LJD continues to show improvement.  Last weigh-in had her at 6 lbs 12.6 ozs.  Virtually all her other measurements are now within expected ranges.  I'm not a Doctor, nor have I played one on TV, but I've been told that with Preemies, the most important and last area of development is Lung Capacity.  Specifically, a couple of measures of Oxygen usage.  

One is FI-O2, this is a measure of the ratio of oxygen supplement to regular air provided in her breathing apparatus.  Since the amount of Oxygen in the air you and I are breathing right now is ~21%, that's the goal they're shooting for her.  While no measure of human being activities is ever a straight line, and her's certainly complies with that theory, she's been trending down for quite a while.  Last measure was 30%.   She's been below 35% for a week or so.  So, good news/progress.

The other measure of Oxygen is the supplemental Oxygen Flow rate.  The goal here is a sustained rate below 3.0 Liters/Minute which will allow her to begin breast/bottle feeding and no longer need a feeding tube.  Again, she's making pretty steady progress.  Visit before last, she was at 4.3, this last one was 3.5 and she's been down to 3.0 a couple of times, so, again, good news/progress.

From my non-medical observation perspective, she's beginning to show a little personality.  E.G. beginning to fuss a bit when she doesn't want to do something.  The Physical Therapist is a prime recipient.  Having been at the kind hands of a few of those in my days, I understand that.  But...things are going well.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again.  If there are Saints walking on the Earth today, I firmly believe they're wearing NICU Garb.  Thank You Lord!

On a lighter note.

Get it?

Summer appears to be officially over down here in the Lone Star State.  Woke up this morning, got ready for Church, walked out of the house at the usual time and...spent the next 10 minutes or so, scrapping frost off the windows.  


Yes, Sarge, I know you Rhodies go sunbathing and skinny dipping at this temperature.  Down here, we refer to this as  "COLD!".  Fortunately, however, another weather event that occurred this week had dissipated.



I believe the technical term for this WX phenomenon is "Rain".  It's been so long since I've used the term without a negative in front of it, I've forgotten.  It is interesting how fast the brown grass started showing some shades of green. 



I decided that, given the circumstances, even the Wicked Witch would go out in it, so I wandered out to look at the rain gauge.  Just under 1.5" at that point, got a total of 2 for the day.  So...we got that going for us.

On a lighter note, one must enjoy humor where it presents itself.  Even if that happens in the parking garage for a major hospital.

I've seen it a few times there, so either it's someone visiting a long term patient, or a health care professional.  If the latter, I think that person and I could get along quite well.  

If I weren't his patient.

Since it was so cold today, Mrs. J decided to give me an early Thanksgiving (No, Beans, not early, early, early Christmas) present.  I got a chuckle out of it.  Course, it's also completely true.


Gift construction is progressing at an acceptable pace.  A couple of them are in the final finishing coats process, so apply then dry, is taking time.  Once those are done, and all the flippin' sanding dust is cleaned up, the big one will commence.  Might be up all night Christmas Eve, but hey, if Santa can pull it off, so can I.

Headed over to College Station this afternoon, to visit MBD, SIL and MG.  No real reason, just haven't seen them face to face in a while.  Video phones are better than what we had when we were stationed overseas, but they still haven't figured out a way to give your grandkids a hug via one.   So...comment responses might be a bit brief/late.

Peace Out, y'All!  Don't let the Bastiges get you down!  




27 comments:

  1. Good news on LJD, continued improvement is a blessing!

    28! That's colder than Little Rhody!

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    Replies
    1. Sarge, thanks.

      28 is indeed cold. More so with about 15 knots of wind. An important wind chill indicator is how long the Pastor stands outside church, meeting and greeting. Yesterday, I think it was measured in microseconds. Which was ok by me!
      Juvat
      (Commenting from iPad with sign in “issues”)

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  2. It's only 33 here in upstate NY this morning! I was worried about you folks when I heard about the tornadoes in eastern Tx, but rain is a good thing. We are supposed to get some snow on Wednesday, which I am less than excited about, but I guess it needs to come sometime, and we have been blessed that we haven't had any so far this season.

    Yup, lung function is a big mountain to climb over to be able to "graduate" from premie NICU to regular nursery status...sounds like you have a real fighter on your hands, which is a good thing. Grumpiness, especially at PT, is a good sign. Exercise should be a four letter word in my opinion, but there is no arguing with the fact that it does work...sigh... Tell her she needs to do it so she can chase after her cousin. ;)

    Continuing with prayers.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Suz,
      Prayers are good and appreciated (and apparently working, Thank you Lord!)

      Progress on the lung numbers has been fairly consistent in the right direction, which is good. Prayers are very much appreciated. Thanks!

      Delete
  3. Excellent news on LJD and increasing my knowledge base on oxygen usage is a side benefit juvat. As to temp and precip, yesterday's high....28 and it's snowing as I type this..... one to three inches today..........big....fluffy....flakes.........

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    Replies
    1. Nylon,
      Thanks, happy to help.
      Cold and frost are one thing down here. Tolerable, but…
      Snow, and worse, ice, and I tend to camp in place til gone. Texas driver’s, under those conditions tend to self-identify into two groups. First, the grannies…doesn’t matter what the road conditions are. 5mph is the max speed on 2 lane roads, because….safe! Passing zones are apparently treated with a very effective anti-ice solution, as the apparent speed limit is 75-80.
      Then, there’s the Texans. “Damn the torpedoes (ice) full speed ahead”. These usually self-identify by their tending to park their trucks (99.9999999… percent probability) in the barditch.
      So…I try to take the backroads. They may be slippery, but I’m not in proximity to either of the above and the barditches aren’t that deep!

      Juvat

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  4. Very good news all around.
    It's an odd year. You're down there in America; freezing, and I'm at anchor at the foot of the Statue of Liberty in the People's Republic of New York, and I'm in a T-shirt. It was like 70 yesterday at 8am.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. P,D
      Thanks, It really is kinda interesting isn’t it? Big Country!
      Juvat

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  5. Great news from the land of Nimitz. The ranchito looks pretty good all wet, with more coming down. Maybe some crushed concrete for a road to keep the mud slick down? I figured you'd have limestone just under the grass out there....

    Great news on the shop projects. Keep up the good work! Safe travels to Maroon-ville (isn't that defined by IQ between 50 and 70? Psychology was a looooong time ago) and back.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. STxAR
      The road is crushed limestone base with a tar topping and crushed gravel surface. It’s held up pretty well. We resurfaced it when we added a section to the new house (@ 20 years). A few puddle holes, but still very passable. The puddles in the pictures is the area we turn around to park. Next time we win the lottery, we’ll fix that.

      Thought you might be describing Moscow on the Colorado. Road construction there should have been done 20 years ago. What’s being built now,IMHO, will not handle the massive influx of refugees flocking their.

      Thanks, shop pics after the fact

      Juvat

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  6. Yay for LJD!

    Rain here at The Ranch last week (none this week when I am here, of course) which was also sorely needed, almost 2" as well. Nights are in the low 30's but days are in the 50's or so - not overly cold if one is out being active.

    Is there any update on Little J and his re-posting?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. THBB,

      Last first. Not yet. Not enough information to make an informed decision. LJD’s continued progress should be tipping the scales in the right direction though.

      Temps are coolish. Wind however…

      Thanks
      Juvat

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  7. Great news on LJD's progress!
    Don't fully understand those O2 readings I get at the Dentist's office, guess at my age I'm more concerned in heat beat(s) and bp....mainly heart beat followed by another, and repeat.
    Was driving back home from Tractor Supply and in downtown 'Burg got into that rain that put the 2" on you folks. As I was about 3 miles north of the Post Office noticed the rain puddles were smaller. Got home and only 0.45" registered for the entire event. Still slightly less than 1/2 our annual rainfall here on the hill. Managed to escape the freeze with 33 F but we did cover the tomatoes just in case.
    Youngest daughter, her hubby and 3 of her 4 "grand Gorillas" (4 teenage boys) are due this weekend and they love BLT's. Eldest two have their full drivers license, and the plan is to test the manual transmission, clutch and floor starter of the 51 Chevrolet Pickup. They're never driven a manual transmission, but they have been tutored verbally and with video, plus they'll be under close supervision. After they leave early next week headed back to the swamp in Lap Land (where Texas and Louisiana lap over into each other) hope I'm not on the phone looking for a 51 chev. manual transmission, clutch or starter.
    Cletus

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    Replies
    1. Cletus,
      Regular and rhythmic heartbeats are good, or so I’ve been told by my (probably our) cardiologist. All those numders in the first couple of para’ track LJD’s progress to breathing on her own. So…fairly important and a deciding factor in leaving the hospital. We were keeping her company Saturday, when the staff and family were getting their son relased. He’d been there a YEAR! All of a sudden LJD’s stay doesn’t seem so long.
      Glad you got SOME rain. Our puddles didn’t last too long and the ground’s sucking sounds were pretty deafening. Not out of trouble yet, but it helped.
      I learned to drive a stick at the Lubbock airport. Both our fuel truck and our spotting tractor were sticks. Learned pretty quick as the tower folks would get a bit terse on the radio if the runway wasn’t crossed expeditiously. Similarly corporate pilot got a little irked if their multi-million dollar bizjet’s landing gear was jerked around stopping and startng the positioning of the jet to pick up theit VIP’s. The GrandKids should do fine. You are keeping them North of Tivydale road aren’t you?
      Asking for a friend!

      Juvat

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    2. Juvat, feel free to tell your friend the warning area will definitely be north of Tivydale so feel free to venture forth. But if anyone is out on the small subdivision roads off 87 North of the 'Burg and see a solid Red 1951 Chevrolet pickup advancing toward you, please proceed with extreme caution.
      Cletus

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    3. Cletus.
      Will do, thanks. Out of curiousity, is the truck a low rider? If so, may have seen it around a few times. Nice ride!

      Delete
    4. It's actually a stock 51, solid red. It was in the picture you had in the blog just passing your location on Main St. during the 4th of July Parade this year. Had the US and Texas Flags mounted in the rear stake pockets.
      Seen that low rider around town, it is a nice truck. There are quite a few Classic/Antique cars in the 'Burg that are in excellent condition.

      Delete
  8. Prayers for that little MightyMite!
    14 degrees here this morning.

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    Replies
    1. BBC
      Thanks. 14 is cold, I don’t care where you are! Dress warm.
      Juvat

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  9. Plenty of Saints out there, living and dead. Just not all of them have been or ever will be recognized as such. Has LJD passed her original due date? Sometimes that's a good mark for when they finish incubating in the NICU.

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    Replies
    1. Tuna,
      Yes Oct 20 was her due date. I don’t think she’s quite ready, but getting closer.
      Juvat

      Delete
  10. my littlest (and last), originally (back in '79) weighin' in somewhere 'tween a fryer n' a very small roaster, sends her best to LJD; she enjoys following her progress

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    1. Boron,
      Good to know that “There is a way” is more than just a Vietnam movie. That it pertains to other aspects of life’s challenges. Thanks to you and your daughter for the reminder.

      Delete
  11. Good news on LJD, it just takes patience and dedication with NICU babies! Re the WX, we finally got some rain up here, but not enough. We're 9 inches behind.

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    Replies
    1. OldNFO, Thanks. The rain didn’t get us back in the positive column by a longshot. However, every little bit helps. Thanks

      Delete
  12. I was wondering about the little one. Glad to hear she's doing better.

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