Almost Four Years Later and I'm Returning | Razer Insider

Almost Four Years Later and I'm Returning

  • 22 January 2022
  • 6 replies
  • 9 views

Hello,

How's everyone doing? Hope you're all staying safe! Been a LONG time since I've been particularly active, so I wouldn't be surprised if no one remembers me - I'm sure we also have many new people around here. I figured I'd share what happened and reintroduce myself. Fair warning in advance: it's a LONG one!

In a nutshell (as much of one I can manage), back on March 3, 2018, my grandmother suddenly and unexpectedly passed away; prior to, she had an infection (cut her leg on the edge of her bed, which had a metal frame), went to hospital, and they claimed she would be fine, but, surprise - she ended up dead shortly thereafter, and warning signs were missed completely by supposed professionals! Anyway, as a result, I ended up helping to care for my veteran grandfather, who suffered from Alzheimer's disease, so he could stay in his home. It was extremely challenging and difficult; we had to fight just to get services and stuff he was eligible for as a veteran, and the first year was definitely challenging. Though, things were looking up towards the middle/end of the year; his last remaining sibling - his younger brother, who is a year and two months younger, and lived across the street from him - would regularly come to visit, and things were slowly coming together.

Things continued improving in the second year (2019), and he was getting a lot of what he needed. More importantly, he had some semblance of a life back; his brother continued to visit regularly, he was going out to a day program regularly, and even returned to his weekly Euchre night at his Legion for a while. Overall, things were more positive, and he was quite enjoying himself! He may not have remembered what he did - my mom would often say in encouragement to him "Don't worry, your brain's only so big, and can only store so much!" - but he would often claim to have had fun; he was an in-the-moment sort of person, and his face said it all (you could tell jut by looking at him if he was happy or not).

Unfortunately, Covid hit in the third year (2020), wrecking havoc, and things went downhill. All his services stopped because, early on, "masks don't help," and the agencies providing services wouldn't enforce the wearing of gloves/masks. Everything started getting worse. During a short, distant visit on his brother's birthday, he had an episode of sorts (a seizure/stroke it seemed like) - shortly thereafter, his brother was moved to a home (his family made the decision since he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's himself towards the end of 2019).
__________________

Going to separate this in to multiple posts because that access denied error keeps popping up. I think I'll be able to post this section for now, though, and post the rest in follow-up replies, so here's hoping! To be continued below.

Sincerely,

DawsonJr

This topic has been closed for comments

6 Replies

Hello,

Going to see if I can get it in two posts - let' hope! Continuation of the above:

Towards winter, something snapped in him - he was constantly chewing/licking his hands to the point they were bleeding, and was having trouble eating; he was still getting some food in him, but not nearly enough. As a result, he ended up going to the hospital - same one that claimed my grandmother would be fine - and ended up crippled and unable to eat proper food (was switched to a mush/puree diet) due to their NEGLECT. After two months (they literally allowed him to stay in bed 24/7 for that time), we finally managed to get him in to a decent home - or so we thought! Let's just say there were a LOT of issues, and concerns were raised on a regular basis.

Fast forward a bit, he ended up passing December 16, 2021 and everything leading up to it was suspicious. Just prior to, his sodium levels had spiked to dangerous levels - incidentally, his food happened to be smothered with gravy (fact: gravy has a lot of salt, which is sodium). As a result, his doctor recommended extra water to help flush his system and keep him hydrated. During a visit, my mom discovered he was being force fed (she thought he had been sick, but the gentleman there feeding him said he was sleeping and it was just his food dribbling out), and the week before he died she went about setting up attendant services so someone would be able to get in there and patiently feed him and ensure he got water in - he was constantly nodding off, so it could easily take a couple hours just to get dinner in him.

Day of his death, he was active and participating in the afternoon, and he was looking well (his sodium levels were also on the decline). During dinner, at 5:00pm, he was tired and nodding off; at 5:49pm, he was apparently in ditress. A half hour later, a phone call was staged saying he was in distress, and my mom was up there within 20 minutes; she found him lying dead in hi bed! There was no staff around, residents were cleared out, and he had been changed and pronounced dead - initially, according to them, all this had been done from the time they called, which, obviously, couldn't have been the case. Next morning, the operations manager called to see about fast tracking the attendant services - she had absolutely no idea he had died the night before; and the real kicker: there was a posibility he was till lying dead in his bed! Three days later, when setting up the funeral, the funeral home thought it suspect and recommended getting in touch with the coroner. Upon calling them, they apparently had no knowledge of the death, thought things were suspicious, did an autopsy to determine death - being in distres and dying is not a legitimate cause of death (most of the time, that's the case) - and are currently waiting on results of samples for official cause. We also learned from them that sodium levels being that high is an indication of dehydration - of course, we feel the loads of gravy contributed some to that.

As a tribute in honour of my grandfather, we had a bagpiper for his funeral (December 28). Although Canadian, he had roots in Scotland - his mother, father, and eldest brother and sisters were born in Scotland, and they all apparently had the thick Scotish accent - so we thought it appropriate since he really quite enjoyed the pipes whenever he heard them being played. As I undertand, Amazing Grace is what was played; admittedly, I have no clue as it was likely my firt time hearing it played on the pipes - it was beautiful none-the-less, in my humble opinion.

__________________

Nope, have to break it up in to three it seems. To be continued below.

Sincerely,

DawsonJr
Hello,

Think I'll be good to do this in three posts. Guess we'll find out here! Continuing on from above:

That about sums everything up for the last (nearly) four years. On a more personal note, moving forward: as things settle down and get sorted, I'm going to be doing my own thing; I'm looking at seriously getting in to doing content creation - specifically, gaming, streaming, unboxings, videos, and all that stuff. One aspect of that will involve a PC build with an NZXT H510 Compact Mid-Tower ATX Case - won it in a massive giveaway that has a 2022 Tesla Model 3 Standard RWD worth a whopping $44,990 as the grand prize (see my signature if you might be interested in joining yourself) - and a budget of about $1,000-1,500. Looking at essentially building an upgrade to my current system.
__________________

Well, this is going to go four posts (maybe five). The only good thing coming from this situation with the error: seems to be linked to the length of one's post. To be continued below.

Sincerely,

DawsonJr
Hello,

Here' hoping this i the last one! Continuation from above:

May have to consider gear upgrades too, since my current Razer stuff has definitely seen better days. My Kraken ear pads are really tattered and sound seems a bit off; Naga has a bunch of gunk build-up, and cursor on-screen seems to be sticking and not wanting to move every now and then; and my poor Blackwidow's 'S' is terribly inconsitent, which results in a lot of typos - sometimes it adds an extra two or three, and other times it won't even register at all (results in my having to press it multiple times just for it to work if I catch it). Despite the issues, I really like my current Razer gear - especially my mouse (it's a limited green edition) because green's my favourite colour - and gear upgrades would add on an extra like $300+ to my build, which isn't overly sensible when stuff is still, technically, working. Little hard to justify the upgrades as a result. Truthfully, need a new chair, and would LOVE a Razer one, but won't likely get one becaue it's simply overpriced and my mom's opinion is it's not worth it - her way of thinking is "Just because Nike makes a comfortable shoe doesn't mean I'm going to buy a fridge if they make it; they make shoes, and are known for them, not fridges!" and she doesn't believe in buying in to one brand for everything. Can't argue her logic when a really good, solid, steel-frame gaming chair (compared to cheap aluminum and particle board, which is apparently what the Razer one is contructed with) that's black and fabric - important since we've got cats and one scratch would likely ruin a Razer one, which, for the price, isn't even real leather - is like $200 less, and she's looking to get it for me as a gift; I'll just need to find a stencil for the Razer logo to paint it on there, lol! Don't suppose that's something Razer sells - anyone know for sure?

Anyway, that's it for now. Bit of a long read, I realize, so appreciate anyone who actually took the time to read it. No harm if anyone simply scanned it, though - honestly can't says I blame ya! Honestly wish the whole Zsilver expiration crap had been revered; I've lost a LOT as a result, and not really sure I'll ever be able to rebuild it - would be nice to have it and put it towards something new, but oh well. In any case, I'll end it here.

Thank you to anyone who took the time to read this; I appreciate it very much!

Sincerely,

DawsonJr
Welcome Back!!!
Userlevel 7
Man that was a tough situation and for a long time too, it's so hard to see loved ones sick like that. You did a good job. Sounds like you're staying positive and that's important, Onward!
Hey,

Rouler4wd
Welcome Back!!!


Thank you; I appreciate it very much! :)

ARMOR_152
Man that was a tough situation and for a long time too, it's so hard to see loved ones sick like that. You did a good job. Sounds like you're staying positive and that's important, Onward!


Indeed, it was rough, but, given the opportunity, I would do it all over again; my only hope being that I could be stronger and do even better the second time around. Towards the end, just before he went to the hospital, I do feel that, due to everything going on, it was an extreme strain and I (along with my mom) started to fail a little - so there's a little feeling of regret in that sense. Moving forward, I guess I'll have to find that forgiveness in myself (I think, given his personality, my grandfather would have, undoubtedly, been forgiving), so to speak - it's a work in progress, but am getting there. Thanks for the compliment, by the way; I appreciate it!

Sincerely,

DawsonJr

P.S.
I did mean to include a few photos with my initial post, but the darn access denied error delayed me so long I forgot to include them. I'll probably eventually do a follow-up - either here directly or in a separate topic - to share them, but have been semi-distracted (both with real life stuff and gaming), so may be a bit before I get around to them. If anyone's ventured to go for a certain Tesla, some of the photos (and even more details) can be found there if you look me up. 😉