GIP!

[moominmuppet]

bec76 caught a couple of good shots of Shroom asleep on my head (her normal position, especially during winter). I'm very pleased. This is my cranky old lady cat; she's about 15 or so, and sleeping with her reminds me frequently of one of the most awe-inspiring aspects of interspecies friendship -- the trust. That we (and they) are capable of

Comments

[anonymous]

We use automatic cuffs at work. We have cheap-n-shitty machines that do seem to cause larger-armed folks a fair amount of discomfort if for some reason we're forced to use one of them.

We also have two really nice automatic machines that have 5 different cuff sizes: peds, anorexic teenager, small-medium adult, medium-large adult, and XL/smallish thigh cuff. That's not how they're actually labeled. :) The machine itself also has multiple settings to correspond with the cuff sizes. With those machines pts seem to be at least equally comfortable as with getting a manual pressure done.

I wish you luck with the CPAP. I'm sure the cats will hate it, but I'd bet a lot of money that you'll feel a ton better after the initial adjustment period. Everyone that I know who has started using one can't say enough about how it has changed their quality of life for the better.

[lilyofthewest]

whoops. That was me. Somehow I got signed out.

[moominmuppet]

I was wondering!

Thanks; that's really helpful to know. I've decided I'm calling ombuds to make an official complaint about them, and it's helpful to know there are automated options that have greater flexibility.

[lilyofthewest]

Possible downside? If you're talking about CCF, Metro or anywhere else that has their cuffs directly tied into their e-charting system...

...I've yet to meet a cuff that did that that didn't suck monstrously.

[fionnabhair_ii]

I hate blood pressure machines, and my arms are within that 14"-or-smaller range. They hurt, and usually cut off blood flow to my hands to the point where they get tingly before it finally releases. Hate the damn things.

[moominmuppet]

cut off blood flow to my hands to the point where they get tingly before it finally releases.

Yes! This was exactly what was happening to me earlier, too. I've decided to call the ombuds dept tomorrow and make known my complaint in an official and on-the-record sort of way.

Since I dig your icon, have one of my favorites, even though it's not particularly relevant...

[fionnabhair_ii]

Bah, who needs relivance when there is icon awesomeness to be had!

[moominmuppet]

Oh, so very true!

[findingthegirl]

I'm glad to hear you had a good birthday, and wish you luck with the CPAP machine. On the BP cuff issue, I found this post about correctly sized cuffs by searching for "HAES blood pressure cuff": http://wellroundedmama.blogspot.com/2009/03/importance-of-blood-pressure-cuff-size.html

Also, the critter pictures are adorable!

[moominmuppet]

Thanks, that's really handy! Gotta go measure my arm now!

[calebbullen]

I actually prefer the auto BP things. For me they have to use the super size cuff and the machine seems to be a lot faster than the hand pump.

Medieval Lives is awesome. If you like that, you should move his Barbarians series up, it's already on the Netflix but wasn't streamable. I wound up watching it on youtube because I couldn't wait. heh.

[moominmuppet]

I actually prefer the auto BP things. For me they have to use the super size cuff and the machine seems to be a lot faster than the hand pump.

I think the big problem here is that they weren't using different sized cuffs with this machine -- there are machines that can, but this one wasn't. The result errored out twice before coming back almost twenty points high on my BP.

[tsjafo]

I use an automatic BP cuff that wraps around my wrist. It's a lot easier for me than the upper arm thing.

'Ware cats and CPAP hoses, especially between the time the cats demand breakfast and the time you wake up.

[moominmuppet]

'Ware cats and CPAP hoses, especially between the time the cats demand breakfast and the time you wake up.

*chuckle* Good to know!