I have been wanting to do that, but was afraid to even ask how.
I would love one of those pictures. You know i keep forgetting we have
the computer help. But still didn't want to say i didn't know how. Sue

Mel,

Ok, hows this? A router is a device that connects two (or more) networks together. It routes all the information coming into it and decides where it needs to go and how it should get there.

In a home computing situation, one network is what your DSL modem is connected to -- in other words, AT&T. Instead of plugging the cable from that modem into a computer, you can plug it into a router. You would also plug a cable from your computer into the router.

So now you have all the AT&T stuff, like the internet, going into the router. The router will then pass it along to your computer. And anything that your computer sends out, such as when you type information into web pages or your email, will first go to the router. The router then will send it along to AT&T, and eventually to its proper destination (the email address on an email you send, etc.).

And with a router, you can have more than computer connected to it. So all the computers in any given home could be connected. Now you have only one internet connection coming in, but a whole bunch of computers can share that one connection. Each computer can be emailing, surfing the web, etc. at the same time and the router will handle the traffic so that each computer gets what it is supposed to get.

With a wireless router, any computer that has the right wireless adapter can connect to the router without any cables at all.

Hope that helps.

rafi

So if a router is used to connect various computers in the house to one internet connection, WHY DOES MY SON HAVE A ROUTER?

He only has one computer. Does a person with one computer need a router??
I know I could ask him but we do not exactly have a normal relationship.

Thanks,
Melody

There could be a number of reasons. He could use a wireless router for a more convenient connection to his computer. He could connect other devices besides a computer to his router, such as gaming devices. Many routers provide built-in protection against intruders and so forth. He may want to have more exact control over his network operates and how his bandwidth (a measure of the capacity of his connection to his ISP). He may use or soon want to use a Skype connection as his phone (it is a VOIP type setup, you can google if you want to know more). And there are probably a few others I am leaving out right now. Any computer geek would have a router, even if they only have one computer.

rafi

I feel as if I'm writing a book. Be forwarned and skip this if you want to. I'm sorry it's long. So many of you have asked how things are going. Right now I'd have to say not worth a toot.

The frustration is tremendous today. Today the new yardman (that my husband thinks we don't need) came. My husband is still recovering from back surgery but it hasn't sunk into his head yet that he can't do much of the work around here. I hired this yard man because my stepmom said he was honest. What she didn't tell me was that he works with his grandson who weighs about 195 lbs and is about as wide as he is tall. So today they come to do this work. What I needed done was some trees cut back away from the house. One was interfering with the antenna for our wireless internet access and one was dead and we were afraid it'd fall on the house. Well guess what? It did...they didn't push it in the right direction. Talk about 2 klutzes, Luckily it hit and then rolled off. I haven't been able to see it yet because of the walker I'm on. It is hard to navigate the steps with it. My husband tells me the damage isn't too bad. But then our opinion of what is bad and isn't bad has always differed.

I really don't like posts where I complain, but hey.. you asked!! I'm finding this injury to myself is so frustrating. And the pain is almost unbearable at night. I've coped with my neuropathy pain by sleeping on my side for years now, and right now I can't sleep on my side, it puts too much pressure on the fractures in the sacrum. And to roll to one side is just impossible, it takes hours of inching slowly bit by bit to turn over or shift my hips. So I'm not getting much sleep.

Everything just seems to take so long. Every step is measured, every movement has to be done so that I don't twist or bend too far. This is not an injury for a wimp. And I'm so impatient. I want things done when I think of them which means now! My poor husband feels that he needs to run for cover every now and then.

The doctor says this will take a long time to heal because of the nature of everything. I have rheumatoid arthritis along with the Sjogren's. Even tho the clinical features of the disease are under control, it primarily means the inflammation is presently under control. But the disease is still there and the disease causes osteoporosis. And the osteoporosis went untreated so long that it has caused severe damage. Paper thin bones. I'm currently being treated with a regimin of Actonel, Micalcin and 1600 mg of Calcium w/ vitamin D. It will be an uphill battle because so much damage has been done already.

The nerves in the area have caused the neuropathy to be so much worse. It's not just bone pain, it's nerve pain too. It seems I'm told, that the nerves along the S3 area are affected by this fracture and the pain goes down into the legs too. Particularly the right leg. The right side of the sacrum is worse. I'm just really cranky.

I did not expect to get so much money when you all told me you were gifting me with a laptop and I know that it is an expensive laptop but I wanted to put all of the money that so many people donated into just what the money had been donated for. I didn't think it was the right thing to do to buy a cheap laptop and pocket the rest of the money. And I know that none of you have any clue how much has been donated. I don't even know the full total yet. Kmeb has had doctor's appts. But she has been able to give me an estimate so that we could start shopping.

I just thank you so much. It will make all of this easier. It's hard to get to my computer right now. We built a long sprawled out house and wouldn't you know the computer is on the opposite end from everything else. And it is so hard to sit. I'm really looking forward to just lounging some. I just am looking so forward to your gift to a cranky, grumpy Texas redhead. (the redhead sure needs touching up!

Love to all,
Billye

Let's see dry eye's, dry throat, can't sleep,goffiy backwards yardmen.
A husband with bad back hiding,pain pain,just to many meds long
hallway and a desparate need for a root touchup. Crap Billye,wait a
min. we know what that problem's like already.. and a smooch Sue

Mrs. D, thank you so much for offering to put an avatar up for me! I will send you my email if I can figure out how to PM! (I am hopeless.) That is so nice of you. I am leaving for a vacation next Monday and hve tons to do, and then I will be gone 3 weeks. So it will be July before I can look for a picture for my avatar! We are going with another couple to Scotland, London and Paris. I plan to walk and sightsee with everyone in the am, then pop into bed at the Bed and Breakfast for the afternoon while they keep at it, then join everyone for dinner. I have my comfortable shoes, extra fentanyl patches and some Darvon for breakthrough pain. And I never travel without my down booties. I wear them when I am lying down even in the summer. For some reason they calm my nerve fibers down.

Siverlady, your necklace on your avatar is stunning! My husband is an artist -- he is a woodturner. He teaches once a year at John Campbell Folkschool in North Carolina and I always go with him for the week. They always have jewelry classes going on, too, and I love to go watch them. It's not easy....

When I was a PT I worked in rehab, and when I read about your injuries I was stunned. You couldn't have anything more painful! Those fractures are in the worst places! I wish you lived next door to me -- I would take care of you every day. That's one thing I am good at after 30 years of PT. You are amazing to even be able to function at all at this point. My best wishes to you!

shiny sue, I'm sure you have experience with some of this and Dakota, I wish you were here too. It's sure been a long day. Your trip sounds like so much fun. I'd love to see that country. But I guess I'll spend my Summer in the house this year but hey, I'll have my laptop to make things easier. When they brought me the walker in the hospital, they said "Meet your new best friend!" I was stunned. I had no idea that this was going to be like this. But the walker soon turned into a fat pig I had to drag thru this house. Too much carpet and rugs. The thing had to be picked up and put down for everything. Slowed me down too much. Today my new walker arrived. It's got wheels everywhere. Get outta my way! It even has a seat! God Bless "Dr Leonards". That catalog has been a lifesaver for all this equipment I've had to have. The insurance only paid for the basics. No payment for somethings that have proven to be necessary.

Dakota, how much physical therapy did you usually provide to people with this injury? And what did you do?

Billye

got the 'walker' equivalent of RACING WHEELS? I agree, walkers w/o any wheels are a total DRAG! The ones with wheels on the front and that you can put 'glider' things on in the back work around my house...Not so well outside.
Do you have the one with the hand-brakes? Wow!
I've a corner in my basement [where I can't get to it of course] heaped with all the 'things needed-for various occasions' but, not now...It seems to keep growing?
It's sounding as if you are on the right calcium supplement regimen - I am going to find out what 'extras' I might have with a doc visit tomorrow...seems as if we're in similar places tho for different reasons? Pain aside, simple expectations of plain old walking upright without assistance seems to go out the window and beyond. For me, lately...stepping on a crack is my scariest process..next is concentration on how I walk and where - is soo too carefully calculated-to prevent falls and breaks-it gets well, stupid to obsessive, but necessary. At least there's no snow or ice to deal with?
I am glad that so MANY GOOD PEOPLE gave their little, medium and big bits! I am super happy that you will be able to get the 'puter stuff you need to really ease your way into the truly getting better phases. I don't know what all the total will be or is...but I do believe that we all have invested in YOU in the same way you have invested in US!
Keep heart, we'll all get thru what we're going thru and deal with the next set of problems as well! Hugs and other good things to you as well! - j

Billye, I usually started with teaching my patients to walk, of course, tho I never gave one a crappy waker with no wheels! If the hospital had ordered one with wheels for you I think your insurance would have paid for it. Then I made a home visit and worked with the patient on how to get in and out of their bed with the least pain, and recommended any special rails or other devices that would help, or a hospital bed if necessary. And alos the best way to get to their bathroom, and if a raised toilet seat, toilet arm rests, transfer tub bench, hand-held shower, etc was needed. We would do all this together to work out the easiest way. Also check which chairs would be best to sit in, make sure pt. could get out of chair easily or if an extra cushion was needed. Also check for area rugs or throw rugs that should be taken up while on a walker, including bathroom mats and kitchen rugs. And then, teach gentle exercises to keep certain muscle groups strong during recovery. And, recommend special pressure reducing mattress pad if necessary, or if padded hand grips for walker were necessary, recommend best type of walker,......well, you get the picture. I loved doing this because it was like a new puzzle with each patient and their house, figuring out the best and most pain-free way to do things. Did they do a home visit or recommend a home health PT for you? Sure could make your life easier, unless you have already figured this stuff out on your own. I love your description of your first walker -- a fat pig! Shame on them for giving you that! Bad medical care! If they had written a letter to your insurance about why you needed a wheeled one they probably would have paid for it. Ticks me off.