FROM THE EDITOR'S PEN /
Water, Water Everywhere
/
Editorial List
I've been getting a lot of fan mail over the past few months,
not for me of course but for my puppy, Morris. (Me, I get
the complaints and the bills).
If you remember, he had surgery on his leg on St. Patrick's Day
- not worrying too much, but his cast had a receipt from Joe's
Pub stuck in it.
Actually, he is doing great, he thinks he is back to his normal
active self but the doctor wants three more weeks of slow
walking. Tell him that. One thing that has changed
though is that he doesn't drink water in the daytime at all
anymore (you can lead a dog to water...) I was really
worried about it until I noticed that he made up for it at
night. I think due to our reduced daytime walking
schedule, he is trying to not add any undue pressures to his
system until we get home. This canine conundrum got
me thinking about the need we all have for proper hydration.
When my dad was ill, it was a challenge to get him to drink
enough water so we did what all Fearless Caregivers must at
times, we cheated. We would feed him as much foods with
water in it as possible, thankfully he liked soups a lot and
found Jell-O to be refreshing. One further point I want to make
as we work to keep our loved ones well-hydrated, don't forget
yourself. Drinking multiple cups of bad hospital coffee is
not the same as drinking water, in fact caffeinated drinks
serve as a diuretic, If you drink four cups of coffee, you
may need more than eight cups of water per day to make up for
what the caffeine causes you to lose.
So line 'em up, Joe. I'll have my water to go.
Gary Barg
Editor-in-Chief
gary@caregiver.com
