Starting last November, John started having his teeth extracted. He finished up in June getting all of his teeth pulled and getting dentures in. Since he has gotten his teeth out, he has not been in the hospital. No infections whatsoever. His mind is clearer and he is more motivated in exercising.
So, for those of you fighting illness-make sure your teeth are healthy!
Good Health to You
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
The Next Challenge
John was home for three days when the next challenge hit. It was Sunday, January 10th, 2010, he didn't feel like going to church and I agreed that he needed to rest.
He slept for the good part of the day. I got him up to get him something to eat at around 3 pm. He didn't eat much when he yelled "help". I went in and he said he felt weak. Not knowing what was going on, I got him his walker to help him back to his bedroom. He took a few steps and then he just buckled. I managed to get a chair before he fell all the way to the ground. I had him sit there for about a half hour. He had a hard time sitting up and he said he felt really tired, so I positioned the chair so he could lean against the wall. I took his blood pressure twice. The first time, it was really high. The second time it was near normal. I got him to the wheelchair and he clumsily got himself into the bed. I took his blood pressure again. It was really high. I took it again 20 minutes later, and again it was near normal. He rested for an hour. When I went to help out of the bed was when I realized what was really going on. His whole left side was weak and he actually fell to the floor trying to get him to the wheelchair. I thought "HE has had a stroke!" So my son helped him to the chair and I called the ambulance. He wanted something to eat. He was talking to me normally so I was glad of that. In the middle of the night he ended up having a 30-45 minute seizure. After that he slurred his speech and couldn't swallow well. And he had a headache that no pain meds could touch.
He slept for the good part of the day. I got him up to get him something to eat at around 3 pm. He didn't eat much when he yelled "help". I went in and he said he felt weak. Not knowing what was going on, I got him his walker to help him back to his bedroom. He took a few steps and then he just buckled. I managed to get a chair before he fell all the way to the ground. I had him sit there for about a half hour. He had a hard time sitting up and he said he felt really tired, so I positioned the chair so he could lean against the wall. I took his blood pressure twice. The first time, it was really high. The second time it was near normal. I got him to the wheelchair and he clumsily got himself into the bed. I took his blood pressure again. It was really high. I took it again 20 minutes later, and again it was near normal. He rested for an hour. When I went to help out of the bed was when I realized what was really going on. His whole left side was weak and he actually fell to the floor trying to get him to the wheelchair. I thought "HE has had a stroke!" So my son helped him to the chair and I called the ambulance. He wanted something to eat. He was talking to me normally so I was glad of that. In the middle of the night he ended up having a 30-45 minute seizure. After that he slurred his speech and couldn't swallow well. And he had a headache that no pain meds could touch.
Wild and Crazy December
Wow! It's been a while since I last blogged! Life has been pretty crazy. John's health took a turn for the worse in December.
It started out with a couple of burns on his fingers the beginning of December. He touched a baked potato that was too hot. He had burns on his index and pinky fingers. The one on his pinky didn't blister. I put Tea Tree oil on both an a bandage on the index. His fingers were losing their function and he kept them curled under, like a fist, most of the time. Because of this, he rubbed the pinky finger enough to cause it to open up and get infected. So he was put on antibiotics and I dressed the pinky and putting Tea Tree oil on it. Apparently, that wasn't good enough, because in another two weeks, the finger started getting black on top. This was about a week before Christmas. His finger was starting to cause a lot of pain. I got him into a specialist which was on Dec 23rd. By that time John was in screaming pain. No pain meds were even touching it. The doctor put him on more antibiotics and scheduled him to be seen by the heart doctor for Jan. 4th. I knew then that John wasn't going to make it that long and even told the doctor that. He understood and told me to take him to the emergency room and have him admitted. I had tried that a few days before and they wouldn't do it. So on Christmas day, after all the festivities were done, I took him in. On Monday, December 28th, the doctor amputated his pinky finger. He also found much infection in the palm of his hand down into his wrist. He had to go back in on Wednesday and on Friday to rinse and clean out more infection, even into his thumb. The doctors realized that the fistula that he had in his right bicep was impeding the circulation to his hand, so they closed it off and put a chest catheter in so he could continue dialysis. That seemed to do it. His hand responded to it right away and was healing. He was discharged from the hospital on January 7th with an IV hook-up so he could continue IV antibiotics at home. I will add pictures soon.
It started out with a couple of burns on his fingers the beginning of December. He touched a baked potato that was too hot. He had burns on his index and pinky fingers. The one on his pinky didn't blister. I put Tea Tree oil on both an a bandage on the index. His fingers were losing their function and he kept them curled under, like a fist, most of the time. Because of this, he rubbed the pinky finger enough to cause it to open up and get infected. So he was put on antibiotics and I dressed the pinky and putting Tea Tree oil on it. Apparently, that wasn't good enough, because in another two weeks, the finger started getting black on top. This was about a week before Christmas. His finger was starting to cause a lot of pain. I got him into a specialist which was on Dec 23rd. By that time John was in screaming pain. No pain meds were even touching it. The doctor put him on more antibiotics and scheduled him to be seen by the heart doctor for Jan. 4th. I knew then that John wasn't going to make it that long and even told the doctor that. He understood and told me to take him to the emergency room and have him admitted. I had tried that a few days before and they wouldn't do it. So on Christmas day, after all the festivities were done, I took him in. On Monday, December 28th, the doctor amputated his pinky finger. He also found much infection in the palm of his hand down into his wrist. He had to go back in on Wednesday and on Friday to rinse and clean out more infection, even into his thumb. The doctors realized that the fistula that he had in his right bicep was impeding the circulation to his hand, so they closed it off and put a chest catheter in so he could continue dialysis. That seemed to do it. His hand responded to it right away and was healing. He was discharged from the hospital on January 7th with an IV hook-up so he could continue IV antibiotics at home. I will add pictures soon.
Thursday, November 26, 2009
A Day of Thanksgiving
Well today is Thanksgiving. We have a lot to be thankful for. John has made great strides since July. Today, he got to eat some foods he would normally not be able to eat. Turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy, jello, deviled eggs are all foods that he could not eat, but he has been good, so today he could celebrate.
I have made an apple pie made with Xylitol instead of sugar. He will get to have some with ice cream that has no sugar added. He is excited. I also made a pumpkin pie with Xylitol. It tastes and acts so much like sugar. It is a blessing to have.
Around the time of the last entry, John's sugars were running a little high. He was having problems with the dialysis treatments, in that they were not able to pull off the necessary amount of fluids because his blood pressure was too low. In 3 weeks he had gained 8 kilos. It really had an effect on him. Now that they have it fixed he is feeling much better and his sugars are under control again. Like around 91-95. He hasn't lost any more weight, but that may change as they continue to get the required amount of liquid off.
He was having way too many bowel movements, so we adjusted the amount of Xylitol he was putting on his oatmeal. That seemed to help. He is still having problems sleeping on occasion, like last night. Otherwise he escaped catching the Swine Flu. He is continuing to make progress in his workouts as well.
I have made an apple pie made with Xylitol instead of sugar. He will get to have some with ice cream that has no sugar added. He is excited. I also made a pumpkin pie with Xylitol. It tastes and acts so much like sugar. It is a blessing to have.
Around the time of the last entry, John's sugars were running a little high. He was having problems with the dialysis treatments, in that they were not able to pull off the necessary amount of fluids because his blood pressure was too low. In 3 weeks he had gained 8 kilos. It really had an effect on him. Now that they have it fixed he is feeling much better and his sugars are under control again. Like around 91-95. He hasn't lost any more weight, but that may change as they continue to get the required amount of liquid off.
He was having way too many bowel movements, so we adjusted the amount of Xylitol he was putting on his oatmeal. That seemed to help. He is still having problems sleeping on occasion, like last night. Otherwise he escaped catching the Swine Flu. He is continuing to make progress in his workouts as well.
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Well, It is time to let you all know what has been happening since August.
FOODS
We are in the maintaining phase of the diet. John has been eating pineapple, beans, sesame seeds, pecans, oatmeal, salads, rice with tomato sauce and onions garlic and seasonings, an occasional bean and rice burrito. Snacks include pineapple, popcorn, seeds. When we eat out, we go to Mongolian Grill, Wendy's (baked potato), Taco Del Mar for the bean and rice burrito. I took him to a Mexican restaurant for his birthday.
POSITIVE CHANGES
He has lost 60 lbs.
His blood sugar has been pretty normal
His blood pressure is lower
He consumes less liquid
He doesn't eat salt
Taking less medicine
He started working out last Thursday
LESS POSITIVE CHANGES
I hope to have pictures and videos up soon, especially now that he is starting to work out. He goes two days a week for about an hour. Last Thursday he walked up and odown the mat (30ft) 4 times and use a 5 lb dumbell for his arms. He was tired. I am not sure how much that played a role in him not feeling well yesterday. We will see.
FOODS
We are in the maintaining phase of the diet. John has been eating pineapple, beans, sesame seeds, pecans, oatmeal, salads, rice with tomato sauce and onions garlic and seasonings, an occasional bean and rice burrito. Snacks include pineapple, popcorn, seeds. When we eat out, we go to Mongolian Grill, Wendy's (baked potato), Taco Del Mar for the bean and rice burrito. I took him to a Mexican restaurant for his birthday.
POSITIVE CHANGES
He has lost 60 lbs.
His blood sugar has been pretty normal
His blood pressure is lower
He consumes less liquid
He doesn't eat salt
Taking less medicine
He started working out last Thursday
LESS POSITIVE CHANGES
- Developed a tic with his tongue. ( it has actually gotten better now that he is off Rispiridol)
- While he is breathing- he is making a "hmm" sound
- He still doesn't have control of his bowels so now that his bowel movements are normal which is a good thing- he has a bowel movement at least 6 times a day. 2 real heavy ones and the rest smaller. It keeps giving him a rash. At least several times a week, it makes a mess on the floor' and more often than that- all over his clothes. It has put a heavier burden on our two sons.
- John still has no personal will power. If I am not constantly monitoring or watching him, then he gets into foods that he wants. Luckily it has not happened but a few times. Last night was the most recent. After I had gone to bed, he had gotten into a deli sandwich. I caught him before he actually took a bite.
- I can't get him to chew his food thoroughly enough, so it comes out the other end whole. He doesn't have all of his teeth, so I don't know how to solve this problem.
I hope to have pictures and videos up soon, especially now that he is starting to work out. He goes two days a week for about an hour. Last Thursday he walked up and odown the mat (30ft) 4 times and use a 5 lb dumbell for his arms. He was tired. I am not sure how much that played a role in him not feeling well yesterday. We will see.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
We are still rolling!
I haven't written in here for almost 2 months! Man, time flies when your having fun. I want you to know that John is still on the program. I will have to update this further with all the details. Hopefully I will get to this by this weekend.
Just for the record though, he has continued to lose weight and inches. He is wearing clothes he hasn't worn for years.
His bowel movements are still "cow patty" consistency. He has about 6 bowel movements per day on average. It is amazing how "full of it" he really was.
His blood sugars overall have been excellent. Yesterday, for some reason, they read 195. That is the only time they have been that high. One other time it was 168. That was when his finger tried to get infected. He still burns himself easily and I am treating three burns now.
He has developed a fidgeting of some sort with him swishing his tongue around. Mentally, he seems different in several ways. One, he is acutely aware of what he "can't do". Overall, he has been more depressed because he is not able to participate in the day to day family activities. I hope I can help him more that way. His hands are somewhat crippled and his balance and stamina are way off. So those are definite challenges that somehow need to be overcome or this program may all be for naught.
Just for the record though, he has continued to lose weight and inches. He is wearing clothes he hasn't worn for years.
His bowel movements are still "cow patty" consistency. He has about 6 bowel movements per day on average. It is amazing how "full of it" he really was.
His blood sugars overall have been excellent. Yesterday, for some reason, they read 195. That is the only time they have been that high. One other time it was 168. That was when his finger tried to get infected. He still burns himself easily and I am treating three burns now.
He has developed a fidgeting of some sort with him swishing his tongue around. Mentally, he seems different in several ways. One, he is acutely aware of what he "can't do". Overall, he has been more depressed because he is not able to participate in the day to day family activities. I hope I can help him more that way. His hands are somewhat crippled and his balance and stamina are way off. So those are definite challenges that somehow need to be overcome or this program may all be for naught.
Friday, August 21, 2009
Continuing to make progress
Well we have slowed down. Not much day to day going on, but definitely enough to write in here every week.
John is continuing to make progress. He doesn't have diarrhea anymore. They are at the consistency they should be and he having at least 3 good bowel movements per day. The Dialysis center wants him to continue on taking diarrhea pills because he sometimes has a BM there and it interferes with his treatment. I say "No" because it's not "diarrhea". They don't like me to well.
His weight loss has slowed down to about a 1-3 pounds per week. He is at 228.8. He has been on this for one month now. His starting weight was 263.1. So he has actually lost about 34.3 pounds. He looks it too. I have him in shirts now that were too small before.
He is on less oxygen. This last week, he has gone at least 4 nights without his oxygen. One morning, after I had gone to work, my son went in to wake him up for breakfast. When he went in, he noticed his dad's oxygen tube on the floor. He got scared and watched his body to see if it was going up and down from breathing. He then shook him to make him move. He just didn't know he could go without the oxygen. It was funny to listen to him tell his story. He is so animated.
This week was a real milestone, because we had another small heat wave. It got up to 100 degrees or better the other day. John did just fine. He wasn't even on his oxygen very much that day.
His sugars have been near normal for a month now. I had to give him insulin once early on when his sugars were over 200. Since then it went to 173 and a few days ago it went to 162, but otherwise they have mostly been in the 120's or lower. Nothing below 110 though.
He says he feels better. He has been better to not ask for foods he knows he can't have. He still asks, it is just not as much. He has been a "pretty good boy" because he has not been "sneaking" or getting into foods he is not supposed to have. He continues to have lots of fruit, vegetables and grains. I need to supply him with more nuts and seeds. I did add sunflower seeds. I have offered almonds, but he has not wanted them. He is still on all the herbs foods that I have listed earlier. We made stir fry the other day. He really enjoyed that. Monday, we had to make a trip to Portland right after Dialysis. So we went to Wendy's and got him two baked potatoes for lunch. I had also brought fruit with us. He was satisfied. Popcorn is his lifesaver when it comes to something to snack on because he is still on the nervous side. It seems to be calming down though.
I had a heart to heart talk to him about exercise. He definitely isn't getting enough. I told him that he has to take the initiative to get exercise. His heart is doing better than it has for so many years. Now it is time to get himself stronger. Let's see how motivated he gets.
John is continuing to make progress. He doesn't have diarrhea anymore. They are at the consistency they should be and he having at least 3 good bowel movements per day. The Dialysis center wants him to continue on taking diarrhea pills because he sometimes has a BM there and it interferes with his treatment. I say "No" because it's not "diarrhea". They don't like me to well.
His weight loss has slowed down to about a 1-3 pounds per week. He is at 228.8. He has been on this for one month now. His starting weight was 263.1. So he has actually lost about 34.3 pounds. He looks it too. I have him in shirts now that were too small before.
He is on less oxygen. This last week, he has gone at least 4 nights without his oxygen. One morning, after I had gone to work, my son went in to wake him up for breakfast. When he went in, he noticed his dad's oxygen tube on the floor. He got scared and watched his body to see if it was going up and down from breathing. He then shook him to make him move. He just didn't know he could go without the oxygen. It was funny to listen to him tell his story. He is so animated.
This week was a real milestone, because we had another small heat wave. It got up to 100 degrees or better the other day. John did just fine. He wasn't even on his oxygen very much that day.
His sugars have been near normal for a month now. I had to give him insulin once early on when his sugars were over 200. Since then it went to 173 and a few days ago it went to 162, but otherwise they have mostly been in the 120's or lower. Nothing below 110 though.
He says he feels better. He has been better to not ask for foods he knows he can't have. He still asks, it is just not as much. He has been a "pretty good boy" because he has not been "sneaking" or getting into foods he is not supposed to have. He continues to have lots of fruit, vegetables and grains. I need to supply him with more nuts and seeds. I did add sunflower seeds. I have offered almonds, but he has not wanted them. He is still on all the herbs foods that I have listed earlier. We made stir fry the other day. He really enjoyed that. Monday, we had to make a trip to Portland right after Dialysis. So we went to Wendy's and got him two baked potatoes for lunch. I had also brought fruit with us. He was satisfied. Popcorn is his lifesaver when it comes to something to snack on because he is still on the nervous side. It seems to be calming down though.
I had a heart to heart talk to him about exercise. He definitely isn't getting enough. I told him that he has to take the initiative to get exercise. His heart is doing better than it has for so many years. Now it is time to get himself stronger. Let's see how motivated he gets.
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