A Major Milestone!

John has made a major milestone! He has urinated twice since dialysis ending at 11:30am! Once at 2:30 and again at 6 pm. That has been unheard of since his kidneys failed 5 yrs ago.

He has had a hard time today until about 3pm. His breathing has been short and he has been antsy. He didn't sleep at all to speak of last night. He can't stay out in the sun for as long as it says he needs to be out. He just couldn't handle the cold shower today. He still did the dry brushing, Olive oil massage and warm shower.

I have found that if I arrange to stay in the same room with him, then he is calmer and not demanding so much of me.

So we are making headway. John has been so unsure of it all. Question after question after question. I haven't gotten much sleep. I know it will all be worth it. Hopefully by the weekend I will post the schedule and supplements that John is currently on.

In the meantime-He is showing signs of improvement!

4 days done already

John has done 4 days already. It has been tough. He has been weak. He has pooped his brains out. Though he has plenty more to go. I will eventually write down day to day exactness. But for now I want to say that this is not easy. I knew it wouldn't be. John has said quite a few times that he doesn't know if he can do this. He has been weak, out of breath, hot, cold, nauseous, afraid, anxious, sweaty, and more. I have been frustrated, tired, irritable, and also sure of myself that I am doing the right thing. So far the thing he hates the most is the cold shower. Dang, I would too. He has been really good about resisting foods that has been offered to him. Though he keeps asking me if he can have this food or that food. He also is asking me for this or that every 2 seconds. "Help me" is probably the 2 words I hate the most. He says that more times than I can count. What I don't mind is giving him pep talks. I have been kind of hard on him when he starts whining and complaining but he has to know that it will all turn out. Any improvements will be better than what he is going through now. He can't do anything for himself. So I just keep reminding him that he will be in much better health than he is now.

It is Officially started

Well the first day. It started out being messy. Had to clean him up.
10:00 I finally started to give him Juice
10:40 Slippery Elm gruel (1 0z of Slippery Elm, distilled water, and honey) He had a hard time eating it.

His hips starting to hurt him.
11:25 Water and Capsules: (will explain later)
He was laying down and he had a hard time getting back up to take them.
He is driving me nuts with his same questions over and over.
1:00 more carrot juice. He guzzled it down. So he had to have another glass. It is so important to "chew" each swallow. He wasn't happy with that, because he didn't really like it.

We all ready behind the game

John will be starting his program tomorrow. He had dialysis today. It was really important for him to be dialyzed for the full length of time. Well, it didn't happen. He asked to be pulled off an hour early.
So what do the nurses tell him as he is walking out the door, "Watch your fluid intake this weekend, John, OK?"

I had him start taking capsules to help support his kidneys. He started that Wednesday night. I have also had a bunch of capsules made that he is going to take to feed the different organs and systems in the body: Colon, kidneys, heart, blood, circulation. I also made a formula to help him assimilate calcium better.

I am going to the store this afternoon to gather all the rest of my supplies I will need. Flannel, mattress cover, extra sheets, the different oils I will need and whatever else I can think of.

I told John that I will take him to any restaurant he wants tonight. He has chosen Olive Garden. He pigged out on pizza earlier this week. He has been able to enjoy a few other foods that he will not be able to eat after this starts.

He mentioned to me this morning that he is ready to do this. His biggest motivators are to lose weight and be pain free. He is excited for the fact that he may be able to drive again and be more mobile. So wish me luck, but more importantly pray for us as this is will be a start of a new life for John.

A start of a new beginning

This past week we have been on vacation. He had to walk up 3 flights of stairs to our daughter's apartment. It was tough, but he did it! He was worn out for the next day, so he didn't go anywhere. He did have problems breathing and other minor complications from doing that. It did help him strengthen his legs. He did that for a total 5 times.

On Saturday, July 18, 2009, John will start the "Incurables Program" He has asked me to start it sooner. So we are. I am actually nervous. I know it won't be easy for him for the first few weeks. All he will have will be liquids. He is not supposed to have a lot of liquids because of his renal failure. Some of the symptoms he will experience is edema or dropsy, shortness of breath, pain, diarrhea (more that he already has) and weakness.

I will offset the edema with herbs that are specific for the kidneys. I will also give him healing and nutritive herbs while he is cleansing.

The end to the beginning

They did surgery on John. The procedure itself went well. They put in a rod and screws into the arm. John did not come out of the anesthesia well though. He had dementia like symptoms. He was confused, disoriented and sometimes combative. He wouldn't remember that I had been there the day before, so he would think that I was leaving him or whatever crazy story he would come up with. He didn't remember much of went on for the next 3 months. It wasn't until the first week in December that he came out of it. They did all kinds of testing, changed his psych meds to try to figure out what the cause for this new condition. We had even started talking about the possibility of putting him in a mental hospital. During this time he was at a rehabilitation place. I came to see him almost everyday. My daughter worked there and my good friend ran the place so I knew he was in good hands. I had to keep a journal for him to remind him what he did and that I hadn't deserted him. In November, he went back into the hospital for gastritis. His dementia was the worst then. They put him in a netted tent to keep him in. The Security was called several times. During that time is when they found the right antibiotic to treat whatever infection that was causing his dementia. About a day or so after he came around, they did another minor surgery. We were scared that he would regress again. Right when he opened his eyes though he made sure we knew he was in the here and now. For Christmas, we went out of town. It was a nice break. He was in the rehab place until March 2008.

Since then, John has been stable. His mental capacities never did come back 100% since the bout of Dementia. Socially he is like a child. His long term memory is still intact. Short term though is not so good. He can carry on a conversation well enough, but there are many times that he just acts like a child. He can't add simple math. There are many times that he remembers things though, like Doctors appointments, so it just seems hit and miss.

We made a move from high altitude to sea level in August 2008. He went without oxygen for about 6 weeks. And his sugars were controllable for the first time in years. Within 3 months John was back on oxygen and sugars were not so easy to control. He had a chest catheter for dialysis until the winter when he had an actual Fistula put in. That has helped for cleanliness and keeping infection down. He also hasn't fallen since he has been back home. He does burn his fingers often and will get an ulcer on his feet occasionally. I have been able to heal them all with Tea Tree Oil.

So now for a list of the complications and symptoms John has:

• Diabetes (1991)
• Truck accident (Semi)-Herniated discs in back (1992)
• Heart Failure (1994)
  
• Kidney Failure (2002)
• Hemochromatosis (1998)
• Ruptured Achilles Tendon (one in 1997, the other in 1998)
• Impotence (1997)
  
• Hiatal Hernia
• Chronic Diarrhea
• Depression
• Anxious
• Neuropathy-hands and feet
• Bones spurs C4-6, T10-11, L5-S1 the worst
• Very picky eater
• Sleeps up to 20 hours a day
• Hands crippled
• Many nights he can't sleep
• Can only walk short distances
• Gets painful pressure when he urinates (what little he does)
• Gets very restless
• Coughing spells
  
• Can't feel many times when he has had a bowel movement.
• Will have bowel movements many times in the middle of the night.
• Gets shooting pains in his hands and feet at anytime
• Basal cell skin Cancer on his face (surgery for it in July 2009)
  

In late 2002- till late 2003, John was in the hospital about every other month for some type of infection or other complications. I finally had him use Xango to break the cycle. He experienced several improved health conditions while on that. It was too expensive for us to stay on it though.

In September-October of 2004, John had another relapse. His Heart Failure regressed and at the same time, his kidneys failed. So he started Dialysis. That took some getting used to. But we did and things got into somewhat a regular routine. He had a few bouts with infection or not being able to breathe, and you could tell his health was slowly deteriorating, but for the most part we were dealing with things pretty well.

Then September 2007 came around. I get a call while I was away from the house that John fell. My son was able to lift him up into the chair (no easy task for a 13yr old lifting a 260 lb man). When I came home, I took one look at him and knew he did something serious. The xrays showed he broke his right arm-close to the shoulder.