Today John is going to start on a healthy diet. Based on Dr. Christopher's teachings, he should eat fruits, vegetables, grains, nuts, and seeds. I decided to pull him off the liquids. After the stent in the hospital last week and having liquids over the weekend. His heart just couldn't handle it.
Sunday night, he was having a hard time breathing; almost as bad as last Tuesday. Monday morning, he weighed in at a little over 131 kg. He felt better after dialysis. He did the Wheat germ oil massage. He didn't want it. I kept him out for 16 min. He didn't have any bowel movements until evening. He would have come in at 2 minutes if he could physically do it. He sure asked often enough. He felt better afterwards.
He didn't have any bowel movements until evening. When I was changing him, he urinated a decent amount. Still not a normal amount but more than usual for him. Up to that point his side was hurting. The pain went away after that. He was doing pretty well until evening. He slept some and then he couldn't sleep anymore. He was up until 2 am. He tried to get into the bananas. Everything else was away, including popcorn. He asked where I put it.
This morning he had his capsules and his heart medicine. He also had apple cider vinegar and honey. He didn't eat anything right away. I made him a fruit smoothie with molasses and bee pollen. He then rested until a little past noon. I made him a salad. Almost an hour later, I made him brown rice with tomato sauce, Mrs. Dash, and pressed garlic. He also had some Pau D' Arco tea. He really enjoyed the rice.
His massage went better than yesterday. He sat out there for 20 minutes without asking me every 2 minutes if he can go in. His mind seems to be clearing again. He is acting more "grown up". He is not as anxious. What a relief.
He says he feels like he can't breathe as well. He doesn't look like he is having problems. I am keeping a close eye on him though. Don't need to have him get like he was a week ago.
I have limited his liquids and started him on Cranberry capsules and Melatonin.
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Sunday, August 2, 2009
We are back in the game!
We have started back on the program. We will only go through this week. Hopefully it will be enough. Three days off the program set us back some, but it isn't a total washout.
Saturday, John started on the grape juice. We have toned down a couple of things. For one, I haven't been doing the fomentations. I may though if he keeps from being anxious or up and down. The last couple of nights he has been doing great. Second, I haven't been making him stand up during sunbathing. I just have him sit the whole time in such a position that he gets most of his body in the sun. I may have him switch sides, but that is just getting him up and switching chairs. His colds showers aren't as "cold" and they only last literally 2 seconds. He also gets to sleep a little more than he had been. He is asking if he can have crackers, salt, Mrs. Dash, pepper, popcorn, "anything?". He asks about every 5 minutes.
He is not having the diarrhea like he did before. His sugars are more normal, except tonight they were 219. I was not in the best of moods yesterday. It was probably because I usually fall apart after a crisis, like John being in the hospital. He came home Friday evening. He weighed 248 lbs coming out of the hospital. They did 2 dialysis treatments in a 12 hour period on Wednesday. They pulled off 8.5 kilos of fluid. That is 17 lbs.
This morning, he did not want to get up. He got mad that I insisted he get up. He went back to bed and slept another 3 hours. This afternoon, he is up and continues to ask for something. the list is above. Otherwise it has been a pretty good day. He does say his side hurts about where his kidneys are. I am hoping that is because they are trying to work. Not sure what else it could be. It is only on one side.
Saturday, John started on the grape juice. We have toned down a couple of things. For one, I haven't been doing the fomentations. I may though if he keeps from being anxious or up and down. The last couple of nights he has been doing great. Second, I haven't been making him stand up during sunbathing. I just have him sit the whole time in such a position that he gets most of his body in the sun. I may have him switch sides, but that is just getting him up and switching chairs. His colds showers aren't as "cold" and they only last literally 2 seconds. He also gets to sleep a little more than he had been. He is asking if he can have crackers, salt, Mrs. Dash, pepper, popcorn, "anything?". He asks about every 5 minutes.
He is not having the diarrhea like he did before. His sugars are more normal, except tonight they were 219. I was not in the best of moods yesterday. It was probably because I usually fall apart after a crisis, like John being in the hospital. He came home Friday evening. He weighed 248 lbs coming out of the hospital. They did 2 dialysis treatments in a 12 hour period on Wednesday. They pulled off 8.5 kilos of fluid. That is 17 lbs.
This morning, he did not want to get up. He got mad that I insisted he get up. He went back to bed and slept another 3 hours. This afternoon, he is up and continues to ask for something. the list is above. Otherwise it has been a pretty good day. He does say his side hurts about where his kidneys are. I am hoping that is because they are trying to work. Not sure what else it could be. It is only on one side.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
John just starting out
This is John on the first day of the program. He has in front of him the Slippery Elm Gruel. He wasn't really as "happy" as he looked eating it. He was a good boy and ate it like I asked.
Over the edge
Well, it was too much. Too much liquid, too much heat. Combination did it in for John. Luckily not permanently, but enough to put him into the hospital in the intensive care unit. Tuesday morning was not too bad. He slept in till 10 am. Bowel movements were still frequent, but they were not pure liquid. It has never really been that way. He took his pills with water, then he drank some juice. I then did his massage with Wheat Germ oil. He tolerated the sunbathing for about 21 minutes. Even the cold shower. By the way, he has been walking in grass every time he sunbathes. But throughout the day he just seemed to be getting worse. Usually driving in the car with the air conditioning would help, but this evening it didn't. I gave him some extra heart medication to see if that would help, but it didn't, so that was when I took him in.
He was showing signs of improvement in his sugars and he was continuing to slowly increase his urine output. Mentally, it seemed he was acting more of adult in his speech and his attention span. Just listening to him speak, I could hear differences in how he presented himself. It was really exciting.
He was also continuing to have problems breathing. With the hot weather on Sunday and scorching weather Monday and Tuesday, was just too much. Tuesday night, John was in panic mode as he felt he could not breathe. His oxygen saturation was at 97%, which surprised the admitting nurse. They admitted him with Congested Heart Failure and scheduled him for a dialysis treatment. While he was waiting for that to take place John still had problems breathing even though he was on as much oxygen as possible. He was still panicking. He just couldn't calm down. They gave him morphine and adapan (don't know if I spelled or said it right). It finally started working by 1:30 am when they started his treatment. They pulled off 4 1/2 kilos.
Wednesday, John was out. He slept till about 3:30 pm. He slept through Doctors poking and prodding. He had blood taken, an echo cardiogram and another dialysis treatment which pulled another 4 kilos of liquid off. Amazingly enough his injection fraction of his heart is at almost 40%. That is really good for him having CHF for over 15 years. When he first was diagnosed, his injection fraction was 10%. But the bottom line is that all the fluid he has had took a toll on him. If it wasn't for the heat, he may have been able to pull through it. 8 1/2 Kilos equals to about 17 lbs of liquid.
The downside to him going to the hospital, is that he is eating the foods we have been trying to get away from. So we just have to deal with it and when he comes home tomorrow, we will resume. It was working in so many ways, that it is worth the risk to keep going. Now he will have a little more playing room. His kidneys are starting to get rid of some of the liquid. If we keep going it will only get better.
He was showing signs of improvement in his sugars and he was continuing to slowly increase his urine output. Mentally, it seemed he was acting more of adult in his speech and his attention span. Just listening to him speak, I could hear differences in how he presented himself. It was really exciting.
He was also continuing to have problems breathing. With the hot weather on Sunday and scorching weather Monday and Tuesday, was just too much. Tuesday night, John was in panic mode as he felt he could not breathe. His oxygen saturation was at 97%, which surprised the admitting nurse. They admitted him with Congested Heart Failure and scheduled him for a dialysis treatment. While he was waiting for that to take place John still had problems breathing even though he was on as much oxygen as possible. He was still panicking. He just couldn't calm down. They gave him morphine and adapan (don't know if I spelled or said it right). It finally started working by 1:30 am when they started his treatment. They pulled off 4 1/2 kilos.
Wednesday, John was out. He slept till about 3:30 pm. He slept through Doctors poking and prodding. He had blood taken, an echo cardiogram and another dialysis treatment which pulled another 4 kilos of liquid off. Amazingly enough his injection fraction of his heart is at almost 40%. That is really good for him having CHF for over 15 years. When he first was diagnosed, his injection fraction was 10%. But the bottom line is that all the fluid he has had took a toll on him. If it wasn't for the heat, he may have been able to pull through it. 8 1/2 Kilos equals to about 17 lbs of liquid.
The downside to him going to the hospital, is that he is eating the foods we have been trying to get away from. So we just have to deal with it and when he comes home tomorrow, we will resume. It was working in so many ways, that it is worth the risk to keep going. Now he will have a little more playing room. His kidneys are starting to get rid of some of the liquid. If we keep going it will only get better.
Monday, July 27, 2009
Is it getting any easier?
I didn't have time to write Sunday. John had a really hard time with the heat and mentally he was still very restless and acting so much like a child. He was up and down so many times he could have wore a path through our carpet if I didn't have extra runners down. He still isn't getting much sleep. I did manage to get away for a little while and that helped me. I didn't get his oil massage in. He was happy.
Sunday night wasn't much different than the last few nights. Up and down and still very restless and heavy breathing. He finally got to sleep around 3. Then we got up late for dialysis. He had diarrhea there so he didn't get a full treatment. He weighed in at 133 kg.
I got him his Wheat germ oil massage around 12:30. It was going to be way too hot to do it any later even though they suggest not sunbathing during that time. He actually sat out there for the longest time yet. He got his shower-even the cold part. Only for 2 seconds. His butt was sore, I didn't put a diaper on so he could get some air. He slept for about an hour. I didn't have to cuddle with him this time.
The rest of the day was a much better day for him.. He dealt with the heat well. I had lots of fans on him. He wasn't restless or up and down. Mentally he was so much better too. It was nice. Even late into the evening as it is, he can't sleep, but he is calm. Breathing well. His urine output is increasing as well. He keeps asking me if I am sure about all this, I keep telling him I am.
Sunday night wasn't much different than the last few nights. Up and down and still very restless and heavy breathing. He finally got to sleep around 3. Then we got up late for dialysis. He had diarrhea there so he didn't get a full treatment. He weighed in at 133 kg.
I got him his Wheat germ oil massage around 12:30. It was going to be way too hot to do it any later even though they suggest not sunbathing during that time. He actually sat out there for the longest time yet. He got his shower-even the cold part. Only for 2 seconds. His butt was sore, I didn't put a diaper on so he could get some air. He slept for about an hour. I didn't have to cuddle with him this time.
The rest of the day was a much better day for him.. He dealt with the heat well. I had lots of fans on him. He wasn't restless or up and down. Mentally he was so much better too. It was nice. Even late into the evening as it is, he can't sleep, but he is calm. Breathing well. His urine output is increasing as well. He keeps asking me if I am sure about all this, I keep telling him I am.
Saturday, July 25, 2009
7th day-The hardest day so far
Friday has been the hardest day so far. Thursday night, John managed to get a total of 5 1/2 hours of sleep. That is the most he has slept thus far. His sugars went down to 89 so I gave him another glass of carrot juice. That was enough.
He did dialysis. Because of that he didn't get to drink water during that time. Then at 12:00, we had to go to the doctors for John to have his basal cell skin cancer removed from off of his cheek. He did not want to go but I told him that he scheduled it, so we need to get it done.
He was still antsy and breathing hard so it was very difficult him to sit still long enough to have it done. Thankfully, the doctor got it all the first time around.
We made it home so he could finally get some water in him. He was really wanting something to eat. I am sure it was very hard for him. He took an hour nap. It didn't help. He got quite a bit of water down though. He then took another nap in the evening. But that was it. He was then up until two in the morning pacing back and forth at least 100 times (maybe more). He was sweating and could have swore that his sugars were low. They weren't (146). But he convinced himself that they were so he got into my son's Chocolate Marshmallow Mateys. That was the only thing he could reach and get into. He also got into the sea salt. He tried to deny it, but he was the only one around. The other couple things he snuck during the week were the Oreo Cookies Nacho Doritos. Really not too bad considering his mentality and willpower right now.
I realized yesterday that 136 kg is 300 lb. That is how much John weighed in last Monday at Dialysis. Friday, he weighed 132.7 kg which is around 289 lb.
I gave up on the fomentations until he calms down. It just isn't worth the hassel to try to keep it on his back. Hopefully we can start it tonight.
Now it is Saturday. I let him sleep. He slept till almost 11 am. I gave him his pills, water and gruel. He went back to bed at 12 and slept till almost 2. I hope it helps.
The capsules I give him are:
Circualtion-Parsley, cayenne, ginger, ginkgo eleuthero and garlic
CoQ10
Heart-hawthorn, motherwort
Lower Bowel-Rhubarb, ginger, fennel, cascara sagrada, red raspberry, cayenne, goldenseal, barberry and lobelia
Calcium Formula-Horsetail, oat straw, comfrey and lobelia
Blood Cleanser-Red clover, burdock, buckthorn, licorice, goldenseal, sarsaparilla, chaparral and oregon grape
Kidney support- Marshmallow and parsley
Liver/gallbladder-Barberry, catnip, ginger, cramp bark, fennel, peppernint and wild yam
Tinctures:
Nervine-Hops, valerian, skullcap and lady slipper
Pancreas-Bean Pod, bilberry, blueberry, huckleberry, balsom pear, bitter melon, gymnema sylvestre and uva ursi
He did dialysis. Because of that he didn't get to drink water during that time. Then at 12:00, we had to go to the doctors for John to have his basal cell skin cancer removed from off of his cheek. He did not want to go but I told him that he scheduled it, so we need to get it done.
He was still antsy and breathing hard so it was very difficult him to sit still long enough to have it done. Thankfully, the doctor got it all the first time around.
We made it home so he could finally get some water in him. He was really wanting something to eat. I am sure it was very hard for him. He took an hour nap. It didn't help. He got quite a bit of water down though. He then took another nap in the evening. But that was it. He was then up until two in the morning pacing back and forth at least 100 times (maybe more). He was sweating and could have swore that his sugars were low. They weren't (146). But he convinced himself that they were so he got into my son's Chocolate Marshmallow Mateys. That was the only thing he could reach and get into. He also got into the sea salt. He tried to deny it, but he was the only one around. The other couple things he snuck during the week were the Oreo Cookies Nacho Doritos. Really not too bad considering his mentality and willpower right now.
I realized yesterday that 136 kg is 300 lb. That is how much John weighed in last Monday at Dialysis. Friday, he weighed 132.7 kg which is around 289 lb.
I gave up on the fomentations until he calms down. It just isn't worth the hassel to try to keep it on his back. Hopefully we can start it tonight.
Now it is Saturday. I let him sleep. He slept till almost 11 am. I gave him his pills, water and gruel. He went back to bed at 12 and slept till almost 2. I hope it helps.
The capsules I give him are:
Circualtion-Parsley, cayenne, ginger, ginkgo eleuthero and garlic
CoQ10
Heart-hawthorn, motherwort
Lower Bowel-Rhubarb, ginger, fennel, cascara sagrada, red raspberry, cayenne, goldenseal, barberry and lobelia
Calcium Formula-Horsetail, oat straw, comfrey and lobelia
Blood Cleanser-Red clover, burdock, buckthorn, licorice, goldenseal, sarsaparilla, chaparral and oregon grape
Kidney support- Marshmallow and parsley
Liver/gallbladder-Barberry, catnip, ginger, cramp bark, fennel, peppernint and wild yam
Tinctures:
Nervine-Hops, valerian, skullcap and lady slipper
Pancreas-Bean Pod, bilberry, blueberry, huckleberry, balsom pear, bitter melon, gymnema sylvestre and uva ursi
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
