Well, oddly enough, I have been sleeping better since the consult diagnosing me with depression and anxiety. I think feeling validated and listened to was helpful.
My family doc is the one who will prescribe the new meds though, and (understandably) wants to see me first, and fitting that into my schedule and hers is difficult, so that is next week. In the meantime, I am making sure to keep regular hours, so didn't party much at my conference.
I am up early today, having one more medical test for my bowel troubles and I hope its the last, but the prep is keeping me up. I slept well for most of the night up until now, and even went to be early.
Carol Sue, I would love to be able to do jury duty for something interesting, but I know it can also be quite stressful, and if its a horrid case, I think jurors need counselling sometimes, which should be paid for. So I am glad for you to be out of it if the thought of it is so stressful. I hope you and your doctor get to the bottom of what is wrong with your foot. This pain is going on too long.
Trish, I am so sorry about your father, I wish you could convince him to go to assisted living now he realizes he is not ready to go home after 100 days. I will be thinking of you both.
The weather here is getting better, a real spring feel now. It will be hot and summery before we know it.
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Hmmmm I thought I posted this morning. Guess it went into cyberland. LOL
I'm glad to hear you're sleeping better, Mad. I slept good last night but only until about 2:30 then I couldn't get back to sleep. The sleep I did get was deep, though.
I think I would enjoy being on a jury, but the problem for me would be getting to the courthouse. I don't usually drive further than the grocery store, plus, the courthouse is in an old town with no parking lot. You have to park in a municipal lot or a parking garage and walk to the courthouse, and it's up a steep hill. I probably could have done that when I was younger, but now I'm lucky I can walk to the bathroom. LOL
A friend of mine was on a grizzly murder trial a few years back and was sequestered. She hated that.
A quick one here as my niece who is a social worker for cancer patients has got us an appointment at the health facility this afternoon. She is representing us in this meeting as Daddy's social worker or consultant to see what we can get done. Our goal at this time is to get him to the place where they will pay for him to get the 30 therapy treatment the therapists says could get him walking. I know Daddy wants to go home, but DS has been pointing out to him that he is better off where he is because he gets his meds and meals which he wasn't getting meds correctly at home because we would find them on the floor and his chair and he didn't even know he had dropped them. Sometimes they were the meds for his heart which probably was why he had all these problems to start with. Praying we can get things settled. If he gets on Medicaid along with his Medicare, I don't think he can go home again. I could be wrong as I don't really know how that works.
fatmad I'm glad you are getting much needed rest and good luck with the new test you are having. I certainly hope you get the answers you need.
Carol Sue I've lost posts out into cyberspace so often it is crazy.
I got to get ready to go so I'll try to check back with y'all when I get back home.
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Trish, I have no idea how any of this works but it's scary to hear about it, because I'm thinking it could be me someday. Medical science does wonders to keep us alive longer and longer but for what? If we can't take care of ourselves and we aren't millionaires, then what.
I drop pills on the floor, too, but I usually know I dropped them. I hear them hit the kitchen floor but can't see them. DH has to help me find them. If I don't find them, then I have to figure out which one it was so I can get another one out of the bottle. I am also afraid my dog will find them and eat them. I don't know what would happen to him. Sometimes DH will bring a pill to me that he finds and ask me what it is, so I guess I don't always know I dropped them.
I got a bill from the hospital today for $13K of which I owe $800. That doesn't sound like very much money so maybe there's more coming.
Carol Sue I know this is really all scary. I'm so glad we have my niece to go between us. This is what she did at her previous job for American Cancer Association so although she only knew the side for cancer patients, she knew the questions to ask and then help us all understand what is going on... the terms they use we don't understand.
We have to get rid of Daddy's apartment. Tomorrow we go see a lawyer who has to some see to the legal things that has to do be done as we refile the appeal to Daddy's Medicaid denial. Then the facility can legally put him on Medicaid Pending status so that he can live there when his 100 days is up. The rules are crazy. He has to stay out of the hospital for 60 days on Medicare then if he falls or something he could go back on 100 days again. They are checking to see if he qualifies for Veteran's help so they would pay for his room so he could keep his private room. However, as of May 27th either way, he wouldn't be able to have therapy any more. They have some type of therapy that he can get but it is only a total of 30 minutes 6 days a week, but it is just to keep him from regressing. It isn't the quality he has now. If he gets on Veteran's contract which we don't really expect, then he would not have to go on Medicaid and can keep his SS check and pension of course if he is on Medicaid, he will be able to keep his health insurance policy he has which will pay for his meds, but won't give him any therapy at all if I understood it correctly. He will also only get $60 a month of it for expenses. The thing he hates the most is that with Medicaid he will have a roommate. So that is where it stands at this time. We are working toward the Medicaid and hoping the VA comes through with help.
DS, her hubby, niece and her hubby and DH and I went out for Chinese food. I usually make several trips back for more, but I guess my stomach is shrinking as I didn't eat a lot. I got a lot on my plate for regular food and for dessert but the desserts were to see what they tasted like and didn't like most of them and couldn't eat all the food at all. I actually ate more protein than anything so hopefully my fbs won't be too high tomorrow. It was up today so I'm not sure if CAD is working, but I decided to ride it out to give it a chance.
Busy day tomorrow so I am headed to bed. Y'all have a great day Friday. Thanks for being there for me to share. This is really hard to watch my Daddy go through this. I saw him wilt. I don't know if he will fight to get well or not. He told me tonight there wasn't any reason to fight for anything any more that his life is over. I hope he can bounce out of it, but will just have to see. I have to be careful because I'm wondering if this affects my bs and maybe that is why it was high today. I can't of anything I did wrong to make it high this morning. So I've got to take care of me. I see it affecting my DS as she is the one who has to do all the decision making and signing being the Medical Power of Attorney person and she is having it harder for me with the responsibilities setting up trust fund Medicaid requires which is why we have to get an attorney then she has to take care of closing out his apartment etc. I'm mostly there to be moral support for her.
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Trish, I understand how your Dad feels. I also feel that all this medicine we take and procedures we have done are meant to help us live longer but if we don't have our mobility and can't care for ourselves, what good is it. Medicare and pensions are meant to provide our needs, but then they tell us we have too much to qualify for help. When my disabled brother was in a residential home, they also only allowed $60 per month for personal needs, but he didn't even need that. His room and board was provided and he didn't need anything else. The money started to build up in his account and I had to use it to prepay his funeral so his "assets" didn't go over the allowed amount. There are ways to get around the rules and regulations, but it's just a shame that we have to do things like that. I will keep you and your family in my prayers that this turns out well.
I haven't been on the scale for a few days. I'm afraid to see the number. I have been eating things I shouldn't be eating and more than I should be eating. I blame DH but I put the food in my mouth. I know if I just refused the food and threw it away maybe it would break him of the habit, but that's so hard for me to do. When I cook, I prepare the amount we normally eat, but when he cooks, he prepares way more than necessary. And guess who eats the extra? I'm ok when the extra is veggies, but when it's potatoes or meat I don't need to be finishing it off.
I finally broke my candy habit and haven't had any for a few days. I just forgot it was there. I still eat a piece of dark chocolate once in a while since that's good for the heart. A big bar lasts me a couple months, a small piece at a time, and not every day. I keep it on the counter behind the bread box so I don't see it, so it's out of sight, out of mind. I think if I lived alone I would be thin and have my eating well under control.
My friend who had cancer has finished her treatment and her scan was clear. She still has to have the final extensive exam by the surgeon but they don't expect any problems. She went for bloodwork and her A1c is 5.7. She expected it to be up a bit because she didn't stick to plan while she was going through treatment and didn't do her walking but she actually did some fasting when she just didn't feel like eating. She will probably have to have frequent check ups to be sure she doesn't have a recurrence. She only lost a little bit of hair. She has not colored it and it is all salt and pepper now and she says she is leaving it like that as everyone likes it. I haven't seen her yet.
You're right that you need to take care of yourself to be any good to your Dad. Your FBG could be up due to stress.
HI there:
the CTE scan went ok yesterday. The drink that I had to have was quite awful. Really had a hard time getting it all down. Now drinking even plain water, or something you like at that pace (1.5 quarts in an hour) is difficult, but with the awful taste it was really not great. And the after effects, which is like any colon prep were like the colonoscopy. Interestingly, the idea is to have it before the cleansing so they can see the effect on the small intestine, and as the doctor says, "challenge" the small bowel. Assume they got good pictures, as they didn't call me back in afterward. They also didn't feed me anything, and I think thats dangerous. I was oddly woozy yesterday am and made DH drive me there are back, just didn't think I was safe to drive. Felt better after my smoothie.
Speaking of which, (my smoothie that is), in reading the Dr. Fung books, too much protein will also convert into glucose! I did NOT know that. I have looked it up in some of my old anatomy and physiology texts, and that makes big changes. SO adding protein powder to my smoothie is NOT a good idea as it turns out. I have been good about the fat additions, but maybe too much protein. I will read further before I give it up for good. I think the other part is that like Atkins, most people have trouble adding a lot of fat to the diet. And then if you cheat and have too much carb it undoes the good we have done.
Yesterday did well though, had my smoothie for brunch and then DH insisted on early Mother's day dinner at the Keg, since we were given gift cards for Christmas that we didn't use yet. So I had steak and crab, and veggies only, told them not to bring the bread and no potatoes for me.
I have been adding bran to the smoothies in an attempt to avoid the constipation problems that tend to plague me on low carb. I am planning fast days all weekend, and to have two meals a day just six hours apart. I would like to get into this groove before I go away later this month.
Trish, I am glad you have an expert in your niece and your lawyer to help you and your father negotiate the government bureaucracy. Its not always better here either. Best wishes
Carol Sue, it sounds like you are a little blue since your heart attack, and the continuing pain with your foot doesn't help. This is pretty normal, but do keep following up with your doctor and I hope things get better.
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Mad, I'm glad to hear your ordeal is overwith, at least for now, and hopefully you will get good news.
I think it's the foot pain that has me so down. I feel that they did what was needed to fix the heart issue and it should be working properly now for another 5 years or so. I waffle daily on whether to call a foot doctor or wait until July to talk to the PCP again. Seeing the foot doctor can get involved in so many different tests and I'm not good with that. I wish I had asked the PCP to test for Uric Acid and Diabetic Neurapathy before seeing a foot doctor. If the pain was just in one place I think it would be easier. One time it's on the top of the foot, then the outside edge, then the ankle, then the top area and this morning the ball of the foot. To me that means this is going to be hard to diagnose. Sometimes I don't need any pain meds, sometimes just Tylenol and other times I use both and it doesn't help at all. There is no time when there is no pain at all, except maybe when I'm asleep.
I was aware that too much protein can turn to glucose, but still don't know for sure how much protein is the right amount. There are so many different opinions. It was so much easier when we just ate less to lose weight and everything else took care of itself. So much information to be considered.
Last edited by Wannabehealthy; 05-11-2018 at 09:45 AM.
We saw the lawyer the facility recommended for appealing the Medicaid denial. I will go with DS Monday to the bank after she takes the paper work signed by Daddy. She has to set up a special fund account where his money for the facility will go into. Carol Sue I had read you post this morning before I left and asked her about the $60 accumulating in the fund for him. She said not to ever let it go up to or over $2000. Of course she recommended always putting it into his fund from his checking account and not cash. We already set up the fund at the nursing facility and DS just put $100 in it yesterday out of her own cash. Everything has been filled out and DS has instructions what all to do so that hopefully we will have all the paper work turned over to the nursing facility Monday so it can be filed with Medicaid before or by next Friday.
Tomorrow DS and niece are going to inventory everything in Daddy's apartment. Most of what is there my DS bought so I'm not taking anything. The plan is to take what we want and then call all the grandkids and let them come in and take what they want. Whatever is left we will donate to Salvation Army.
Daddy wants us to stop coming out there so often and basically live our lives and forget him. I told him today that isn't in my DNA... I can't walk away and leave him alone. He may feel like his life is over, but my gosh, he isn't dead. It made me mad to watch people I took care of and I wondered where was their kids? They had no visitors and no mail from anyone. I couldn't live with myself if I did that. I figure he is just going through an adjustment process.
fatmad I have read some time ago that women don't need so much protein. I also remember when I tried using protein powder so I could get more protein that my bs always went up. I didn't really know it was scientifically true, but just thought I was strange. Then I read somewhere that it probably was the whey so I just quit using it.
Carol Sue I watched a video yesterday by a doctor in Austin, TX who helps you learn to reverse diabetes. I ordered her book. She claimed that if you would add fat to your diet that not only would you lower your A1c, but that you would find that your joints will stop hurting. She said when we took all the fat out of our diets during the lowfat diets, our bodies started experiencing more inflammation.
I ordered the book. She also recommended 4 things to take besides adding dietary fats including saturated fats back into your diet. I didn't order her products, but I did check the new Optilevel Blood Sugar Support pills I started taking a month ago. All 4 of the ingredients she recommends to take is in this pill. She recommends 65% fat, 25% protein and 10% carbohydrate.
She claims people are lowering their blood sugar readings and either coming off their meds completely or lowering it drastically plus they are effortlessly losing weight. I will have to wait to get the book to learn which oils she recommends. She seems to suggest eating some sort of fat to get immediate energy which doesn't have to be although it can be coconut oil. However, she recommends only 2 types/kinds of coconut oil and I assume the book will tell me that. She recommends starting to put that butter on your veggies to help lower A1c.
Amazon sells the book, but it is unavailable there right now. I assume that is because she is running a special online to make money off of her products, etc.
Going to go relax. I said I'm not going to Daddy's or his apartment tomorrow for the inventory. I have one thing DH wants from there and he or we can go get it sometime when we are over in that area. I don't have to do anything because DS is legally in charge of all this, but it is stressing her so that our beautician told her she was losing her hair. So I told DS that she doesn't have to go do all this by herself. I will go with her to the bank etc so that she doesn't have to go alone. They set everything up so that she is in charge and if anything happens to her it would fall to me and if for some reason I couldn't do it then my niece will be in charge. I told my niece that I consider her our Caseworker. We don't know how to do any of this.
We needed to know what kind of life insurance Daddy has from his job of 35 yrs. If I had called and they wouldn't tell us anything until they got DS fax copy of her power of attorney and then it was going to take one and half weeks before we would know if it could be cashed in. I would have been unhappy and hung up. She pressed to talk to someone else concerning something else and by the time she hung up they had the fax in their hands to prove DS power of attorney and we had our answer today that the policy is not one you can cash in. That was all we needed to know. All the paperwork is ready except for Daddy's signature. We are so blessed to have her.
Well if you had read this far "Bless your heart". I share it because of those of us that are not far from the age of all these things some day. God I hope I don't live to go through all this stuff. However, it is good to know.
So I finished the Diabetes Code now. I am quite interested and will fast until later today. I am going to read more about the fasting phases. They recommend longer fasts to kick start.
With all these tests, the ultrasounds and CT scans all show fatty liver, and Fung discusses that quite clearly. I am going to take the fasting as a prescription and do it. Today will be until 11 am as we have friends coming over, and I will make a healthy supper tonight, and then maybe fast all through Sunday.
When I start work on Monday for my two weeks, I will have to be careful. I will see how things go with these mini fasts this weekend and plan from there. What I had been doing hasn't been helping me, so I am going to try these new directions.
Trish, you stick to your plan to see your father. Of course you will continue to see him and love him. Thats how you were raised by this man! But doing it in a way to lets you take care of yourself and DH by having the help of your father's caregivers means you are not making too many sacrifices, but still being a loving daughter.
Carol Sue; the travelling foot pain makes me think more of diabetic neuropathy. Making sure you are taking a B complex supplement may help, (not medical advice, but we know metformin can use up our B vitamins) and making an appointment for this will help. It was better when your appetite was small after your heart attack. Maybe this is something to look at. Fasting longer may be the key.
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Mad, my foot pain was better after my heart attack because they put me on Prednisone. After the Predinsone wore off the pain came back. I am noticing that my legs hurt, also. I'm just a bundle of pain! LOL Yesterday I took a Motrin. That was always my med of choice for pain and it really works so much better than other pain meds, even the narcotic one my doc gave me. But unfortunately it should only be used occasionally with my heart issues. I want to find foods/lifestyle changes that will help.
Also, I was reading the report I got from my last visit with the PCP and it stated that I have "acidosis due to type 2 diabetes." He never mentioned that to me. So I googled that yesterday and I think it's an excess of lactic acid. It is not ketoacidosis. One of the things that causes it is metformin use and I can't really control that. One remedy suggested is drinking a lot of water to dilute the lactic acid and drinking ACV water. This is also a recommendation for Uric Acid which causes gout. I think the reason he didn't mention it is that my case is mild and he understands why I have it. I think I will also try eating more alkaline forming foods and less acid forming foods.
Trish, somewhere I had read about whey protein raising blood sugar, but when I googled today, most sites said it was good for lowering post meal spikes. The only site that said it raised blood sugar was JJ Virgin, and the whole article was about a protein shake she was selling, so I don't trust her comments. The other sites weren't promoting anything. I hesitate to trust those who are promoting their own products. I have some and it might have actually expired. I don't use it because I think I get enough protein.
I really hope these things work out for your Dad. It's really a lot of red tape. I didn't understand a lot of it and the administrators at the home helped me with it.
I know that you will continue to visit your Dad, and he probably knows that, too. He would have never left you to fend for yourself.
Last edited by Wannabehealthy; 05-12-2018 at 09:38 AM.
Thanks Carol Sue & fatmad for the encouragement. I told DS that I want to do with Daddy the way DH daughter did with her children when their Daddy left them for another woman. Her goal was to keep things as normal in their life as possible to get them through it. I intend to continue doing things as I was doing before this all went this way. I tried to call him this morning, but he either has turned his phone because he doesn't want to talk or it has accidently been turned off. He doesn't want to talk about the apartment or anything else as he sees his life as over. So he may try to cut us off, but we won't allow that. We will still go to see him etc.
DS, BIL, DH and I went out to a new burger joint when we left the lawyer's office. We were going to come home and eat because I've had chicken tenders in fridge I had cooked for the day before when we decided to go eat after facility meeting. BIL said they decided that we all needed some comfort food. I think that set DH and me off on a night of "stress" eating. I was surprised that my fbs wasn't higher than it was this morning a 185. I didn't attempt to get on the scales. Then I was sick all night with neck/headaches which turned into nausea so it was 2 am and meds before I could go lie down. I relaxed but not sure I really slept. Today I am no good to me or anyone else. I haven't been hungry so I haven't eaten. I will put a salad and some veggie with the chicken tenders I cooked 2 days ago.
fatmd There is a girl on MFP who got rid of her fatty liver by low carbing. I think this book I just ordered is going to be another low carb diet book. You know if my life would calm down some, I know the fasting really helps me lower my bs.
Carol Sue One of the things that you and I may be doing wrong is that we have been eating lowfat too because we don't like the fat. This doctor I bought the book from sounds like she is pushing the keto low carb diet with high fat. I put the ratios into MFP today and I don't think there is any way that I could eat 65% fat. That is 111 g fat, 38 g carbohydrate and I think the protein is 92 grams. I do remember reading a book one time by a woman doctor wo said women didn't need to eat more than 90 g protein a day. I've seen low carb plans that pushed 90 g protein each meal. There is no way I could eat that much for each meal.
I'm wondering if you and I just need to add some good fats to our meals. I did read on her site to stop eating non fat, lowfat or lite foods. I see the keto people doing this... of course they don't eat dairy at all except they do eat a whole lot of cheese which my baby sister says she does. DH never had a lot of the problems he has now until he married him and I switched him to lowfat eating. Daddy told me yesterday when I shared all this with him that my step-sister would take a steak and cut the fat off and eat it. She has never had a weight problem in her life and as far as I know is fairly healthy. I'm nervous about adding the fat, but I'm going to start using more fat. I'm not going to worry about trying to eat as much as she says, but I will add it. She says even saturated fat because she says it helps lower the triglycerides. I've read that before too. I'll let you know how it works.
Well, I'm going to try to call Daddy again and if I can't get him, I'm going to try to sleep a while. I could be sleepy because I didn't sleep well. It may have nothing to do with the meds I took. I guess I'm IF today since I'm not hungry. I cooked some bacon for breakfast so I'll put it in my RM salad.
Trish, to add some fat, consider making a simple salad dressing with drizzles of olive oil and vinegar instead of bought dressings, and then put in chunks of avocado. Sprinkle some sunflower or pumpkin seeds on the salad too. Avoid the dried fruit. Ranch and blue cheese dressings (the latter is my favourite) are also higher fat, but check that there is not sugar in the brand you get.
buttering the steamed veggies is also another good way. I am marinating some veggies for grilling tonight. I will be done eating after the grill tonight.
DD is agreeable to waiting until noon for me to eat tomorrow, as she is making me Mother's Day Brunch. Also she had flowers delivered today. What a sweetheart.
What I haven't got out of the books yet, is how to stick to plan. The fasting is important, but eating low carb is important too. Its the two together that will heal my fatty liver. How will I cope when hungry? How will I not cave if DH is having a late night snack? I am working to have social time that doesn't involve food. No going for lunch with peeps. Maybe tea or coffee (but not cookies or cakes with it) but having walking dates with my friends. Hope I can keep it up.
fatmad I checked my kindle and I don't think I read the book Obesity Code. I've read his other books. Now I may have borrowed it and had to give it back. I recently went to Amazon and returned the books I had read for free. I'm thinking that one would not have been free reading and I'm pretty sure I would have gotten it on the kindle if I could have. I will have to look and see if I've read it or not.
I ended up eating only one meal so far today. I did have more carbs than the 10%. I think I raised it to 20% and lowered the fat to 55%. I kept the protein at 25%. I like ranch dressing too. I used to love blue cheese ad wouldn't eat anything else for years and then one day it just didn't taste good any more. I have no idea why. I also loved Helman's mayo and it doesn't have any sugar or at least it used to not have it in it. I probably should check it to be sure. I love avocado and was going to get some yesterday and realized when I got home that I had forgotten them.
Speaking of avocado, one of Daddy's RNs is from Mexico and goes back to visit her family there. Her brother planted a grove of avocado trees a few years back and they aren't getting enough rain any more and that the avocado trees are dying out. She said they say there will come a time we won't have avocadoes any more. Then she told me that her doctor told her to eat an 1/2 avocado with every meal. It helps lower our triglycerides. Thanks for the reminder.
I managed to keep a 2.4 lbs loss this week. I was disappointed that I'm still hanging around 220, but I will take the 2.4 lb loss this week. I'm sure 2 days of evening out and then continuing with stress eating on one of those days didn't help with keeping the below 220. I'm thankful it wasn't any worse.
I evidently had some sort of infection. I slept all day yesterday. I did manage to cook a healthy meal, but did nothing but sleep other than that. I woke up this morning to go potty and I had evidently broke a fever that I didn't even know I had because my gown was wet and I was all sweaty. Still don't have a lot of energy but much better than yesterday. Not going any where today. I will take today to rest up for a busy week next week. I told DS I would go with her to the bank tomorrow after we get Daddy's signature on the paperwork to set up the special fund to satisfy Medicare. He also has a CHF appointment on Wednesday or Thursday afternoon.
I'm finding that I'm not hungry right now so I'm taking advantage of it. I won't eat until I am hungry.
They are checking to see if he qualifies for Veteran's help so they would pay for his room so he could keep his private room. However, as of May 27th either way, he wouldn't be able to have therapy any more. They have some type of therapy that he can get but it is only a total of 30 minutes 6 days a week, but it is just to keep him from regressing. It isn't the quality he has now. If he gets on Veteran's contract which we don't really expect, then he would not have to go on Medicaid and can keep his SS check and pension of course if he is on Medicaid, he will be able to keep his health insurance policy he has which will pay for his meds, but won't give him any therapy at all if I understood it correctly. He will also only get $60 a month of it for expenses. The thing he hates the most is that with Medicaid he will have a roommate. So that is where it stands at this time. We are working toward the Medicaid and hoping the VA comes through with help. 