[pattygirl63]

Day went very well. BS called this morning and said she had cried most of the night. The nephew who takes Daddy out from facility is her oldest son. As I suspected he took him to his brothers and all BS kids, and grandkids were there. One of her sons that Daddy and our Step-mother spent a lot of time with, kept asking BS who he was. She said he would tell her stuff and she couldn't understand what he is saying cause it doesn't make a lot of sense. I couldn't get him until tonight after DS and BIL went out there to take him a plate of food from what we ate. She had to turn his phone back on so I could call him. He kept asking me where BS lives and he evidently couldn't remember BS DIL #2. He kept telling me how nice Stephen's wife is but never could remember her name until I said it. I called DS after I talked to him and she said he did the same thing with her when she and BIL were there. So we aren't sure what is happening. We go to CHF early next month so I will call the nurse that knows his case very well and talk to her about how he is doing. I don't want to talk to them in front of him because that irritates him.

DS and BIL didn't get to stay long because they wanted to get the plate of food to him before they brought his dinner to him this evening. Since we couldn't call him, we couldn't call to let him know ahead of time. However, we really enjoyed being with them. BS called while they were here and we decided on a restaurant for us to go to Thursday afternoon for a early dinner.

I did really good with my eating today. I ended up with the 21 day fast and I only ate 2 meals. Actually one meal and one snack. I'm swollen some though because of ham so I've taken one of my mild fluid pills and drinking my red tea. I didn't drink it early like I usually do because I think it also keeps me very regular and I end up going to the potty a lot. It isn't diahrrea but I seem to go more often rather than so much. If that is what is keeping me regular then it is a blessing. You know the green teas had me running to the potty all the time, but this doesn't. I read online that it detoxes the liver and I figure that along with my fasting can only be good for my liver since I don't do extended fasts like Fatmad and others do.

I think the GOLO pills that did not work for me does work for DH. He hasn't taken them at all for a few days and his FBS jumped from the 140s and 150s up to way over 200. I told him to keep taking them. That is how I learned that the berberine and Blood Sugar Support pills I take were helping me. I decided one day they were not doing any thing and when I got off them my bs jumped up in the 180s and 190s. I got back on them and it has settled back down. I sometimes still get in or close to the 160s but those are rare now. He just needs to remember to take them.

I'm glad today is over. I think these holidays were harder for Daddy than he ever said because he said he had made it through this and was glad it was over. I called my DGS today to wish him Merry Christmas and my little 4 yr old great grandson was sick with 104 degree fever. His mother is a nurse at one of those walk in clinics and I really thought they should have taken him for a doctor to see him, but I have to hope she knows what she is doing. She told DGS it was viral, but it bothers me when little kids get fever that high.

I am tired and I am going to go to bed pretty soon myself. My eating is already on track and tomorrow I need to get my exercise on track and more frequent.

Goodnight.

[Wannabehealthy]

Trish I'm sorry to hear of your Dad getting confused on who is who. I think that is normal at his age. Even I do that sometimes. He seems to remember you and DH and others he sees regularly.

I did not weigh yet or check BS. Time to face the music. BS went to 200 yesterday but cookies and ice cream were involved so no surprise. G to the rescue. Better plans for today.

I am glad Christmas is over too even though ours was low key.. It was nice of visitors to come But it tired DH out and I was trying to avoid that. Just marking time until he is healed and praying for pain relief.

EDIT: Wt is up to 185. FBG 141. I am not happy about this but realise I knowingly did this to myself. I know I cannot eat the things I've been eating and not have consequences. My main problem is the sugar. Normally I don't want it but for whatever reason I indulged. I actually made myself nauseated from it. I hope I learned a lesson. If it makes you feel that terrible why do it.

[fatmad]

I too am suffering the consequences of over indulgence and too many carbs, though I did like the oatmeal yesterday. Weight is 155 today. I know that will kick down once I get back to normal. I plan breakfast and lunch today, and fast until Friday am after that. I have a brunch to attend, with friends and my little girls. They will get their gifts today so that will be fun. Can't wait to see them.
I was working last night, got to bed at 3, but was woken up at 8 by a page. Can't sleep now. Will go do my visits in the afternoon after brunch and try to nap after that.
I hope you all manage to get over the holiday pile up of food and festivities. I like the company, and mostly can do with out the food with it, but some things just have to happen. Our community dinner was delightful though, and we visits for an hour or so just over tea and coffee, lovely conversation. I didn't want it to end. That was a nice "new tradition" to have, since our old ones are gone now. I did have a few tears for missing Dad and Mum, and also for the baby at the viewing I attended. That was so incredibly sad, even if it was expected (due to birth defects not compatible with long life) but what a time of year to have to deal with it. So a good day tinged with sadness. DH and I stuffed the turkey with a rice dressing, and it was a big hit. He made some boxed bread dressings and those were also gone. Very little in the way of leftovers, but that was 18 people and a 15 pound bird. So that was just the right size, IMHO. I didn't get many veggies, the squash came as a casserole with breadcrumbs on top, and the cranberries had orange zest in them. The jellied salad had orange pieces. My dessert was gluten free at least and had raspberries. However, the meat and rice were excellent, and DH made the gravy gluten free with my gluten free flour and everyone loved it. So no worries there.

TrishL I expect a lot of your father's confusion was from the busy-ness of the house. Sounds like a lot of people at once, likely noisy and rambunctious as well. very different from a couple of people coming to visit at once. So I would not worry about it unless he continues to have confusion in his normal setting. A night's sleep and his own place and he is likely back to normal today.

Have a good day friends.

[pattygirl63]

Well, I guess we are all feeling the consequences of our decisions the past day or so. I am so thankful that I decided to fast until 3 yesterday, but my meal was way too carby. I made DH candied sweet potatoes and didn't have any brown sugar to cook them like I usually do and I guess I hadn't bought the Maple syrup which I've read is better for diabetics so I used honey. I've read that is supposed to be better than sugar, and it didn't hurt my blood sugar, but I tell you after having way too much cornbread dressing BIL made and the sweet potatoes and a small slice of cheesecake and then all the sodium in the ham, my joints really ached terribly later in the day and during the night. I was so blessed yesterday when everyone was complaining about how the weather was making their joints hurt and I bragged about the Tart Cherry Extract had kept the weather from affecting my joints and that was true. However, the lesson learned is that Tart Cherry Extract does help with the joints, but it cannot counteract too much sugar. I don't think the carby foods were as much a problem as all that sugar that I'm not used to eating.

With all that I was blessed that FBS was 146 (I'm thinking the tea I drink is helping that) and I only gained .8 lbs from the sodium. I really am not sure what made the FBS to be less than yesterday after all the carbs and sugar, but I am really wondering if it is because I fasted until lunch at 3 pm and then I had the little snack last night. I've decided to do what Rachel Heller did when the same thing that happened to her when she ate just one meal. I'm going experiment. It isn't always easy for me to fast during the morning, but I think if I don't take the berberine until I eat my first meal which is what I did yesterday, I probably can do it. I watch this preacher on tv who has a church here in town that I want to start going to in the new year. I've been practicing some of the things he teaches his people to do. He said yesterday that we need to learn to fast and that we could pray and the Lord would show us how when to fast whether it is giving up a meal or a certain food etc along with prayer.

Any way I am going to work at giving up the breakfast like I did yesterday and eat one meal around 3ish and then have a snack later around 8ish. I think the 5 hr break between the 2 meals is good to lower my bs before eating again. I want to see how it works and if it doesn't make a difference or doesn't work, I can always go back to breakfast.

When I married DH and moved to FL, I joined the prayer ministry there and decided to fast breakfast. I was home all the time so it was no problem. So I would fast till around noon and then I would make a tuna salad for me. Later I would cook for DH and his Mother and I would eat with them around 3:30 or 4. I never ate anything after that until the next day when I drank my coffee. That is the time I lost down to 165 lbs by the time we came home for my 1st trip home after we married. We married in January and I lost that much weight by the end of May. I decided the other day that I have a difficult time fasting for weight loss, but I have no problem fasting for spiritual guidance and prayer like I did back then. Since I have decided I want to start 2019 attending this ministers church then I can commit to fasting and praying again like I did 16 yrs ago. I will get 2 blessings this way and this time when I lose the weight I hope I can get my thinking right along the way. I don't think I ever really thought of myself as thinner back then. I think when you continue thinking of yourself as fat, you haven't really lost weight successfully and that is why we gain it back. Hopefully this time I will be able to realize it and keep going down to a much healthier weight.

fatmad I think you have done well with realizing you are thinner and enjoying it. That seems to come through as you have enjoyed either buying new clothes or finding clothes in your closet that you have bought and never could wear before. I think that is important. I say that because I remember when DH took me shopping to buy new clothes for our 1st trip to TX. Instead of being excited about the weight I had lost and the size of the new clothes, I was so shocked and never really saw it. I look at pictures from that trip and can't believe I ever looked that good. So I see that I need a mind change as I lose weight this time. You are an inspiration.

Thanks for the encouraging words about Daddy. I do remember him telling me that there were "so many people" at my nephews. I had talked to him on the phone when he was own the way with my other nephew and he was excited and no confusion. So I'm sure you are correct. So hopefully that is all it was. He does forgot which one of us girls calls him and will tell one he hasn't heard from the other, but I think some of that is because he sleeps so much now that he forgets what day it is and is a little confused when he wakes up, but I think that is normal. I appreciate your input.

Carol Sue I am sorry so much company tired DH out. With what he has been through the past few weeks it probably was too much too fast. You can see that from him calling his daughter to ask her not to come. I hope he got some good rest and I will be praying with you that the pain will let up quickly. I hope he has a good day of therapy.

Don't worry about the little bit of up on weight and BS. I think we have all done very well with our one day of high carbs and now we can get back to business. Fatmad I think you have really done well with all the celebrating you've been doing and I really think staying gluten free has been the big help for you. You are really good at extended fasts and it won't take you long to get back to it.

Y'all have a great day.

[pattygirl63]

Please pray for us and my Daddy as I just got news that his cousin he grew up with and was more like a brother than his own brother passed away yesterday. He was 1 yr older than Daddy. I have no idea how we are going to tell him or how he is going to take it. Thanks guys. I love knowing we are always here for each other.

[Pipsicle]

Patty- I am sorry to hear about your dad's cousin. My thoughts and prayers are with you.

Carol- Glad to hear you husband is on the mend and I hope home therapy goes smoothly.

Mad- Sounds like you had a busy and fulfilling holiday. It is good to make new traditions.

We had a good Christmas despite a hiccup first thing in the morning. The in-laws didn't visit after all. We got a cute little kitten for Christmas and she is getting along well with our other kitty.

Tomorrow is a big day for us. My daughter has food allergies. The two we saw her react to are egg and dairy. However, on the advice of allergists we have always had her avoid nuts and listed tree nuts and peanuts as an allergen of hers. In some respects, we always had our doubts if she had a nut allergy because we never observed it. Anyway, a couple of weeks ago she made her daddy a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. She licked a little blob of what she thought was jelly off of her hand. Turns out it was peanut butter and she had no reaction. Tomorrow we are going to the doctor for a "food challenge". She will eat peanut butter at the doctor's office to see if she reacts or not. Fingers crossed that she does not! Part of me is really worried she will though!

[pattygirl63]

Pipsicle I am so glad your Christmas turned out so well. I pray your daughter will not have a reaction to the peanut butter. DH DGD is ate kiwi for years and suddenly one day she couldn't even touch it. I'm glad she doesn't have an allergy to peanut butter as that is her favorite food. My sister's SIL suddenly has become to pineapple and the sad thing is that he loves them. So I hope it turns out good for DD.

[Wannabehealthy]

Pipsicle I'm glad your holiday went well even without the visitors.

I hope you get DDs allergies worked out. I test negative for dog allergies but my doc tells me to isolate the dog anyway. I don't see the reasoning. My cat allergies are obvious.

Trish I do much better if I eat breakfast and skipping or limiting later meals. Today DH had a burger patty,, baked potato and corn. He does not eat the potato skin so that was my dinner..I am fine with that.

DH is having a very good day today. I tried to nap when he did but I can't let myself get deep sleep worrying that he will get up and get hurt.

Hope your Dad takes the bad news well. Or maybe he should not be told. It might make him think more about his own life. My cousin was terminal when his mother passed and he was not told. He died a week after her but your Dad is not terminal. Tough call to make.

[fatmad]

Pipsicle, glad you got your quiet holiday.
Truly, allergy treatment plans have been turned on their heads. We used to tell parents whose children were "at risk" of getting food allergies to avoid foods with high allergy likelihood, but it turned out we increased the likelihood of the allergies, So this is a good idea. You might be able to check out several in the safety of the office. I had a penicillin challenge that way. I get hives and rashes from many meds, and many antibiotics, but not a dangerous life threatening reaction. SO its a relief to know I can have some meds even if its only in an urgent situation, without much worry. I hope she can have peanuts, if only to not worry about a scary life-threatening reaction.

I am fasting the rest of today, but I will admit to a great of temptation because of all the treats and yummy leftovers in the house. Will see how long I get with the fast. Even just to tomorrow morning would be nice though. I have felt pretty full for days. Things are moving through which is wonderful, but I need to not feed the beast for a bit and get back on an even keel. Its truly no worse or more "painful" than getting back to regular meals after feasting for a few days. Just more dramatic I guess to have nothing. SO lots of fluids tonight and tomorrow in store.

I go off call in about 24 hrs, I will enjoy a nice break.

[pattygirl63]

I made it today with just 2 meals. DH had ham, the leftover broccoli and some of the sweet potatoes, but I think he threw out the rest of the sweet potatoes. He had his salad before as we normally do. I made my salad a little bigger and added some of the ham to it for a make shift chef like salad although I didn't add any cheese mostly because I forgot to. Then for my second meal I had an egg and bacon sandwich. I ate it around 7:30ish so I was able to stay within the 5 hr eating window. If I can continue eat this way, I think I will do better because this is how I ate as a teenager. I usually had my first meal no later than 1:30 and we usually had our last meal around 5:30, so the timing is different, but it does take care of the evening snacking because it is included within the 5 hr eating window. I will do my best to continue doing it for as long as I can.

Thanks Carol Sue for your thoughts concerning telling Daddy. I don't know that we can keep it from him. I had to contact his cousin on FB private messaging to let her know. I hated having to tell her because now it is just him and her of their generation. She is a lot younger than Daddy and the cousin who died. She is the same age as my previous hubby and their birthdays were only 1 day before or after his. I can't remember. I hated telling her because she just lost a son to cancer back in the spring or summer. Both her parents and siblings are all gone, but she does have her other kids and grandkids.

I am the oldest and it is my responsibility to tell him so DH will go with me for moral support and I will tell him. I'm sure he has been expecting it for quite some time. His daughter put a picture of him on FB made some time before he died and I think Daddy had not heard from him because he looks like he may have had a stroke too. I will talk to DS and BS and see if they think we should tell him or not, but I suspect we will decide to tell him.

I'm excited that BS and her hubby want to go to with DH and me to the church I want to start going to. Also her DIL called me tonight to see if I wanted to be part of a Bible study she is starting at her house in 2 weeks. So we ordered out books and workbooks tonight and she ordered the DVD that goes with it. We will start Monday 14. BS and 2 of nieces friends and I will be attending. I would suggest DS to go but I don't know if she would want to drive that far at night. So in the midst of hurt, good also comes through. Daddy told me today that he had hoped that I would decide to go to that church and he will be thrilled when he finds out that my BS and her hubby want to go too.

Doing some laundry and then will try to go to bed early tonight. Busy day tomorrow.

[fatmad]

still 155 this am, but feeling "lighter" all the same, since I stopped eating early yesterday. Tomorrow I will eat lunch and supper as we are going to a friend's place.
I haven't seen my sister since we went for the day to our hometown and closed out dad's bank account, and saw our aunt and uncle. That was back December 8th. I gave her our Christmas gifts then, but she is not usually that organized. She is coming with ours tomorrow. I will have the spare room ready if she wants/needs to stay over.
I want to hear what is happening with her legal case. Her former job is trying to settle before the end of the fiscal year in March, so I am hoping the news is good. If they can just let her retire and have her pension, all her stress would be gone, and she would be free to take contract work to supplement her income.
We are thinking of another trip, possibly to Germany. My DD may be there for a bit, and DS has a conference there in March, so if we did like in Portugal and had a week of touring together before her conference starts, that would be fun. Its a huge country, I am sure there will be plenty to see and do.

I will be boring today and keep fasting. I go off call this evening, so I know I can get a good sleep tonight. DH and I will decide on some year end movies for the next few days too. I also am resolving to get back to walking and yoga more often. I want to do it now, since I am working pretty regularly to January 17th, and I need to learn to do things like this all the time, not just when I am off. It looks like I will change my part time schedule in the new year, with working for 4 weeks at a time, but have whole months off. I will be busy from April until into September, with a few 2-3 week holidays, but then will have nothing scheduled most of the autumn.

I have in mind a semi-retirement date of May 2021. At that point I plan to do mostly non-clinical work, with just a little clinical work to sub for burned out midwives or those taking emergency medical leaves, who mostly work on their own. It will mean some travel around the province, which is fine. DH will be pretty much done with work at that point. Now that I have "picked" a date in my mind, I can see my way to making it happen.

Well friends, now that Christmas has passed, we see a new year coming and an old one slipping by. I look forward to hearing your plans for the New Year in terms of wellness and fitness.

[Wannabehealthy]

No scale today. I got dressed early because the nurse is coming. I will weigh and shower after she leaves.

FBS 116 with G. Still eating some sweets. This is why I'm better to not have a treat. My stop by%on is broken. I was craving scrambled eggs during the night but stayed in bed. Scrambled eggs are my saving grace.

Trish I pray that God's grace is with you as you tell your Dad the sad news. His cousin has gone on to his everlasting life. May he rest in peace.

[pattygirl63]

FBS 156 and weight 219.4 same as yesterday. I was so uncomfortable when I went to bed. So having my 5 hr eating window between 3 and 8 is not good for me. So I am back to eating breakfast and early dinner. I am going to work at not eating at night. I just feel better that way. I had the oatmeal this morning but thinking about going back to eating exactly like I ate when I first married DH which is more low carb. I didn't count the carbs, but my carby meals were few and far between. I had self made rules that weren't necessarily written in stone, but just felt right.

I read something about being nutrient deficient. So I may change things up considerably since I don't go out to eat as much as I did when I first moved here. I think I'm trying to get a lot of those things from supplements but it would be better to get them from the food where you can. I will keep the IF rule but go back to eating like I did years ago. I ate the oatmeal for lowering cholesterol, berries for clean arteries and yogurt for bones. I think I do better when I eat more toward health than even what I like. As we get older we need beef, chicken and fish for B12. That is a nutrient I take but the article that you have to get it from your food. I need to figure out a way to cook salmon. I just have never been able to cook it without it getting so dry. I just don't know what to do to cook it tender. I will go on YouTube and see if I can find a way of doing it.

BS isn't going out with us tonight because their money is tight. I won't know until I talk to DS if they still want to go out. DH and I have to go to Walmart to get meds as well as a few other things when we leave them.

Carol Sue Thanks for your prayer for Grace. The Lord has answered your prayer for me as I'm more at peace about telling Daddy about his cousin. We have never lied to him or kept things from him and we won't now. I hope knowing that BS and BIL want to visit the church with us and with DN starting a Bible study in her home will off set the blow. God is good about giving us good with the bad. I also believe God has been preparing us girls for the fact that Daddy is not going to be here much longer and DS and I have talked about how we don't want him to have to live for years in that facility. He has a mother waiting for him who had to leave when he was six weeks old. When you think of all those waiting on the other side, you can really be happy for them.

My cousins wrote things about they Daddy on FB and had pictures of them with him and then they had a picture of him and their Mother together. They sound so good as they realize they are together again and as his daughter wrote "We love you and will miss you but we will see you again soon". As a Christian that is how we will feel with Daddy. Those kids Mother died from cancer when they were just little kids and they were raised by the step-mother that she actually picked to take her place when she died. Amazing. I don't know if I could have done that. So it will be fine no matter how things turn out. We owe Daddy the truth and as the oldest I realized yesterday that it is my responsibility to be the one to tell him. So I will trust the Lord to help me to be there for him and comfort him as much as I can.

Y'all have a great day.

[Wannabehealthy]

Good for you for stepping up to take this responsibility, Trish. It is not an easy task. I believe it will be fine. As a minister, your Dad understands about going on to be with the Lord.

DH has been wanted a McDonald's breakfast sandwich so I went for them today. They were good for a change. I'm not sure what we will have for dinner. I want to have leftover turkey with gravy. We use Cream of Mushroom Soup and I add a sprinkling of green peas to it, like Turkey A La King. I want to make mashed potatoes but it depends on what DH wants. He is King this week. LOL He told me today he is going to miss all this pampering he's been getting. He usually waits on himself as far as thinks like coffee are concerned, plus he usually cooks breakfast and his own lunch. I have been taking the trash out to the curb, which is normally his job, but it's not a problem for me to do it. Our driveway is 2 car lengths...not that long. I didn't get it out last week so we had 2 bags for this week.

Tomorrow his kids are coming. I don't know what time his son is coming. If they have to work it will be after 6, and his daughter works until 6 also. I might get a pizza. DH has been craving pizza, too, so maybe I can get a large pizza. It won't be enough for dinner for everyone, but it will hold them until they can get something else. They have a pizza and wing special.. $20. That would work.

It's getting time that I have to make his doctor's appointments. One is made for Jan 7. 3 others are all in the same building. It would be wonderful if I could get all of those scheduled for the same day, but what are the chances of that? The other is in another part of town. Today the nurse told him he will have to go for outpatient rehab also. He doesn't want to do that. It would be great if he was approved to start driving by then. I don't know where that will be.

I have looked at the long term weather forecast and don't see much snow. I don't drive in snow, so any appointments made then would have to be cancelled unless his son wants to do it. I have such a hard time depending on them. I'm better off to assume that I will have to do it myself and if they help, it's a plus. It's sad that I feel that way.

Mad, I think your semi-retirement plans are great. You can fill in when needed, or maybe go forward with the foot care you were interested in. It will give you something to do and some extra income, but not be the pressure of a full time commitment like you have now. Good luck to you with that. Maybe you can wind down a bit in the meantime.

DH retired several years before I did. I resisted retiring, but when I started having illness I gave in. Now I love it. I love not having to get up until I feel like it, not having anywhere I have to be. It's hard not having as much money, but money, although essential, isn't everything. Peace of mind is.

[pattygirl63]

DH has gone to get ready to go see Daddy and the store. I talked to DS and her daughter came back a day early and with me telling Daddy today and BS not having the money to go out, we decided to postpone until another time. So I will come home and cook tilapia. It will be nice not to have to stay out so long today.

I talked to BS and she was talking to Daddy when I tried to call him. She said he sounds very good and that he told her that he knew he was confused the other day at her son's house. He told her there were just so many people and he didn't know all of them. She told him they were all her family. I hope that is a good sign that his memory is still okay. He is getting therapy again and being active always makes him happy. I'm thinking it will hurt to know his cousin has gone on, but I think he will be happy that he is with his wife again. He knows he doesn't have much longer here and he will probably just look forward to the time he will be reunited with all Mama, his Mother and family too. I know I think that way about when I go although I know God still has things for me to do here and that it isn't my time yet. Like Daddy, I'm not afraid to die, but he is afraid of what he has to go through before that happens. I'm not. When I was in the hospital, I had such a peace that while I knew I wasn't going to die, I was not afraid of going because I knew everything was going to be okay either way.

Mad I love that you and DH are able to plan in advance for your retirement and do it slowly. I also love how you are getting to do all this traveling to be with family.

Carol Sue Sounds like DH is coming along very well. I hope he will be able to drive again soon, however, I think this has been good for you to see what you are still able to do. I learned the same thing when DH had all his illness and I had to do the same thing. It helps us know we still have a lot in us that we didn't know we had. I've learned that with Daddy too. I think it gives us the feeling of purpose. I hope your step kids will step up and be there for y'all.

BBL