Overnight I was thinking there are foods I have to avoid for my diabetes, foods to avoid for my heart, foods and fluid I have to avoid for my PH, and now foods to avoid for kidneys. I don't know what I'm allowed to eat but its probably nothing I like. If I just quit eating I will lose weight!! I think the kidney damage started when I had the heart cath and they didn't let me drink enough water to flush the dye out. They increased my fluid pill to twice a day! But told me to limit my fluid intake.

Carol Sue I know it is confusing sometimes as to what we can and cannot eat because of our health. I haven't really thought of what I shouldn't eat as much as what I can eat to improve different health problems. They haven't told me what I can't eat. The main thing they gave pushed for me to eat is more protein. I've been reading what foods I need to be eating to improve my lab work and to strengthen my body. I'm eating to keep my heart healthy and to heal and build my body back up of cancer etc. I believe I have to do the best I can and stay positive/faith so I can live as good a quality life as possible till our Lord God calls me home.

I know you feel the same way, but it is difficult when we find one more thing that is happening to our bodies. We just keep doing what we know to do and pray it works for us. We still have a purpose. I saw that with my son and his wife. I often have asked the Lord why I'm still here. What is my purpose. My DIL asked me about diabetes. She is probably pre-diabetic. Her Mother has diabetes but doesn't do anything as she doesn't really want to live since her husband died a few years ago. So DIL is looking to me as to how to take care of herself. I was able to tell her that she doesn't have to become a full blown diabetic if she takes care of it now. Then she turned to DH and me as to how you live on social security when you retire. Here I haven't seen them (talk to DS on the phone most weekends) and now they need me to be there for them.

I see your step-daughter leans on you more and that tells me needs you too. I say that to say that we still have purpose.

Weight this morning was 159.4 lbs which is what it was on November 1st. My FBG was back down to 112. Still some swelling but not anything like it was before the stroke. I've got half my exercises done for today. I will do the rest before dinner.

Hope everyone has a good day.

Trish, I read online about each one of my medical conditions. It says what foods to eat and what foods to avoid. The doctor didn't tell me. They told me to follow a heart healthy diet and to avoid sodium and limit fluids. I know for my diabetes I have to limit carbs. For my heart I have to eat a heart healthy diet. For my kidneys I have to limit potassium and phosphorus. I cannot eat bananas, one of the only fruits I like, or spinach. I have to limit protein, limit meat. All along I thought the heart valve was causing all my problems but now the valve has been replaced but I have 3 very serious medical problems for which there is no cure,but only treatment. They all have a very short mortality rate. I want to see what the doctor says about this. I just know what I've read online. He is only responsible for the heart. I might have to go to a nephrologist and pulmonologist. I don't know if the cardiologist can treat these other issues. I am not afraid to die. This seems to be why none of my family lived beyond their 60s. They might have had these issues but they never went to the doctor so they wouldn't know.

We were just informed that step sons MIL just had a stroke. It reminded me of what you said about your stroke. She was talking to her husband and he did not understand her. He called an ambulance and she is in the hospital. I pray she is ok. She has AFib. She is in her early 80s. Her other 2 daughters live out of state.

This has not been a good month for medical issues for my family. We will carry on as best we can.

Carol Sue I am so sorry about your step son's MIL. I do pray that she recovers well. This has been a difficult year for all of us. I pray 2024 will be much better. I'm like you. I'm not afraid to die, but I want to live as good a quality as I possibly can for the years I have left.

I have always tried to eat certain foods for good health, now I am eating certain foods to help build up my blood count etc. and take care of my heart. Unlike you I need to eat bananas and avocadoes for the potassium and eat more protein.

We had McDs CB and fries for dinner. I had eggs, bacon and toast for breakfast. I had PB and peeled apple with a protein shake for supper all within 7 hr eating window. Now I will work on drinking enough water tonight and all day tomorrow so I will be hydrated for my infusion Thursday morning. Lab told me that I needed to spend the day before hydrating myself so that is what I will do tomorrow.

I told my DDIL that the best diet is the diet that she can live with for the rest of her life to control her diabetes. If I've been a good example for her, then my time here on earth has been worth it. We know as diabetics all the info out there. We learned how to make it work for us personally. I pray you can get the answers you need from your doctor, but if you can't all of the answers you need, maybe you can do what we did with diabetes and find a way that will work for us where we are now.

Hope to get a good nights sleep tonight. I didn't sleep all that good last night. I read we need to sleep 7 hrs a night. I'm going to try to get back to that.

Goodnight.

I'm not sleeping well at all these days and no naps in the recliner. Last night I was in the bathroom most of the night. I felt nauseated but I did not throw up but had mild potty issues. Nausea is from one of my medical issues,,probably PH, I dont remember. I will have to print out some of the info and save it. Nausea can also be a sign of a heart attack but I don't think it was that. DH said it was because I ate 3 Arbys roast beef sandwiches for dinner. I like them and don't get them very often. I should have thrown the buns away.

The scale was 171 this morning so that means it should be 173 at rehab. I was going to stay home but I'm forcing myself to go. I need this exercise. And if I skip a day it gets added on the end. I want to be done by Christmas.

You are a great example for your DIL. She mostly needs to find a WOE that keeps blood sugar down and exercise.

Yes, avocados were one thing it said online not to eat. I mostly don't like them. But I can eat pineapple, so I will buy some canned in juice with no added sugar. And I can eat pears and apples. I don't like berries. I probably would eat them but DH likes sugar on them. We don't buy them. PH says bananas are good, but CKD says no bananas. I love bananas and probably will eat them occasionally.

Carol Sue Your weight being up is water weight if you ate Arby's because the meat in their sandwiches are high in sodium. It will go back down in a day or two.

I'm sorry you aren't sleeping well, I think it is because you are stressed out because things aren't working out as you expected. I know I did that myself when things didn't go like I thought it would after my surgery. That was one of the reasons I took sleeping pills before and after surgery. I needed to sleep instead of laying in bed worrying about everything that could go bad. I also have to push myself to do the best I can to continue doing what I can to have the best quality life as possible of what I have left. I told my DIL that I do what I have to do to take care of my blood sugar because I'm more afraid of the illnesses I could have if I don't. I have to say I feel the same way about fighting cancer and trying to keep my weight down. I'm not losing weight right now, but I'm not gaining either. Just my way of looking at things in my situation.

I hope your rehab went well and you will feel better soon. All this isn't easy but it is doable if we keep trying.

Have a good day everybody.

The woman who had the mini stroke is back home. They checked her out and said everything is fine. I hope it's not a mistake. I wish they had kept her at least overnight.

I think you have done a greatjob with weight loss, Trish. You probably don't need to lose much more.

I am not supposed to gain fluid. It is bad for my CHF or PH. The water pill should take care of it. I know I should not have eaten those Arbys, at least not 3 of them. One would have been enough.

Today we went to the casino. The old one that's an hour away. I sat in the food court and DH played. Didn't win but didn't lose. That was good. They have Toys for Tots and I forgot I wanted to buy some Barbie Dolls. Next time.

Carol Sue I would love to do low carb especially until I get my blood count back up to normal, but I used to like eating lowfat sandwich meat but they are so high in sodium that I'm not sure I could do that at this time. I love Arby's but don't eat their sandwiches any more because my legs swelled so easy before I had cancer so wouldn't trust it now. I'm glad your trip to the casino was good. It is good even when you don't win as long as you don't lose a lot of money.

I have had a pretty good day today. So far I'm not losing but not gaining either which is good. I am exercising on a regular basis hoping to be able to become stronger because of it. I have to get up fairly early in the morning to go for my infusion. I had my labs last week so I don't have to be there as early as usual. I see my team nurse 1st and will get results of my CT Scan and then get the infusion. Shouldn't take as long as usual if I'm hydrated enough which I've been working on.

Goodnight!

I'm back to weighing daily so today was the same as yesterday, 171. I don't like that but I haven't been doing what I know I should do.

After googling last night I think the reason for my kidney issues is twofold. First is the diuretic. Also,when I get bloodwork with my PCP it is always fasting. This was not. They tell me to be sure to eat before rehab so that morning I ate a bunch of leftover turkey and had had turkey for dinner the night before. Meat lowers the numbers. With the renal diet I am to avoid whole grains of all things. So no Oatmeal!! Of all things! White bread instead of wheat. Also no sweet potatoes, low protein. No bananas. I am not going to stop eating bananas or sweet potatoes. I don't eat a lot of them. And I will still get oatmeal at Bob Evans. So far, nothing has said no eggs! Eeek!! Im going to go back to buying iceberg lettuce and eat more salads. I like romaine but DH does not. I will order more salads in restaurants. Thats something I can eat and will help with blood sugar and weight. This is crazy. I can't believe I have more health issues than ever. Also, I have always heard to drink enough water to keep kidneys healthy,but because of the CHF they limit fluid intake. I don't want to be back in the hospital but at what cost?

Hi all, checking in again. I have not been well this week. I think I caught something on Saturday night, and it wasn't allergies, or the allergies allowed the virus to take hold. I did go to the pool Monday, but not since then. Fortunately we have the stationary bike at home, and doing that and errands has been ok.
I am sleeping ok, when I have the CPAP on. Carol, don't know about you, but I need the humidification. That and the pressure helps me breathe so much better when I have a cold. The last day has been the worst since Saturday for the runny nose and sneezing. Airways are a little reactive too with exertion.
But blood glucose has been really good with the keto. It IS hard sometimes to stay so low carb, but those numbers are worth it. 5.3 today, which I think is 95 or 96 to you.
Really happy with the low 5's.
Laundry and Costco are in my future for the rest of the day. That and practising my ukulele, which I am enjoying.

Mad,yes I use the humidification, too. And I sleep much better with it.

We went to Texas Roadhouse for dinner. I wanted something different so I got a grilled pork chop. It was very good! I had broccoli and baked sweet potato with it. And I ate 1 1/2 rolls.

Tomorrow is rehab again. So early to bed tonight and up early tomorrow.

Trish,I hope your medical treatment today went well and you are doing fine.

Fatmad I'm sorry you have been ill this week. I hope that is clearing up soon. Your blood glucose is doing good though. I hope the bike is as good to your knee is to mine.

Carol Sue I guess I need to read up on renal diet too because I eat all those things. This CT scan shows I have a renal that if it doesn't correct on its own, I might have to have a stent put in. However, mine is caused by left over fluid etc from surgery that they say is blocking a tube from the kidney that may be caused by a kink not a sick kidney.

I told my team nurse who explains things so well and knows me so well. I asked her if I was getting worse and she explained this is how things work during maintenance treatment. She said when she read the results of the CT scan that she knew I was going to be upset and she was right. I slept good the first half of the night and woke up around 4 and couldn't go back to sleep. I prayed until I finally got up around 6:30 and so did DH, but she assured me all is okay and nothing in my treatment needs to change at this time as I'm on schedule. So it has been a long, stressful day.

I did learn that they expect me to end up in remission which to them means I will be doing some kind of maintenance treatment for the rest of my life, not cancer free. However, she encouraged me to continue praying for a miracle. I will be on this medication as long as my body can tolerate it. I guess there is a process to all this and if the medicine stops working I will go to something else. I see people come in for a shot or some short infusion. Since I've got so many things going on all at once I am not sure what I should and shouldn't eat so they are going to get me an appointment with a dietician. If I'm just eating for a healthy heart etc, I'm doing fine, but if I need to eat to keep my kidneys healthy then I need to give up some of those foods like banana, avoacdo and oats.

I was kind of disappointed in some of what I learned although I already knew it in my heart but it is different when you hear the words. I called DS while DH was in the store. Then I came home and ate and took a nap. Then when I woke up, I decided to do my exercises that I hadn't planned on doing today but I had the time so I got them all done. Strange how that and talking to DS puts a whole new light on things. I'm fine now and my mind is at peace. I don't know how long I have to live, but I do know the quality of life I want. So I will continue working toward having the best life I can live. I seeing people in the nursing home who were just lying in bed waiting to die. I don't want to be one of those people. I want to live my life enjoying the time I have left as best as I can.

Now I am going to watch a movie and later the Cowboys game with DH hoping for a good nights sleep when I go to bed later.

Trish, im sorry that you got bad news and it upset you. I'm sending you a big {{{hug}}}. I'm glad talking to DS helped you. I feel that I have no one to talk to so I talk to God until I fall asleep. DH got mad today and told me to stop the water pull. He said I'll be on it the rest of my life and I told him I dont think that will be long. I read back on my portal and found the mild PH was in 2017. They said you live for 3 years after diagnosis so I should have died in 2020. Now it says its severe PH, but all this time I never even knew I had it. I have 2 weeks til I see the doctor. I hope he's ready for me!! I have lots of questions.

I wonder if you really need to follow a renal diet. My numbers are low, but you problem is different with a blockage. The renal diet may not make a difference. One thing I noticed, when I get bloodwork done from my PCP it is always fasting and my renal numbers are good. I will find out in December when I get my bloodwork from the PCP. It's done from a different lab, too.

DH told me that he thinks his mother died from too much Lasix. When they took her to the hospital they said she was severely dehydrated. All her organs were shutting down. She drank coffee all day, never any water. I don't think she took potassium but I know you have to. I was not told to with the Bumex. I think it works different.

I slept so good last night. Went right to sleep at 9 pm and didn't wake up until 3 am. Then I dozed until my alarm went off at 7.

I thought about things overnight and I am going to fast for all bloodwork from now on.

After rehab we went to Bob Evans. I wanted oatmeal but the guy at rehab said I worked out so I should get a big breakfast. I got an omlet. It wasn't that great and now I miss my oatmeal. Next time I will go with my instincts. Even the waitress wondered why I was so hungry.

OMG its December!

Carol Sue I don't like Lasix either. I never knew if it was true or not but DH#2 had a great aunt who they say she took too much of it and it affected her mind. However, DH Mother took it for so long that her doctor said it stopped working and she started swelling instead of taking the fluid off. In fact, that is one of the reasons I am thinking about doing low carb although not keto. Dr. Atkins used to say don't take fluid pills for 1 week before you start Atkins. We can take them when needed but I don't want to take it forever but will if I have to as long as it helps my kidneys and doesn't harm them. That is what my Primary doctor watches it for. I told my team nurse that I had been doing only 1 Lasix a day for about 3 or 4 days and after reading the report on CT scan that maybe it is time to back off since the Primary had only agreed to me taking 2 pills because they check it so often so we would know when to back off on it. Team nurse and I agreed this could be a sign to go back to 1 20 mg a day.

I do feel better today about where I am in this walk after a good nights sleep and talking to the Lord about things. I am blessed to have sisters to talk to. She isn't always good at seeing the good in things so I felt God allowed her to see the good s that I would stay in faith because I really felt this was a test of my faith as to whether I would give up or not. She helped me see that I already knew this was what they have been saying without actually saying it. However, I had not asked questions to the point that I did yesterday. I'm fine with it today.

I feel good today because knowing the whole truth of what the doctor is working toward while we as well as they pray I will be cancer free, tells me how I need to live my life now and how I need to take care of myself. I have part of my exercises done for today and I got up and actually am cooking dinner today. I have been hungry for a beef roast and since I need to work at getting my blood count up to at least 12, we stopped at the store to get a roast, potatoes and carrots so I could cook it today. For breakfast I had half an avocado, 2 eggs and 1 sl bacon along with a cup of coffee.

Carol Sue I think it is a good idea to always fast when we have lab draws. I don't have to fast for oncologist except for when I have CT scans. In SC all blood draws were fasting so I've automatically fasted every time I get a draw even though they don't have to be. I just think we get a more accurate reading with fasting. I may ask about that next time.

We are older and our bodies change so we have to work at our health for different reasons than just weight loss. For me that might be better at getting me to do it. I still have younger generations watching me and I want to leave them a good example.

Fatmad I hope you are feeling better.

Have a blessed day everyone.