Can Life™ Get Back To Normal Now? Please??
With my Hubby once more home from the hospital, I'm really hoping that Life™ can get back to some semblence of "Normal" again.
Yes, they cut him loose again yesterday afternoon, and finally gave us a diagnosis for what landed him once more in the ICU for five days: Congestive Heart Failure, combined with Cellulitis (which was the source of the fever this time.) And this time, he came home with an oxygen tank to be used "as needed" AND an oxygen-producing machine that, at the very least, he needs to be hooked up to when he sleeps.
At least for the nonce, that is. If one is very careful, one can recover from CHF.
Mind, Hubby is a Very Big Man and always has been - seriously overweight in fact (a masterpiece of understatement, frankly.) However, comma, I'm hoping that this latest will convince him that (1) he needs to start taking his diabetes seriously and eat appropriately (as in no lunches of nothing but fried and salted potatoes), (2) he will cut back on the portion sizes of whatever he eats to something a little more reasonable (as in using cereal bowls rather than serving bowls for personal portions), and (3) he can genuinely stick to a diet that restricts salt intake and stay away from sweets and unhealthy snacks.
Now I'm no a slim reed myself, and I know I have things that I need to cut out of my diet (thank you, JJ, for getting me hooked on sodas twice a week again *grumble*) but I know that much of the reason for my size is my inability to get up and walk distances like I did in the past. My knees are shot, period, end of statement, and my shoulders are getting worse too. But Hubby had serious eating habits that he absolutely refused to give up, and I'm not the kind of person who would find any pleasure in constant nagging. If he wanted to do that to himself, I'd very occasionally chirp a complaint to let him know that I was paying attention and not happy, but otherwise leave him to it.
Well, seven weeks ago, after he ended up collapsed at the end of the hallway, he started to listen to me (and daughter Súl, who was a heckuva more strident in her chirping) about taking fevers seriously. To his credit, when the fevers hit this time, I had no problem getting him to seek help immediately - which is, I think, part of the reason why his fever only managed to hit 101 rather than the 105 it did last time. However, I'm hoping this latest to-do will convince him that my chirps about portion size and WHAT he's been eating will start to sink in as effectively as those about fevers.
Really.
Even with insurance, I'm not looking forward to the bills for this, on top of the bills from the last time around.
On other, happier, fronts, daughter Súl has our turkey ordered (organic, cage-free, etc. etc) and will be responsible for buying organic, non-GMO potatoes for mashing. Her food sensitivities have eased, so she can actually have mashed potatoes and dressing (altho I have to limit the herbs I use in the dressing, and she needs to buy the gluten-free bread that I'll make into croutons) and green peas. We've even figured out how to do gravy, and she's gonna be experimenting a bit before The Big Day so we know it will be tasty.
In case I never really blogged about it, Súl suffers from Hashimoto's Syndrome, Adrenal Fatigue and serious food sensitivities. She's been three years being extra-super-picky about "eating clean" and restricting her foods to only the stuff that her doctor tells her she can eat, and she's slowly getting better - more or less. But having meals together takes a bit more planning, as I try to accommodate her sensitivities while still making the food interesting to two insensitive males.
Anyhoo, part of that accommodation this year means no pumpkin pie. She has redone the fancy sensitivity test, which is why so many things are now "legal" for her again, but a few others have fallen into the "let's lay off this stuff for a year or two and see what happens" category - including both pumpkin itself as well as many of the familiar pumpkin pie spices. As a result, I think our Thanksgiving dessert will be individual chocolate "tarts" she found that are positively decadent. I'm looking forward to the meal, actually, and I'm not so hung up on tradition that I'll be crying to have chocolate mint rather than pumpkin pie.
Especially with Hubby home.
Now, to get - and KEEP - both him and Súl healthy....
Have a great day, folks. I know I will.
Yes, they cut him loose again yesterday afternoon, and finally gave us a diagnosis for what landed him once more in the ICU for five days: Congestive Heart Failure, combined with Cellulitis (which was the source of the fever this time.) And this time, he came home with an oxygen tank to be used "as needed" AND an oxygen-producing machine that, at the very least, he needs to be hooked up to when he sleeps.
At least for the nonce, that is. If one is very careful, one can recover from CHF.
Mind, Hubby is a Very Big Man and always has been - seriously overweight in fact (a masterpiece of understatement, frankly.) However, comma, I'm hoping that this latest will convince him that (1) he needs to start taking his diabetes seriously and eat appropriately (as in no lunches of nothing but fried and salted potatoes), (2) he will cut back on the portion sizes of whatever he eats to something a little more reasonable (as in using cereal bowls rather than serving bowls for personal portions), and (3) he can genuinely stick to a diet that restricts salt intake and stay away from sweets and unhealthy snacks.
Now I'm no a slim reed myself, and I know I have things that I need to cut out of my diet (thank you, JJ, for getting me hooked on sodas twice a week again *grumble*) but I know that much of the reason for my size is my inability to get up and walk distances like I did in the past. My knees are shot, period, end of statement, and my shoulders are getting worse too. But Hubby had serious eating habits that he absolutely refused to give up, and I'm not the kind of person who would find any pleasure in constant nagging. If he wanted to do that to himself, I'd very occasionally chirp a complaint to let him know that I was paying attention and not happy, but otherwise leave him to it.
Well, seven weeks ago, after he ended up collapsed at the end of the hallway, he started to listen to me (and daughter Súl, who was a heckuva more strident in her chirping) about taking fevers seriously. To his credit, when the fevers hit this time, I had no problem getting him to seek help immediately - which is, I think, part of the reason why his fever only managed to hit 101 rather than the 105 it did last time. However, I'm hoping this latest to-do will convince him that my chirps about portion size and WHAT he's been eating will start to sink in as effectively as those about fevers.
Really.
Even with insurance, I'm not looking forward to the bills for this, on top of the bills from the last time around.
On other, happier, fronts, daughter Súl has our turkey ordered (organic, cage-free, etc. etc) and will be responsible for buying organic, non-GMO potatoes for mashing. Her food sensitivities have eased, so she can actually have mashed potatoes and dressing (altho I have to limit the herbs I use in the dressing, and she needs to buy the gluten-free bread that I'll make into croutons) and green peas. We've even figured out how to do gravy, and she's gonna be experimenting a bit before The Big Day so we know it will be tasty.
In case I never really blogged about it, Súl suffers from Hashimoto's Syndrome, Adrenal Fatigue and serious food sensitivities. She's been three years being extra-super-picky about "eating clean" and restricting her foods to only the stuff that her doctor tells her she can eat, and she's slowly getting better - more or less. But having meals together takes a bit more planning, as I try to accommodate her sensitivities while still making the food interesting to two insensitive males.
Anyhoo, part of that accommodation this year means no pumpkin pie. She has redone the fancy sensitivity test, which is why so many things are now "legal" for her again, but a few others have fallen into the "let's lay off this stuff for a year or two and see what happens" category - including both pumpkin itself as well as many of the familiar pumpkin pie spices. As a result, I think our Thanksgiving dessert will be individual chocolate "tarts" she found that are positively decadent. I'm looking forward to the meal, actually, and I'm not so hung up on tradition that I'll be crying to have chocolate mint rather than pumpkin pie.
Especially with Hubby home.
Now, to get - and KEEP - both him and Súl healthy....
Have a great day, folks. I know I will.