Well, he finally had his appointment with his doctor today. He has rescheduled it for 3 months now! So here's the outcome:
1. They are scheduling him for a sleep study (good!). He does scare me to death when he quits breathing in the middle of the night.
2. They are scheduling him to see a surgeon about the bunions on his feet. Not so sure how I feel about this one as I think it is tophi gout....but we will wait and see what the surgeon says.
3. Scheudling him to see a foot doctor since the uric acid levels continue to go down, but the swelling and nodules are still in his feet (different bumps and lumps from the ones the doctor thinks are bunions)
4. His prostate is enlarged. He has been having a weak urine sream. And they gave him 2 more prescriptions to handle this.
5. They told him to lose weight and to exercise.
And sent him off for a slew more labs that we won't know about for a week or so.
No new A1c yet. No new kidney function yet. Sigh.
I was out all day long and came home to find him with a bag of Dove chocolate in his hands. Sigh.
Life goes on. It's dinner out and a movie tonight.
Friday, May 11, 2007
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Why are diabetics so sensitive?
Recently I have been inundated with posts that I have not allowed. They seem to be coming from rather young, type 1 diabetics. People trying to tell me, the spouse of a type 2 diabetic, how to take care of him.
I was told that my question "Does diabetes make you lazy?" is an "unfair question". HELLO!!! It is a question. Not a statement, not an opinion..just a question!!! How on earth can a question be unfair....unless you are reading it as a statement!
I was told that "diabetes doesn't make anyone anything except a person with a disfunctional pancreas". OK....what about a pair of non-functioning kidneys? What about all the other things that diabetes makes a person? What about the emotional things it makes a person? Aren't there just a myriad of things that diabetes "makes" a person? I think the author of that comment must be in denial about all the things that diabetes is.
Note: the words "I think" should be read "this is just my opinion, it is not a statement, and it is not a general statement about all diabetics"!!!
I was told that I have "strong words against diabetes". Sorry, my words are about the results of diabetes....not about diabetes itself. Read carefully....I am writing about the impact that this disease has on a spouse. And it is my PERSONAL story of what happens in this single, solitary family.
But I may change my mind on that one. If having diabetes gives you the "right" to write stuff like this to me....then perhaps you need to sit back and look internally to who you are.
Someone wrote to me "I belive diabetes management is best done when there are multiple people "assisting" the person with the disease. Not doing it for them, not hand holding them every step of the way, but doing what they can to make the burden just a little easier and less lonely."
Well, I will respond to that comment with this: Who is here "assisting" me when he is having a low and is screaming at me to get out of the house? Who is making that a little less lonely? It sure as heck is not him! He can't even remember that he did it....let alone be there for me. Life is a 2-way street. It is give and take. It's not just all take, take, take.....which IS how it is in this house.
There needs to be some balance here. If you have this disease, this blog is not something you are going to want to read....unless you want to make life for your spouse a little easier. If you have type 1, I doubt this blog is for you either.
If you really want to know the frustrations that your spouse might be feeling, if you really want to hear the voice of a woman who is married to a man who does not take care of his out-of-control diabetes, keep reading. If you have highs and lows and don't remember what happened, then read here. If your spouse tells you things that you don't remember, or you don't believe, then read here.
I will continue to write my own, very personal, thoughts on this disease as a view that most of you may not want to hear. I will continue to moderate comments and I will not allow any that come from angry diabetics. Sorry, it's my blog and I will set my own rules. I just wanted to post this to clarify where I am coming from.
That being said, may all of you women have a wonderful Mother's Day weekend. If you are the spouse to a diabetic, I especially hope your day is calm and level...you deserve that at least one day a year!
I was told that my question "Does diabetes make you lazy?" is an "unfair question". HELLO!!! It is a question. Not a statement, not an opinion..just a question!!! How on earth can a question be unfair....unless you are reading it as a statement!
I was told that "diabetes doesn't make anyone anything except a person with a disfunctional pancreas". OK....what about a pair of non-functioning kidneys? What about all the other things that diabetes makes a person? What about the emotional things it makes a person? Aren't there just a myriad of things that diabetes "makes" a person? I think the author of that comment must be in denial about all the things that diabetes is.
Note: the words "I think" should be read "this is just my opinion, it is not a statement, and it is not a general statement about all diabetics"!!!
I was told that I have "strong words against diabetes". Sorry, my words are about the results of diabetes....not about diabetes itself. Read carefully....I am writing about the impact that this disease has on a spouse. And it is my PERSONAL story of what happens in this single, solitary family.
But I may change my mind on that one. If having diabetes gives you the "right" to write stuff like this to me....then perhaps you need to sit back and look internally to who you are.
Someone wrote to me "I belive diabetes management is best done when there are multiple people "assisting" the person with the disease. Not doing it for them, not hand holding them every step of the way, but doing what they can to make the burden just a little easier and less lonely."
Well, I will respond to that comment with this: Who is here "assisting" me when he is having a low and is screaming at me to get out of the house? Who is making that a little less lonely? It sure as heck is not him! He can't even remember that he did it....let alone be there for me. Life is a 2-way street. It is give and take. It's not just all take, take, take.....which IS how it is in this house.
There needs to be some balance here. If you have this disease, this blog is not something you are going to want to read....unless you want to make life for your spouse a little easier. If you have type 1, I doubt this blog is for you either.
If you really want to know the frustrations that your spouse might be feeling, if you really want to hear the voice of a woman who is married to a man who does not take care of his out-of-control diabetes, keep reading. If you have highs and lows and don't remember what happened, then read here. If your spouse tells you things that you don't remember, or you don't believe, then read here.
I will continue to write my own, very personal, thoughts on this disease as a view that most of you may not want to hear. I will continue to moderate comments and I will not allow any that come from angry diabetics. Sorry, it's my blog and I will set my own rules. I just wanted to post this to clarify where I am coming from.
That being said, may all of you women have a wonderful Mother's Day weekend. If you are the spouse to a diabetic, I especially hope your day is calm and level...you deserve that at least one day a year!
Things do change.
We live 15 hours by car from my in-laws, or it's 6 hours to fly/drive. In the 33 years since my husband left home, he has always been with his mother on Mother's Day. It's the one thing he made quite clear when we got married. And that's always been fine with me.
He told me today that his knees and hips hurt too much to even try and fly down and there's no way that he's driving. Now, before some of you jump the gun and decide to write and tell me this has nothing to do with his diabetes, let me explain that for him, it does. His kidney function is down to 30%. That means that his kidneys cannot remove uric acid from his blood. So it deposits the uric acid crystal in his joints. His joints swell and become red and inflammed. And they hurt him so bad that he cannot walk. Sometimes it presents itself as gouty lumps and he has surgery to have them removed when they exceed the size of a grapefruit. Usually those appear on his elbow.
He has started taking drugs for this and he's been about 50/50 recently on his low purine diet. I'd say that he has a hamburger, hotdog or steak once a week....but that is down from 5-6 times a week in the past.
So things do change. Sadly. His parents are in their late 70s and I know that his mom looks forward to having him with her on Mother's day. But if he can't make a 6 hour trip right now...that tells me that his pain level is much worse that he is letting on.
It just makes you wonder where he will be a year from now?
He told me today that his knees and hips hurt too much to even try and fly down and there's no way that he's driving. Now, before some of you jump the gun and decide to write and tell me this has nothing to do with his diabetes, let me explain that for him, it does. His kidney function is down to 30%. That means that his kidneys cannot remove uric acid from his blood. So it deposits the uric acid crystal in his joints. His joints swell and become red and inflammed. And they hurt him so bad that he cannot walk. Sometimes it presents itself as gouty lumps and he has surgery to have them removed when they exceed the size of a grapefruit. Usually those appear on his elbow.
He has started taking drugs for this and he's been about 50/50 recently on his low purine diet. I'd say that he has a hamburger, hotdog or steak once a week....but that is down from 5-6 times a week in the past.
So things do change. Sadly. His parents are in their late 70s and I know that his mom looks forward to having him with her on Mother's day. But if he can't make a 6 hour trip right now...that tells me that his pain level is much worse that he is letting on.
It just makes you wonder where he will be a year from now?
Tuesday, May 08, 2007
Drugs
Several have asked me to post the drugs hubby takes. As best I can tell, here they are.
I'd have to go back and look at my notes, but on the Novolin, he does both at 6 am, then one at 6 pm and the other one at 10 pm and I'm not sure of the doseages.
Gemfibrozil 600MG x2/day for cholesterol
Simvastatin 40MG x1/2/day for cholesterol
Clindamycin 150mg x3/day for infection
Novolin R 100U/ML
Novolin N 100U/ML
Allopurinol 100mg x4/day for gout
Furosemide 20mg x 1/day for fluid retention
Lisinopril 20mg x 1/day fro high blood pressure
Tramadol 50mg x 1 every 6 hours for pain
So in addition to diabetes, he is being treated for high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and tophus gout. The Clindamycin is for the infections in his joints. He also does a lot of Tylenol arthritis and Pepcid AC. And I think that's it.
Kidney function is holding at 30%
He has postponed his March physical once again. Now it is scheduled for this Friday. He is complaining that his hips and knees hurt so bad he can barely walk or sit. I'm pretty sure it's because of the gnarls on his feet and he walks on the outside edges of his feet....that would be enough to throw off anyone's knees and hips.
Good news....he found a pair of shoes to fit his feet. Size 10 WWW at SAS. First time in 3 years that he has had "real" shoes on his feet. WWW in order to fit around all the gnarly growths on his feet. They only had one pair, so he has ordered a second pair and hopefully they will arrive this week.
Another quiet day as he went into the office. I plan to get loads done!
I'd have to go back and look at my notes, but on the Novolin, he does both at 6 am, then one at 6 pm and the other one at 10 pm and I'm not sure of the doseages.
Gemfibrozil 600MG x2/day for cholesterol
Simvastatin 40MG x1/2/day for cholesterol
Clindamycin 150mg x3/day for infection
Novolin R 100U/ML
Novolin N 100U/ML
Allopurinol 100mg x4/day for gout
Furosemide 20mg x 1/day for fluid retention
Lisinopril 20mg x 1/day fro high blood pressure
Tramadol 50mg x 1 every 6 hours for pain
So in addition to diabetes, he is being treated for high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and tophus gout. The Clindamycin is for the infections in his joints. He also does a lot of Tylenol arthritis and Pepcid AC. And I think that's it.
Kidney function is holding at 30%
He has postponed his March physical once again. Now it is scheduled for this Friday. He is complaining that his hips and knees hurt so bad he can barely walk or sit. I'm pretty sure it's because of the gnarls on his feet and he walks on the outside edges of his feet....that would be enough to throw off anyone's knees and hips.
Good news....he found a pair of shoes to fit his feet. Size 10 WWW at SAS. First time in 3 years that he has had "real" shoes on his feet. WWW in order to fit around all the gnarly growths on his feet. They only had one pair, so he has ordered a second pair and hopefully they will arrive this week.
Another quiet day as he went into the office. I plan to get loads done!
Monday, May 07, 2007
Only a few more hours....
and hubby returns from his business trip. I have to say, the past 5 days have been sheer bliss. There have been moments when I have just sat here on the sofa and listened to the quiet. I've not had to fix him a darn thing in 5 whole days! I've not had to look at his feet, watch him hobble, take him the phone.....and it has been a little slice of heaven!
What have I done? Well, 2 days were spent with my best friend at a local event we attended. I spent a whole day out shopping. Did a little yardwork and visited another friend. OK...I think I had a touch of a normal life this week!
I did not have to pick up after him, or clean up after him. When I pulled something out of the pantry, it got put back. When I dropped something on the floor, I reached over and picked it up. I think at times, his pain level must be so high that he just can't do simple tasks like that. But on the other hand, he could go out and get himself one of those little grabber thingies! LOL!
Does diabetes make a person lazy? Where is the defining point between living a normal life (picking up the piece of envelope that dropped on the floor) and being in so much pain that you can't bend over to pick it up....or "using" the disease as an excuse to not pick it up?
Good question, huh?
When does a diabetic "give up" and decide to eat all the greasy french fries and sugary drinks that they want rather than saying "no" and eating the right foods?
Do some diabetics never make that choice because they remain in denial that they have this disease?
Do some diabetics consciously make a choice to live the remainder of their lives exactly as they want because they would rather live life to the fullest than die taking a zillion drugs to contol their lives?
Do some diabetics make their choices based on religious beliefs? I went to high school with a gal who's dad died from this disease because he refused to take any type of drugs whatsoever based on their religion. He was a pretty young man when he died. He had 7 children.
Do diabetics have the right to make those kinds of decisions when they have children and spouses that have to deal with the outcome of those decisions?
Feel free to answer those questions.....but I'm going to sit here and contend that spouses and children have the primary rights when it comes to a diabetic and the decisions that they make because I have learned that he cannot remember, and when he is in a low or a high, he cannot make a "healthy" choice for himself.
So....he's on a business trip with a bunch of his work peers. You KNOW he has been eating fried hamburgers, french fries, ice cream sundaes all week long! I dread what will arrive home today as I'm sure he will be on a total sugar high for the next few days.
For the next couple of hours, I'm going to sit here in the quiet solitude of this house and just listen to the silence!
What have I done? Well, 2 days were spent with my best friend at a local event we attended. I spent a whole day out shopping. Did a little yardwork and visited another friend. OK...I think I had a touch of a normal life this week!
I did not have to pick up after him, or clean up after him. When I pulled something out of the pantry, it got put back. When I dropped something on the floor, I reached over and picked it up. I think at times, his pain level must be so high that he just can't do simple tasks like that. But on the other hand, he could go out and get himself one of those little grabber thingies! LOL!
Does diabetes make a person lazy? Where is the defining point between living a normal life (picking up the piece of envelope that dropped on the floor) and being in so much pain that you can't bend over to pick it up....or "using" the disease as an excuse to not pick it up?
Good question, huh?
When does a diabetic "give up" and decide to eat all the greasy french fries and sugary drinks that they want rather than saying "no" and eating the right foods?
Do some diabetics never make that choice because they remain in denial that they have this disease?
Do some diabetics consciously make a choice to live the remainder of their lives exactly as they want because they would rather live life to the fullest than die taking a zillion drugs to contol their lives?
Do some diabetics make their choices based on religious beliefs? I went to high school with a gal who's dad died from this disease because he refused to take any type of drugs whatsoever based on their religion. He was a pretty young man when he died. He had 7 children.
Do diabetics have the right to make those kinds of decisions when they have children and spouses that have to deal with the outcome of those decisions?
Feel free to answer those questions.....but I'm going to sit here and contend that spouses and children have the primary rights when it comes to a diabetic and the decisions that they make because I have learned that he cannot remember, and when he is in a low or a high, he cannot make a "healthy" choice for himself.
So....he's on a business trip with a bunch of his work peers. You KNOW he has been eating fried hamburgers, french fries, ice cream sundaes all week long! I dread what will arrive home today as I'm sure he will be on a total sugar high for the next few days.
For the next couple of hours, I'm going to sit here in the quiet solitude of this house and just listen to the silence!
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