Back home again

Life is amazing.  My sis and I had an incredible trip and then jet lag for about 9 days!  All recovered now and life is back on track.

Hubby did ok - but he has started losing weight.  Now - he is a rather large guy at about 270lbs.  So he could stand to lose some.  But not like this.  In the 2 weeks I've been home a few new developments and I'm pretty sure they are all linked to Stage 4 ESRD.

The smell of food makes him nauseous. We walked into a restaurant in a town about an hour away and he was perfectly fine, but the moment he smelled the food, he got sick to his stomach.

He is only eating about half of his meal and then he feels sick.

But he will eat an entire box of fiddle fade (like cracker jacks) at one time.  That stuff is completely loaded with sugar.  Just what he needs!

He is experiencing a lot of diarrhea and stomach problems.

He cancelled his appointment with the endocrinologists and has not rescheduled.  Says there is no point in going.  I argued that they might be able to help him with ideas on palliative care.

His cataracts have grown to the point he thinks he is legally blind.  He was supposed to go to the eye doc this week, but they cancelled so now rescheduled for May.  In the meantime, I will be doing all of the driving.

His back is causing him a lot of pain.  And I wonder if that pain could be attributing to the nausea.

It is sad to return after being away for 6 weeks and see the decline.  Yet I know it has been going on all along - you just don't notice the little things when you are with someone 24/7.

Sis and I walked 9 - 10 miles almost every day.  Even on an "off" day, we would walk 4-5 miles.  It was a bit of a rugged walk at times going up and down primitive trails.  So my knees, hips, thighs are in pretty good shape.  We are back to walking 4 miles 3 times a week here.

And now, spring yard work starts so that will keep me busy.  We just picked up new fence (metal decorative type) to add another fenced section to the back yard.  Two of my sisters have started coming over a couple times a week to work on making jewelry.  Today we are going to attempt some sterling silver soldering.  We've all had classes in the past so it's time to refresh our skills.

Just thought I'd update as this blog serves as a record of his progression with his diabetes.  I think overall, he's doing pretty good.  Yet I know that it just takes something quite minor to cause a problem.

DW