2020
Its been a few years since I have posted. I thought about just picking up where I left off, then thought to try and sum up what has happened in these few years (sort of a reason as to why no posting). I then thought why not just start posting as if time hadn't gotten away from me as no one reads these posts but me?
So I think I will just start with a bit of catchup from the last few years, if for no other reason than for myself to remember.
2016 was a bad year the the Shankster. Started off with him getting knee surgery, his second on that knee, and the pain never seemed to go away. For months he was miserable constantly requesting some answers and feeling as he had an infection, until a random dentist visit required an antibiotic to which he felt some instant relief to the leg...not the tooth. To which his primary then decided to try another antibiotic for a possible infection in his leg, and bam! go figure... it worked! But that good feeling was short lived as I think the stress of that year caught up to him and he started 2017 with severe stomach pain. We spent the entirety of that year getting tested and tested and going to specialists and trying different drugs, creams and getting procedures done only to get told by 2 different doctors to not come back as they couldn't do anything for him. (Yes I am serious)
We were still in the thick of procedures and new doctors in 2018, when Homie suddenly had a stroke. It was a bad one that left him unable to speak or write. After a couple days in the hospital, the Shankster and I brought him home and started working on getting him back to par..(golf term as he is an avid golfer!)
We were told the VA would have him come in and get help with speech. We never got a call from them until 4 weeks after the stroke. By then I had worked with him to get his writing back and his speech. I sang with him each day several times a day as even tho he couldn't talk, he could sing. He got his speech back fairly quick, but still had trouble getting an entire sentence out. The Shankster took a golf ball with a cup in the corner of the room and gave Homie his putter, and told him to just try it a few times. It didn't take him but 2 weeks to go back to the golf course.
The Shankster then spent the rest of that year and 2019 trying to get hold of whatever is going on with his body. He had lost 40 pounds in 2017 as he was only eating apple sauce, Boiled apples, yes I said boiled apples and yes it is as nasty tasting as it sounds but hey he had to eat SOMETHING, and for some reason this tasted good to him or at the least it made him feel like he was eating something different... he would also eat salad with no dressing, eggs, occasional oatmeal and cereal. He used Almond milk only, but was still miserable with pain and incredible heartburn and could not keep anything down. I bet in 2017 alone he was at the ER about 6 times feeling as tho he was having a heart attack. He was put on 3 different medications just for his stomach and was taking each 3 times a day.
I started doing some research to figure out what the doctors couldn't, even with all the testing, MRI's and CT Scans, as no one needs to suffer like this each and every day, when they are hardly eating anything, and we found he was allergic to wheat, and iceberg lettuce for starters. (and saying "allergic" may not be the correct word, but we found he has a major intolerance for certain foods/oils/ingredients) So I started experimenting different foods veggies etc..trying to see what he could and couldn't handle. I found that he could eat Swiss Chard, Romaine lettuce & spinach, without pain or heartburn. So I started growing our own swiss chard because man it is expensive, and that is what he uses in his salad that he eats every day. He doesn't eat meat but occasionally has wild caught salmon. Since a diabetic I still have to watch his intake of sugar, and we figured white sugar was his enemy, but he can do brown sugar with no spikes. OH and the Swiss Chard also seems to aid in keeping his blood sugar low. He eats the stems and all. I think the stems are the part that helps with lowering of blood sugar. He only uses brown sugar on cereal when he has it. I am happy to say he had gotten off his diabetic medication in 2017, probably mostly because he lost all the weight but he didn't eat anything either! But he is now off all stomach medication also! We are hoping and praying 2020 will be better.
That isn't all that has happened since I last posted, but I think it was enough to keep me busy with too much on my mind where I couldn't sit and write. So I will leave it there, and ponder what will be my next post of 2020?
But I will leave with a couple of jokes told to me by my grandsons.
What kind of dinosaur loves to sleep?
A Stega-snore-us
Knock Knock
Who's there?
Cow says
Cow says who?
No silly, a Cow says Mooo!
Thanks again for stopping by!
So I think I will just start with a bit of catchup from the last few years, if for no other reason than for myself to remember.
2016 was a bad year the the Shankster. Started off with him getting knee surgery, his second on that knee, and the pain never seemed to go away. For months he was miserable constantly requesting some answers and feeling as he had an infection, until a random dentist visit required an antibiotic to which he felt some instant relief to the leg...not the tooth. To which his primary then decided to try another antibiotic for a possible infection in his leg, and bam! go figure... it worked! But that good feeling was short lived as I think the stress of that year caught up to him and he started 2017 with severe stomach pain. We spent the entirety of that year getting tested and tested and going to specialists and trying different drugs, creams and getting procedures done only to get told by 2 different doctors to not come back as they couldn't do anything for him. (Yes I am serious)
We were still in the thick of procedures and new doctors in 2018, when Homie suddenly had a stroke. It was a bad one that left him unable to speak or write. After a couple days in the hospital, the Shankster and I brought him home and started working on getting him back to par..(golf term as he is an avid golfer!)
We were told the VA would have him come in and get help with speech. We never got a call from them until 4 weeks after the stroke. By then I had worked with him to get his writing back and his speech. I sang with him each day several times a day as even tho he couldn't talk, he could sing. He got his speech back fairly quick, but still had trouble getting an entire sentence out. The Shankster took a golf ball with a cup in the corner of the room and gave Homie his putter, and told him to just try it a few times. It didn't take him but 2 weeks to go back to the golf course.
The Shankster then spent the rest of that year and 2019 trying to get hold of whatever is going on with his body. He had lost 40 pounds in 2017 as he was only eating apple sauce, Boiled apples, yes I said boiled apples and yes it is as nasty tasting as it sounds but hey he had to eat SOMETHING, and for some reason this tasted good to him or at the least it made him feel like he was eating something different... he would also eat salad with no dressing, eggs, occasional oatmeal and cereal. He used Almond milk only, but was still miserable with pain and incredible heartburn and could not keep anything down. I bet in 2017 alone he was at the ER about 6 times feeling as tho he was having a heart attack. He was put on 3 different medications just for his stomach and was taking each 3 times a day.
That isn't all that has happened since I last posted, but I think it was enough to keep me busy with too much on my mind where I couldn't sit and write. So I will leave it there, and ponder what will be my next post of 2020?
But I will leave with a couple of jokes told to me by my grandsons.
What kind of dinosaur loves to sleep?
A Stega-snore-us
Knock Knock
Who's there?
Cow says
Cow says who?
No silly, a Cow says Mooo!
Thanks again for stopping by!
posted by dona at 3/15/2020
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