Nearly 7 months in the hospital and/or long-term facilities has me feeling down. Got a moment?
Mods: If you feel that this is more suited to the Lounge, then feel free to move it. I just felt the gravity of my situation warranted that this be a GD post. Thank you for your understanding. 
Hello everyone! I realize that in all my many years as a member here I haven't made more than a handful of friends and I'm not terribly "cliquish," but tonight is especially hard on me for some reason and I feel the need to reach out.
You can read about my near-death experience and the loss of my left leg in 2013 here, in this rather long thread:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024309273
At the end of that long post, I said a little "prayer" that 2014 might be a better year for me, and for DU'ers in general. Well, my 2014 may turn out okay in the end, but I have been away from home since early June, trying to save my right leg by the use of a surgical procedure designed to save limbs on obese people who suffer from a condition known as "charcot foot" -- pronounced as shark-o foot. Here is a short, educational video explaining what I have undergone in terms of treatment:
My fixator halo has been off for a few months now, and I'm awaiting the healing of some remaining wounds on my foot so that I can begin full weight bearing and start strengthening to walk with my prosthetic + a walker.
In the next week or so I will be getting new glasses for the first time since my wife, Jeanette, bought us each two pair back in 2002 when we were first dating. Yeah, this wife of mine -- she is an absolute angel, and she is the ultimate "without whom." I graciously accept the fact that I would not be alive today without her love and support. I hope that everyone has -- or will eventually find -- a life partner as sweet and wonderful as my Jeanette.
I have to say though, with regards to my eyes, that the optometrist determined that I will need bifocals, BUT when the correction was optimized I had only minor problems reading both the near and far 20/20 lines! So, while my feet and legs have been turning traitor on me this past few years, my eyes remain largely undamaged from diabetes, and are just in the degraded condition they have been in from birth.
All of this time away from home has alienated me from our cats, and there are going to be some expenses upon my return home which I fear we may not be able to cover, such as the absolute must buy of at least a queen-size bed to replace the full-size one which was provided with our furnished apartment. The reason for that is simply that my body is as long as a full-size mattress, so it's a given that either my feet or my head will be hanging off the top or bottom of the bed. This is very bad because my feet hanging off the foot of the bed causes pressure sores to form from the wire which goes around the mattress. A queen-size or larger is about 6 inches longer, so that I can count on my whole body resting on the main body of the mattress, and there won't be any pressure sores from the metal wire which goes around the perimeter. So there is needing a good, sturdy bed. Then, I need clothes something fierce! I am about a size 4x, which means that I can find decent shirts in Wal-Mart (much as I hate to shop there) or online. I'll also need good compressive socks for my right leg, which I'm not sure insurance will cover, but I know they do cover diabetic shoes.
You get the idea. I am not resorting to e-begging here at this stage. If we can get some help before I am discharged, then everything is fine. But if you see me posting something on wish-a-doo or elsewhere a couple months down the line, please spare me a thought!
I never would have guessed after what all I went through in 2013 that this year would find me spending more than half of it in hospitals and facilities yet again! But it is what it is, and all I can do is try and keep my emotions stable, and ride this journey out in the hopes of finally receiving a break in 2015, where I'll be able to spend my time learning to walk again, practicing my guitar, loving on our wonderful cats and for the love of all that is good and right, spending some intimate time with my poor wife who has been every bit as lonely as I have over this past few months!!
This post is growing long, and I'm getting tired. I have another appointment to see my surgeon early tomorrow morning. I hope he will be pleased with how things have been coming along, and that I will be able to feel really relaxed and positive as we cruise our way through another holiday season!
Thanks for reading and understanding, if you got this far, and may we all experience a great 2015...FOR REAL THIS TIME!!
= new reply since forum marked as read
and healing vibes your way. The holidays can make things harder when you are out of the loop Things will be looking up when you get home - kitties are good nurses.
It's kinda weird seeing your user name, because my initials are also KT. 
When Jeanette and I Skype, she does her best to move the computer around to focus on the cats, or pick them up and hold them close to the camera! She also frequently gets videos of them on her Cricket Windows phone for me to watch.
Both Sammy and Taz, the two of the four cats who are normally with us, are great company, though Taz has a problem with men and it's not as easy to get her to really warm up to me. Sammy more than makes up for it, though! If he's on the bed and I put a hand anywhere near him, he will squirm his way over to it for pettins! It's just the cutest thing you could ever imagine.
Thinking of him doing that never fails to put a smile on my face.
all that you may still face. Sending you my wishes for your speedy recovery and some quality time with your wife and kitties. Indeed, may 2015 bring you peace and happiness. For now, can I give you a great big old DU hug?
Thank you very much for the warm wellwishes! May 2015 be a truly excellent year for you and yours, as well.
You and Jeanette have been through so much, it is definitely time you got a break. Best of luck to you and keep us posted.
I absolutely will post every now and then with news about my trials and my improvements!
Walking again, or even just standing on one real leg plus a prosthetic and strengthening my muscles that way, will be a huge "step in the right direction!"
I'll be able to do that now if and only if a sturdy cast is on my right leg for support. I am waiting to find out who's going to be responsible for putting that on. Once it is, they can bi-valve cut it to allow it to be removed to clean and treat the wounds on the foot and leg.
I will definitely post an update when this is all sorted out!
and I hope that 2015 is good to you. 
Your sense of humor absolutely rules, and it's always nice to know there are people out there you're on the same page with almost 100% of the time, and doubly so when the issues involved are of such paramount importance!
you're worth it
Help will come...and yes, 2015 better be better!
And may 2015 be awesome for you and yours.
Last edited Tue Dec 23, 2014, 02:34 PM - Edit history (1)
the kind of person I love knowing. An optimist, and I'm sure you have reason to be one, your wife for starters! She makes you more wealthy than many.
I think Wishadoo starts back up soon; I'll find out. xo
I've never asked, but would I be correct in guessing that your screen name means you're a fan of the Dan?
In any case, you are very right about my wife, even though she is facing her own set of difficulties, also including very bad diabetes. Once I'm back home, she has agreed that we'll be be back on a regimen of 100% low-calorie plant-based cooking. I'm going to need that just to recover from the institutional slop I'm stuck with eating here!! It's kinda like low-quality fast food, just in some godforsaken insidious way...worse! 
And as I said, I'm only going to beg for help on this site -- or any type of e-begging anywhere -- if we just can't get certain important things we MUST have, like a comfortable larger bed or perhaps a large, sturdy recliner chair for me to sit in rather than my wheelchair or powerchair all the time -- and there is no other way to get them. We'll be trying to hold on to money, and checking with people who may know people, as much as possible until then.
Should all else fail, I will certainly post here.
If the circulation in my legs and wound healing ability could only match the values in my bloodwork with the exception of my blood sugar, I'd be home free! I'm a resilient person, but earlier in life I ate my way into some horrible problems. All I can do is keep trying to stay active and hope for the day when they can let me go home and let a home health nurse take over. Well that, and being able to stand up and take shuffly little steps on my prosthetic without a team of physical therapists not having to be next to me so I don't fall. 
Have a great 2015!
Sending good thoughts your way.
Here is to an excellent 2015!
Then this year, once to put the fixator halo on and add some rods and screws to my foot; once to remove the fixator; and two different times for surgical debridement of my foot, which had to be done with me under or the pain would have been unbearable!
I really don't want to have to deal with that shit much more. 
But anyway, best of luck for your mom! Please let me know how she's coming along, okay?
...I will definitely get back to you by PM, homegirl!
As I've already said, I will advise you of the need to do it if we're really struggling when my discharge date is close. Jeanette and I are both doing everything we can to assure it won't come to that.
A most excellent 2015 to you, homegirl! And thanks again!
I will know for sure as my discharge date draws near, right now it hasn't yet, unless they just do it by complete surprise and give us almost no time to prepare! God forbid that does not happen, but it's within the realm of possibility.
On a more positive note, may we both have a blessed 2015!
I hope so too, very much. I believe in my heart that the very "worst of the worst" is behind me, and now it's just a matter of time and investing the necessary energy. I have no problem with that! It's just the nasty surprises which seem to keep jumping up out of nowhere that have a tendency to wear me down.
May we both have a great 2015!
I very much appreciate your sentiments and your saying that I have courage! It's really a case of "more some days than others" with that. Some days I watch videos and episodes of South Park and all I do is giggle like a schoolgirl, but then there are others where I don't know where the damn OFF switch is for my <cry> setting. 
But I promise to keep plugging away! And may we both have a great 2015!
...is run by the same "St. Vincent dePaul Society" you're talking about, but it is referred to as "St. Vincent's." As with all things related to Las Vegas and homelessness, it doesn't have the most sterling of reputations. Nonetheless, I am going to search for this organization and see if they can, indeed, help us.
I have to be dead honest about the lack of assistance in this town! Before having to be hospitalized this last time near the end of May, I had a home health agency with a really sweet nurse, who was doing her best to treat pressure wounds which continued to worsen no matter what, until a wound care doctor I saw demanded I go to the hospital after leaving his office, because the wound had obviously made it down to the bone.
Anyway, back to the home health agency. They had a "social worker" who contracted with them, and everything about this man from his questions to his listening skills to his general countenance just sucked! It was bad enough that the nurse shook her head and admitted that she had heard many complaints about him from other patients. So in summary, we were sent a goomba from the Super Mario Brothers game who wasn't able to make one useful recommendation, or who didn't even bother to call back when we called him with a concern.
But I know that doesn't mean there are NO nice or helpful people around here. We will do our best to find them, I promise!
The most important thing is that we will finally get a break in 2015, and it will be a better year for us as well as many here on the DU who are going through hard times!
Heal up this limb of mine and tell me all of this hasn't been for nothing, and get me up on two feet again, and that will make 2015 into a tremendous rebound after quite a series of crummy years, and a time to remember fondly for the rest of my life!
may this be the turning point for your health and well being. 
Thank you, and may 2015 be a great year for you and yours as well!
May your 2015 be a great year as well!
May you experience just the same!
My sympathies go out to you, and I hope you have readjusted safely and happily enough into your new circumstances. I know it's hard no matter what!
I consider myself to be a living warning to get food addiction the fuck under control if you are suffering from it, because my present condition could end up being the result, with virtually no warning at all! Seriously -- one day I felt fine and then slowly I began to feel weaker (and my behavior grew subtly more erratic) until I was rushed to the hospital after Jeanette found me collapsed on the floor, totally unresponsive. The EMTs who were shouting right in my ear couldn't get me to identify the right fucking century, much less the right year! I kept insisting that it was 1913 for fucks sake! I knew our President was Obama, but bless Jeanette's poor soul but I could not say her name right! And the rest is documented in my 1913 post as linked in the OP. 
Nope, everyone enjoy your 2015 however you want to, but please don't let it involve abusing your bodies with drugs, alcohol...or food!
...and I hope that whatever issues are troubling your sugar control, a good endocrinologist will be able to find a solution. In the meantime I wish you the very best of luck!
As I said, I'm not asking for help at this time. But if it comes down to it and nobody around here is willing to do what we require done to be able to live at least somewhat comfortably, I will be back to ask for help setting something up.
May it not come to that, and may 2015 be a better year for us all!
I am happy that she was able to make connections which made a difference during her illness.
I have a few old friends who just happened to find me on Facebook or Google, and with whom I have been chatting on the phone, a text messenger, or Skype. That is an awesome way to spend time with someone and give poor Jeanette a break. 
A blessed 2015 to us all -- even us Atheists, Agnostics and Deists!
I will certainly seek to use it when the time comes, but right now I am choosing this facility over being at home because I believe my wounds are tended to better, and like it or not an environment without cats will tend to be a little cleaner than our apartment, no matter how often Jeanette mops the floor.
My expectations are quite low. All I want is:
A large enough bed so that Jeanette and I have room to move without my feet hanging off the end (I'm a large guy but we actually can sleep together without many problems on our full size, with the exception of my feet).
A powerchair (which I have received twice already, but had it taken away because Medicare won't pay for the lease on a device which I am not using while in the hospital for over 60 days...but the next time I get it, the 13 months of lease payments will be finished in two months, and the chair will be mine free and clear).
And lastly, a recliner or loveseat -- the latter strongly preferred -- which I can sit on instead of a wheelchair or powerchair, which is comfortable enough to take naps in and which I can easily transfer from wheel/powerchair to recliner to bed and so forth. I have a big transfer board to facilitate this, as well as enough strength in one leg to struggle through it. Having a prosthetic will make this a breeze, and will also make using the bathroom and getting in and out of cars not just easier, but in many cases possible whereas right now it's not!
I will keep the DU updated as to my progress in all areas. Have a great 2015, KamaAina!
Have an excellent 2015!
Photos seriously sound like fun, Hoppy! I have many memories of traveling as a child while my crazy-ass mother tried to find the place where "the grass was finally greener," so that kind of thing always evokes an emotional response which is almost always positive.
As for your questions, I'm on disability, which is just enough to ensure I exist; and Jeanette gets SNAP benefits in her name, simply because it was easier for her to go to the office to apply at the time. I am not a veteran, although I came very close to following a few of my high school buddies into the Navy back in 1986.
Talk to you soon!
Sending good wishes your way for better days ahead for you and your wife. I'm also a diabetic. So is my sister. And many of my cousins. It doesn't just run through our family. It stampedes. And what happened to you could happen to me anytime. I'm happy for you that your sight is unaffected and I hope you get to stay out of the hospital. Please PM me if you're going to do wishadoo or gofundme. It would make me happy to help out. Though I can't do much, every little bit helps. Right?
I'm really sorry to hear how this horrible disease is running through your family! I'm the only one to have it in mine, but even though my mother was ridiculously OCD and that has been passed down to me and at least one of my two brothers, I'm the only one who chose to eat himself to just over a quarter ton, so the diabetes was just about a foregone conclusion in my case.
What has helped me reduce from 519 down to the high 300s at this point, and hopefully to under 200 once I'm up and moving on my prosthetic leg, is to stay away from meats, dairy, eggs and added oil, and consume as many plant-based dishes as possible! I don't want to come off preachy, but I wholeheartedly believe that my kidneys came back from failure to what is documented normal function (eFGR of 91, which is just on the boundary of "normal" according to the photocopies of my last two blood workups which I requested earlier this week! It's fat in the diet which sticks to our cells, builds up on our artery walls, and gives us an endless list of illnesses chief among which are diabetes, heart disease and cancer. And the worst culprit of all in this regard is the animal fats.
If you wish, check out the info at www.drmcdougall.com and pass it on to others in your family if it seems helpful!
Alright, that's it. I promised not to get all preachy so that is the end of that discussion in this thread unless anyone wants to ask me any questions.
At any rate, I hope that you and your family will have a happy and illness-free 2015! And should I decide that monetary help is an absolute must, I will contact you. I very much appreciate the gesture of help!
Blessings to you and Jeanette, SC. I hope 2015 looks up for you!
A great 2015 for you and yours as well!
Have a wonderful 2015!
I can't tell you how often I just want to lay down, close my eyes, and give up on it all, but to do so now would just be silly!! All I have to do is get a couple wounds healed, and then figure out how to walk on a prosthetic leg.
That's it!!
I've had the device on, and it does indeed feel rather like an extension of my natural leg. Problem is, they don't want me walking on it until I can get a study cast put on my other leg. It can be bi-valved (cut in half) to make cleaning my wounds easier, but nonetheless my surgeon wants it. But do I know just who the hell is going to actually do this now? Of course not! But as with all other challenges, I will await the passage of the Holidays, and then someone is going to connect to someone on the phone and we're going to get this DONE, once and for all!
Have a wonderful 2015!
and every good wish for 2015.
I must have missed your earlier post about your leg and am so terribly sorry to hear this news. You are in my thoughts and prayers for a full recovery. I send my best to you and to Jeanette. please check your PM- sending you hugs
I am working on achieving a full recovery just as soon as I can. You better believe it!
I will certainly contact you should I need to set up a fundraising thread, but here is hoping that I will not. Once I've got a clear picture just where we stand as my discharge date approaches, that will determine if I need to do such a thing. I really hope my simple needs will be met without a fuss, but as you well know being poor absolutely sucks.
Anyway, may your 2015 be a happy one as well.
...for a bed (hospital bed or better normal bed -- didn't even friggin' matter to either of us at the time), but it was rejected with them coming back and telling us I had to have some ridiculous condition to go along with everything else like -- if I remember right and I may not so I apologize -- congestive heart failure. 
So of course I go home and end up with the pressure wound on my remaining leg which turns into everything I've gone through this year. It was there by the second day of my return, and judged completely untreatable without going to the hospital within 5 months. And we put multiple pillows under that damn foot and everything! But if you shift around in your sleep and the pillows fall, or your foot falls off the pillows and rests on that outer perimeter mattress wire even through a pile of blankets and quilts, what difference does it make?
They are clearly penny wise, pound foolish with regards to what they end up having to spend, as well as what their patients have to endure.
Oh, and if you want to get laughed at by a staffer? Call Harry Reid's office and beg for help with something.
And love it or leave it, that is the way of the world. I still continue to hope that things will work out better this time.
That is probably the one and only method we didn't consider!
Right now, my right foot is in this really soft boot-like thing which encases my foot from every direction except the top, and has a really wide velcro strap you use to close it. It exerts no pressure anywhere, and is good for whether I'm in bed or out at some appointment.
But what you described will be perfect, especially if I'm still waiting a while to get the bed situation solved once I am home.
I'll look into this and if it's in our budget, I'll see if Jeanette is into the thought of ordering some when my January disability payment hits.
One cool thing about my present wound care status is that they are using a honey-based ointment on my wounds, rather than still more antibiotics, and the results so far have looked great!
But I'll check into the vitamin C, and if I try it I will certainly PM you to let you know how it works for me. I really appreciate all of your feedback and advice! 
like they use in vets' offices?
(I couldn't find any picture but this one, but it gives you the idea and I know there are smaller ones)
Mild exercise that keeps blood moving through the area, keeping the wound clean and dry, and keeping pressure off it are critical.
A relative of mine died of a pressure ulcer and I agree they're penny wise pound foolish; so lobby hard for what you need and look at all options (like the doughnut).
I also came home from the nursing home with a pressure ulcer (on my rear) and even being mobile it took some time to heal, as it wasn't in the best spot (hard to keep clean and dry. But it's healed now mainly because I'm mobile.
My best wishes to you for the new year.
Is it okay if I ask what happened? Did you create a thread about it that perhaps you could link?
I'm sending positive 'vibes' your way, while Spotify chooses to spin me "Free Ride" by the Edgar Winter Group. I think that's a very fitting song, no?
A much better 2015 to you and yours!
At least you still do have -- and I hope I'm reading this right! -- two good friends in your life. But I can't picture that level of loss surrounding me and those I care about in such a short span of time.
I promise you this, though. If you ever need to vent and have nowhere else to go, you can always PM me. My code of ethics is absolutely perfect with regards to keeping secrets, and I have been told before that I am a great listener.
I may not know you well yet at this stage, but there's no reason why I can't! Keep your head high, and don't hesitate to shoot a message my way if you absolutely need to! It would be my pleasure.
After I finish with these replies, I will be trying to connect with Jeanette again on Skype. She really is amazing, and my deepest hope is that someday we can get the hell out of Vegas, since we both despise the place and there is no doubt in my mind that she deserves better!
Thanks again for the lovely reply, and may you and yours also experience a great 2015!
Thank you for the well-wishes, and I hope that you and your family will have a great 2015 as well!
I wish you well.
