Creepy-Weird Question of the Day

[Spiky Bugger]

MrSue and I were discussing that someone we knew had a grandfather who, in his 90s, WITH Alzheimers, had a coronary bypass procedure. We decided that was dumb. Who wants to live LONGER in “Brain Failure?”

He’s on a post heart attack diet that will keep him alive longer. I’m on a restrictive diet that keeps me from having miserable GI symptoms.

This is unfair because HE can start eating steaks and bacon and hot fudge sundaes, enjoy his feasts, SHORTEN the length of time he’d live in “deprivation,” and go out smiling. All I’d get is diarrhea.

Would YOU stay on an unfun diet that COULD lengthen your life, if that longer life meant doing without the food you’d really like to enjoy?

(I SAID it was weird and creepy.)

 

[Larra]

It's possible that the coronoary bypass was performed with the goal of relieving otherwise intractable pain, not for prolonging life. Also, while Alzheimers is progressive and for now incurable, some people with Alzheimers still have more quality of life than others. Then again, their could have been less savory reasons, such as someone (or a hospital/meical group) making money. Or maybe a family's religious based belief that all life has value.
So, while I sympathize with your being stuck on a crappy diet, I don't think it's fair to compare your situation unfavorably to his.

 

[JackieOnLine]

Would YOU stay on an unfun diet that COULD lengthen your life, if that longer life meant doing without the food you’d really like to enjoy?

up to a point - how unfun? how much longer?

 

[Spiky Bugger]

See? It is weird. And creepy.

And SOMEWHAT motivated by seeing people with ALS on social media who say that they are dealing with a for-the-moment-incurable disease. What courage. My nephew’s MIL died of ALS. Day after day, less able to get her body to do what she wanted it to do...and her daughters and granddaughter watching her slowly, very slowly, leave them. I’d probably go mad watching a loved one deal with that.

 

[Spiky Bugger]

It's possible that the coronoary bypass was performed with the goal of relieving otherwise intractable pain, not for prolonging life. Also, while Alzheimers is progressive and for now incurable, some people with Alzheimers still have more quality of life than others. Then again, their could have been less savory reasons, such as someone (or a hospital/meical group) making money. Or maybe a family's religious based belief that all life has value.
So, while I sympathize with your being stuck on a crappy diet, I don't think it's fair to compare your situation unfavorably to his.

Now see? MrSue’s heart attack was…other than heartburn and “an odd feeling, but not pain” going down his left arm…pain free. So it would never have occurred to me that the procedure ”cured pain.”

Now I have to think kinder thoughts. Not fair to a person with a crappy diet!

 

[Spiky Bugger]

Speaking of diets…next week, I’m getting my first, and perhaps last because their shipping charges are insane, delivery from epicured.com . It’s expensive, so maybe it will be an occasional break, rather than a routine thing.

It LOOKS more appetizing than what I’m getting now, but maybe they just have a better photographer.

This Not Cooking Dinner thing is strange. Every afternoon, around 3pm, I start to panic about what I SHOULD be doing about dinner. And then I realize that we have decided to go with delivered dinners. So I sit down.

We have MANY things on our plates right now. Today, I spent two hours trying to untangle the messes surrounding MrSue’s upcoming cataract surgery. The med list and dosage info given to him at his last appointment were for drugs the doctor didn’t order, and the drugs he DID order have a list price of 20-30 TIMES what the drugs on the list cost. (We have really great insurance, so the most expensive drug…which was replacing the <$20 medication but was selling for $480…only cost us $20. Not bad.). But different dosage instructions.

And then our PCP’s office changed his pre-surgery appointment, meaning the surgery clearance wouldn’t get to the surgeon in time and his procedure would be cancelled. This all fell apart right before MY hearing test…it’s always been great, but one ear (the abused one) seems not as “high performing” as the other…so I had to do a last minute cancellation. And tomorrow morning, before our physical therapist arrives, MrSue needs to go get a blood test so that results will arrive in time for the PCP to review them and sign off on his surgery.

And an attorney’s appointment tomorrow, too, because we noticed that EVERY address and phone number on our advance directives was wrong. Aaargh! And the trust is ALMOST as old, so why not?

How do young folks have the time to WORK?

 

[JackieOnLine]

oh, my!

yes, you do have a full plate right now and I hope you use the phrase "start to panic" loosely and aren't really having clinical anxiety - although it would certainly be understandable if you are.

I'm so glad you are going with delivered dinners!

relax into that and do as much as possible in the easiest way possible. and ASK FOR HELP if needed.

 

[hilary1617]

Hang in there!

 

[Spiky Bugger]

oh, my!

yes, you do have a full plate right now and I hope you use the phrase "start to panic" loosely and aren't really having clinical anxiety - although it would certainly be understandable if you are.

I'm so glad you are going with delivered dinners!

relax into that and do as much as possible in the easiest way possible. and ASK FOR HELP if needed.

Truth be told, I’m glad I “stockpiled” a few Lorazepam!

 

[Georgepds]

Re "This Not Cooking Dinner thing is strange. Every afternoon, around 3pm, I start to panic about what I SHOULD be doing about dinner."

FWIIW, time to break out that instapot of yours and cook in advance. Make 6 to 8 quarts of your favorite

For me, these days, it's ground turkey chili and chicken vegetable soup. Add a bit of nutritional yeast / spice mix , and some Frank's red hot, and you've got an easy meal. If your diet can take it, pre cook some barley or brown rice to mix it with. 5 minutes in the microwave and it's dinner time.

 

[JackieOnLine]

we have decided to go with delivered dinners

people can be too busy to cook, including in advance. I think getting delivered dinners is a great idea.

 

[Georgepds]

people can be too busy to cook, including in advance. I think getting delivered dinners is a great idea.

I agree.. I was trying, poorly I guess, to address the 3 pm panic of what to cook.

I cook ahead and use freeze able deli containers. The containers are reusable,and. come really clean in a dishwash

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00N2TADOY/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[Spiky Bugger]

I agree.. I was trying, poorly I guess, to address the 3 pm panic of what to cook.

I cook ahead and use freeze able deli containers. The containers are reusable,and. come really clean in a dishwash

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00N2TADOY/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

JackieOnLine

In our case, it isn’t so much the “busy” factor, as it’s the orthopedic factor. I’m very good at standing, for five minutes max. Him, too. And, with raging osteoporosis*, I’m getting shorter by the minute and can REACH…and/or SEE INTO fewer and fewer cabinets. Meanwhile, we are rearranging where things are kept to avoid having to bend over too far.

AND lol…until he has cataract surgery, I’m not sure how safe he is around a sharp knife or mandolin. Also, just for fun, since my blood takes longer than it should to clot, if I create even a small cut in a finger, there’s a bloody mess to clean up. (I have a phone appt w/my hematologist this afternoon.)

Deal is, the wheels are starting to fall off the bus (busses) and that’s just “the circle of life.” We laugh about it more than cry, but we ARE aware of increasing limitations.

~~~~~~~~~~


*so far, as good as all the meds for that are concerned, I’m screwed. Some LOWER and then REQUIRE SUPPLEMENTATION of Calcium and Vitamin D. I’m already ON those suppplements and BARELY within range. And there are warnings that once you stop (Prolia, anyway) you have to take one of the other drugs or you will have MORE fractured bones than before treatment began.

 

[hilary1617]

To help fight back against limitations, I'd recommend considering some anti-fatigue mats in front of the kitchen counters. They really do reduce back strain and help keep folks comfortable longer when standing. The one caveat is that they may pose a trip hazard. I bought mine after standing in a long Christmas Eve line at a Williams Sonoma. My back was hurting and when I reached the "Wellness Mat" they had by the register area, it provided instantaneous, significant relief. I spent a small fortune on the model on which I was standing, but there are plenty of alternate providers on Amazon. For a similar reason, I love and highly recommend Orthofeet shoes. Wishing you the best!

 

[Georgepds]

Re ", I’m not sure how safe he is around a sharp knife or mandolin."

Salad shooter and/or Vidalia chop wizzard?

At the very least, the cutting bit is nowhere near human hands, at least till you clean it.