# I take care of my bedriddin X



## FarmboyBill (Aug 19, 2005)

She went to the Dr yesterday. Came home jublient. Said that she had weighed 375# 6 months ago. Now she said when weighed at the Drs office that she weighed 341#. I used to set with her for hours at the nursing home where she formally lived and she would only get 3 meals a day. Here, she eats whenever shes hungry, AND, its ONLY meat. She does drink around a 2/3s gal of milk and water a day. Whats your thoughts??


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## Wolf mom (Mar 8, 2005)

Getting off that weight can only be good for her. Kudos to you for your compassion. As far as eating only meat and drinking only water and milk, I ask you, where is she getting the rest of her minerals and vitamins??
Along with dieting, what about her exercise? Don't say she can't cause she's bedridden. There's lots of bed exercises to help get some sort of muscle tone back.


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## Tobster (Feb 24, 2009)

Is the diet of meat only and large amounts of milk prescribed by her doctor? If not, the doctor should be aware of what she is consuming in the event supplements or minerals should be taken. I have heard about people losing weight on a meat only diet, I guess the diary is her source of fat. I personally have never been too concerned with dairy fat. As long as the doctor is up to speed and your X is pleased with the results, keep on keeping on.


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## [email protected] (Sep 16, 2009)

My daughter's late husband lived on only meat.
I do not know what he drank. It was not alcohol.
He was real macho. and it killed him in his 50's..
The "only meat" diet was during about his last year and a half.. He developed cancer..
And he was a faithful cigarette smoker.
But to his dying day he claimed the cigs did him no harm..


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## Alice In TX/MO (May 10, 2002)

I would stop the milk and add one salad a day.


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## HermitJohn (May 10, 2002)

When somebody is morbidly obese, losing weight might be more important to health than balanced diet. Low carb diet definitely will take some weight off without you feeling deprived, but you can do low carb vegetarian diet, you dont have to eat just all meat all the time. High protein diets not good long term plan IMHO, you need your greens. 

People point out the Esquimo traditionally living on mostly animals as food. But what they forget lot of this was FAT. It was low carb but wasnt just protein.


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## Oregon1986 (Apr 25, 2017)

she needs to add fruits and vegetables to her diet,especially to stay "regular".


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## Terri (May 10, 2002)

Bill, it sounds like you are doing an outstanding job!

That being said, if she refuses to eat produce then vitamin deficiency may be a risk! Did you know that they now make gummie vitamins that taste just like candy? I use them myself. If she will not eat salads, you might persuade her to eat the vitamins that taste good.

My husband is very heavy: I know that you cannot change a person's diet without their cooperation. At least he is willing to eat his vitamins, if only because gummi vitamins taste good


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## HermitJohn (May 10, 2002)

I dont know how much a generic multi vitamin would help, but it sure cant hurt. In whatever form she will take it. Probably easier than getting dose of cod liver oil down her. Do they still sell cod liver oil? Used to be popular, on theory that whatever didnt kill you would probably help.


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## Danaus29 (Sep 12, 2005)

Milk is a major source of vitamin D and calcium. Since she is bedridden and most likely does not go outside she does need a good source of vitamin D. But without any fruit or vegetables she runs a great risk of coming down with Scurvy which definitely is not fun and can be fatal. Supplements are good but if she is willing, actual fruits and vegetables would be better for her. Despite the junk food factor of bottled juice, it does have added vitamin C. Vitamin C is easily destroyed by heat so canned fruit or cooked vegetables have very little unless it has been added. Manufacturers add vit C to some of their juice products but not all so you have to read the labels.

But aside from that concern, congratulations on the weight loss. 30 pounds in 6 months is awesome!


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## Danaus29 (Sep 12, 2005)

HermitJohn said:


> I dont know how much a generic multi vitamin would help, but it sure cant hurt. In whatever form she will take it. Probably easier than getting dose of cod liver oil down her. Do they still sell cod liver oil? Used to be popular, on theory that whatever didnt kill you would probably help.


Cod liver oil was used as a vitamin and mineral supplement. It was found to help cure and prevent rickets.


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## newfieannie (Dec 24, 2006)

we were given bottles of cod liver oil at school. some of the boys would smash the bottles on the way home. we took it every morning . I hated that stuff. lot of people had rickets in my town.

I might get some of those vitamins. most I eat is haddock. or canned salmon or sardines every day. fresh salmon around here is farmed. I eat avocado every day . I don't get much greens. I do like swiss chard and carrots. I buy broccoli and eat a little but end up throwing most of it away. I like cabbage but it's hard on me. ~Georgia


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## [email protected] (Sep 16, 2009)

call me weird, but I liked cod liver oil.
Mom also had something called, it think, castor oil ?
now that was some wicked stuff..
Your X might be losing weight, but is because of her diet, or her poor diet ?
there were stories about people weighing 500 pounds or more. I always thought that someone was bringing their food to them. so why did they bring so much or the wrong kind ? I know; many times it is not from overeating. but not always..


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## FarmboyBill (Aug 19, 2005)

Shes bedridden and says that her knees are shot. I try to get a few bunches of grapes down her a month. She will eat canned, not creamed corn, spinach, and beans, BUT in VERY small amounts.


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## Terri (May 10, 2002)

Yes, knee joints can wear out!


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## Danaus29 (Sep 12, 2005)

A lot of extra weight wears the joints out quickly. I can't blame her for not eating creamed corn, nasty stuff, IMO. Any amount of fruit and vegetables is better than none. Try to get some vitamins in her, can't really hurt.


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## ed/La (Feb 26, 2009)

Perhaps a smoothie with fruit a little vegetables lots of ice and milk or coconut milk. Swimming would be good exercise that is easy on the knees.


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## reneedarley (Jun 11, 2014)

[email protected] said:


> call me weird, but I liked cod liver oil.


 Same here, still do. But it has to be the real thing -not with orange taste.


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## Grey Mare (Jun 28, 2013)

Your help is wonderful but the diet...not so much. She HAS to do some form of exercise...people that size don't want to diet properly or start to move, if she doesn't she will begin to get bed sores, skin break down, all sorts of issues that will only compound on what she is already dealing with. 

What does her doctor say? And yes, she needs more veggies and some fruit, but watch the sugar content in the fruit.


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## Terri (May 10, 2002)

Since I believe she is on hospice, she has an excellent advisor on what exercise she can or should do.


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## light rain (Jan 14, 2013)

That diet will detroy her kidneys, especially if she is also diabetic. But God bless you for helping her...
It would be a good idea to have her doctor order a BMPanel or a more comphrehensive renal panel.


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## Terri (May 10, 2002)

Light rain, her weight is a bigger threat to her kidneys than her high protein intake


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## light rain (Jan 14, 2013)

Terri said:


> Light rain, her weight is a bigger threat to her kidneys than her high protein intake



No, they are probably equal...


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## Terri (May 10, 2002)

light rain said:


> No, they are probably equal...


If she gets her weight down to below 250 pounds, then I will agree with you. 

Right now, with her weight where it is, she probably has very high blood pressure. Very high blood pressure can be hard on kidneys: that is one of the reasons the doctors medicate for high blood pressure.


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## light rain (Jan 14, 2013)

Terri said:


> If she gets her weight down to below 250 pounds, then I will agree with you.
> 
> Right now, with her weight where it is, she probably has very high blood pressure. Very high blood pressure can be hard on kidneys: that is one of the reasons the doctors medicate for high blood pressure.


I've got news for you, some of the bp meds are really hard on the kidneys too.
Excess wt. is hard on the kidneys, heart and on blood sugars.
Processing animal protein and fat is very taxing on the kidneys but everyone needs to do what they think is best...


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## tiffanysgallery (Jan 17, 2015)

Not sure what's the right answer, but... I read recently that high blood pressure is the leading cause of strokes. So, I would think she would want to take bp medication if she has high blood pressure.


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## light rain (Jan 14, 2013)

tiffanysgallery said:


> Not sure what's the right answer, but... I read recently that high blood pressure is the leading cause of strokes. So, I would think she would want to take bp medication if she has high blood pressure.


Definitely if you cannot get your bp normal by diet take the meds. But monitor your kidney health monthly with labs and know what #'s on the test constitute stage 1,2,3,4, and 5. 5 is dialysis time.

Also some bp meds may be easier on the kidneys than others.

Some acid reflux drugs, yes OTCs, can hurt the kidneys.

Learn what foods injure kidneys and heart and eat accordingly. 

And since you bring up the subject of stroke learn what symptoms are common during a stroke. They are not necessarily the same for women as for men...


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## tiffanysgallery (Jan 17, 2015)

light rain said:


> Definitely if you cannot get your bp normal by diet take the meds. But monitor your kidney health monthly with labs and know what #'s on the test constitute stage 1,2,3,4, and 5. 5 is dialysis time.
> 
> Also some bp meds may be easier on the kidneys than others.
> 
> ...


Really good advice. Thank you.


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## HermitJohn (May 10, 2002)

Whats ideal and whats possible are probably two very different things. You have to juggle what patient is willing to do, what the medical care people are willing to do, and what the payer(s) are willing/able to pay for. In other words, "its complicated".

You would think any rational person would do their best to modify their diet for lifestyle caused problems, but most hold out for magic pill and the drug companies are making that very expensive in order to extract most money from insurance companies and government medicaid/medicare.


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## light rain (Jan 14, 2013)

HermitJohn said:


> Whats ideal and whats possible are probably two very different things. You have to juggle what patient is willing to do, what the medical care people are willing to do, and what the payer(s) are willing/able to pay for. In other words, "its complicated".
> 
> You would think any rational person would do their best to modify their diet for lifestyle caused problems, but most hold out for magic pill and the drug companies are making that very expensive in order to extract most money from insurance companies and government medicaid/medicare.


You're right. You can't force a person to take a different path but you can make them aware there ARE different ways to approach a problem. Then they choose.

Your "magic pill" analogy is spot on too. The drug companies have lost any bit of ethics and are just concerned with profits. And they know a large % of people will turn to them 1st rather than adopt healthy lifestyles. They also are cashing in on the current baby boomer population aging situation.
*And doctors are reluctant to be brutally honest with their patients regarding their lifestyle choices effects on their heart, kidneys and vascular system because they know a lot of patients will leave them for a more pc doctor who will just write out the script and wish them well...


For some people no matter how healthy their lifestyle is they are going to need medical intervention and rxs. Inherited diseases, accidents and infections etc are a part of life. But a look at our society today illustrates that large numbers of maladies are self-inflicted and when a person tries to point that out individuals and families will either make jokes or push back at the commentor. Give them 10 or 20 years, especially over age 50, and then all the humor becomes sad and bitter...


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## HermitJohn (May 10, 2002)

light rain said:


> You're right. You can't force a person to take a different path but you can make them aware there ARE different ways to approach a problem. Then they choose.


Unfortunately healthy food isnt covered by insurance but magic pills are. You dont have significant garden and buy all your produce, and eat lot produce, well it aint cheap. Eating better simply isnt an option for some. Especially with crazy rents anymore. I can say it costs me around $150 every two to three weeks for food for just me. Mostly produce, commercial quality, some eggs and cheese and nuts. I am as cheap as it gets, but the diabetes wont let me eat bunch carbs. Carbs are cheap, live on high carb foods (grain based diet) and you can eat much cheaper. But thats how i got diabetes.....

No the ex of original poster, suspect she is exerting what little power she has left in her life. I suspect she doesnt want to eat her vegetables and isnt going to do it, come heck or high water. Least she isnt eating bunch sweets. That would be real killer. But she is going to get at minimum, some vitamin deficiency disease if she doesnt eat any produce. Pills are not a good substitute but maybe better than nothing.


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