HelpfulGardener.com

Thank you all SOOO much for your kind thoughts and prayers. You have no idea how much that means.

George's surgery went very well. The procedure took only 45 minutes. It is all Laparoscopic.

The surgeon uses an amazing tool. The front of the tool is a stapler that staples a double line of staples. The staples are titanium but too fine to see with the naked eye. Right behind the stapler is a cutting tool that cuts the stomach pouch away.

We thought G may have needed to stay an additional night in order to get his Coumadin level back up. That was not the case. We left the hospital around noon yesterday.

We are a little off schedule today. There are so many things he has to do or take. I have it figured out now.

2 really good things. The Dr. took him off of his Lasix and Metformin.

He has to check his blood sugar before each meal. So far so good.

Tomorrow we will have our schedule down pat. Rock and roll.

George did 20 minutes on his stationary bike this AM. So proud of him.

He would love to sit in his recliner and have me wait on him. I can't do that. If I did he would not get up except to go to the bathroom. I prepare his meals and snacks but he has to get up and go to the kitchen to eat. I remind him about his meds and fluids. He has to get up and get it. I have multiple schedules on the refrigerator door - one for meds, one for meals, one for breathing treatments, one for fluid intake, one for exercise. That's it! I am going to make a master schedule NOW!

Thanks again to all of you. You are the best!

Fabulous! So glad to hear all went well and you are fired up to keep him in line (poor George! LOL) Be sure to give him an occasional break, and MOREOVER, to give YOURSELF a break, too. Good luck!

Good advice from Applestar! The caregiver needs care too!

And stand your ground re not waiting on him etc. It isn't easy to do, when someone you care about is acting all helpless and maybe is in some actual pain and fatigue. But if you watch the shows on TV like "my 600 pound life," behind the super-morbidly obese person is always an enabler. These 600 pound (and up!) people are mostly bedridden. SOME ONE brings them all their (too much, unhealthy) food in bed, washes them, including under all those folds, etc (bedpans? they never really talk about that). Ugh!! If that person hadn't been enabling all those years, the client never could have gotten so bad.

I tell my partner if I can't get up to eat, unless I have casts on both legs or something else serious and temporary, don't feed me!!

You both have good advice and make me .

When I initially told George that I would not wait on him he growled a little but when I pointed out that his lack of mobility would result in either blood clots or pneumonia or both he settled down and is OK with my program.

He did 20 minutes on his stationary bike this AM. This afternoon he asked if I had checked the mail. I gave him a hug and told him no and that I would not. He walked to the mail box and retrieved the mail.

I spoke to a friend this afternoon. She is caring for a post surgery husband. She asked how I was doing. I told her that spammer was a great aid for dealing with a Man Baby. She said she liked her spammer with a shot of Crown.

When I previewed this message I saw "spammer" in place of the name of an anti anxiety medication

Doesn't matter. You get my drift.

BTW my friend's husband said we were a couple of old Drill Sargent's. If he only knew

Congratulations to you and George. Having a schedule is a good idea. Once he gets into the routine, it will be easier to keep it. No backsliding allowed

When I remind George about a task, fluids or meds he replies "YES DRILL SARGEANT!!"

The things you do for love

Getting a head start. The next phase of George's diet is pureed foods. I had a lot of fresh veggies in the refrigerator. Since I am dieting with George the veggies need to be cooked.

So my was to cook the veggies making stock, puree the veggies and freeze both.

When I make a stock or soup I use "Better Than Bouillon Base." I used vegetable base to make a broth then added all of my veggies - carrots, asparagus, cauliflower, broccoli, Brussel's sprouts, frozen green beans, mushrooms, onions, minced garlic, minced jalapenos, frozen red, yellow and orange bell pepper, 5 ribs of celery with leaves, a couple of small green bells from the garden, a bundle of fresh thyme and sage, a little fresh oregano and parsley and a Bay leaf, a bit of "Benoit's Best" no sodium seasoning mix. Oh - some of my home made tomato sauce.

I cut the veggies large so I could separate them for puree. I did puree the broccoli, cauliflower and green beans together.

The onions, bell peppers, mushrooms and celery were pureed together for flavor bombs.

It was surprising how much liquid was needed to puree the vegetables to the correct consistency.

There was also a bit of ham. I boiled then pureed the ham and reserved the water.

Honestly folks - I am NOT that organized. I just needed to cook something

Let's see. What else? I have beef/vegetable soup in the freezer. Separate the beef from the veggies and puree both. Gumbo Lots of that in the freezer. Puree that. The roasted chicken that I used the carcass of to make chicken broth - puree.

I am turning into a crazy person

Totally off subject - it has been raining so much that the stolons of my St. Augustine are turning black and rotting.

Surgery video.

Don't watch if you have a weak stomach or have just eaten. Very graphic - the real deal.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7lsUPsoUzY