end stages

[cuddlebunnylacey]

My husband is 44 and last week they said that he is in end stage chf. He has been in stage 4 for a while. He cant get a transplant due to his weight. 6 months ago he started have seizures that they couldnt find a cause for. His blood pressure stays so low that they took him off of all the typical chf blood pressure meds. He slurs all the time and sleeps on average 18-20 hours a day. Now he is to the point he cant hardly walk and I have to help him get around. He doesnt eat much and always says he is in pain. When it gets bad I send him to the hospital and they say his blood enzymes say no heart attack and send him home. Today after a long er visit the dr discharged him with a blood pressure of 70/43 and he cant even keep himself awake. I cant understand him when he is trying to talk. The charge nurse was upset that they were discharging him so she printed his test results and gave them to me. My biggest concern looking at it is his creatinine is listed as high at 2.45 and his bun is 29 and gfr-aa is 35. I know these are abnormal numbers but im scared and dont know what I should do. His father is currently going through liver and kidney failure but no one talks to us about my husbands kidneys. Our battle with heart disease has been going on 8 yrs now and 4 yrs with knowing about the chf. He is scared he is dying and I am too. His ef is only 8-10% and they said no transplant until he drops 60lbs and no Lvad til he drops half of the weight but he can hardly move and barely has an appetite.  I feel like he waited a long time to try to take it serious and wonder if its too late. Can someone please give me some advice? Thanks

[allmymarbles]

I got in touch with the woman that I mentioned. She went on the HCG Diet. Her doctor had wanted her to go on it for some time. It operates on the principle of forcing your body to use up stored fat, thereby reducing it permanently. It is a two-month process. The first month the person diets and loses between 20 and 40 pounds (men usually lose more than women). The second month the person stabilizes his weight. After several weeks he can repeat the diet. A doctor familiar with the method is required and the patient is monitored closely. My friend's doctor is an MD who straddles traditional and alternative medicine.

My friend lost almost 25 pounds and is now stabilizing her weight. She has had no ill effects and is looking forward to repeating the diet. She told me that Dr. Oz reviewed the diet twice. The first time he was very wary. The second time he had a more favorable opinion, having interviewed people who completed the diet successfully with no ill effects. This is something you may want to look into.

(By the way, it was found that my friend, who was mildly hypothyroid, no longer needed medication. It is not known if this is related to the diet.)

[cuddlebunnylacey]

Weight loss is what I do for a living so it frustrates me. I specialize in people with disabilities and getting them back exercising. In the case of lupus a lot of times its usually related to the medications they take and an altered metabolism. Though even with an altered metabolism not eating enough is just as harmful at times as eating slightly too much. Its also hardto get someone moving around who hurts and Iis out of breath everytime they move . Thank you for your response.  Please let me know if you hear of any thing else

[allmymarbles]

Too, too sad about the weight keeping him from a cure. The excess weight is hard to understand, but I know a woman who has lupus and who has gained about 100 pounds. She has a small appetite and maybe eats 1000 calories a day (maybe). She can't lose weight no matter what she tries. And ... she eats only organicly grown food and does not eat junk of any kind.

If I hear anything hopeful about weight loss under these circumstances, I will let you know.