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To: mass55th
In addition to putting the flat screen TV on the wall for my wife, I repaired the air conditioner. She loves to knit as well. Between knitting, TV and caring for the pets, she has plenty going on. The major surgery in 2007 was followed by breast cancer with surgery/radiation in 2014, then a seizure and type 1 diabetes in 2019. The diabetes comes with a continuous glucose monitor, and insulin pump and a phone app to manage both. The joys of alarms going off for high and low glucose impacts the quality of sleep for both of us.

My "office" is in the basement. I spend much of my day there with an infrared space heater and heating pad to stay warm. My wife is up on the 2nd floor knitting or watching TV. We head out for lunch or dinner and hang out with the pups in the backyard when the weather permits.

15 posted on 09/11/2025 8:12:45 PM PDT by Myrddin
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To: Myrddin
"The joys of alarms going off for high and low glucose impacts the quality of sleep for both of us."

Wow, I had no idea the extent of your wife's illnesses. She got a triple whammy. I'm Type II diabetic...but still only take oral meds after my original diagnosis the end of the 90's. Type I is tough. I will keep her in my prayers.

My youngest son, then 48, now 54, was diagnosed with Stage 3 colon cancer in 2019. They did two resections on him via laparoscopic surgery. Took out a bunch of lymph nodes too. He went through six months of chemo and has been cancer free so far. While he was on chemo, he ended up with bronchitis, and a blood clot in his lung. The one side effect of the chemo that's stayed with him is severe neuropathy of his feet.

Last summer, he started having episodes of congestive heart failure and a-fib which I took him to the ER for. Last November he ended up in the ER with an internal hernia and blockage. They had to open him up completely, do a resection to get to the hernia to repair it. He was in the hospital for about 3 weeks. What compounded the problem was that he began having a-fib again. It started in ICU after his surgery. He also had problems with the area they had opened. Kept getting little infections in various spots. That finally went away.

The end of last year he was referred to a hospital in Rochester, NY and was diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy...a genetic disease that thickens the heart muscle. He's been on special medications since then. He ended up in the hospital again early June this year with a-fib again. They shocked his heart. So far, so good. He's still getting scans for the cancer, and he'll be seeing a cardiologist and taking heart meds for the rest of his life.

17 posted on 09/11/2025 8:33:58 PM PDT by mass55th (“Courage is being scared to death, but saddling up anyway.” ― John Wayne)
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