Posts

Showing posts with the label hypercalcemia

Cancer Diary: Irrational Decisions

Image
  from treatment and recovery systems Many of the decisions that that Carl made in the last few months of his cancer-riddled life were completely irrational. In some cases, I did not know enough about the situations to know that they were irrational; they did not seem right, but the contractors went along with Carl. After all, he was paying, so it was his decision even if irrational.  Examples?  He had the sump pump behind the house removed and the area filled with concrete. During the first tremendous rains -- California's 2023 crazy storm season -- we ended up with a backyard swimming pool. The plumber reinstalled the sump pump.  He set up three generators (one probably would have done) powered by a wind turbine (we do have a lot of wind here) to maintain electricity if the power went out for a long period of time. Yes, we are on top of an earthquake fault, but we had not lost power for more than a couple of hours -- ever. And have not lost it at all since. To powe...

Cancer Diary: Gripper Sox

Image
  Carl , who died from cancer August 16, 2021 would love to see me wearing my non-slid slipper sox . He was constantly slipping as he tried to walk with his walker, unbalanced from hypercalcemia. He found these sox online; they are stronger than the typical non-slid sox (click the link above to get to the sales site), warm, form-fitting, and comfortable.  I was always slipping when I tried to pull him up from his chair after he became too weak to stand on his own. I was barely strong enough to lift his 275-pound body with some help from him, and having sox skid me along the floor because his weight was more than my bicep strength created a dangerous situation. So, he ordered me several pairs, which came just as he was dying. I never got to wear them. He was in a Hoyer lift for transportation at that time. After he died, though the need for super-floor-sticking no longer existed, I cleaned his drawer and gave his sox (too big for me) to my son and daughter, whom they fit. Out o...