Diet?... "I don't need no stinkin' diet!"

Well, folks, I had my follow-up visit today with the PCP. After exchanging holiday war stories of poor health and hospitalizations, we got down to business.

I told him I was not pleased that the local ER only had a PA visit with me and not the attending ER physician, especially since I am a diabetic with liver disease. I explained that my wife and I attempted several times to have the PA introduce an IV for fluids since I felt I was dehydrating and not supporting food well for two days. The PA blocked us at every turn and told us I was "tolerating" just fine. I found that in poor professional decision-making which eventually proved out with my admittance for 6 days.

The PCP suggested I write to the "Head of the ER Department" and the hospital explaining our dissatisfaction with the care given. I've done this before about five years ago and it got us absolutely nowhere. Big business, health care, and the general public doesn't always see eye-to-eye on health-care management practices.

I will stay the course in my own care until I've taken all medications, including the steroid treatment. The steroids are what helped reduce the inflammation in my throat and should remain with me for a few weeks. If the inflammation returns, I will need to contact my physicians immediately.

The good news, if you want to call it that, is that I had plateaued on my weight loss at around 206 lbs... down from 230 lbs two years ago. 206 lbs is a nice weight for me, but I knew I could lose more and feel much better. Well, I lost more alright. I lost a whopping 20+ lbs since December 28, 2009. Twenty pounds in 10 days!! I would not recommend my diet plans to anyone, no way, no how!

Our home scale read at 185 lbs this morning and the scale read 190 lbs with my clothes on at the doctor's appointment.

What I did reestablish in the hospital was an 1800 calorie, diabetic diet. My intentions are to keep a very close watch on my food intake to see if I can continue a more healthy weight loss over the next few weeks. Not only will this help my diabetes, but also help my liver functioning.

I'll be keeping my fingers crossed and hoping for the best. The adventure continues!

dad