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Hope

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  We are getting some answers! Yesterday, Galen's doc appointment was with Peter Kim, MD, neurologist. He spoke a bit about the MRIs of the head (normal, no stroke) and spine (disc bulges, but none explaining the symptoms.)  We came back to the issue of weight loss. While he has no better answer than the other docs about the reason behind the weight loss, he did say it is a cause of the leg numbness and drop foot. Galen's thinness and muscle atrophy have exposed the peroneal nerve down his lower left leg. Nerve damage (hopefully, not permanent and certainly not complete) can hopefully be reversed with weight gain. Sooooo..... Galen has redoubled his efforts to eat, eat, eat more fattening foods (healthy fats, especially), and guess what? Up two days in a row!  And, he resumed therapy with Tran, on his second time back. Therapy is going really well. Before his comeback, after Galen's last appointment, he had to be helped to the car and then he was in a wheelchair at home. ...
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Heck yeah, we will take it!

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<---Galen gets his first motorized shopping cart ride at Costco during "Senior Hour". Few shopping then! One thing I started doing the last few days is to track Galen's weight. I was tired of doing calculations all the time in my head. So, now I know G has lost 14% of his body weight since January, and 3% in the last week. But, wait! I must change that last one because Galen gained for the second day in a row. A pound total! .8% up! If he goes a third day with a gain, I'll officially call it a trend. This past week, I brought the poor man in to the walk-in clinic where  my doc of several years, Dr. Vo, now runs the place on the weekend.  Galen has had a spot on below his knee that still has a scab on it four months later. Wound not healing. That got me wondering about other things on his skin which I do not know about. Like the the darkened patches here and there.   I ask G if the pigmentation is something his parents or siblings had. An Okinawan thing. He doesn...
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It Begins with a Step

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"What brings you here?" the latest in a long line of doctors ask. It can be overwhelming to know where to begin. Usually, it is the most pressing issue. Lately, that has been his unexplained weight loss. Last week, it was the numbness in his left leg. The week before, his falling.  But it is all of those, and more, and knowing where to begin is more than half the battle. Lately, Galen shows his legs and we watch the doctor as he/she thinks to themselves, "oh...." They can see not only how thin he is, but also that he has lost muscle mass. They start asking questions. Some are very good at honing in on the relevant. Others need to hear at least a small explanation. Galen's health journey, which includes mental and emotional health, is my journey, too. It is now my full-time job as I try to keep him healthy enough to stay out of any healthcare facility. Galen's immunodeficiencies made this desirable long before COVID. Once the virus hit, the strategy discussed...
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