Husband now has CHF on top of everything else

[emma67834]

My husband has been on dialysis for 2 years now. Last week he was diagnosed with Congestive Heart Failure and told he had 35 to 40% function of his heart. He also is diabetic and has gastroparesis and severe neurpothy throughout his body. He weighed 152 last week before they started taking the fluid off and is now down to 122 pounds. My husband is 5'9 and looks like he is on his death bed. Any one on here experiencing any of this too? How long can he survive like this and what can I do to help him. Some days I am lucky if he even eats and drinks more than 30 ounces of fluid.

[MooseMom]

How old is your husband?

[Jean]

I have no answers for you, but if it helps at all you do have my sympathy. Sounds like a lot to go thru. I will keep you in my prayers.

[amanda100wilson]

I am so sorry to hear this, and I am sure that you are both frightened since you have so much to deal with already with all the other health issues.  Depending on the cause of the CHF the heart can recover.  I had it a few years ago, and my ejection fraction dropped to 35-40%.  It has since recovered to within the normal range and they thought that it was due to a virus.  If it is the heart itself  then it is less likely to recover.  I felt terrible too.  Have they given any indication as to what this is caused by?

[brenda seal]

Emma , My husband has many health issues also and has lost a lot of weight recently . He is and looks very ill and I can sympathise with you as it is indeed very frightening to watch someone you love fade before your eyes . I find the only way to cope is by concentrating on each problem as it presents itself and I try not to dwell on the future . You just have to cope with today and the issues it brings , then tomorrow do the same . Rejoice in what he is able to eat and drink - I try to serve Laurie's meals on a smaller plate as attractively as possible to make it more appealing and try not to worry if he can't manage to eat it all . Smaller meals more frequently works better for us . I try not to let him see how worried I am and if I need to resort to tears I lock myself in the bathroom for a while .
I try to boost his spirits as much as possible by reading out funny or interesting things from the newspaper or magazines , by recounting anything amusing our grandchildren have said or done , I sit with him and watch the shows he likes on TV .
Apart from looking after his immediate needs - there is not much you can do  . I encourage our children and granchildren to pop in and visit as much as possible and tell him their news and they ask his advice still on various things . One is in the process of buying a new car , another is refinancing their mortgage so he likes to be asked for his opinion on what they should do . It all helps take his mind off his own problems - even for just a little while .
I am thinking of you and wish you luck and hope this latest health problem can be resolved . Good luck .

[lmunchkin]

Emma, I believe Brenda has some real good advise here. My husband has other issues too, but we just make it the best we can for them.  Enjoy your time with him that is all you can do.  Just remind him that you love him and what he means to you!

My mother died of CHF in 2000.  But the cause of this congestion was from a Tri-massive Myocardial Infarction she had in 1972.  So she lived a long time with CHF. So he may bounce back from this, you know?  Just continue to love & care for him as you have always done and let the rest take care of itself.

Hoping he gets well soon & praying for you both, Emma.
lmunchkin
 

[emma67834]

Thanks to all you. My husband will be 40 next week. I don't let him see how worried I am and I haven't broken down over this since I found out he had ESRD. I don't let anyone see how worried I am actually. Everyone wonders how I do this and I know that through the grace of God he is giving me the strength to help cope with this. I tell my kids all the time who are 16, 14 and 12 to cherish the time we have with him and try to understand when he is grouchy that he is dealing with so much and heaven forbid if something happened I don't want them to have any regrets.

We have went to 2 weddings in the last year and I have made sure to get pics of him slow dancing with his daughters. I can't help but sometimes to dwell on the future without him sometimes though. I know I shouldn't but I do. He gets so tired of everyone asking how he feels and telling him how bad he looks. People ask how you are and how you are coping and the same answer I give is we are hanging in there.

The doc says that with a kidney transplant he might recover his heart function. He has has multiple TIA's last year and a minor stroke also. They fixed a whole in his heart and hoped that would stop the TIA's. The docs also seem to think his fluid build up is just from the kidney disease. I hope and pray that he will be ok. I see him getting tired and his cough from the CHF is very bad and he sometimes coughs some blood up. He has had that checked and they say that is from traumatic coughing. Everytime we turn around there is some new diagnosis. It's heartbreaking watching this!

Thanks to all you for your prayers and I am praying for you all too.

[Poppylicious]

Awww, Emma.  I'm so sorry you're all going through this.  I have no answers or advice but wanted to let you know I'm thinking of you.

*huggles*

[emma67834]

Thank you Poppy!