Swelling or No Swelling - that is the question

I had someone ask me what we did to stop the swelling in Tracy's feet and legs.

I am thrilled that someone has asked.  It's exactly why I am posting this blog instead of sleeping.

After Tracy was in a wheelchair for a few months we started having a real problem with swelling in Tracy's feet and legs.  He had never had this kind of problem before before ALS since he was always on his feet building and kicking and running.

Doctors noticed and said it was part of living in a wheelchair and we dealt with it for months. They recommended he eat less salt and keep  his feet propped up most of the time.  This did not help much.  I asked again and again about what we could do to improve the situation and asked specifically WHY his feet were swelling. 

 They gave us WATER PILLS as an answer!

Just so ya know- BAD Idea!!!  It only took one pill for us to realize THAT wasn't fixing anything!

Again- he had never taken medicine so I didn't actually realize what would happen and they didn't warn us, assuming I would be bright enough to realize you sit next the potty when you think it should kick in.  Don't give people in a wheelchair WATER PILLS!

 

Tracy's legs got so big that the skin was stretched to the point it looked shiny and I thought he was going to POP!  I even asked about it. The doctors mumbled about occasionally someone's skin will split but not to worry. YIKERS!!!! 

 They tell us get compression socks.

Maaannnn, I wish I would have filmed this because we would, for SURE, have made the $10,000 on Funniest Home Video.  I began to wonder if the doctors were just getting even with me for asking so many darn questions.  

So you have a guy who can't use his legs much  (which is why they tell me his legs are swollen so they KNOW there is a mobility issue) and tell me to buy compression socks.  End of story.  No details except don't keep them on day and night.   I have NO idea what I am getting us into- literally.  I am thinking they will be like the tight pantyhose we get to hide our blubber and keep our Vericose veins from popping out so much.

I get a medium size and get home to see they won't even fit over my arm.  I think- hey- I can do this.  I've dressed squirming kids for years.  I start at his toes and squish the sock up like you do so as not to run hose and go to town.  Push, pull, wiggle....huh...I turn my backside to him and straddle his leg and go at it again, yanking and stretching.  Sweat is now popping off my brow and quite honestly I think Mr. T was enjoying my struggles.  I realize- OHHHH..... I will ROLL them and then vvwwooopp!  They will just slide right, huh....grunt, huff,  ....  after about 20 min. I get one sock on, Tracy has now lost his sense of humor about the whole thing and wants to quit.   I'm like- NO WAY Jose!  I have come this far- we are getting that stinkin' sock on so quit whining and PUSH!!!  The second one goes on in about half the time and his poor sausage legs are now propped up on pillows.  The idea I guess is to basically cut off the circulation so blood and fluid can't get there and they stop hurting because they are now NUMB because the socks are so tight!  I MAKE him wear them for several hours because that is how long I spent buying them and getting them on him.  After the second day we both realized lancing his legs or buying leaches is a better alternative to compression socks and they became very expensive dust rags.

Back to asking the doctors what else we can do.  They answer - learn to live with it.

Worst answer EVER!  Do they not know me by now?

My hypnosis background jumps in- I asked doctors -was there any benefit to his body or health by having this swelling. They assured me NO.  The body just couldn't pull the extra fluid from his feet because of lack of circulation due to immobility.  

So- here is the magic!

I did research and found no positive purpose to having his feet swell.

We stopped processed foods for the most part.  You will be amazed at the change when you stop eating food from boxes, cans and packages!! Happens FAST.   We changed to Sea Salt instead of regular salt to cook with.  Make sure to get added Iodine.  We didn't know about that at first.

 HYPNOSIS and a good foot message fixed the problem in 3 days.  

While relaxing Tracy with a GREAT foot massage (that he LOVES),

I told Tracy he had NO reason to have swollen feet.  His heart is strong, he didn't have a circulation problem and I wasn't putting up with it!  It was RIDICULOUS!  I told him his body moves fluid constantly through his whole body and it knows how to absorb this extra fluid and use it in a healthy way or get rid of it in a comfortable manner.  Now that we both KNOW there is no reason to have swollen feet everything will go back to normal.  

I massaged his feet vigorously pushing the fluid up his legs each night saying I am so glad we finally figured this out.  Pointing out how good his legs and feet were looking.

In 3 days his feet were back to normal.

It took a few weeks of maintenance, massages, drinking extra water,  cleaning the diet to keep the swelling gone most of the time.  We used to prop his feet up a lot of the day to insure no problems but in the last year or so he sits in his chair with them down for hours at a time or even days if we are out and about with no problem. 

WARNING:  If you are not a certified hypnotist or doctor be very very careful about just jumping into saying things to change your body processes!!!!  Your body is just a machine.  Your brain activates your body.  Your mind programs the brain.  Your mind and body already have a program going and is wise.  NEVER just tell your body to lower your heart rate or get rid of a pain, etc.  These could be signs of possible issues.  I researched and checked with doctors over and over again and then did more research on my own before I worked with Tracy.  His mind accepted my suggestions because he was relaxed and  I was 100% SURE I was right about this and he knew it.  BUT- I also gave suggestions to do it in a healthy comfortable way.  If there had been positive purpose to the swelling I had ideo motor responses in place to indicate the subconscious did not agree with what I was saying.