Another Month...Another Arm Measurement

Judi57

On the day my husband was admitted into hospice care, the nurse measured his arm at 39 cm. Yesterday, was a month, and she measured again.  (He can't be weighed since he is immobile and now bedridden.)  Yesterday, it was 36.5 centimeters.  Another significant drop in a month.  

Before he had dropped 2.5 cm. in two months.  I was really looking at him today, and I can tell he is losing weight.  He shoulders are not as wide; his legs from the knee down are atrophied.  His once larger abdomen has decreased in size, and the lower part of his arms are thin.

Sigh....   Just a tough part of the process to watch.

Ed1937

Judi, I'm so very sorry. This disease is nothing but hard, hard.

Marie58

Judi, same with my DH. It doesn't seem he can even lose more, but then the arm measurement is less. Sometimes when I put lotion on him, I tear up. I lift his legs and there's just nothing there. If the caregivers come in to change him, I have to leave the room. The last time I saw them remove his 'diaper', I just cried. Too thin....

Mint

Maria I send you a virtual hug.  I’m sad with you.

Battlebuddy

I so appreciate you posting this.I am so sorry that others are experiencing this but also comforted to know im not the only one. 

  I  have been so sad about my husbands weight loss. Last arm measurement was 24. It seems like In the last couple months  he has taken a real nose dive in the weight department. He is so skinny and bones are protruding everywhere. 

   There are people who want to come visit with him over the holidays , but he looks so frail . I feel very protective of him and I'm so heart broken by this latest change I really don’t want anyone here.  

    Anyway I get where you guys are coming from. He used to look “healthy” so you could kind of pretend when you went in the room, now it is showing on the outside what is happening on the inside. I understand the tears. 

    Im sorry ladies.  

Battlebuddy

   I asked the nurse about the weight loss. I know muscles can atrophy from lying in the bed, but he was there for a year and held his own. 

   But now he seems to get thinner and thinner. . He actually eats fine, but only two meals. I’ve wondered if this is Cachexia that people get at the end. We will see 

Jeff86

My DW is also experiencing weight loss, for the past year or so.  So much so that she’s way beyond thin—gaunt, I’d say, and frail-appearing.

Appetite doesn’t seem diminished.  She drinks at least two Ensures a day, and eats three meals a day and I’ve thrown in ice cream.  I, too, wonder if it’s cachexia.  

 Doctor appointment in two weeks—will see what the doc says, but I’m thinking that, quite simply, this is disease progression.

It’s as if DW is disappearing right before my eyes, a little bit more every day.