Hey Light Lizard,

I just have to say something here which may have nothing to do with your situation. Your post was the first I found on CZ and I am fresh from a visit with a severely ill family member.

I have a sister who recently started dialysis due to mismanaged diabetes. Despite being in such poor health, she continues to burn the candle at both ends, exposes herself to fumes from paint (she is an artist) as well as gas leaks from the stove (she seemed offended that I should mention it to her) and perfumes from conventional laundry soap (even though it is hard on her already overworked glands).

My sister stays up all night socializing and sleeps all day when she can, in between the multitude of doctors' appointments. She still eats salted treats. She was drinking unfiltered water until I got her a new cartridge for a defunct filter though she could have purchased one. She is living the lifestyle she had which lead her to this terrible point in her life and honestly, I find it difficult to feel sympathy after what I have seen. What do folks who severely neglect themselves expect? That staying alive is going to still be comfortable and easy when the host has and is actively subjecting it to abuse?

It is like she is a drug addict when it is self abuse and neglect in the form of immediate gratification that is the fix.