We're getting old (OO medical complaints)

[Blackhawk]

I haven't used it since the cancer surgery (an advantage to having the back of your tongue lopped off), but when I was using it, I loved it. After a couple of months, slipping it on and hitting the button was like a soporific to me. I'd hit the button, and I'd be asleep in minutes.

I was lucky and was able to use the nasal pillow, so cleanup was about 30 seconds a day, and maybe two minutes once a week to clean the reservoir.

[disarm]

Surgeon spent six minutes on the process once he got started. Took about 45 minutes to get me prepped. I even got to keep my own shirt and pants on. I'll be a lot less apprehensive for my Left Eye Upgrade the week of Thanksgiving.

Did they do anything special to keep your eye open? It's a major concern for me when mine eventually come due.

They use a device called a speculum to hold your eye open...small spreader that goes between your eyelids and keeps you from blinking so you don't have to worry about it.

[Daehawk]

I think Id like to be put to sleep for this thing.

[Anonymous Bosch]

I've always been extremely oversensitive to having things near my face that aren't under my own control. Move your hand within 6" of my eyes, and my eyelids flutter like a butterfly on speed. It's completely involuntary, and completely uncontrollable. I can't actually see it (it feels/looks like I'm just squinting), but it was always a source of great entertainment for the other kids when I was in school (it was far less entertaining for me.)

It's always worried me about getting work done on my eyes. Optometrists have trouble even getting eyedrops in there.

Keep in mind, while cataract surgery is typically performed under local anaesthesia, there are alternative options available. Talk it over with your ophthalmologist and they can arrange for you to have the surgery performed under general anaesthesia instead. It's not uncommon at all for patients who are extremely anxious or have a particularly strong aversion to the procedure (as you described).

[Kraken]

I need to find all new doctors, and hope that my eventual new ophthalmologist will recommend cataract surgery. My vision is no longer fully correctable with lenses and has been gradually deteriorating, but every year my old doc said "hmmm, not yet."

[dbt1949]

I have had some (maybe one I can't remember) that causes my eyes to twitch. Just feels weird with all that twitching. it goes away in after a few seconds. I can close my eyes and press on the closed eye and the water swishes away to god knows where.

[Blackhawk]

Ugh, my colonoscopy is scheduled for 6:45 AM at an office a 45 minute drive from here. That means that the final stage of prep will start at 12:45 AM.

Given that I normally go to sleep at 1:30 AM, it all translates to me not sleeping Sunday night. At all.

[stessier]

Ugh, my colonoscopy is scheduled for 6:45 AM at an office a 45 minute drive from here. That means that the final stage of prep will start at 12:45 AM.

Given that I normally go to sleep at 1:30 AM, it all translates to me not sleeping Sunday night. At all.

Do you have the option to use Sup-prep? (I think that was the name) I did that from 4-8pm the night before and was in bed and asleep by 9:30pm. Didn't need to do anything else after that and mine was at 10am the next morning.

[Blackhawk]

Nope. This place doesn't give the patient much control. In fact, the only reason I know what time my appointment is is because it falls on a Monday. Any other day and they'd only inform me the day before.

[Blackhawk]

Ugh, my colonoscopy is scheduled for 6:45 AM at an office a 45 minute drive from here. That means that the final stage of prep will start at 12:45 AM.

Given that I normally go to sleep at 1:30 AM, it all translates to me not sleeping Sunday night. At all.

Saturday, 5 PM

And so it begins.

[LordMortis]

I prefer my stuff to be as early as possible, colonscopy included. Mine is at 0700 in January. I've already bought all the prep stuff as it was on sale and contributed to a large basket total that also gave me $10 back on my purchase. But I haven't yet reviewed the actual prep. It always seems to be a bit different every time I go. I suppose that's the way things are every five years. Progress. The new one now, is getting an ekg(? heart check) and blood test for??? before going but I think the rest of the prep is the same as last time. Miralax, Dulcolax, gatorade. Very limited meds with minimal water the morning of.

[Blackhawk]

The new one now, is getting an ekg(? heart check) and blood test for??? before going but I think the rest of the prep is the same as last time. Miralax, Dulcolax, gatorade. Very limited meds with minimal water the morning of.

Could be age related on the EKG due to the anesthesia (although I don't think you're that much older than me.)

I've been on no dyes/low fiber for three days. Today is soft foods (yay, jello.) Tomorrow is liquids. Nothing to drink after midnight tomorrow, save for the week's supply of Miralax at 12:45 AM. I'm not even going to bother going to bed - I'll just plop myself in front of the TV or my PC. After zero sleep, zero solid food, and anesthesia, I'm sure I'll be a sparkling rose on Monday.

[Kraken]

Heh, I always try to get the earliest possible appointment because I'm nonfunctional without morning coffee. Nothing quite like a big greasy breakfast after fasting for a day.

My last scope was squeaky clean so I'm good for a few years.

[Blackhawk]

If I'd been given, say, noon, I could have gotten four or five hours of sleep, gotten up at 6 to drink the Gatorade, then gone through the day short on sleep. As it is, with a normal 2:00 AM bedtime and needing to induce regular unpleasantness at 12:45, I'll be getting home from the surgery on 26 or so hours awake, two days without solid food, and the aftermath of anesthesia. Since I don't want to completely destroy my circadian rhythms, I'll need to wait another 12 hours or so before I go to bed.

At least I'll be able to chug tea during the last phase (I don't own any form of coffee pot.)

[Kraken]

I only lived 5 minutes away from my last procedure's site so it was super easy, barely an inconvenience. Apart from the fasting and the purging, I mean. Now I live where civilization is a little thinner -- the nearest vet that's taking new patients is an hour away, for example. IDK how much that will extend to human medicine; we haven't hunted for new doctors yet. I know they're scarcer than we're used to, but we live in a city of 44,000 and there's a hospital not 15 minutes away, so it's not exactly the boondocks.

[dbt1949]

I miss so many appts I'm surprised they still take appts from me. I've lost my ride and it is tough to find another. Even then I keep sleeping thru them or can't go due to being in the hospital or rehab .

[LordMortis]

I only lived 5 minutes away from my last procedure's site so it was super easy, barely an inconvenience. Apart from the fasting and the purging, I mean. Now I live where civilization is a little thinner -- the nearest vet that's taking new patients is an hour away, for example. IDK how much that will extend to human medicine; we haven't hunted for new doctors yet. I know they're scarcer than we're used to, but we live in a city of 44,000 and there's a hospital not 15 minutes away, so it's not exactly the boondocks.

It never matters. They always require a driver and someone stay onsite for the duration. It sucks and as time goes by I have less and less people I'm comfortable asking for assistance. I wonder what will happen when that number drops to zero. If I can make pleas and have to set up some sort of power of attorney or what.

I've lost my ride and it is tough to find another.

Exactly. And I really fear this as there is always a rider on the costs of missed appointment that I guarantee insurance will shrug their shoulders and say "that's our problem, how?" And you can't blame the system for the volume of paid employees that won't be getting their chunk of change from my procedure time. I really do hate the demand for other people to be involved on my part. I pay for a ride if need be, though I can only assume I can arrange for transport, probably even for subsidized transport once I turn 55.

[Blackhawk]

My number of potential rides is exactly one, and is unlikely to increase. And that one doesn't exactly place a high priority on it - I've been trying to make a diagnostic appointment that requires a ride for six months now, and haven't been able to.

[Blackhawk]

5 PM.

And so it begins.

[Kraken]

May you return stranger.

[Blackhawk]

Four hours later, nine days worth of laxatives, and I've only been to the bathroom once.

I hope my weird physiology doesn't cause problems for them tomorrow. It's caused problems in the past - for instance I resist anesthesia, both local and general (the prior isn't fun when it comes to dentists.) I have a high pain tolerance, and I heal quickly and well. I have no idea why (my family on my father's side have all been this way, so it's something genetic), and I still have more than my fair share of weaknesses, but it has certainly thrown off medical professionals in the past.

[The Meal]

Goood luck, Blackhawk.

[LordMortis]

May you return stranger.

Why would you want him to be more strange?

I hope my weird physiology doesn't cause problems for them tomorrow. It's caused problems in the past - for instance I resist anesthesia, both local and general (the prior isn't fun when it comes to dentists.) I have a high pain tolerance, and I heal quickly and well. I have no idea why (my family on my father's side have all been this way, so it's something genetic), and I still have more than my fair share of weaknesses, but it has certainly thrown off medical professionals in the past.

I've woken up on the operating table before. it sucks. Dentists always (and when I've required stitches from medical) have always asked if I want more numbing when I sit white knuckled and I'm always "please just get it done and don't make it take longer to try and help." However, when they did my heart surgery all I felt was bit a tightness. Thank goodness. My anxiety was super high for that. Fearing death and a painful one at that.

I have no tolerance for pain. I become nauseated and hyper-fixated on the state I am in. Kidney Stones are the worst. Morphine doesn't even take a bite off the actual pain, it just makes me want to sleep through it which they won't let me do. My best pain meds are Ibuprofen (and better yet the prescription level anitinflamatories), presumably because it reduces inflammation not because it reduces actual pain. However, I can't take them because Crone's.

Hope you come back with good news!

[Blackhawk]

I died on the table.

Alas.

[Kraken]

May you return stranger.

Why would you want him to be more strange?

Was honoring his sig.

[Jeff V]

I only lived 5 minutes away from my last procedure's site so it was super easy, barely an inconvenience. Apart from the fasting and the purging, I mean. Now I live where civilization is a little thinner -- the nearest vet that's taking new patients is an hour away, for example. IDK how much that will extend to human medicine; we haven't hunted for new doctors yet. I know they're scarcer than we're used to, but we live in a city of 44,000 and there's a hospital not 15 minutes away, so it's not exactly the boondocks.

It never matters. They always require a driver and someone stay onsite for the duration. It sucks and as time goes by I have less and less people I'm comfortable asking for assistance. I wonder what will happen when that number drops to zero. If I can make pleas and have to set up some sort of power of attorney or what.

Medical transport is a thing, I'm sure if you have nobody, the hospital will help arrange a service for you.

That said, I was prepared to take an Uber home from my surgery a few weeks ago -- had it occurred on the originally scheduled day, I'd have had little choice. My wife is an infectious disease nurse, and her nursing home was doing mass vaccinations that day. It got bumped a week because of insurance issues, so she was able to be there. And that was a good thing, because post-op was more brutal than the last surgery, and I wouldn't have been able to get dressed without her assistance.

And then I'd have been obliged to give the Uber driver a super massive tip.

[Scuzz]

Ugh, my colonoscopy is scheduled for 6:45 AM at an office a 45 minute drive from here. That means that the final stage of prep will start at 12:45 AM.

Given that I normally go to sleep at 1:30 AM, it all translates to me not sleeping Sunday night. At all.

I had my first colonoscopy several months ago and I would recommend starting everything earlier than they tell you to. I think I got 2-3 hours sleep but I also was still going to the bathroom minutes before leaving for the hospital.

[dbt1949]

VA ride will pick you up but not at home. You have to find somewhere they like to pick you up at. Which kind of negates the service.

[LordMortis]

I'm sure I can arrange medical transport but not medical someone waiting in the lobby for me 2 to 4 hours.

[Madmarcus]

VA ride will pick you up but not at home. You have to find somewhere they like to pick you up at. Which kind of negates the service.

Will they pick up at your neighbor's or does it have to be the gas station on the corner? That seems like a really weird requirement.

[TheMix]

I'm sure I can arrange medical transport but not medical someone waiting in the lobby for me 2 to 4 hours.

gilraen didn't have to wait. She dropped me off and came back. It seems odd that they require someone to sit there the whole time.

[The Meal]

My recent (and upcoming) surgery required (requires) my driver to be within 15 minutes and answer their phone calls while I was in the back.

Commercial rideshare services are explicitly disallowed.

[Blackhawk]

My recent (and upcoming) surgery required (requires) my driver to be within 15 minutes and answer their phone calls while I was in the back.

Commercial rideshare services are explicitly disallowed.

Those types of policies kill solitary people.

[LordMortis]

My recent (and upcoming) surgery required (requires) my driver to be within 15 minutes and answer their phone calls while I was in the back.

Commercial rideshare services are explicitly disallowed.

Those types of policies kill solitary people.

I don't think it's a policy here. I assume it's a general requirement because all three major hospital systems in my area have the requirement. And yeah, as a solitary person who doesn't want to impose on others. It's horrid.

[Blackhawk]

Some solitary people don't have others to impose on. For them, a policy that forbids commercial options effectively bars those people from necessary tests and procedures.

[LordMortis]

I'm getting pretty close to not having people unless I can somehow get people I don't ever see in person any more to take time off of work to come sit in a hospital for me. I've been largely in isolation since the before times and even then my closest people had become coworkers, as that is what my life had become.

[Blackhawk]

I've no coworkers, no friends, and no family that is capable of driving. All I have is an ex-wife, and getting her to commit to an appointment is as much of a hassle as the appointments themselves. I've got one that's six months overdue because of it.

Should anything happen to her in the future, it will be genuinely impossible for me to find a ride when the hospital is in a different town.

[Blackhawk]

Just had a consult with an oral surgeon for my youngest. It turns out that, not only does he need his wisdom teeth out, he has multiple extra wisdom teeth that need out as well. His insurance only pays for four extractions and/or fillings per year, and doesn't pay for anesthesia or some of the other adjacent necessities, so a meaningful chunk of the bill is going to be out-of-pocket, and the time to get it done is running out. The OOP portion is going to be about $3000.

If I empty my personal savings, strip the holiday money, and max out my credit card, I'll almost have enough to pay for it.

So much for focusing on getting out of debt.

[The Meal]

That's really rotten, BH. I hope a better solution presents itself.

I'm through my cataract surgeries. There's a phenomenon associated with the second cataract surgery, in that the first one is less arduous than folks typically build it up to be, which makes the second one more of a slog. I had a rougher day-of-surgery yesterday compared to the 12th and actually took a couple of doses of painkillers (well, Tylenol). The post-surgery vision was exceptionally cloudy and I had a red dot just off-center from my focal point (I assume some blood as it didn't move around like a floater would). All of that has resolved as of today, however, and while my vision isn't perfectly sharp for distance or up close, it's good enough to get by for the next month.

It was odd going to bed and not having that moment of taking off my vision and closing my eyes and going to sleep. Removing my glasses really was a "moment" where it was decided that I wasn't going to accomplish anything else for the day and that it was now officially time to sleep. I'm sure I'll get used to it, but it was exceedingly odd for at least one night.

I did pay closer attention during the second surgery, and I was correct that they basically taped my eyelid wide open for performing the procedure. (It was very strong tape, and my whole face deformed noticeably when it ultimately got removed.)

I'm still experiencing the constant feeling of an eyelash in my eye (making me want to do the absolute one thing I cannot do, which is rub my eye), and there are some peripheral vision oddities which I assume my brain will eventually figure out and stop firing on (sort of how our nose is always available in our standard field of view but our brain has long ago decided to stop bothering our consciousness with that information). One of them manifests as if I have a loose eyebrow hair wiggling away, which is a small annoyance. The other big one is glints of internal reflections within my trifocal lens only sometimes when first experiencing a bright light. It's not at all unlike experiencing lightning flashes in a room with the window behind you, where you think something just occurred elsewhere in the room from where you're looking. I've basically trained myself to not jerk my neck looking for random flashes any longer.

Still my biggest concern after the first surgery is basically assuaged. I will not be Mr. Magoo for the month of December. And while I am looking forward to a big more of vision correction and sharp vision at some point early next year, I can at least be mostly productive for the upcoming holiday season.

[dbt1949]

After I had mine I was able to see far away 1000% better than I had for 70 years. Was quite a miracle for me. Except that now my close in vision is sub par in comparison. Now I hardly wear my glasses thanks to the operation and my positioning adjustments.