We're getting old (OO medical complaints)

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Thu Mar 03, 2022 2:39 pm

Daehawk wrote: ↑Thu Mar 03, 2022 2:35 pm If I walk off and forget a flush and come back later man o man. I think they are made of concrete.

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Thu Mar 03, 2022 2:58 pm

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Thu Mar 03, 2022 2:58 pm

https://shop.charmin.com/forever-roll-u ... roll-pack/

dbt1949 · Post by **dbt1949** » Thu Mar 03, 2022 4:02 pm

ImLawBoy wrote: ↑Thu Mar 03, 2022 12:55 pm FWIW, I think colonoscopies aren't nearly as bad now as they were 14 years ago. The prep isn't fun, but it wasn't all that bad. I slept through the whole scope itself. The way they do it now you really don't even have a bunch of gas afterward (although that may be disappointing to some ).

Thanks. I had forgotten waiting for another hour or two with 15 other olde men farting.

Daehawk · Post by **Daehawk** » Thu Mar 03, 2022 5:02 pm

dbt1949 wrote: ↑Thu Mar 03, 2022 4:02 pm
ImLawBoy wrote: ↑Thu Mar 03, 2022 12:55 pm FWIW, I think colonoscopies aren't nearly as bad now as they were 14 years ago. The prep isn't fun, but it wasn't all that bad. I slept through the whole scope itself. The way they do it now you really don't even have a bunch of gas afterward (although that may be disappointing to some ).
Thanks. I had forgotten waiting for another hour or two with 15 other olde men farting.

Daehawk · Post by **Daehawk** » Thu Mar 03, 2022 5:21 pm

The girl that was going to draw my blood today asked if I was ok as she started to poke me. hehe. Im fine I said and watched her do it all. Fascinating to watch your blood pour into little glass vials. My wife couldn't take the sight of blood. She started med school and wanted to be a brain surgeon with her small hands but she said it was like the intro to the show Quincy ME when she saw blood she passed out. End of that.

Edit and AWwwwwwwww shit I forgot to go pick up my medicine refills. Shit. Thats an extra trip.

Baroquen · Post by **Baroquen** » Thu Mar 03, 2022 7:12 pm

Jaymann wrote: ↑Thu Mar 03, 2022 12:59 pm Didn't they knock you out with a general anesthetic? When I got one it was: Count backwards from 100...Oh, you're done?

Because of family history with colon cancer, I've had a few of these already. The prep's not fun, but the most memorable moment relates to the above. I think it was during my second colonoscopy, the nurse administered the anesthesia wrong. She went through my hand, but whatever the hell she did, I was in mild pain while waiting to be taken back into the procedure room.

When I got there, the team was talking - the doctor looked at me and said incredulously - "You're still awake?" The eyeroll from nurse #2 was epic; "I've got this" she said, and I was knocked out in seconds.

Daehawk · Post by **Daehawk** » Thu Mar 03, 2022 7:32 pm

Should have said "Yes, and I'd like to order a pizza"

dbt1949 · Post by **dbt1949** » Tue Mar 08, 2022 1:19 am

Saw my wife today. Her attention span is about three minutes and I have a hard time understanding her and she has a hard time understanding anything.
I've come to the conclusion that at 120 miles round trip for three minutes of recognition is really not worth going to see her every week.
I still love her but watching her fade away is painful.
Maybe she'll get better but I really don't think so. I think I'll wait a couple of weeks before seeing her again.
<sigh>

TheMix · Post by **TheMix** » Tue Mar 08, 2022 1:35 am

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Tue Mar 08, 2022 2:18 am

I’m so sorry, dbt. I can’t imagine the hell that this is putting you through.

Kraken · Post by **Kraken** » Tue Mar 08, 2022 10:10 am

That is sad. I think you’re making the right call not to put yourself through an unnecessary ordeal.

In somewhat better news, my sister isn’t as bad as I had feared. She survived last week’s hospitalization and went home yesterday. She probably has weeks left, and possibly months. Which means I can go home on Saturday as scheduled, barring any more setbacks before then. She’s very lucky that her eldest son can take an extended leave from his job in California to move in with her for months. He’s the one advocating for her treatments and arranging and providing care, and he’s doing a phenomenal job of it.

Post by **ImLawBoy** » Tue Mar 08, 2022 11:34 am

Met with oncology yesterday. Confirmed it's colon cancer (That's bad.), but also confirmed it hasn't spread (That's good!). Surgery is supposed to call me in the next day or two to set up an appointment where we'll plan the surgery for hopefully within the next 2-3 weeks. The hope at this point is they'll just be able to remove it and there won't even be any chemo afterward, but we'll have to wait for them to look more closely at what they remove to be sure.

Jaymann · Post by **Jaymann** » Tue Mar 08, 2022 11:49 am

Best of luck with the surgery.

Zaxxon · Post by **Zaxxon** » Tue Mar 08, 2022 1:03 pm

Best of luck, ILB.

stessier · Post by **stessier** » Tue Mar 08, 2022 2:30 pm

Really glad to hear you got the best of the worst options - hope they get you fixed up quickly!

Zarathud · Post by **Zarathud** » Tue Mar 08, 2022 2:50 pm

Better to have a diagnosis with an operable routine outcome than be uncertain. Best wishes for your recovery.

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Tue Mar 08, 2022 4:44 pm

And its actually a good thing that it is all happening during a COVID slump. A few months ago would have been a bigger challenge.

LordMortis · Post by **LordMortis** » Tue Mar 08, 2022 4:58 pm

Zarathud wrote: ↑Tue Mar 08, 2022 2:50 pm Better to have a diagnosis with an operable routine outcome than be uncertain. Best wishes for your recovery.

+1 to both of these. Here's to hoping for the best. I need my polar opposite in almost everything to let me know what I'm supposed to love and hate. So do everything right and be well quickly.

Madmarcus · Post by **Madmarcus** » Wed Mar 09, 2022 1:38 pm

I'm back in the US saying goodby with my mom. She has improved a lot by staying hydrated but eating is hard and she's gone on hospice care. I feel like I have the easy part of things. She is physically weak but clear headed. She's tired all the time but also clearly not just responsive but engaged .I get to talk to her this week but I'll go back to Korea to finish out the semester while my brother and sister have to be the ones here when the end actually comes

Daehawk · Post by **Daehawk** » Sat Mar 12, 2022 11:08 am

My BP was 163/110 yesterday. I took extra medication and checked it every half hour. It dropped to 160/105 then 30 min later 152/101 until I gave up and went to bed. Damn bp.

EDIT: Took my bp right after getting up about 2 hours ago and it was 122/91. Took a double dose of my medicine and have just sat here at the PC. Took it just now and its 132/100. I dont know if my monitor is a POS or my medicine isn't working or wtf is going on. It was good at the docs the other day and Id been out doing a lot of running around on a half dose of medicine. I dont take my HCTZ which is a water pill among other things if Im going to be out in town. So the fuck if I know whats going on or what my BP is.

Daehawk · Post by **Daehawk** » Sat Mar 12, 2022 4:46 pm

Now its 169/112. Weird ass bp..maybe my monitor is not as accurate as I thought.

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Sat Mar 12, 2022 4:55 pm

Daehawk wrote: ↑Sat Mar 12, 2022 11:08 am Took a double dose of my medicine and have just sat here at the PC.

Blood pressure medicine doesn't work this way. In fact, many (most? all?) explicitly state to not double up on doses.

Take it every day at the same time. If it's not working - if your blood pressure is still elevated - go back to your doctor for an evaluation.

dbt1949 · Post by **dbt1949** » Sat Mar 12, 2022 5:04 pm

You could be building up to have a stroke.

Jeff V · Post by **Jeff V** » Sat Mar 12, 2022 5:05 pm

Blood pressure is not a constant thing. I went to my doctor last week. As always, the nurse takes it and it's a little bit high. I sit and wait until the doctor comes, then he checks it again and it's perfectly normal. All within the span of 5 minutes.

Daehawk · Post by **Daehawk** » Sat Mar 12, 2022 5:13 pm

Ya its a weird thing. My wife's was always so high the machines would error and they'd have to do it by cuff and stethoscope. Then they'd give her a pill of something like clonidine and then it would drop real low and real fast and she'd almost pass out . By the time we left the doc it would be normal.

I took a 3rd Lisinopril. Mine are 10mg each. They told me to double or triple it before my kidney surgery so I see no reason not to try. Feel fine. They say BP is the silent killer. All my life my bp was a little low.....like 110/70 average. Then I got old I guess.

Jeff V · Post by **Jeff V** » Sat Mar 12, 2022 5:33 pm

I take 20mg Lisinopril once a day. My BP has been fine for several years now, but there's other side effects that rather displease my wife.

Daehawk · Post by **Daehawk** » Sat Mar 12, 2022 5:43 pm

Im hearing 1970's music in my head today so its not so bad

I do need to retake my bp while I drink my Cheerwine.

EDIT: 162/104..bah humbug. Stupid contraption. Maybe I should donate lol.

Daehawk · Post by **Daehawk** » Tue Mar 15, 2022 11:11 pm

After 52 years Ive pretty much gotten medicine absorption down to a science.

Empty stomach:
Instant release 20 min - 30 min.
Time release 1 1/2 hours - 2 hours

Full stomach: depends on fullness and food.
Instant release 1 hour - 4 hours
Timed dont really know as I never take it on a full tummy.

I will say my muscle relaxers work 20 min empty and about an hour full of something like a sandwich or some vienna sausages. But tonight I overate on mashed potatoes and I took my muscle relaxers at 7pm and didn't feel a thing until 11pm when the news was coming on. Those things stick to ya.

Kraken · Post by **Kraken** » Tue Mar 15, 2022 11:19 pm

A few weeks ago I smashed my elbow against a door frame, and my right arm is still only semi-functional. Today I finally made time to see my doc and get an x-ray. IDK yet if I fractured it or not. If it's not broken, the treatment is basically what I've been doing -- walk it off. They can give me cortisone to make that a little easier.

Post by **ImLawBoy** » Wed Mar 16, 2022 2:00 pm

Surgery scheduled for 4/15. They'll take out a decent chunk of my colon (along with lymph nodes), but the surgeon says I won't miss it. I told my wife it looks like I'm going to have a . . . semicolon. She didn't realize how hysterically funny that is.

I had a pre-op appointment this morning. I've been a bit anemic since this whole thing started, so they're probably going to give me iron infusions. (For the record, I doubt my wife will find it hysterically funny when I'm singing "I AM IRON MAN!" on repeat after any infusions.) Took blood today to establish current levels. I also took the Penicillin Challenge, which does not involve blind taste tests of different antibiotics. I've long reported that I'm allergic to penicillin, since that's what I was told the last time I took it and broke out in a rash. They wanted to see if I was really allergic to penicillin and/or whether I had outgrown the allergy. I took a half dose, waited an hour, took a full dose, and waited another hour. No reaction! I'm back on Team No Allergies!

LordMortis · Post by **LordMortis** » Wed Mar 16, 2022 2:02 pm

ImLawBoy wrote: ↑Wed Mar 16, 2022 2:00 pm I've long reported that I'm allergic to penicillin, since that's what I was told the last time I took it and broke out in a rash. They wanted to see if I was really allergic to penicillin and/or whether I had outgrown the allergy.

That's me!

Daehawk · Post by **Daehawk** » Wed Mar 16, 2022 2:18 pm

ImLawBoy wrote: ↑Wed Mar 16, 2022 2:00 pm Surgery scheduled for 4/15. They'll take out a decent chunk of my colon (along with lymph nodes), but the surgeon says I won't miss it. I told my wife it looks like I'm going to have a . . . semicolon. She didn't realize how hysterically funny that is.

I had a pre-op appointment this morning. I've been a bit anemic since this whole thing started, so they're probably going to give me iron infusions. (For the record, I doubt my wife will find it hysterically funny when I'm singing "I AM IRON MAN!" on repeat after any infusions.) Took blood today to establish current levels. I also took the Penicillin Challenge, which does not involve blind taste tests of different antibiotics. I've long reported that I'm allergic to penicillin, since that's what I was told the last time I took it and broke out in a rash. They wanted to see if I was really allergic to penicillin and/or whether I had outgrown the allergy. I took a half dose, waited an hour, took a full dose, and waited another hour. No reaction! I'm back on Team No Allergies!

My mom lived without a large portion of her colon. She also loved coffee and claimed it was the coffee that made the food go through faster

Aslo be wary of that first IV they start you on in your room. They will tell you its just saline for fluids. Dont believe them. Theres some kinda fun stuff in it. I was flashing people in my gown left and right when I was trying not to . The nurses are used to it...they probably enjoy doing that. The other patients shocked looks said they were not. Looking back it might be the smily face I drew on my wiener. Or the DO NOT REMOVE with the arrow pointing down.

Ive actually heard some patients in for something write down things like on their good arm THE OTHER ARM! an on their belly LEFT KIDNEY lol.

They went in through my back for my kidney surgery and its very difficult to write clearly on your butt in the mirror.

Jaymann · Post by **Jaymann** » Wed Mar 16, 2022 2:21 pm

ImLawBoy wrote: ↑Wed Mar 16, 2022 2:00 pm Surgery scheduled for 4/15. They'll take out a decent chunk of my colon (along with lymph nodes), but the surgeon says I won't miss it. I told my wife it looks like I'm going to have a . . . semicolon. She didn't realize how hysterically funny that is.

I had a pre-op appointment this morning. I've been a bit anemic since this whole thing started, so they're probably going to give me iron infusions. (For the record, I doubt my wife will find it hysterically funny when I'm singing "I AM IRON MAN!" on repeat after any infusions.) Took blood today to establish current levels. I also took the Penicillin Challenge, which does not involve blind taste tests of different antibiotics. I've long reported that I'm allergic to penicillin, since that's what I was told the last time I took it and broke out in a rash. They wanted to see if I was really allergic to penicillin and/or whether I had outgrown the allergy. I took a half dose, waited an hour, took a full dose, and waited another hour. No reaction! I'm back on Team No Allergies!

Glad to see you're taking it with good humor. To me semicolon is comedy gold.

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Wed Mar 16, 2022 3:26 pm

dbt1949 · Post by **dbt1949** » Wed Mar 16, 2022 4:32 pm

Isn't a semi colon right next to your real colon?

TheMix · Post by **TheMix** » Wed Mar 16, 2022 6:20 pm

Jaymann wrote: ↑Wed Mar 16, 2022 2:21 pm
ImLawBoy wrote: ↑Wed Mar 16, 2022 2:00 pm Surgery scheduled for 4/15. They'll take out a decent chunk of my colon (along with lymph nodes), but the surgeon says I won't miss it. I told my wife it looks like I'm going to have a . . . semicolon. She didn't realize how hysterically funny that is.

I had a pre-op appointment this morning. I've been a bit anemic since this whole thing started, so they're probably going to give me iron infusions. (For the record, I doubt my wife will find it hysterically funny when I'm singing "I AM IRON MAN!" on repeat after any infusions.) Took blood today to establish current levels. I also took the Penicillin Challenge, which does not involve blind taste tests of different antibiotics. I've long reported that I'm allergic to penicillin, since that's what I was told the last time I took it and broke out in a rash. They wanted to see if I was really allergic to penicillin and/or whether I had outgrown the allergy. I took a half dose, waited an hour, took a full dose, and waited another hour. No reaction! I'm back on Team No Allergies!
Glad to see you're taking it with good humor. To me semicolon is comedy gold.

I concur.

I was avoiding this discussion since I had my first colonoscopy scheduled for today. Having come through with a clean bill of health, I can now rejoin the thread in progress without having horrible thoughts regarding my own procedure.

Good luck, ILB! Stay positive. And don't stop making jokes. At least some of us here are likely to laugh along with you.

Kraken · Post by **Kraken** » Thu Mar 17, 2022 9:19 pm

My smashed elbow isn't fractured. I have a "deep bone bruise," which is something I've managed to go 64 years without ever hearing of. I'm going to get a steroid shot next week to relieve the pain, which is more in my ligaments than the bone itself, and I'm icing it to reduce swelling. The internets say that it can take anywhere from a few weeks to two years to heal. I've noticed gradual improvement over the past several weeks, so I hope it will fade into the background in another month or two. Meanwhile, Ow.

dbt1949 · Post by **dbt1949** » Thu Mar 17, 2022 9:43 pm

You might try cbd oil.

jztemple2 · Post by **jztemple2** » Thu Mar 17, 2022 10:26 pm

ImLawBoy wrote: ↑Wed Mar 16, 2022 2:00 pm Surgery scheduled for 4/15. They'll take out a decent chunk of my colon (along with lymph nodes), but the surgeon says I won't miss it. I told my wife it looks like I'm going to have a . . . semicolon. She didn't realize how hysterically funny that is.

Not directly related, but my wife had a jejuno-ileal bypass back in 1980. Basically the reduce the length of the small intestine from twenty-some feet to about 18 inches, leaving the rest in your body. That was probably the last year they did those operations because they were considered so hazardous from side effects. My wife managed to avoid all the bad complications. Her health issues now are pretty much all hereditary.

Meanwhile, my prostate cancer is still around

. Since the last time I posted about it things have been... interesting. I talked with my urologist and we (my wife included) decided that the best course is a prostatectomy, taking the little sucker out of me. Turns out that my doc, who took his residency in the Mayo Clinic, was able to set me up with this surgeon whose place is an hour away. He's considered one of the top doctors in the world for this operation and the place he works at is on the cutting edge of robotics surgery. He's so well regarded that patients fly in from around the world to see him. Seriously. When I got my paperwork package via email to fill out, they also sent me their concierge package, noting all the special guest services available for his patients, including an option to stay at the nearby Waldorf-Astoria

. It's forty dollars a day just to park your car there

. My wife says we'll opt for the Hampton Inn

. Unfortunately I won't be seeing him for my pre-surgery consult till early April since he's so damn busy.

But I post all that as info for anyone else here who is aging and has a prostate. My wife tells me she has no sympathy for me at all and she's right. I'm in exceptionally good health, my bloodwork always comes back with everything in the green (except for that damn PSA

) and my quality of life is great. If the surgery successfully eliminates my cancer, all well and good. If not, we'll cross that bridge etc.

Seriously, my biggest concern is that my wife will be driving me home from surgery. I'm more concerned about that than anything else