Tag Archives: health

Update: April 2nd

02 Tuesday Apr 2024

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It’s been a while I know.  A lot has been going on so hold on to your hat.

Monday, April 1st marks the 10th week that I’ve either been in a splint or a cast.  This is my third hard cast since I was put in one.  I have a problem with either the cast getting wet, broke or both.  I’ve had several x-rays and I’ve been told each time that my foot is healing but has a long way to go.  My foot is still swollen a little and it looks like a lizard with all that dead skin just hanging there.  I did speak to the doctor and if everything continues as it has, I should be able to be put in a Crow Boot in about two months.  At least with a Crow Boot I should be able to walk on it some.

It’s like I’m a prisoner in my own home.  I live in a split foyer home.  When you walk in the front door you must either go up or go downstairs.  Seven of them to be exact. Going downstairs is not a problem.  I simply grab ahold of the banister and the handrail and hop down the stairs.  Going up is another issue. Right now, the solution is to use a walker with the front legs adjusted to the step above and hop up the stairs.  I’m exhausted by the time I make it up the stairs.  This is the reason I don’t go anywhere other than for doctor appointments. 

My gastric bypass surgery has been approved and my surgery is scheduled for the 17th of April.  I have to start my liver shrink diet on the 10th and my 2-day liquid diet starts on the 15th. If I told you th.at I wasn’t worried I’d be lying.  There’s a lot to consider even after the surgery. Just my doctors and my immediate family know about it.  None of my friends or even my parents don’t know about it. The reason?  I have a couple of family members that have had this surgery and they are bigger now than before they had the surgery.  Simply put, they gave up on themselves.  I have a point to make.  I’ll eventually tell them after I lose about 100 lbs.

Another reason I’m doing the surgery is my health.  If everything goes well, I will no longer be a diabetic and I will no longer have to use a Bipap machine to sleep.  The money I’ll save no longer using insulin will more than pay for the vitamins that I’ll have to take.

Stay tuned for updates after the surgery.

January 28th A Huge Setback

28 Sunday Jan 2024

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I’ve had neuropathy in both of my feet for several years. I can stump my toe and never know it.  It is a blessing and a curse.  I’ve had blisters on my toes and feet so bad that it would take months to heal. The bad part is that I never knew I had these blisters until it was too late.  I have tried to check my feet several times a day since then.  I wasn’t too surprised when they told me that I had broken a bone in my foot as well as having several fractures on the top of my foot.  The scary part is that I don’t know how I did it.

Two weeks ago, I woke up to get ready to go to church and noticed my right foot had swelled badly. I first thought of gout.  I treated my foot for gout for a couple of days and when it didn’t get any better, I made an appointment to see a doctor.

The doctor took X-rays and took bloodwork. The doctor told me that I had osteomyelitis, an infection in the bones of my foot, and that I needed to go straight to the ER.  Fortunately, I live on the way to my hospital, so I stopped and packed a bag grabbed my wife, and went to the ER. Nine hours later I was finally seen by a doctor. A CAT scan and more bloodwork were performed.  I was seen by no less than five different doctors, and all speculated the same thing. It all depended on a scheduled MRI that didn’t happen for another two days.  Yes, I was finally admitted and had to wait until an MRI was performed.

I had an orthopedic surgeon come see me and he was the only one who offered another scenario.  All the other doctors were saying the only way to stop the infection was to amputate my leg. The orthopedic surgeon suggested that I had Charcot Midfoot, a rare occurrence that diabetics with severe neuropathy can get.  Basically, it makes your bones brittle and if not treated can cause amputation of a limb or two. If the MRI showed infection that would mean several months of heavy antibiotics with the possibility of amputation of my foot to start off with.  If the MRI showed no infection, my foot would be put in a splint and I could go home and schedule an appointment with an orthopedic surgeon for follow-up appointments.

At approximately 11 am I was wheeled off for my MRI.  At approximately 2 pm I was told that there was no infection, and I was cleared to go home once my foot was put in a brace. At that time I was told that transport had been called and should be there within the hour. At 8:15 pm the transport finally arrived but not after my daughter called the hospital and complained.

Once home there had to be several changes.  A knee scooter, a shower stool, and a toilet rail had to be ordered to make my life a little easier.  I’ll be laid up for at least six weeks, maybe longer.  I’ve called and left a message with one of the doctors.  Hopefully, they’ll call me tomorrow to set up a follow-up appointment.  I’ve also got several other doctors to call tomorrow to reschedule appointments.  Oh, one other thing.  I live in a house with stairs leading to my living area.  I’ll have to call the fire department to get me in and out of my house.  This should be fun.

Step One Complete

07 Thursday Dec 2023

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I spoke with the Bariatric surgeon on Monday and discussed my options. We both concluded that the gastric bypass was the way to go. She was a young doctor and my wife questioned her ability. I think she was just jealous of her looks. We talked about the class that I am going to have to take and the three visits I have to have with my general practitioner. Those will all have to be scheduled. I think I’m going to wait until the first of the year to start this because of the temptations with all the Christmas foods.

My next appointment was with my Gastrologist on the same day. I found out that my stomach ulcer had healed and I can now reduce the meds that I am taking. That’s good news because that was one of the concerns I had with the Bariatric surgery. I also found out that I had a Hiatal Hernia. This can also be taken care of during the Bariatric surgery.

The doctor visits will take three months. If I start in January, that would mean that the surgery would not be until April of next year. There is no mention of any amount of weight that has to be lost but there are several things that I have to do these three months. I have to keep a record of my meals, which I already have an app for that. I have to go to the gym or somehow show that I’m at least trying to exercise every day.

This is going to be a long drawn-out process but I’m ready for it. I’m tired of looking the way I do and feeling the way I do.

Welcome!!

04 Saturday Jun 2022

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It’s been a while since I’ve posted anything and I have probably lost several followers because of it. As I’ve stated several times throughout my time here, I really don’t post to gain followers. I post because this is a way that I can keep myself honest.

If you want to know about me just ask. I’ve posted enough about my health that I think most people turn me off the minute they see that I’ve posted something. I do feel encouraged that people do like a post though. Although they are few, I do like the comments that get posted on here. So far none have been out of line and I appreciate it.

I lead a pretty boring life so there’s nothing much to post about unless it’s my health. Having CML does make it a little challenging. Something is causing my breathing issues but we are not sure yet.

Stat tuned, I’ll have a story to tell about our flooring project that’s going on now.

3/29/2020 Update

29 Sunday Mar 2020

Posted by in Cycling, Diabetic, diet, Gym, Weight Loss

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How is everyone doing during the quarantine? I’m doing fine I guess.  I did something stupid the other day and I really hope that it doesn’t come back to bite me.  I’m expecting a house painter to come early next week to start painting my house.  In order to do the front, I had to get rid of my hedge bushes.

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They’ve been there for years and have grown quite big and tall. I took a chain saw to them which made for quick work and after the front was exposed I noticed a large hole that went underneath my front stoop.  I had to purchase some bags of dirt to fill it in before the painters showed up.  The stupid part is when I went to Lowes to purchase the dirt.  The place was packed.  It looked like they were going to have some sort of give-away.  I should have turned around then but I didn’t. When I went to check out the line was over twenty people long.  With my health the way it is, I should’ve turned around but instead, I stood in line with all those other people.  I won’t be doing that again.

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The house looks bare now but at least they’re cut down now.  The only thing I have to do now is pull up the stumps.  I’ll do that later on.  The grounds too wet to get in there with my truck and I don’t want to ruin my yard with ruts or worse get my truck stuck.

As of this morning, I’ve lost 9.2 pounds.  I’ve got to get back on my treadmill so I can lose the other five pounds so I can get on my bicycle.  Plus, with the virus going around and us being quarantined, I’m making more and more trips to the refrigerator which is not good.  I’ve still got this nagging cough which when I get out of breath makes it hard for me to breathe and I have a coughing fit.  I’ll either start back this evening or wait until Monday to start.

I have a doctor’s appointment come Wednesday.  I’m sort of excited about going.  I’ve been keeping up with my sugar and it’s down from 9.9 to 7.2.  I’ve already seen the medical test report.  So I’m pretty excited about that.  My triglycerides are high and I need to do something to get it lower.

I’m near to 400 followers now.  When I started this blog I never thought it would be this high.  I’m about to go through and delete a few because some I have found are nothing but spam and sex promo sites.  I have no idea how I got those followers.  Anyway, thanks for following me.

Stay home and stay safe everyone!!

Filing for Disablility

23 Wednesday Jan 2019

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Yes, I’ve filed for disability.  Let me tell you, so far, it’s been one hell of a ride.  First of all, they tell you to go online, print out the paperwork, fill it out and send it in.  I did that, and while I was getting the information,(doctor’s notes, procedures, diagnosis’) I found out that you can also fill all the paperwork online then submit it once you have it completed.  Of course, I had most of the information filled out before I knew I could do it online.  Once I completed the paperwork online, I hit the submit button and off it went.

Several weeks go by and I get a phone call stating that they had received the paperwork and they, in turn, had sent it to the appropriate people.  I thought I had already done that.  Oh well.

Another week or so goes by and I get a letter in the mail telling me that I’ve got to go see one of their doctors.  I was expecting this.  I had to send the letter back to them stating that I was to keep the appointment.  The week before the appointment I got another reminder about the appointment.

The doctor was a psychiatrist.  I had to see him because of the memory issues I guess.  He asked a lot of questions regarding my health, my daily routine and of course, my memory.  After about thirty minutes or so he was done.  Now the waiting continues.  Oh I know this could take years before I hear anything and it will probably end up being denied.  I understand that.  Of course, I willl apeal it.

Life goes on.

Long Overdue

10 Thursday Jan 2019

Posted by in Cancer, Family, Leukemia, Pets, Photography, Retirement

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It’s been since September since I’ve posted anything so I figured I’d do a little update on what’s been going on. First of all, I went to the dentist today and had some work done and I had to take a prescription pain pill to take care of the pain that I was in.  So, if this doesn’t make sense, that’s why. As stated in my last post, I’ve retired.  I can’t begin to tell you how happy I am about that. I get updates from one of my co-workers every once in a while and let me tell you when I get off the phone with him, it makes me so happy to think that I no longer work at that place.  The management at that place has taken a turn for the worse and it seems that I left just at the right time.  The stress that I felt while I was there is no more.  That within itself is worth retiring over.

So, what is my plan since retiring?  I’ve got several irons in the fire, none of which requires getting up and going to a regular job.  I was blessed with an excellent pension and my 401k didn’t look bad at all either.  I made an appointment before retiring with a financial planner and he told me that I had nothing to worry about.  In fact, I got a little raise since retiring so I think we’re going to do just fine.

On most occasions, I get up with my wife when she gets up to get ready to go to work.  I usually sit and talk with her while she’s eating breakfast.  After she leaves, I usually take a shower and go to the garage and work on some woodworking projects.  I take care of the laundry and try to have dinner cooking when my wife gets home from work.

Other things such as setting up my camera so that it can take pictures of the bird feeder have been another little project that I’ve been working on.  It’s the simple things in life that make it interesting.  My cats and I enjoy watching the birds in the morning while we’re sitting in the kitchen spending time with the wife while she’s eating breakfast.

On another note and this will be the last of this update for now.  My cancer numbers are starting to look pretty good but on the other side of that coin, my iron levels have started to plummet.  I’ve had to do two iron transfusions and had to have a colonoscopy and an endoscopy to find out where I’m bleeding out.  Ulcers, I’ve got two bleeding ulcers.  Another pill to add to my pharmacy list.

Thanks for taking the time to read and I’ll post again soon.

Today’s Thoughts 4/19/2018

19 Thursday Apr 2018

Posted by in Cancer, Cycling, Leukemia, Weight Loss

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Got home late yesterday due to having to work later than normal.  I had my day all planned out before I got to work which included getting off early and trying to extend my mileage from 10 to at least 20 or more miles.  Didn’t happen.  I got to work and found out that I was going to have work the desk dispatching calls all day.  Which also meant I IMG_20180418_174749wasn’t going to be able to get any cycling in.  Not a total loss though.  I did stop at the track and got my 10,000 steps in for the day.

As much as I like getting out on my bike and ride, it’s important to me to get out and do something to enjoy the outdoors, even if it’s just walking on the walking track. Most of last year I just didn’t feel like getting out and doing anything.  Once I made it home from work, I didn’t have the energy to do anything but to shower and relax in front of the television.  I gained weight, my A1c went up and basically felt like crap. Now that I have my health back, for the time being, I’m taking advantage of it and getting out and doing something.  In the short time that I’ve been feeling better, I’ve been able to get out and ride, three times so far, I’ve gone to the track a few times and my A1c has come down a few points.  When I feel better I’m able to take better care of myself.

Stay Healthy!!

A Little Slow

05 Friday May 2017

Posted by in Cancer, Cycling, Leukemia, Weight Loss

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The weather here in the deep south has been less than perfect for bike riding for me.  The last two days it’s been a rainy, dreary day.  Today the temperature hardly rose above the mid 50’s mark.  Tomorrow is forcasted to be warmer but not until mid afternoon.  My plan is to either get a twenty mile in on Saturday or wait until Sunday when I should have more time.

My last ride broke the 100 mile mark.  That’s pretty good considering that only six months ago I was considering selling my bike because of my health.  I’m looking forward to much healther days along with miles and miles of riding.

Happy Trails

Back in the Saddle Again!

23 Sunday Apr 2017

Posted by in Cancer, Cycling, Leukemia, Weight Loss

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It’s been a while since I’ve posted anything but my absence hasn’t been anything bad.  My health has steady improved so much so that I’ve tried to start riding my bike again.  I was a bit concerned when I got started because I actually thought that something was still wrong with my breathing.  I talked with cardiologist about  this and he just informed me that I was out of shape.  After all, it’s been nearly two years since I’ve been on my bike.

When I first started back I was in for a huge disappointment.  I heard about a bike ride that is held on every Sunday.  It ranges from 8 to 10 miles.  Remember those 20 mile rides I used to do every day?  Lol.  Not any more.  After about three miles I knew I was in serious trouble.  So many hills and I couldn’t remember how to clip in my peddles.  In fact, before the ride even began I fell flat on my face trying to clip in.  We stopped so many times waiting on the slower people that I think that’s what actually wore me out trying to clip in to those damn peddles.  I realized then that I needed to ride around the house for a bit and get reacquainted with my bike.  Shorted ride 1.34 miles, Longest ride thus far 13.48 miles.  I’m averaging about 10 mph.

There is a ride in June called the Hot Hundred.  You got it, it’s a 100 mile ride with smaller rides available.  The shortest is a 29 mile ride that I used to ride in.  I have my hopes of riding it this year.  After my 13 mile ride I have my doubts.  I still may get to ride it, after all it’s in June.  It’s something that I’m working toward.  If I don’t this year, there’s always next.