MRI Revisted

 The last one of these I had was for a prostate examination and that resulted in removing body parts. This time it is a version of sciatica. MRI's use magnets and radio waves to interrupt bodily functions. It is like lining up metal filings with a magnet then switching it off to allow them all to fall back in place. Except this time they are lining up protons and snapping a picture when they settle back.  They are wanting to examine the hole where the nerve pokes thru. Ah the science!  The venue is a new one here with a brand new machine. Is it just me or are these machines getting smaller? One question they do not ask is how are you with claustrophobia?  Either I am getting bigger or that tube is getting smaller.  They asked me what music to play and I said Magneto and Titanium Man but they didn't have it. 

the latest in MRI casual wear

Analysis of Pain

 There is a hole at the back of the spine area where a nerve pops thru. Somehow it is possible to irritate that exact spot so that the nerve is inflammed and touches the sides of the hole giving rise to a constant ache. It is when you bend in any way that a fire surge is sent thru the bum cheek down the back of your thigh then the calf and out thru your toes. Standing is my best defence. Nights are the worst. There is not much sleep happening. I have discovered that if you get as straight as possible with your feet over the end of the mattress you might get an hours worth. This stuff is getting on my nerves.

beach walk to brighten a day

Pinching a Nerve

 We are not sure exactly when but at some stage during the last mega Sunday I pinched a nerve in my back.  This time it seems to be worse than any other time I have done it. The good news is that I am on the Rhoids to get the inflammation down.  I have had trouble trying to put the shot and also doing up my shoe laces.  It is not so much the putting but the bending down to fetch it.  Sitting down is not good so I am mostly standing or balancing on the edge of a seat. The culprit might have been the Duck Duck Goose activity that was going on last week, too much goosing and not enough ducking. 

Clouds in the back of your Eyes

 A skin doc, a dentist and a registrar walked into a room. The patient was told from the bridge of your nose down to the tip of your toes we've done the tests that everyone knows. We do get caught out with the optometry notes, the way that they word it, their eye ball quotes.  So we'll forget the clouds at the back of the eyes and try a new pill and try a new size.  Your system will moderate, it will not be supressed, we'll see you in four weeks, you'll be impressed.

Some of these meetings are quite over the top and it is never will the same derm team.

The Card of Health

 Yes I now have a card to prove I am healthy and if there is a sore spot some where then I can rub this card on it.  So now that I have spent weeks getting this card how can it be used? The chemist is the obvious one. Too bad I did not have this a month ago when my appendix was playing up or when the finger stitching was happening as both of those had large out of pocket up front charges. Yadayada.  At least we have these going forward. We have a forced our way into a hospital clinic tomorrow so maybe that will be the first chance to wave this card. We need another way to address pembro side effects. 

 

Dental not Gentle

 There have been persistent mouth issues as a result of medicinal side effects. It's time to look closer they said. We'll just poke around they said. As two holes are made in Debbie's mouth, one in the gum and another in her tongue that one with yet more stitches. These are turning out to be quite abrassive as the tongue moves. So it will be a liquid diet for the next few days.  What chance of there being no talking on the phone as well ... no chance.  Ah I have just noticed it is a sunny day. I am going outside.

Compression Gloves

Since we went to the fingerologist who was always looking sideways at my fingers as well as the patient's and as a result suggested arthiritis gloves for me.  I have been trying them for the last week or so and I think there is an improvement particularly with outside activities.  I am typing this now with them on and don't recommend it.  There are movement restrictions which I guess is the whole idea of squeezing the fingers. Pluses are warmth, say when walking and extra grip built into the palm surface.  Minuses are getting them wet.  Don't try cleaning your teeth, that was messy. 

the real patient has a neat criss cross

the pointer is my worst problem

Hospital Tour

Not sure if I want to be an expert on hospitals but I can tell you what ever you want to know. I had a tour of St Vincents Private yesterday. Right from the outset you could tell that Tim was much better now than when we were in Darwin a month back. Nothing like the right medicine to get rid of the bugs. He will be here for a while yet. If you want to get into this private wing, you have to go via St Vincents Public as they have the Emergency access and the Private building does not. Not so in Geelong. I waltzed up to the front door of St John's Geelong Private and got in straight away as they have an emergency dept.  Tim was walking about giving us a tour of the place.  Saint Mary Mackillop was born in this house here and it is now a centre for abuse victims. Over here are the gardens and good for quiet reading. Here is the chapel also good for quiet time. If you can get onto health insurance from an early age then this is when it pays off.

Finger Mold

 Session one today was the cutting off of the cast around the finger. Now this surgeon did not want that thing to move. The finger man filled his waste bin with all the offcuts, layer after layer of padding. We got down to the actual finger which looked messy but alcohol swipes soon cleaned it up and some movement is already possible without pain.  A splint was molded out of a synthetic board that melts and reforms around any shape that you want. So instantly there is a hard shell that fits the finger perfectly which can be slipped on and off.  There are a lot of stitches still in there.

I count eight stitches

Navel Gazing

The second session today was more accurately described as "through the navel gazing". Some yar ago I was offered a film to take home as a souvenir of the extraction of my prostate. I said I did not need to see that.  So now there has been a revisited edition of that film. You could call it "prostate that was" with an appendix called "appendix that was' . So the doc is happily taking me on a tour of my insides. Here is where your prostate used to live. Look at all that scar tissue. Now I am moving your colon (:) out of the way so I can lasso what's left of the appendix.  There is a river of green muck here that is flowing down, see that.  Now watch this as I bag up the severed appendage and slip out this little hole.  He described it as acute and very fast spreading. 

The Sun has set on this saga

The Fickle Finger

 Yes the Fateful Finger has been pointing at us lately and for quite some time. How to get that finger pointing somewhere else?  Hospitals always take longer. It will be late in the afternoon they say, sure.  We got back around 8:00pm last night. As usual the surgeons change their story once they have had a look inside.  Last week it was unexpected puss and degradation, coating otherwise healthy organs which needed a good flushing. This week it is more damage than was originally thought.  I had to chase deeper he says, repairs were more complicated he says.  Good thing these guys know their stuff.  The whole arm has been immobilised. The affected finger is still comfortably numb.

She wanted to spruce the garden beforehand

how do you sleep with this thing?

the race is on

Finger Pointing

 Deja Vu was in full swing back at the hospital again.  I got as far as the preliminary interview room before going home to sit it out. Same pack drill, same questions, same answers except it wasn't for me. Debbie is having a finger gouged, straightened and plugged.  Now we were supposed to be on a boat right now but because we weren't this procedure was brought forward.  I was told to wait it out for at least 4 to 5 hours then do the pickup.  My fingers have plenty of buckle in the knuckle and are worse than hers but mine are not leaking. 

Seniors health card

 This seniors health card looks alright. It cuts down chemist costs and maybe some other perks.  I can just muster enough energy to type this blog after the nearly three hours of trying to get thru the online application process. I never got to the end either.  First I had to go through the digital ID process which involved my phone and an app and various documents. This was about an hour or so but eventually worked.  Then it was getting Centrelink attached to the MyGov and getting a Centrelink account, this was another hour.  Now we are down to the actual application process which involves questions about everything including how long you have lived at the current address and for some reason that is where we got stuck for 30 minutes as no matter what we did we could not put a date before 2022, which is 4 years to short. We decided to move on with the wrong date. They did not seem to care. By now Debbie is fully involved as it branches to allow for a second person to apply for a card as well becuase the answers are almost for two people anyway.  I got to the final document upload where tax assessments are required but now have to wait for the taxman to get back to us.  To be continued.

Golf Pills

 I was warned not to over do it, eg no heavy lifting for 4 weeks. Exercise is required but exactly what.  I was using a pushup technique in the hospital bed in order to turn from side to side without brushing against any stitches. I did five pushups this morning which seemed to be ok as the body is straight. The problems are more an issue for the stomach crunch type of manouvre, like situps and toe touches.  In the end I just walked the length of the beach and back for 4,000 steps. There is plenty of flotsam to pickup but I wasn't bending, maybe tomorrow.  The anaesthetic has warn off but there are still five days of golf ball sized antibiotic pills and I am already drowning in the stuff after 8 bags were dripped into me. We can't make a fuss about too much puss.

Now where was I

Yesterday it was Health insurance and today it is Travel insurance.  We know the drill. Get anything back from airfares etc and then we will look at it.  I just packed a bag now I am unpacking it.  This is the third time in three years we have cancelled travel. Yada Yada Winge Winge.  There will be a turning point somewhere. I am running out of body parts to throw out but I must weigh less at least. I am not sure how much an appendix weighs.  It seems the main objective of an appendix is to hurt at some point in your life.

Flowers

and Sunshine

No travel for you

 What rhymes with unravel....untravel.  The doc was not happy with what he found when he took  a look  inside.  So now he is writing a letter that says no travel for six weeks.  These are the ultimate nophasement moments. Don't give up your health insurance. I have my own room with ensuite and room service.  I was supposed to get that for the next four weeks. 

Another piece removed

 I have made it into my own room now, it is about 10:00pm. The dining/kitchen has closed so I was given a sandwich and it disappeared in seconds. It seems that if you are removing an appendix on the right side then you make holes in the left side and work thru those. There are still tap holes in my arms just in case. I certainly don't feel the problem now but there is still lots of medicine in my system. 

Emergency

 I have  been to this Geelong hospital before to get a prostate out. This time the talk is about appendix. Now I am supposed to be flying out of here tomorrow and frankly I am sick of hospitals but this is the best place to be. So far only tests and painkillers.

Free Cancer to Cancer Free

You don't buy cancer but you pay a price. We had a surprise celebration that worked to a tee as we had no idea that Molly & Daniel were putting up their house for a gathering. The problem started around 2013 with a spot on the cheek that was like any other spot. A year later it was pointed out to a local doc who took to it with a laser beam device. This happened a few times and just seemed to result in a blister. If anyone wants to put a laser to your skin say no.  So after another year we went to the proper dermatologist who took one look and cut it out. This was around 2015 and with good healing that was it, nothing to be seen here, move along.  

Eight years later there is a spot once more. Who knows why there is an eight year wait. By this time we have moved to Geelong with another whole set of doctors. These ones do tests for the first time and identify a name for this growth. It is a nasty one with a corkscrew drill bit. Now the Alfred hospital is involved but they don't care about names or types only depths. It is a dinghy rabbit warren of old buildings with no easy access but it is worth it. They see that the spot is shallow like less than a mm.  They take it out again and scribe a large circle for a margin for good measure and replace it all with a skin graft.  They had to go back a few months later because the margin wasn't big enough. OK for the second time we are told that is it, all gone all removed, no further treatment. 

A year later the local doc who identified the initial spot is well aware and paying close attention to her neck. He finds a small lump and gets the Alfred involved again. This time it is a new building, state of the art, easy parking, easy access and first class service.  They are a bit sheepish. The same surgeon said she was in the 1 to 2% group who had the problem return. They are impressed with the local doc as none of them can feel the lump but tests confirm it is there.  The lymph node system is a drainage channel where something can hide. At around 2011/2012 some smart doctors invented Pembro. The name is actually a lot longer.  This cancer hides from your immune system by masking itself as a good guy. This medicine can take away the mask and let the immune system go to work. So after three doses the cancer was killed off but for good measure a neck operation was performed to remove 29 lymph nodes being thorough.  Down the track, surgeries may not be needed.  The main thing now is to wind back the immune system from its enthusiastic attacks because the problem has gone. Time to celebrate.

Footsies

 Yes I am getting in touch with my feet because they do a lot of work and it seems men especially do not thing about them much. When I stubbed my toe last month that made me sit up and take notice. So that is all in the past, as our neighbour Jill has treated us to the ways and means of having a foot spa. Now this is something new to me consisting firstly of a soak then a crunchy scrub and finishing off with a moisture cream.  Now I can put my feet up.