Status Update

by Bryan

14 comments

1 NTodd { 06.06.15 at 7:20 pm }

May your issues resolve soon.

2 ellroon { 06.08.15 at 12:45 am }

Patch carefully and well, Bryan. I think your cats are figuring out how to use the can opener…

3 paintedjaguar { 06.09.15 at 12:41 pm }

We codgers don’t heal as quickl as once upon a time. Take good care of yourself. And the kitties, of course. You know, the important stuff.

4 Steve Bates { 06.09.15 at 5:01 pm }

It’s not like having surgery at age 18, is it? I hope your recovery, uh, recovers and speeds up.

5 JuanitaM { 06.10.15 at 5:37 am }

Hope the doctors help you through this quickly. It’s been a stressful couple of years for you! Wishing you well.

6 Jim Bales { 06.10.15 at 4:47 pm }

No hurry here, Bryan, we want you healthy, and only then posting!

Best
Jim

7 Bryan { 06.10.15 at 9:41 pm }

Just an update:

Thanks for the kind thoughts, I appreciate them.

As near as anyone can figure out the pain killers may have caused some breathing problems which messed up everything else. The other possibility was/is a blood clot, but they can’t find anything.

I am feeling better and seem to be getting stronger little by little. I would note that despite my career choices, I have been obscenely lucky and never broken a bone or had anything that would qualify as surgery. I have received wounds that required clean-up but not stitches. I’ve had phosphorus burns that removed flesh from the top of my left thumb, and lost my finger prints a couple of times to rope burns. I have sprained several joints. The reality is I am not used to being sick.

The cats are showing their displeasure at the reduction in their previous level of service, and getting Property to reduce her expressions of displeasure is going to be a long term project.

8 Badtux { 06.11.15 at 11:41 am }

Get better. And those pain killers and their effect on breathing is a real nightmare. Hopefully they tapered you to a point where they don’t interfere with breathing or switched you to something better. I do know that you need *something* after major surgery like that, because extra strength Tylenol ain’t gonna do it. Maybe during the day, but you have to be able to sleep at night to heal.

I can only imagine the displeasure of the cats at finding that their formerly attentive staff is now spending most of his time in bed…

9 hipparchia { 06.11.15 at 8:32 pm }

As near as anyone can figure out the pain killers may have caused some breathing problems which messed up everything else. The other possibility was/is a blood clot, but they can’t find anything.

one of the sayings in our family is that “if it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing all the way.” heckuva job, brownie – even sick people aren’t used to this kind of stuff!

10 Bryan { 06.11.15 at 10:27 pm }

I had already reduced the dose from two to one tab after after the first dose based on my experience with my Mother. One tab every four hours kept the pain down to a background level. They don’t seem to spend as much time or effort determining doses as vets do. Everything that vets prescribe is based on age and weight, but people are judged only as adults or children.

I switched to Tylenol as soon as I could, because the lortabs made me mistrust my judgement and ability to walk. I wanted to move around as much as possible, but I needed to use a walker to give me the confidence to walk.

I know why a doctor’s office is called a practice 😈

11 Kryten42 { 06.11.15 at 11:53 pm }

Hi my friend. I don’t have to tell you anything you don’t already know. 🙂 You are smarter more knowledgeable and experienced than many I meet. And like myself (and others here), you’ve heard it all before, even if you have led a mostly healthy life. 🙂

Drug interactions are the biggest problem i think, it has been for me anyway. A good Pharmacist who knows you can literally be a lifesaver! It used to be that a GP spent about 6 months studying pharmacology. Given that a Pharmacist takes about 4 yours, it’s no wonder a GP hasn’t much of a clue. The GP I have now at least looks up MIMS before proscribing med’s for me! None of the others ever did in recent years. I always go to my Pharmacist first. She has caught 3 bad interactions the past 5 years.

I’ve told a few GP’s in my life (and a head Surgeon) to let me know when they finally finish practicing and become a pro! *sigh*

I’m lucky (I guess) that I have a pretty high pain threshold, and perhaps that I’ve spent most of my life in pain of one sort or another. 🙂 I guess the human system really can get used to anything. 😉 I rarely take pain med’s now, and only the two I know work for me (morphine or codeine).

Anyway m8, you take care and keep being smart. I know taking things easy isn’t really your style (nor mine), but sometimes we have little choice. 🙂

Things are pretty hectic for myself now, lot of changes. I don’t know when or how often I’ll be able to get online. Take care, be smart. 🙂

12 Bryan { 06.12.15 at 11:22 pm }

You do what you have to do to survive and if you like doing it, it’s luck.

It seems like doctors simply look up meds in a list and don’t actually know anything about them other than the meds are the current popular choice for the condition they have decided you have. I have to check the ‘Net for interactions and side effects, because you don’t get that information until you have paid for the drugs.

Fortunately most large pharmacy chains in the US have software that automatically tracks known problems, and most will allow you to flag classes of drugs if you have a reaction to them. It would seem that the people at the bottom of the pay scale in the medical system are your best chance of survival.

Take care of yourself, Kryten. With any luck at all it will be a while before this place shuts down.

13 Steve Bates { 06.14.15 at 9:33 am }

“even if you have led a mostly healthy life” – Kryten

Kudos, Kryten, to one who knows the difference between “healthy” and “healthful,” and uses “healthy” in its proper sense. – The Ghost of Steve’s English Teacher Mother 🙂

Bryan, a lot regarding pain seems to be in each person’s genes: after I had an amputation in Dec. 2012, I needed pain medication for only four days afterward, and did not come at all close to using up the whole bottle (I think it was hydrocodone) that was provided to me… as you said, one pill to help me sleep nights was about all I needed. As a result, there was no withdrawal period, and after those four days, aspirin did everything I needed. But people’s mileage may vary significantly!

I hope this message finds you feeling better. If you don’t hear from me next week, you may want to glance at what Invest 91-L has become. At least it doesn’t appear to be heading your way…

14 Bryan { 06.14.15 at 4:06 pm }

Yeah, I have been watching 91L since Saturday, Steve.

I’ve had to give up aspirin as it thins my blood too much and causes the major bleeding in my sinuses. It has always been the most reliable pain med I’ve ever taken.