ONE PERSON ASKED, SO---
Now, don't anybody panic. I'm alive and well--well, as well as I am, anyhoo.
Having made the local circuit of the medical profession (actually that, for me, consists of my personal physician and the specialist he recommended) the consensus is that they can't perform the required operation here in the Huntington area, so I must travel to the mistake by the lake--otherwise known as Cleveland--to have them poke and prod and eventually decide to slice into my innards and put a piece of plastic in my aorta. The locals can do the work below the renal arteries, it appears, but are hesitant to do so above the renal arteries. And I appreciate their honesty and concern.
Medically, it is known as a thoraco-abdominal aneurysm. The aneurysm I had repaired some nine or ten years ago was an abdominal aortic aneurysm, and the repair was done locally and the repair has performed perfectly now since February 2000. So, no, I am not really concerned about any surgery that will be required, other than the fact that I am now nine years older and that has some implications.
What does cause some minor concern is that they also found aneurysms on both femoral arteries, both small and of small consequence at the present time. My head has been scanned a number of times and they tell me they did find a brain in there but did not find any indications of aneurysms.
Originally I had not intended to publish this material, but since my daughter has contacted her prayer groups and such, I figured I should do so just to allay any fears anyone has.
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My activities go on unabated. Maybe I am too fatalistic, but I have lived a good life, am secure in my religious beliefs, have provided as well as I can for my wife, and have no fear of death. I intend to live many more years and be a thorn in the side of the far left liberal fringe element--if for no other reason other than I just like to jangle their headbones every now and then--and support those conservative beliefs that I hold dear.
I hope to finish my songbook for the kids before the first of the year. I don't know whether I can or not, though, because every time I drop one into print, I think of two or three others, so the whittling down to a hundred or so is really going to be a tough thing for me. And every day I find myself singing new songs--actually old ones that I haven't sung for ages. And if it pops into my mind, chances are good that it is one that I like really well.
My health, otherwise, is generally good. I had a shoulder problem a while back but a shot with a six inch needle in my butt and a regimen of steroids took care of that in no time flat. Seriously. I could not raise my hand, my elbow or my shoulder more than an inch or so due to the pain. But the hand and elbow worked fine if manipulated by my other hand or by someone else. And the shoulder did not hurt when manipulated. I simply could not get my own muscles and sinews to go. But the next afternoon after seeing the doctor, the pain was almost completely gone and I had full movement. After two days, the pain had disappeared too.
My wife is back to work full time. Her ankle is still a problem but she's a gritty girl and still goes to work with it. We will be asking her doctor to limit her to eight hours daily and no work over 40 hours per week on Tuesday. I am much more concerned about the eight per day than I am by the forty per week. I can really see the difference between and eight hour day and a nine or ten hour one.
Got to go. The whistle just sounded which means the run is starting out at the still.
Cheers.
Having made the local circuit of the medical profession (actually that, for me, consists of my personal physician and the specialist he recommended) the consensus is that they can't perform the required operation here in the Huntington area, so I must travel to the mistake by the lake--otherwise known as Cleveland--to have them poke and prod and eventually decide to slice into my innards and put a piece of plastic in my aorta. The locals can do the work below the renal arteries, it appears, but are hesitant to do so above the renal arteries. And I appreciate their honesty and concern.
Medically, it is known as a thoraco-abdominal aneurysm. The aneurysm I had repaired some nine or ten years ago was an abdominal aortic aneurysm, and the repair was done locally and the repair has performed perfectly now since February 2000. So, no, I am not really concerned about any surgery that will be required, other than the fact that I am now nine years older and that has some implications.
What does cause some minor concern is that they also found aneurysms on both femoral arteries, both small and of small consequence at the present time. My head has been scanned a number of times and they tell me they did find a brain in there but did not find any indications of aneurysms.
Originally I had not intended to publish this material, but since my daughter has contacted her prayer groups and such, I figured I should do so just to allay any fears anyone has.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My activities go on unabated. Maybe I am too fatalistic, but I have lived a good life, am secure in my religious beliefs, have provided as well as I can for my wife, and have no fear of death. I intend to live many more years and be a thorn in the side of the far left liberal fringe element--if for no other reason other than I just like to jangle their headbones every now and then--and support those conservative beliefs that I hold dear.
I hope to finish my songbook for the kids before the first of the year. I don't know whether I can or not, though, because every time I drop one into print, I think of two or three others, so the whittling down to a hundred or so is really going to be a tough thing for me. And every day I find myself singing new songs--actually old ones that I haven't sung for ages. And if it pops into my mind, chances are good that it is one that I like really well.
My health, otherwise, is generally good. I had a shoulder problem a while back but a shot with a six inch needle in my butt and a regimen of steroids took care of that in no time flat. Seriously. I could not raise my hand, my elbow or my shoulder more than an inch or so due to the pain. But the hand and elbow worked fine if manipulated by my other hand or by someone else. And the shoulder did not hurt when manipulated. I simply could not get my own muscles and sinews to go. But the next afternoon after seeing the doctor, the pain was almost completely gone and I had full movement. After two days, the pain had disappeared too.
My wife is back to work full time. Her ankle is still a problem but she's a gritty girl and still goes to work with it. We will be asking her doctor to limit her to eight hours daily and no work over 40 hours per week on Tuesday. I am much more concerned about the eight per day than I am by the forty per week. I can really see the difference between and eight hour day and a nine or ten hour one.
Got to go. The whistle just sounded which means the run is starting out at the still.
Cheers.
posted by tanstaafl | 6:32 PM
2 Comments:
Cleveland Clinic? Amazing place...I'll still keep you in my prayers, too. Their heart center is ranked number 1 in the nation! I am relieved that your doctors are sending you there. (And I'm glad your brain is fine).
Thank you for sharing that. I hope that you are feeling well, though, in the meantime. Is it a problem that causes you to tire easily?
I'm also glad to read that your wife is doing well, but I do hope her hours get restricted by her doctor. Broken ankles take a lot of recovery time, and I know that with my ex-husband, there was also a fear of falling and reinjury that he always had in the back of his mind. That fear kept him from doing a lot of things he otherwise would have done, and it was hard for me to adjust to understanding it (I've never had such an injury)
Eh. I know you aren't afraid of death...but...do stick around, would you? A lot of people love you very much, including me.
Yeah, I do tire more easily than I used to. I know some of it is just age but it is the same way I felt back some ten years ago, too. After that surgery, I felt ten years younger. Hopefully this one will do the same for me.
There is always that fear with my wife. And with me. She probably doesn't see how I now walk just a step behind her at all times in case something goes amiss. Or more probably, she does and just doesn't acknowledge it anymore.
And I thank you for your love and concern. I assumed it but it is nice to be told once in awhile.
Me and the old man upstairs are together on this one and we have some mighty fine doctors on our side too, so, like Alfred E. Neumann, "What, me worry?"
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