We're getting old (OO medical complaints)

[dbt1949]

As a kid I remember going to the hospital numerous times so she could have radiation treatments.
She had one of her breasts removed due to cancer.
Still something I don't like to look back on. Good news is she lived another 40 years.

[Zarathud]

Very sorry for your wife and family. It’s a lot of stress at the worst time. Hoping for the best outcome and limited side effects on this journey.

[Kraken]

Wishing you and the missus the best, ILB.

[Smoove_B]

Wishing you and the missus the best, ILB.

Can't say it any better. +1

[Scuzz]

Wife had surgery on Monday. Things seem to have been successful, and she's supposed to be released tomorrow morning. We'll know more when they get the results of the lymph node analysis in a couple of weeks.

Didn't take a couple of weeks. Unfortunately, 3 of the 28 nodes they removed showed cancer so they're pegging her at Stage 3. She'll start with additional treatments (unclear as of now whether that's chemo, radiation, or both) 4-6 weeks post surgery to give the body time to heal from the surgery. She's been set up with oncology, so we'll hopefully know more details when that's done.

She's not taking this well. I tend to have a "everything will work out fine" attitude while she's more likely to go to the worst case scenario. That often equals a nice balance when we're dealing with family issues, but it's harder here. I'm still hopeful what with survival rates for this type of cancer even at Stage 3, but she's confronting her own mortality hard right now.

I hope the best for your wife and you. My wife would melt down if this happened to either one of us whereas I take your approach.

[Skinypupy]

I came in here to bitch about how badly colonoscopy prep sucks but that's small potatoes, comparatively.

Wishing the best for you guys ILB.

[Kraken]

I came in here to bitch about how badly colonoscopy prep sucks but that's small potatoes, comparatively.

Mmmm, potatoes. During my last prep, I rediscovered how much I hate Jello. I literally prefer to eat nothing.

My doctor's report noted "excellent visibility," to which my physician friend added "A-1 colon. Would scope again."

[Skinypupy]

I came in here to bitch about how badly colonoscopy prep sucks but that's small potatoes, comparatively.

Mmmm, potatoes. During my last prep, I rediscovered how much I hate Jello. I literally prefer to eat nothing.

My doctor's report noted "excellent visibility," to which my physician friend added "A-1 colon. Would scope again."

I haven’t had Jello for years until today. I actually have quite liked it, but that may be just the general hunger talking.

This is my first one of these but given the now extensive history of GI cancer in the family, I get to start a couple years earlier than normal.

[Isgrimnur]

I prefer my reconstituted boiled farm animals not to be served to me as an attempt at dessert.

[Kurth]

I am laid low with an intercostal muscle pull. Apparently, the intercostals are the muscles between your ribs, and they tend to get pulled when you are in your late forties and decide you’re finally really going to commit to lifting.

I felt a little sore after doing rows the other day with more weight than normal. Then, I went and played tennis with the kids and clearly aggravated the injury (on my left side, right beneath my heart). Then, while using a leaf blower to blow the dust out of the garage, I sneezed. Disaster! Agony. I couldn’t really get a good breath in fo five minutes. So incredibly painful.

Now I’m trying to take it easy, but it’s incredibly frustrating. I can’t even run like normal because breathing heavily really hurts. And sleeping. And taking off a shirt. And putting on a sock. And . . . pretty much everything.

From what I’ve read, there’s nothing to be done but rest it. Which sucks.

Total old man injury.

[Blackhawk]

While I am recovering from a pulled muscle in my right shoulder - probably my trapezius - from getting back to working out, this time with inverted rows.

At the same time, I seem to have arthritis in my AC joint, and I'm discovering how well that goes with push ups (spoiler: poorly.)

[The Meal]

Best of luck to MrsILB, and to the whole ILB family.

[Scraper]

I just had my first colonoscopy this week. The doctor found 2 polyps. I'm waiting on the labs, but he said they looked normal. In the end I'm glad I went in and had it done. Two polyps are exactly 2 more than I want.

[Jeff V]

I just had my first colonoscopy this week. The doctor found 2 polyps. I'm waiting on the labs, but he said they looked normal. In the end I'm glad I went in and had it down. Two polyps are exactly 2 more than I want.

I had one, and received a 10 year pass until my next one. Which is creeping up (3 years away?)

So yesterday my wife complained that a "bump" in her mouth that she thinks was caused by her denture suddenly got big. Then she showed me...HOLY SHIT! It was like a large, fat blue lima bean hanging from the roof of her mouth. I took her to the badly-named Immediate Care, came back 2 hours later when the doctor could see her, came back 2 hours after that since I had to run the kids to their activities and they still hadn't received her 45 minutes after we arrived. And they couldn't do any care at all. They suggested she see an oromaxillofacial surgeon to have it removed. But my wife would need a referral from her PCP, who can't see her until Monday. Today my wife said there doesn't seem to be any feeling in the connective tissue, she wants to just lop it off herself -- I keep warning her that if there's a blood vessel (even a small one) feeding that thing it's gonna bleed forever -- wounds in the mouth do not cauterize well.

I half expect she will come home tonight telling me she removed it while at work.

[Kraken]

I aced my recent scope but the butt doctor wants to see me again in five years anyway because I am old and have good insurance. I hope to be safely dead before then.

Hope your wife’s lima bean turns out to be nothing.

[dbt1949]

I told my doctor after the first one it wasn't going to be a second experience. If I get colon cancer and die so be it.

[Isgrimnur]

[LordMortis]

The last scope I went for, the prep was much easier, though it still sucked and the worst thing about the scope itself is that you need someone to come with you, wait, and attest to driving you. The scope itself is nothing, you wake up a bit dehydrated and mildly uncomfortable until you've farted a gazillion times. Maybe the Crone's discomfort has gotten me used being in a state of intestinal distress. I've been on the five year plan for getting on 15 years now. My fourth go around should be happening any time now.

I've never had polyps removed but my father and two of my sisters have. I may change my tune if the scope turns into carving out my insides.

[MHS]

Thinking of you and your family, LawBoy. Hoping for the best possible outcomes.

[Default]

Ugh, I hope everyone recoups quickly.
I really hope that your wife gets better soon, ILB.

[Jeff V]

My wife texted me last night that the abomination in her mouth simply "dropped off", no blood, nothing. Yay.

Today she forwarded me a message she received from a former neighbor (to this day, the only neighbor we got really close to). Her husband, I'd guess to be around 40 or so, was diagnosed with colon cancer and it had metastasized to his liver. Their daughter (who my daughter calls "her sister") is I think around 8 years old -- she was in my son's Taekwondo class until they moved to Florida (now South Carolina). This is really awful news from a family we like a lot (we had dinner with them when went to Disney last summer), I desperately hope it's still treatable.

[LordMortis]

My wife texted me last night that the abomination in her mouth simply "dropped off", no blood, nothing. Yay.

:puke:

[Jeff V]

We haven't bonded with too many neighbors since moving here 5 years ago, but one we did moved to Florida more than a year ago (we visited when we were there last summer), and they've since moved again, this time to SC. Wife forwarded me a message from the wife (who was the neighborhood baker) that her husband -- who I'd guess to be no more than 40, was diagnosed with prostate cancer and hey, it metastized to your liver! This is awful news, my daughter considers their daughter to be her "sister", and she used to be in my son's taekwondo class.

[Daehawk]

My wife texted me last night that the abomination in her mouth simply "dropped off", no blood, nothing. Yay.

:puke:

Probably just an Alabama tick.

[Blackhawk]

Or an actual lima bean.

[dbt1949]

It was a spider egg with hundreds of little bitty baby spiders.

[Sudy]

You know how all the prescription bottles I've ever seen in my life say "if a dose is missed, take it as soon as you notice unless it's within 12 hours of your next dose--do not double dose"? Are there any medications for which the the warning would be that you should double up your doses in that scenario?

[Chraolic]

You know how all the prescription bottles I've ever seen in my life say "if a dose is missed, take it as soon as you notice unless it's within 12 hours of your next dose--do not double dose"? Are there any medications for which the the warning would be that you should double up your doses in that scenario?

I doubt it, that seems like it would be a giant legal liability to the producer. What if someone misses two doses, or three?

[Blackhawk]

Or thinks they missed a dose and didn't.

[Blackhawk]

Spoilered for brevity

Spoiler:

So, I've been having fun lately.

I've been having issues with mental fatigue for a few years. That's the state wherein you spend a great deal of time under a heavy cognitive load until you've used up all of your brain's reserves and it starts to shut down. The brain is like any other part of your body - overwork your biceps and they reach a point where it's a strain to lift your arm. Think of studying for a math test, or working on a complex bit of code for hours on end until you reach a point at which you just can't think clearly anymore. You can't remember what you're doing, you get your terminology mixed up, and suddenly even simple tasks (like ordering dinner) require a lot of mental effort.

I first noticed it with tabletop RPGs. I would routinely GM (run) them for 8-12 hours at a time. Then, about four or five years ago, I noticed that I started to shut down after four or five hours. I'd say the wrong things, I'd forget rules, I'd make mistakes. After another year it was down to just two or three hours (where it seems to have stayed.) I also found that I was having a lot of trouble sticking with things. I brought it up here at the time. It was a big motivator in getting me exercising (I dropped 50 pounds and was hitting several times the minimum activity levels every week), eating right, and led to me getting on a medication for ADHD (which I'm now questioning. It may still be the right medicine, but I'm not sure it's the right diagnosis, as the symptoms may be related to this instead.) It all barely helped. Lately I still run out after the same number of hours, but when it sets in, it sets in hard. A few weeks ago, after several matches of a particularly fiddly board game (Sentinels), I hit a point at which I could barely even speak. Every sentence would have the wrong words, or I'd forget what a word was ("Go into the bedroom and grab the box" became "Go into the car and grab the... uh... you know.") And I've been a lot more absent minded than usual lately (I've always had the autistic absent mindedness that comes more from focused thought.)

So I finally realized that it wasn't just me being out of shape or getting older, and went to see my doctor about it. Disclaimer: No, it's not cancer.

But it's cancer related. Probably.

As some of you may recall, I had a fun bout with cancer in 2014. After months of chemo (cisplatin) and radiation, I decided to do the surviving thing, and have since been told that I have a better chance of developing a new cancer than of the old one coming back. I did get a few nice side effects, though - reduced salivary flow, a big chunk removed from the back of my tongue, permanent partial paralysis of my left shoulder (my trapezius is kaput), my teeth falling apart due to the radiation, etc.

It seems that this may be another side effect, this time of the chemo drug. Some people get 'chemo brain' during treatment, only to have it fade afterwards. Others don't get it for years. If it doesn't fade, it's generally permanent and untreatable. It's actually pretty common - there are tons of studies on the neurotoxicity of cisplatin, showing that it can cause attention problems, interfere with neurogenesis, and all sorts of other fun things. It may or may not be progressive (the public-oriented discussions are too basic and PR-heavy, while the scholarly articles go further into neurology than I can follow), but the impression that I get is "Sometimes."

None of that has been confirmed yet, but it's the working hypothesis, and it seems likely. I'm having the usual battery of tests to make sure that it isn't something else that requires intervention, or something else that's more treatable (fingers crossed on the long shot!)

Still, I have no regrets. Being a little more absent minded as I'm hitting 50 is a lot better than being dead at 41.

I had an MRI done two days ago, which should narrow down the cause (hopefully.) It's looking more and more likely that it's a delayed onset side effect from the chemo, and it is making me very not happy.

[Daehawk]

Sorry to hear it BH. I have ADHD. Was always a problem when I was young and in elementary school. They didn't have a name for it then in the 70s as I recall. Just sent me to a childrens shrink and told me I was un-attentive..ya think??

[ImLawBoy]

Wife starts chemo in 4-5 weeks. Details yet to be determined, as she's in a study and details will depend on what group she gets.

For those of you who have been following the chronicles of the ImLawBoy family for some time, you may remember that after I had my surgery last year, my oldest son got admitted to the hospital the day after I got home with a virus that was impacting his breathing (leaving me to deal with the twins as I recovered, since my wife was staying with my son at the hospital). Well, this time he gave us two weeks before needing to be admitted. We got home yesterday, but I spent the last 10 days with him at the hospital as he tried to shake the rhino enterovirus that was keeping his oxygen sats below 90%.

I would like the next month or so to be medically drama free, please.

[Blackhawk]

Spoilered for brevity

Spoiler:

So, I've been having fun lately.

I've been having issues with mental fatigue for a few years. That's the state wherein you spend a great deal of time under a heavy cognitive load until you've used up all of your brain's reserves and it starts to shut down. The brain is like any other part of your body - overwork your biceps and they reach a point where it's a strain to lift your arm. Think of studying for a math test, or working on a complex bit of code for hours on end until you reach a point at which you just can't think clearly anymore. You can't remember what you're doing, you get your terminology mixed up, and suddenly even simple tasks (like ordering dinner) require a lot of mental effort.

I first noticed it with tabletop RPGs. I would routinely GM (run) them for 8-12 hours at a time. Then, about four or five years ago, I noticed that I started to shut down after four or five hours. I'd say the wrong things, I'd forget rules, I'd make mistakes. After another year it was down to just two or three hours (where it seems to have stayed.) I also found that I was having a lot of trouble sticking with things. I brought it up here at the time. It was a big motivator in getting me exercising (I dropped 50 pounds and was hitting several times the minimum activity levels every week), eating right, and led to me getting on a medication for ADHD (which I'm now questioning. It may still be the right medicine, but I'm not sure it's the right diagnosis, as the symptoms may be related to this instead.) It all barely helped. Lately I still run out after the same number of hours, but when it sets in, it sets in hard. A few weeks ago, after several matches of a particularly fiddly board game (Sentinels), I hit a point at which I could barely even speak. Every sentence would have the wrong words, or I'd forget what a word was ("Go into the bedroom and grab the box" became "Go into the car and grab the... uh... you know.") And I've been a lot more absent minded than usual lately (I've always had the autistic absent mindedness that comes more from focused thought.)

So I finally realized that it wasn't just me being out of shape or getting older, and went to see my doctor about it. Disclaimer: No, it's not cancer.

But it's cancer related. Probably.

As some of you may recall, I had a fun bout with cancer in 2014. After months of chemo (cisplatin) and radiation, I decided to do the surviving thing, and have since been told that I have a better chance of developing a new cancer than of the old one coming back. I did get a few nice side effects, though - reduced salivary flow, a big chunk removed from the back of my tongue, permanent partial paralysis of my left shoulder (my trapezius is kaput), my teeth falling apart due to the radiation, etc.

It seems that this may be another side effect, this time of the chemo drug. Some people get 'chemo brain' during treatment, only to have it fade afterwards. Others don't get it for years. If it doesn't fade, it's generally permanent and untreatable. It's actually pretty common - there are tons of studies on the neurotoxicity of cisplatin, showing that it can cause attention problems, interfere with neurogenesis, and all sorts of other fun things. It may or may not be progressive (the public-oriented discussions are too basic and PR-heavy, while the scholarly articles go further into neurology than I can follow), but the impression that I get is "Sometimes."

None of that has been confirmed yet, but it's the working hypothesis, and it seems likely. I'm having the usual battery of tests to make sure that it isn't something else that requires intervention, or something else that's more treatable (fingers crossed on the long shot!)

Still, I have no regrets. Being a little more absent minded as I'm hitting 50 is a lot better than being dead at 41.

I had an MRI done two days ago, which should narrow down the cause (hopefully.) It's looking more and more likely that it's a delayed onset side effect from the chemo, and it is making me very not happy.

The MRI was clear, which is generally good news. Now I have to wait to get in to see a neurologist.

This one has been particularly frustrating, as it is interfering with practically everything I do.

[naednek]

Well, not an OO'er but my wife's father is coming home for home hospice this weekend. 3 weeks today he was rushed to the hospital and admitted to ICU where he's been the last 3 weeks. He's had lymphoma cancer before I met him 16+ years ago. He's fought through that a few times. But in the last few months he's been seeing things and the week before his admission it got worse. Took a while to pinpoint the issue but the diagnosis seems to be Lewy Body dementia. It came fast. The week before I was over his place fixing his printer and talking about PC upgrades for him. We hung out watching the 90's on Discovery channel. The next week, he could barely talk, sees people and objects and bed ridden in the hospital.

It's my understanding that there's 7 stages of Lewy Body, and it typically lasts around 7 years. This was not his experience. My wife and her sister has been taking shifts at the hospital, and I was able to help out last week.

Puts a little perspective as I age.

So we are hoping to make him comfortable as possible. Her mom has hired help to be with him 24/7.

Kids didn't take the news well, not looking to have to go through this 3 more times

[Daehawk]

Strange how life can just 180 on you and not see if coming. Best to him and the family.

[stessier]

My issues are relatively minor, but I thought I'd make note. Started blood pressure meds 30 days ago and staring cholesterol meds tomorrow. The very low dose of blood pressure meds has been working so far with most of my morning readings under 120/80 (from about 140/90). Hope the cholesterol meds are as effective to buy me some time to get in shape.

[naednek]

Well, not an OO'er but my wife's father is coming home for home hospice this weekend. 3 weeks today he was rushed to the hospital and admitted to ICU where he's been the last 3 weeks. He's had lymphoma cancer before I met him 16+ years ago. He's fought through that a few times. But in the last few months he's been seeing things and the week before his admission it got worse. Took a while to pinpoint the issue but the diagnosis seems to be Lewy Body dementia. It came fast. The week before I was over his place fixing his printer and talking about PC upgrades for him. We hung out watching the 90's on Discovery channel. The next week, he could barely talk, sees people and objects and bed ridden in the hospital.

It's my understanding that there's 7 stages of Lewy Body, and it typically lasts around 7 years. This was not his experience. My wife and her sister has been taking shifts at the hospital, and I was able to help out last week.

Puts a little perspective as I age.

So we are hoping to make him comfortable as possible. Her mom has hired help to be with him 24/7.

Kids didn't take the news well, not looking to have to go through this 3 more times

Larry passed away last night after 2 long months of hospital stays and home hospice.

He was loved by many and will be missed.

It didn't really hit me until they wheeled him out of the house and seeing my mother in law realize this was final.



Sent from my Pixel 6 Pro using Tapatalk

[Daehawk]

I wish the family the best in this hard time.

I hate the thought ....he's better off now...or ...death was a blessing. I suppose in some cases it is...but thinking it seems wrong somehow. And if a person is in such a bad shape to think that then I feel sorry for them and their family even more.

------------------------------------------------

As for a complaint...I hate being old'ish.

[Kraken]

Condolences, Ken. I can understand how long those months felt.

[dbt1949]

I've been there and kind of know what you're gong thru. My condolences.