LittleJoe

Laparoscopic Hernia Repair - 4 days after

The surgery was Monday (earlier post). Today is Friday. Independence Day here in the USA. And I am feeling a bit more independence. On Monday, I was taking 2 vicodin every 4 hours (actually a generic substitute - Hydrocodone/APAP). I did not want to be on this med for very long, so on Tuesday I cut that down to 1 tablet every 4 hours. On Wednesday it was 1/2 a tablet every 4 hours or so. Yesterday I took a couple of Advil a few times. Today is med-free.

I was told that vicodin can make it hard to poop. Understatement. They should tell folks that taking vicodin is like filling your colon with concrete. On Wednesday, I drank about a cup of prune juice an hour, eventually consuming 3 pints of the stuff, and finally that evening things seemed back to normal. Not like I'd downed a ton of colon-blow or something, mind you ...just back to normal! Wow.

I've been sleeping in the family room on a recliner, since that makes it easier to get up and down. Tonight I plan to go back to the real bed and see about getting a decent night's sleep.

The exercise plan is starting to take shape. Today's rigorous workout was a gentle stroll around the block. I may go out again this evening for a stroll. That beats the 'laps' I was doing yesterday through the house to try to get more movement. I'm hoping that by sometime next week I can be back to doing 3 miles a day ...even though it will be via very easy walking, no running at an incline on the treadmill :)

So the pain is quite bearable, the insides seem to be working, the body is getting back to burning a few calories (I think I burned 37 calories today), and the gut-bloat (from being 'inflated' for the procedure) is almost gone. The followup appointment is a week from today (11th July), at which time the stitches will be removed from the 4 small incisions. And at that time I'll again ask the doc about resumption of real workouts. He's advising to pretty much take all of July off from working out. That is hard! But going through this again would be worse, so I'll follow his advice.

Laparoscopic hernia repair

My body has told me in no uncertain terms that even though laparoscopic surgery might not slice one open as widely as 'regular' surgery, it is still definitely surgery.

I had an inguinal hernia on the right side. I was born with it, it was repaired many years ago when I was 3 years old, and now it was in need of repair again. Last Monday I visited the surgeon (Dr Ronald Delgado in Brandon Florida, and he is wonderful!). He discussed the procedure, we scheduled the time, and I went for some pre-op tests (EKG, chest x-ray, and some blood tests). I was told to have no food nor drink of any kind (not even water) after midnight prior to surgery day, and yesterday arrived at the hospital at 6:30am to prep for the 9am procedure.

There were various forms to be signed (of course :) ...then an IV catheter was inserted. My veins tend to hide when it is cooler, and Shirley and I did feel that the room temp was rather frigid ...so the poor nurse had to abandon the first attempt and go for the side of the wrist (which is usually a good spot on me, but she wanted to try the wider part of the forearm first).

After meeting the nurses who would be in the operating room and the anesthesiologist and the surgeon, they hooked me up to the IV bag. Since it was known by that time that I was missing my morning coffee, they kindly labeled the IV bag "COFFEE" ...it still wasn't the same. And they wheeled me towards the operating room.

The next thing I knew I was in post-op. Apparently, after knocking me out, they shaved my "down-under", inserted a breathing tube down the throat, a catheter up the urethra, made 4 incisions, inflated my belly, and repaired the hernia, then closed me up and removed the catheter and breathing tube (I'm glad that I don't remember getting those inserted!!).

The pain has been manageable, thanks to generic Vicodin. I've started easing off of those ...very carefully. The hardest part by FAR was peeing. I don't know if it was due to everything being numbed, or what, but I was warned about this by several others. They did have me pee before leaving the hospital, but it was probably no more than a spoonful; that at least showed that things were working, albeit nowhere near normal. We were probably back home by 1pm yesterday afternoon, and by mid-afternoon I felt like I had a gallon in my bladder. I tried various things to help the flow, but I think the main thing that helped was just time. By early this morning things were much closer to normal -- thank GOD :)

OK, this will get a little graphic now if you're squeamish. I had a devil of a time finding details and pics from folks who had had this procedure done, so I wanted to provide the details that I had been wanting prior to surgery. The first 2 pics are pre-op. The 3rd pic was provided by the doc, and shows a great view of my appendix, and of the nylon mesh that was used to patch the hernia. Then there's a pic post-op at the hospital. The last two pics are of the wounds ...one with the incisions covered by bandages, and the final pic with just the "Steri-Tape" covering the stitched incisions (I was told to leave the Steri-Tape in place, but to change the gauze daily). I've got some extra fat, but I'm not as round as the images make things appear. Honestly :) ...The final pic shows a little 'deflation' as compared to the pic from yesterday afternoon. I don't know how long it takes for the air/gas that was used to inflate the belly to dissipate.

Pics:

Work *finally* eases ...hernia surgery tomorrow

It's been an extremely busy couple of months, working nights, weekends, pretty much every waking moment. But as of today, I'm spending an entire day not working :) Ahhhhhhh...

And just in time. I've been putting off hernia repair and need to get that done now while it can still be done laparoscopically. I'm booked for surgery tomorrow morning. The really insane thing is that aside from the standard concern before any medical procedure, I'm looking forward to the day off.

So (famous last words), I'm hoping to have some time to get back to blogging, spending the evenings and weekends doing anything exCEPT work, and getting back to a normal life after what will hopefully be a quick post-op recovery.

Colonoscopy - all done, all fine

When one hits the half-century mark, it is recommended to get a colonoscopy to screen for colon cancer and other ailments. I'm 51, so I was overdue.  This is the wrong way. I opted instead for a more standard colonoscopy, which I had done this morning. It turns out that the actual procedure only takes 15 minutes. It's the before and after that requires one to allocate some time. The prep day: I was told to eat no solid food the day prior, and to drink only clear liquids. This was pretty easy, really. Some years back, Shirley and I used to do a juice fast on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday of each week. We'd drink just fruit and vegetable juices and water, and then break the fast on Friday when we'd meet for a salad. So one day was easy. AND black coffee was allowed, so no worries. The more interesting part was the procedure to empty out one's insides. At 11am I took the prescribed 4 pills. The packaging made them look huge, but as the second pic below shows, the pills were actually quite small - very easy to swallow:

The next step was to add some warm water to the HalfLytely powder, cap and shake the container to mix the solution, and put it in the fridge to cool. Then it was back to juice and coffee for the next 4 hours. Starting at 3pm, as per instructions, every 15 minutes I drank 8 ounces of the HalfLytely mix. It's sort of like a slightly gelatinous, somewhat salty  Gatorade ...with a mild lemon-lime flavor. Given that I don't care for salt, it was a little unpleasant, but not bad. It takes about 8 doses (1 every 15 minutes) to get all the solution consumed. And trust me, it works! I'd not heard nor read much about this, so I figure I'll let the curious know ...after about 5 doses I took up residence in the bathroom. It was like a firehose. That sounds funny and disgusting and it is quite accurate. After a few hours (and finishing the other doses of the solution) I knew that the doc would have a very clear view of my innards. Picture day: Today was picture day, the day for the doc to take a video of my colon and check for any issues. I'd been told to stop drinking even water after midnight, so I was a tad thirsty. Oh well. After signing in at the hospital (and waiting around for the required time that one must always wait it seems), I was given a lovely gown to wear (the kind that's open in the back :). A needle (for IV) was positioned in my right arm (they wanted to use the back of my hand, but it was so frickin' cold there that my veins had wisely retreated for warmer parts). I was led to the procedure room, chatted a little with the doc - and asked if he might supply me with some pics of my innards - and they started the anesthesia. The next thing I knew I was lying on a bed in a little recovery area and Shirley was seated in a chair next to me. Somewhere along the way I remember the doc saying that I'd done a good prep (I so knew that already). Everything looked good inside, which means I'll go back for another movie day in 5 years. And the good doctor was kind enough to supply me with pics, so that you, dear reader, may now know me inside and out. With no further ado, here are pics, in order, of the inside of a human colon (mine) as the instrument travelled along:

It's now 5pm, and even though the procedure was done at 8:30am this morning, I'm still feeling very slightly foggy. So it makes sense that they warn patients to not drive, to not work (and probably should not blog) for 24 hours after the colonoscopy. Oh well. The End.

Toward optimal health

This next week I plan to do a liver flush and cleansing diet. I'll also be adjusting the type and dosage of the nutritional supplements I take. I've been exercising almost every day for a year or more - doing a few miles on the treadmill usually. And I've cut out eating cheese, quit eating red meat about 30 years ago, in general just eating birds/fish, veggies, fruit, and whole grain. With the diet and exercise, I'd figured that cholesterol numbers would be pretty good. Well, a month or so ago I had a check-up, and total cholesterol was in the upper 200's, HDL was just under 50. The doc I've been seeing wanted to 'treat' this by putting me on a statin drug. I think he was wanting to do 40mg a day of Zocor.

BUT ...I've had stress tests (treadmill test) with echo cardiogram with a cardiologist and that shows the heart to be in VERY good condition. Blood pressure is 108 over 73. Pulse is 63. So aside from this magic number (the total cholesterol), I seem to be in good shape.

So rather than start buying and taking a brand name drug, I have decided to 'flush' the liver to help it deal with the cholesterol. About 10 years ago I followed this liver flush and diet. I dropped the excess 10-20 pounds I'd been carrying, felt great, kept the weight off for years (it is back with me now :), and I also noticed that total cholesterol dropped to 160.

While on vacation this week, I read this book (pictured above) which includes references to many, many peer-reviewed studies published in JAMA, Lancet, etc. The gist of the book is that our bodies have the ability to heal and to stay healthy ...but we often may need to supplement our diet to give the body what it needs to do its job. Even when eating whole foods, those foods are often grown in a manner that limits their nutritional content.

The other thing I've done is to start working with a doc at Wellness Works to see what I can do to help my body achieve optimal health. There are certainly times when prescription drugs are necessary, but I do think that many physicians unfortunately fall into the habit of a rushed 15 minute appointment - determine the main 'complaint' and prescribe something to address the primary symptom. I would much rather take ownership of my health. So the revised plan now includes continuing with the cardio workouts, and I'm revising my supplements, doing the liver flush (this is my idea, not the doc at Wellness Works), adding a few weight-lifting workouts each week, reducing the amount of water I drink (suggested by the doc, after reviewing the rather massive quantity I've been consuming), and possibly other modifications after I do my next consultation with the doc at the end of the month (to review results of hair and blood analysis). This will be interesting!

Shake your fanny

You can stop "normal" aging. That's the little article I read this morning in the Parade section of the newspaper. The author, Dr. Henry S. Lodge, basically states the reasons why "use it or lose it" is such an  important concept. Eons ago, our bodies would semi shut down in the winter. As a matter of survival, we would 'decay as fast as possible' during the winter to survive (since there would be little food on which to survive). Then in the springtime when we'd become active again hunting and gathering, our bodies would rejuvenate. The activity would stimulate our cells to now focus not on decay, but on growth and replenishment.

Read the article! It raises more questions in my mind. For example, given that all but a few stem cells in our bodies are constantly being replaced with new cells, why should a body necessarily retain memories that are perhaps undesirable, like 'bad' joints or even scars? Shouldn't we be able to spontaneously heal? Shouldnt' we be able to overcome ailments by offering our systems environments in which to thrive and rejuvenate?

And that's kind of the point of the article. That some of the stereotypical aging patterns needn't be so. That our bodies offer us far more potential than we often allow. Very interesting read.

So the moral: Excercise! Shake your fanny!

New treadmill: Great! and evil

We've had the Bowflex Series 3 Treadmill for a week now. Happily, it arrived last Tuesday, several days earlier than had been predicted. Gosh, treadmill technology has come a long way since we bought our last one (while taking the old one apart to recycle what we could, we discovered part of the frame that had pretty much disintegrated ...I suspect it may have been wounded during the cross-country move to Florida). This new device is definitely evil ...in a good way, I guess. It has a number of built-in 'programs', so I can select a program, enter how long I want the workout to be, and then let this electronic demon force me through a more rigorous workout than I would do if left to my own slothful ways. So I'm still doing 3 miles a day, but the miles are harder. Sometimes faster. Sometimes at more of an incline (much more). Usually a mix of both. And always harder. A good solid sweat-fest.

So I am developing a real love/hate relationship with this critter. But I'm part masochist, so it's all good :)

Old treadmill died; new one ordered

Some years back - maybe 10, maybe more - we bought a Weslo Cadence LX25 treadmill at a Wards store in Portland, Oregon. For the past 5 or so years, it's been a little funky. It would adjust the speed a little all by itself. There *are* some treadmills that have built-in workout routines that vary the pace. This is not one of those machines. Well finally a couple of days ago it got to the point where we just can't use it. And that's a BUMMER, 'cause I'd been pretty regular with doing 3 miles a day. But having it kind of skip a little speed - and then pick right back up - with literally EVERY step ...that's a little too much to handle ...and a bit dangerous, actually.

So what to do?

Well, we checked Consumer Reports reviews on treadmills (thanks to my bro' Pat for giving us a subscription last year), and then surfed over to Amazon and placed an order for a Bowflex Series 3 Treadmill. It's spendy (US$1,000 ...OUCH!!!) ...but if it lasts 10 or so years like the other one, then that's only $100 per year for my favorite cardio workout. And given that Shirley recently dropped her Curves membership and is now working out at home (in the room we call the 'dungeon' - since it harbors our Bowflex weight lifting machine and the treadmill and an inversion table) ...we're also saving on that monthly membership fee. But it's driving me nuts waiting for the thing to arrive; it's not supposed to get here until Friday (24 Nov).

Managing cholesterol with Niacin

I've had borderline high cholesterol for years. But after moving to Florida in January of 2004, I'd been so busy getting things going with a new job, new house, new life for our family, that I'd pretty much stopped exercising. Well, 2 months ago I tested around 300 for total cholesterol, 39 for HDL, over 400 for triglycerides. I started on Zocor (40mg/day, but have stopped that). I'm now taking niacin, but the main thing I'm doing is plenty of exercise. As of last week, the total cholesterol is around 200, but more importantly the HDL is up to 52 (so far), the triglycerides are 160, and I'm feeling more fit. I usually put personal stuff on this site and mainly tech stuff on my other blog. But since I know a lot of geeks that need to get healthier, I've posted more details about the cholesterol stuff over at joelitton.net.

Use tea to control bleeding

I read an article yesterday or today about some new research that uses shrimp shells (ground up, or maybe an extract - I don't recall) when making bandages. Some ingredient in the shrimp shells apparently stops bleeding, and so the military is quite interested in the research.

Well, shucks. I've used regular old tea as a key component of first aid kits for decades. We typically keep a large box of Lipton or other inexpensive black tea bags on hand. I first heard about this over 25 years ago, when I'd had some oral surgery and the stitches opened up. I went to the hospital, and after 4 hours - and they were unable to get the slow bleeding to stop - I went home! Yup, they gave up. OK, it was the middle of the night, and I probably wasn't going to die, but still you would have thought they'd do better than a few gauze packs and then give up! Well anyway, my roommate then suggested I slap a tea bag or two on the wound. I did and in a few minutes the bleeding had stopped.

Ever since then, if I ever need to stem the flow of blood from a wound, I grab for the tea. Heck, a few times I've done a little minor self-surgery to remove a wart (slap on some alcohol, use a nail clipper or pocket knife to remove the wart and dig out the roots, slap on a little more alcohol, then put some tea on the wound and a band-aid. Standard disclaimer: do not try this; if you do, you are an idiot. Anyway, for theses instances, or other times when I've received a gash from an errant elbow in a soccer match or other good fun, tea has done the trick for me. In the case of the elbow to eyebrow gash, I found that disinfecting the cut and using some black tea and butterfly closures was, for me, preferable to a trip to the hospital for stitches ...not to mention avoiding hours of waiting around.

Yup, yet another benefit of tea. 'Tho coffee is still my preferred source for caffeine.

No more soap :(

That tiny yellowish sliver in the shower soap dish is all that remains of a cleansing dynasty...Shirley's soap business. When we were living in Vancouver, Washington, Shirley had a small business making soap. Shirley's soap was made the old-fashioned way, using vegetable oil, coconut oil, lye, water, scent (from essential oils). That soap was wonderful, and many customers, friends, and relatives had commented on how much they liked the soap.We've been spoiled using this good stuff - the remains of her soap inventory - since moving down to Florida this past January. But, alas, all things must change, and this morning I forced myself to unwrap a bar of <gasp!> store-bought soap.

That color-not-found-in-nature brick of chemicals in the corner is a bar of the over-perfumed and artificially colored excuse for soap that is marketed by one of the standard tons-o-advertising companies. After using a little of that this morning, I had to grab the sliver of Shirley's good soap and use it to get the smell of the new stuff off my skin.

I think today we'll hit one of the local health food stores and buy some real soap.

Digging the VitaMix

The other day I got home and saw a Vita-Mix Super 5000 sitting on the counter. Shirley had taken a little jaunt to the local Costco and saw a gent demonstrating one of these babies. So US$359 later, it was ours. Man, I first started thinking about getting one of these about 20 years ago! Well, I dropped Shirley and Ben off at the airport today (they're heading up to Vancouver USA to see family and friends), so I'm bach-ing it for a bit. OK, so let's see, what's easy to prepare foodwise? How about just taking whatever fruits and veggies are laying around, and dump 'em in the VitaMix and have a smoothie ready in about one minute!

Here's the before picture. The ingredients included an apple, an orange, a lime, a banana, some strawberries that we bought fresh and then froze, some blueberries, several baby carrots, a slice of cabbage, and a slice of pineapple (and I tossed in a few ice cubes). I did wash the apple and pull out the stem, and did peel the banana, orange, and lime, and cut the rind off of the pineapple. So there was some prep (very fast).

...and here's the finished smoothie (actually, this made two very full glasses). This was very, very tasty! It amazes me that I didn't taste the cabbage nor the carrots at all. What I'm discovering here is a very easy way to have extremely healthy drinks (we've also made soup, salsa, ice cream, nut butter, etc. using the VitaMix). Most of us do not take in nearly as much fresh fruits and vegetables as we should for optimum health. I wish now that we'd bought a VitaMix years ago. I am definitely sold on this machine!

Neti Pot: sinus cleanse method

My alternative title for this post is "Joe Litton - party guy". I've got a very mild cold at present. I sort of suspect that maybe I've got (and have had for a while) a very low grade sinus infection. Anyway, I don't care too much for most treatments prescribed by MD's, preferring a more natural approach vs prescription drugs. Infections, however are an exception; if this treatment doesn't work, then I may visit an MD and see if I've got an infection and if so, then get some antibiotics.

So what do I mean by "this treatment"? What I mean is flushing the sinuses using a technique from yoga - the use of a neti pot (you can order one here and read more about the technique here). The idea is simply to use warm salt water to flush out the schnoz. Here's a pic of me earlier today, pouring warm salt water into one nostril using a neti pot, and letting the water drain out the other nostril, taking some extra gluck with it:

Shirley's used this technique for a while if she's stuffed up, but I never had. It looked too strange. Well, gosh, I've often done basically this same thing at the ocean, intentionally snorting up some salt water to flush out the sinuses (you may want to make a note to stay away from me when I first go in the water :-)

Well now after finally trying the neti pot, I am hooked. I'll continue to take echinacea, drink lots of warm liquids and citrus juice, etc., and I am going to use the neti pot several times a day for a week or so and see if the sinuses feel better.

So invite me to your next party if you need to thin the crowd a little. Demonstrations are free :-)