Post op is going fairly well still, now a little over 3.5 weeks out. This morning saw 317.0 on the scale, so weight loss continues.
Eating is going OK. Not quite hitting the 90g protein, but am averaging 70ish. Almost always have a 27g BA shake for breakfast. Have been eating a light salad with a lot of deli turkey, or as I did thur, a hamburger patty. Dinner is whatever, kids stuff and work has been crazy so we're not on a very good "cook dinner" routine. Have eaten chicken fajita nachos, chicken quesadillas, lot of tuna. Trying to focus on higher protein, lower carbs, without obsessing. Goal is 90g protein, less than 50g carbs per day for now.
Keeping up fairly well with all of the vitamins with the exception of the iron. Need to get more diligent with the iron. I've decided I don't really like the BA calcium chewy bites as much as the Caltrate ones. Going to try to get more of them (bought a pack at Target).
Had a good NSV (NSV= non scale victory) yesterday as I wore some 44 waist Arizona jeans I hadn't been in for over a year. Yes, they were snug in the waist, but otherwise they were fine and I wore them all day at work (yay casual friday). Its good news since my only pair of jeans I could wear before surgery split up the crotch on the way to the hospital the day before surgery.
So, will keep on keeping on. Next followup with dr is Nov 15th when they will draw labs.
Saturday, October 22, 2011
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
post op so far
So I got home from the hospital on Thursday evening, Sept 29th. Today is October 5th. Some weight data so far:
Initial consult weight at Davis Clinic (April 29, 2011): 361 lb
pre op appointment weight (Sept 9, 2011): 367 lb
surgery weight (Sept 27, 2011): 342 lb
post op appointment weight (Oct 3): 332 lb
today weight (Oct 5): 328 lb
Relative to the post op experience, it has been better than expected. The trip home from the hospital was tough, as we had to drive an hour and each bump in the road felt like a spear jabbing into my stomach. I've been sleeping in a recliner. Initially this was for several reasons...keeping chest elevated a little (30 degrees was required in the hospital) to avoid fluid in lungs, plus having all the stomach wounds and muscle injury just made it the most comfortable position. Laid down in the bed for a few minutes last night, it was not too bad but rolling from back to front was still pretty painful. So back to the recliner for a few more days hopefully.
Surgical incisions seem to be healing fine, no signs of infection anyway. They started to itch some in the last day or so, which I guess is a good sign. The internals seem fine as far as the food bath / bowels etc. Gas has gone down, eating is fairly easy although capacity is limited (which is a good thing). I was advanced to "pureed" at post op appt on monday 3 oct, so am eating things like hummus, pudding, refried beans (not sure that is really legal but Yum!) etc.
The only complaint / concern I have at this point is the fairly sharp pain associated with movement that I have in my lower right front abdomen. Its curiously one of the few areas where there isn't a laprascopic incision. It also doesn't bother when I'm stationary, either sitting or standing (if I lie directly on the right side, it does hurt some). However, when I move, like sitting up, bending over, a little bit when I walk, it hurts. Not super bad, and it seems to be lessening each day. I have a fear (Started by valerie) that this is a hernia. It does seem to be getting less severe each day, so I'm going to continue to monitor it for at least a few more days and then re-evaluate.
Did a bunch of vitamin research. Took the Davis clinic's DS plan (basically BA's plan), pulled all the data of each nutrient into a spreadsheet, and did a comparison with Vitalady's plan. Turns out there are some similarities. However key differences were
1. VL has about 7x more A
2. VL has a lot more iron
3. VL has C
4. VL has a little less calcium
5. E is about the same
6. D is about 10X on VL
7. B12 is about 20X on VL
So I've decided to continue following Davis / BA, but supplementing as follows;
1. add 10-20K IU A per day (Davis/BA has 15K)
2. add a C
3. add a B complex
4. take more iron
In other supplement news, I've decided i hate the chewable calacium tabs from BA, and have ordered chewy bites to replace them. I also decided to shift the schedule to align with VL's suggestion of iron/C first thing in the AM...then taking multi/calcium through the day. Will go with this plan until either i decide to change or get feedback at 2 month labs.
Work wise, I've worked from home during this week of 03Oct. Worked out great since there was a 2 day BS meeting I was able to miss. So effectively I took 4.5 days off of work for the surgery (noon Monday 26th through Friday 30th). I will return "fully" to work and my 60 minute each way drive on Monday 10Oct. No concerns other than the aforementioned possible hernia.
I'll try to update this weekly to keep a record of how things go.
J
Initial consult weight at Davis Clinic (April 29, 2011): 361 lb
pre op appointment weight (Sept 9, 2011): 367 lb
surgery weight (Sept 27, 2011): 342 lb
post op appointment weight (Oct 3): 332 lb
today weight (Oct 5): 328 lb
Relative to the post op experience, it has been better than expected. The trip home from the hospital was tough, as we had to drive an hour and each bump in the road felt like a spear jabbing into my stomach. I've been sleeping in a recliner. Initially this was for several reasons...keeping chest elevated a little (30 degrees was required in the hospital) to avoid fluid in lungs, plus having all the stomach wounds and muscle injury just made it the most comfortable position. Laid down in the bed for a few minutes last night, it was not too bad but rolling from back to front was still pretty painful. So back to the recliner for a few more days hopefully.
Surgical incisions seem to be healing fine, no signs of infection anyway. They started to itch some in the last day or so, which I guess is a good sign. The internals seem fine as far as the food bath / bowels etc. Gas has gone down, eating is fairly easy although capacity is limited (which is a good thing). I was advanced to "pureed" at post op appt on monday 3 oct, so am eating things like hummus, pudding, refried beans (not sure that is really legal but Yum!) etc.
The only complaint / concern I have at this point is the fairly sharp pain associated with movement that I have in my lower right front abdomen. Its curiously one of the few areas where there isn't a laprascopic incision. It also doesn't bother when I'm stationary, either sitting or standing (if I lie directly on the right side, it does hurt some). However, when I move, like sitting up, bending over, a little bit when I walk, it hurts. Not super bad, and it seems to be lessening each day. I have a fear (Started by valerie) that this is a hernia. It does seem to be getting less severe each day, so I'm going to continue to monitor it for at least a few more days and then re-evaluate.
Did a bunch of vitamin research. Took the Davis clinic's DS plan (basically BA's plan), pulled all the data of each nutrient into a spreadsheet, and did a comparison with Vitalady's plan. Turns out there are some similarities. However key differences were
1. VL has about 7x more A
2. VL has a lot more iron
3. VL has C
4. VL has a little less calcium
5. E is about the same
6. D is about 10X on VL
7. B12 is about 20X on VL
So I've decided to continue following Davis / BA, but supplementing as follows;
1. add 10-20K IU A per day (Davis/BA has 15K)
2. add a C
3. add a B complex
4. take more iron
In other supplement news, I've decided i hate the chewable calacium tabs from BA, and have ordered chewy bites to replace them. I also decided to shift the schedule to align with VL's suggestion of iron/C first thing in the AM...then taking multi/calcium through the day. Will go with this plan until either i decide to change or get feedback at 2 month labs.
Work wise, I've worked from home during this week of 03Oct. Worked out great since there was a 2 day BS meeting I was able to miss. So effectively I took 4.5 days off of work for the surgery (noon Monday 26th through Friday 30th). I will return "fully" to work and my 60 minute each way drive on Monday 10Oct. No concerns other than the aforementioned possible hernia.
I'll try to update this weekly to keep a record of how things go.
J
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Hospital Stay
So as mentioned before, I got to my room on the 5th floor (room 521) around 2. I was still a little out of it (valerie says I looked like shit). I remember meeting the nurse, and I know valerie was there pretty much right from the start, but I don't have much memory of this period until later in the evening.
By far the worst thing I learned about at this point is that I had a "foley catheter". Heard the name before, didn't know what it was. Now I do. Its a catheter that passes through the urethra into the bladder, where it is secured with a small baloon, and is used to drain the urine when someone can't take care of it themselves. This is the technical description, what I experienced was that I had a freaking tube hanging out my peepee, going to a bag full of pee. I was mortally afraid that someone would accidently jerk it out. And unlike the IV, which is similar in concept (just flowing the other way) and which has about 9 lbs of super sticky tape holding everything in place, there was zero security to this foley cath. Just a tube from my johnson straight to a bag of pee. And the tube was heavy (need to research, at times it seemed like a siphon affect?) since it was full of pee and probably at least 3/8 inch (vs the tiny IV tubing which is light). And I had no idea how or when this thing got put in, nor was I warned about ti (though what would I have done??). I guess they did it before surgery while I was already out. Anyway, had significant fear / issues with the Foley...it was probably the worst part of the whole hospital stay.
By evening time I was becoming a little more lucid. Pain wasn't too bad. They had me on a PCA (button thing that I could push to pump morphine into my IV every 10 minutes). To be honest I was pretty disappointed with the morphine. I'm sure it was better than nothing but I don't remember a major affect.
Valerie reported to me what Dr G told her after the surgery. He said it was the "best DS ever performed in the US" in other words it was text book, no complications, no surprises, patient preparation was perfect etc. He did have an issue with the gall bladder. Gall bladder removal (as well as appendix removal) are typically done as part of DS, as leaving it in can result in increased risk of gallstones and the need to comeback in and take it out. It turns out my gall bladder was large and inflamed and already had several large stones. Dr G couldn't believe I hadn't been experiencing some sort of pain or symptoms. It turns out I had -- some lower right side and back pain that i first thought might be kidney related, but after talking to PCP and getting some tests, she decided it was just musculo-skeletal (ie sore back). Although this isn't a direct link, as I recover I haven't noticed that "back pain" any more, so putting 2 and 2 together I'm pretty sure that's what was causing my back pain. Relative to the surgery -- the inflammation and several large stones caused some trouble removing the gall bladder through the laproscopic tools. But he got it! Post op I have some (new, different) front lower right side pain that I attribute to localized trauma from the removal of the gall bladder -- this is my biggest on going pain issue post op.
So anyway, back to the evening of the surgery in room 521. About 6pm they asked me to try to get up and walk around. Moving from a lying down (with the bed propped up some) position to a sitting position was (and still is) a challenge, since all the stomach muscles are super sore. Once I was sitting up in bed with my legs on the floor, standing was quite easy. I stood up and (after gathering my IV pole and pee bag) took a few steps toward the door. Yes there was some incremental pain from walking, but it wasnt that different than lying still. So I proceeded out the door and walked down the to the end of the hall (about 80 feet). On the way back, I asked the nurse who was escorting my what the "best" walking performance had been. She said all the way around the floor (I would estimate that to be about 350 feet). By the time I was back in my room I had done 80x2 = 160 ft, and was pretty tired. However I went out again around 730 pm and did the whole floor - 350 ft. Continued to do it again the next day.
In between walks, I had valerie text dana and work to let them know i survived, and later in the evening around 8pm we called and talked to the kids. I remember feeling quite lucid and functional for this. We watched some tv and then drifted off around 10 pm. I was in and out of sleep most of the night, dont remember sleeping more than 30-40 min at a time (but did this 5 or 6 or 7 diff times) plus I had slept a lot during the afternoon.
Day 2 began with another walk around the floor, then at 8 they sent me for my "Dye check", where I swallow the dye and they watch it go down on an xray or whatever to look for leaks. Valerie waited in the room during this test. I was placed in a wheel chair and had to drag my IV pole by resting my feet on it, while a dude took me to radiology on the 1st floor. This pole thing was heavy as it had the IV machine, the PCA (morphine machine) and a nice big sack o' urine from my Foley. This dye check was less than pleasant, took about 45 minutes, then they sent me back to the room. It was kind of funny because there were about 5-6 other WLS patients getting the dye check at the same time as I was. About 11 we found out I passed the test, so could now have clear liquids. By the way, I hadn't been able to have anything orally until this point, but I was allowed to wash my mouth with water and spit it out.
The other good thing about Day 2 was we met Staci, she was my RN during day shift that day. Turns out she had a DS about 2 years ago (I think exactly 2 years to the day before me) and was full of useful info. Even without that, she was just an awesome friendly person and very competent nurse and valerie and I really liked her. Though this would apply to pretty much all the staff as they were all awesome.
After the dye test, but while waiting for results, we attended a bariatric discharge class where the MHMC bariatrics program director talked about general post op care issues and described their support groups.
Got the dye results...everything was fine. This caused 3 things to happen: 1) I got to have clear liquids, 2) i got my PCA pump removed (no more morphine), and 3) the Foley came could out.
First the pump was removed and placed back in lockdown somewhere (they seem to take extra good care of the morphine). Then I got a "clear liquid lunch" which was some broth and idk what else. Then they were ready to remove the foley. Of course I was very awake and aware this time, and extremely nervous about this. Staci did it, and before starting she explained that she would first deflate the baloon that was holding it in the bladder, then pull it out, and that while it might have slight discomfort it wouldn't be painful. I was skeptical but I wanted it out so gave her the go ahead. Deflating the balloon was a non issue, but when she pulled that thing out I got the most horrendous burn on the inside of my wiener. OUUUUCCHHHH. But oh what a relief it was to have that thing out. But damn it hurt.
Mostly just hung out the rest of the day. Dr G came for a visit, he said everything looked good on the dye test and if things continued I should be discharged on Thur. Talked to Dana on the phone some. Valerie left in the mid afteroon to go home (her plan was to sleep at home, work in the AM, then be back at the hospital at around 1 pm thur.
Of course, I thought the foley saga was over but it wasn't. At some point Staci explained to me that after having a foley even for a few hrs (i had mine for about 28 hrs) the brain and bladder some how get disconnectted and the "i need to go pee" sensation is lost. Long story short, if you wait till you feel need to go pee, your bladder can be so full that you can't go and they could have to re-Foley you. YIKES! (no general anaethesia this time i'm sure). She said i had 8 hrs (till about 8 pm) to pee (i later found out they wanted 250 ml).
There's an open question about the state the bladder is left in when the foley is removed....anecdotally it seems to me it must be quite empty. But it would seem this initial condition is an important variable in anticipating when the bladder might get full. Remember, there's a fixed 125 ml/hr of IV fluid going in, so they know at what rate its filling up. So i got serious about trying to pee. But nothing would come out. Finally at idk 5 or 6 ish i got like 2 drops to come out. First, it burned like freaking HELLL. Second, it was only 2 drops. By now there was a different (younger) RN on shift, and she was even more worked up about me peeing than I was. By now i had produced about 75 ml, and she was very worried. She went and borrowed a "bladder measuring device" which through some mechanism (ultrasound i'm guessing) she was able to estimate I had 160-200 ml urine in my bladder, so not very full. She phoned Dr G and I got a reprieve until mignight to produce my 250. Somewhere around 11 I produced about 150, so my total was on the high side of 225 and she decided that was good enough. During the night and in the morning I produced another 200-300 so things were fine.
For the rest of the day, when I wasn't standing over an empty pot praying for pee, or breaking into cold sweat at the thought of another Foley, I listened to Kindle some, watched tv, and went to sleep. Slept a little better this time.
Day 3
Day 3 came around and the pee was flowing. I took a mini shower in the sink area of the bathroom. And I had my first (albeit fully liquid ) BM. I was upgraded to "bariatric post op day 2" food, which is "full liquid, which consisted of tomato soup and some carnation instant breakfast. Soup was really good. Staci was RN again for day shift. She disconnected and shut off the IV machine, but left the needle in. This meant I could walk around without my pole for the first time. This was nice, but also a little tougher as the pole was nice to lean on.
I just hung out during the day waiting for valerie to arrive and Dr G to see me. Turns out he got there about 30 min before her. He said he was discharging me, and he'd see me monday for followup. This triggered the paperwork and process of the nurses actually discharging me. Valerie arrived shortly thereafter, my IV was removed, I changed to regular clothes, and Staci came by with all the paperwork. Valerie left to pull the car around, a volunteer drove me to the front door of the hospital in a wheel chair, and I hopped in the car at about 3pm. Total stay in the hospital was about 57 hours.
By far the worst thing I learned about at this point is that I had a "foley catheter". Heard the name before, didn't know what it was. Now I do. Its a catheter that passes through the urethra into the bladder, where it is secured with a small baloon, and is used to drain the urine when someone can't take care of it themselves. This is the technical description, what I experienced was that I had a freaking tube hanging out my peepee, going to a bag full of pee. I was mortally afraid that someone would accidently jerk it out. And unlike the IV, which is similar in concept (just flowing the other way) and which has about 9 lbs of super sticky tape holding everything in place, there was zero security to this foley cath. Just a tube from my johnson straight to a bag of pee. And the tube was heavy (need to research, at times it seemed like a siphon affect?) since it was full of pee and probably at least 3/8 inch (vs the tiny IV tubing which is light). And I had no idea how or when this thing got put in, nor was I warned about ti (though what would I have done??). I guess they did it before surgery while I was already out. Anyway, had significant fear / issues with the Foley...it was probably the worst part of the whole hospital stay.
By evening time I was becoming a little more lucid. Pain wasn't too bad. They had me on a PCA (button thing that I could push to pump morphine into my IV every 10 minutes). To be honest I was pretty disappointed with the morphine. I'm sure it was better than nothing but I don't remember a major affect.
Valerie reported to me what Dr G told her after the surgery. He said it was the "best DS ever performed in the US" in other words it was text book, no complications, no surprises, patient preparation was perfect etc. He did have an issue with the gall bladder. Gall bladder removal (as well as appendix removal) are typically done as part of DS, as leaving it in can result in increased risk of gallstones and the need to comeback in and take it out. It turns out my gall bladder was large and inflamed and already had several large stones. Dr G couldn't believe I hadn't been experiencing some sort of pain or symptoms. It turns out I had -- some lower right side and back pain that i first thought might be kidney related, but after talking to PCP and getting some tests, she decided it was just musculo-skeletal (ie sore back). Although this isn't a direct link, as I recover I haven't noticed that "back pain" any more, so putting 2 and 2 together I'm pretty sure that's what was causing my back pain. Relative to the surgery -- the inflammation and several large stones caused some trouble removing the gall bladder through the laproscopic tools. But he got it! Post op I have some (new, different) front lower right side pain that I attribute to localized trauma from the removal of the gall bladder -- this is my biggest on going pain issue post op.
So anyway, back to the evening of the surgery in room 521. About 6pm they asked me to try to get up and walk around. Moving from a lying down (with the bed propped up some) position to a sitting position was (and still is) a challenge, since all the stomach muscles are super sore. Once I was sitting up in bed with my legs on the floor, standing was quite easy. I stood up and (after gathering my IV pole and pee bag) took a few steps toward the door. Yes there was some incremental pain from walking, but it wasnt that different than lying still. So I proceeded out the door and walked down the to the end of the hall (about 80 feet). On the way back, I asked the nurse who was escorting my what the "best" walking performance had been. She said all the way around the floor (I would estimate that to be about 350 feet). By the time I was back in my room I had done 80x2 = 160 ft, and was pretty tired. However I went out again around 730 pm and did the whole floor - 350 ft. Continued to do it again the next day.
In between walks, I had valerie text dana and work to let them know i survived, and later in the evening around 8pm we called and talked to the kids. I remember feeling quite lucid and functional for this. We watched some tv and then drifted off around 10 pm. I was in and out of sleep most of the night, dont remember sleeping more than 30-40 min at a time (but did this 5 or 6 or 7 diff times) plus I had slept a lot during the afternoon.
Day 2 began with another walk around the floor, then at 8 they sent me for my "Dye check", where I swallow the dye and they watch it go down on an xray or whatever to look for leaks. Valerie waited in the room during this test. I was placed in a wheel chair and had to drag my IV pole by resting my feet on it, while a dude took me to radiology on the 1st floor. This pole thing was heavy as it had the IV machine, the PCA (morphine machine) and a nice big sack o' urine from my Foley. This dye check was less than pleasant, took about 45 minutes, then they sent me back to the room. It was kind of funny because there were about 5-6 other WLS patients getting the dye check at the same time as I was. About 11 we found out I passed the test, so could now have clear liquids. By the way, I hadn't been able to have anything orally until this point, but I was allowed to wash my mouth with water and spit it out.
The other good thing about Day 2 was we met Staci, she was my RN during day shift that day. Turns out she had a DS about 2 years ago (I think exactly 2 years to the day before me) and was full of useful info. Even without that, she was just an awesome friendly person and very competent nurse and valerie and I really liked her. Though this would apply to pretty much all the staff as they were all awesome.
After the dye test, but while waiting for results, we attended a bariatric discharge class where the MHMC bariatrics program director talked about general post op care issues and described their support groups.
Got the dye results...everything was fine. This caused 3 things to happen: 1) I got to have clear liquids, 2) i got my PCA pump removed (no more morphine), and 3) the Foley came could out.
First the pump was removed and placed back in lockdown somewhere (they seem to take extra good care of the morphine). Then I got a "clear liquid lunch" which was some broth and idk what else. Then they were ready to remove the foley. Of course I was very awake and aware this time, and extremely nervous about this. Staci did it, and before starting she explained that she would first deflate the baloon that was holding it in the bladder, then pull it out, and that while it might have slight discomfort it wouldn't be painful. I was skeptical but I wanted it out so gave her the go ahead. Deflating the balloon was a non issue, but when she pulled that thing out I got the most horrendous burn on the inside of my wiener. OUUUUCCHHHH. But oh what a relief it was to have that thing out. But damn it hurt.
Mostly just hung out the rest of the day. Dr G came for a visit, he said everything looked good on the dye test and if things continued I should be discharged on Thur. Talked to Dana on the phone some. Valerie left in the mid afteroon to go home (her plan was to sleep at home, work in the AM, then be back at the hospital at around 1 pm thur.
Of course, I thought the foley saga was over but it wasn't. At some point Staci explained to me that after having a foley even for a few hrs (i had mine for about 28 hrs) the brain and bladder some how get disconnectted and the "i need to go pee" sensation is lost. Long story short, if you wait till you feel need to go pee, your bladder can be so full that you can't go and they could have to re-Foley you. YIKES! (no general anaethesia this time i'm sure). She said i had 8 hrs (till about 8 pm) to pee (i later found out they wanted 250 ml).
There's an open question about the state the bladder is left in when the foley is removed....anecdotally it seems to me it must be quite empty. But it would seem this initial condition is an important variable in anticipating when the bladder might get full. Remember, there's a fixed 125 ml/hr of IV fluid going in, so they know at what rate its filling up. So i got serious about trying to pee. But nothing would come out. Finally at idk 5 or 6 ish i got like 2 drops to come out. First, it burned like freaking HELLL. Second, it was only 2 drops. By now there was a different (younger) RN on shift, and she was even more worked up about me peeing than I was. By now i had produced about 75 ml, and she was very worried. She went and borrowed a "bladder measuring device" which through some mechanism (ultrasound i'm guessing) she was able to estimate I had 160-200 ml urine in my bladder, so not very full. She phoned Dr G and I got a reprieve until mignight to produce my 250. Somewhere around 11 I produced about 150, so my total was on the high side of 225 and she decided that was good enough. During the night and in the morning I produced another 200-300 so things were fine.
For the rest of the day, when I wasn't standing over an empty pot praying for pee, or breaking into cold sweat at the thought of another Foley, I listened to Kindle some, watched tv, and went to sleep. Slept a little better this time.
Day 3
Day 3 came around and the pee was flowing. I took a mini shower in the sink area of the bathroom. And I had my first (albeit fully liquid ) BM. I was upgraded to "bariatric post op day 2" food, which is "full liquid, which consisted of tomato soup and some carnation instant breakfast. Soup was really good. Staci was RN again for day shift. She disconnected and shut off the IV machine, but left the needle in. This meant I could walk around without my pole for the first time. This was nice, but also a little tougher as the pole was nice to lean on.
I just hung out during the day waiting for valerie to arrive and Dr G to see me. Turns out he got there about 30 min before her. He said he was discharging me, and he'd see me monday for followup. This triggered the paperwork and process of the nurses actually discharging me. Valerie arrived shortly thereafter, my IV was removed, I changed to regular clothes, and Staci came by with all the paperwork. Valerie left to pull the car around, a volunteer drove me to the front door of the hospital in a wheel chair, and I hopped in the car at about 3pm. Total stay in the hospital was about 57 hours.
Surgery Day!
So as mentioned before, walked to the hospital east tower and arrived at 6:03 am. Checked in at the front desk, just gave them the credit card to swipe then we were sent to the 2nd floor.
On the 2nd floor we checked in at the desk and waited about 5 min, then a black gentleman called me back, telling valerie he would bring her when I was "situated". He gave me a paper gown to change into, and a bag for my stuff. He brought be to a presurg waiting area, where there were 8 beds. Two other people were already there. In this area is where they put various bracelets on you, got your IV started, asked you about 1000 questions. You got a visit from the anethesiology team (both nurse and Dr) as well as the surgical team (again nurse and Dr). I had the opportunity to observe this as my surgery was scheduled for 8 am (first I learned this!) but since I had arrived at 6, I was lower on the totem pole than the multiple 730 surgeries they had scheduled. I also learned they didn't let your family back until your IV was in...and since I was lower priority they had skipped my IV insertion in favor of folks who arrived later, but had earlier surgeries. This didn't bother me at all (wasn't in a hurry for that IV!) but it did cause confusion for valerie as she saw other families who arrived after us getting called back. Altogether it was probably 1 hr 20 min before she was called back.
Just as they were about to (finally!) do my IV, the nurse asked if I had been weighed, and (to my surprise, though I didn't comment on it at the time), I told them I hadnt been. She immeidately dragged me to a "regular" (ie that only goes to 350) Dr type scale and voila 342! Hopefully she wrote it down, as this is my documentation of by 25 lb (367 to 342) lb pre op weight loss.
So back to the table, stick me with the GIANT IV. Did I menion I'd seen one or two IV failures during my period of observation of all the 730 surgical patients, and got to hear the apologetic description the nurse gave of the "larger than normal" IV needles they use for surgery. Anyway, it sucked as usual, but after a few minutes the pain was gone and then Valerie was there talking to me.
Got to meet the Anethesia team (nurse and Dr) and both seemed awesome. Checked air way and explained I'd have a breathing tube during surg, but the anethesia would all be IV.
Also got to meet with the surgical nurse and a student nurse she had with her. All of the above were meeting me for the first time, they were all super professional and sharp with their questions, were super re-assuring in terms of how good shape (relative to many surgical cases) I was in, how I was going to do great, what a great surgeon Dr G was. At some point in this period, they gave me a "happy shot" into the IV. Didn't knock me out, but my lucidity declined. Valerie called it an "instant six pack".
Then Dr G came by, had a quick chat, he seemed in a good mood. He told me the surgery would be 3.5 to 4 hrs. After a few minutes discussion, he asked if I was ready, when I said yes he said let's go. I kissed valerie and they wheeled me out of the prep area and into the surgical theater. I assume this was pretty close to 8 am but dont remember checking the clock.
My memories of this part are pretty vague. I mostly remember a frenzy of activity. I remember one of the nurses pushing the cart asking who was assisting, and they speculated on some Dr's (I think they mentioned primono). I clearly remember them talking about Dr G's very specific music tastes, how he insists on having a certain music (though I cant remember what kind) playing while he operates, and how he likes to sing a long (But is a terrible singer!). I remember having to scooch over from the gurney thing to a much thinner "operating table", and then they strapped me in as I saw what seemed like a dozen people buzzing around me. This was just random stuff I remember but I guess I drifted off...the next memory I have is waking in the recovery room.
In the recovery room, the breathing tube was already out (thank goodness!) and the nurse there kept telling me to breath. The first time memory I have is of seeing a clock reading 12.20, so assuming we started at 8, the surgey was close to 4 hrs. Not sure how long I remained unconscious after they were done. I think the nurse was monitoring O2 Sat. I got my breathing better, then she asked me to cough, and I gave a pathetic cough, and she yelled at me "that wasn't a cough, do it harder!". This was not easy since my whole stomach was not exactly in pain but it didnt feel like I should be coughing for the hell of it. Anyway, I kept breathing and coughing until she was happy. I also realized I was on a comfy wheeled type hospital bed, not the thin table they had me on in the OR, and I couldn't help but wonder how they had moved by 350 lb ass. Anyway, at around 2 I got wheeled to my room on the 5th floor where I would spend the next couple of days. Will detail out the remainder of the hospital stay in the next post.
On the 2nd floor we checked in at the desk and waited about 5 min, then a black gentleman called me back, telling valerie he would bring her when I was "situated". He gave me a paper gown to change into, and a bag for my stuff. He brought be to a presurg waiting area, where there were 8 beds. Two other people were already there. In this area is where they put various bracelets on you, got your IV started, asked you about 1000 questions. You got a visit from the anethesiology team (both nurse and Dr) as well as the surgical team (again nurse and Dr). I had the opportunity to observe this as my surgery was scheduled for 8 am (first I learned this!) but since I had arrived at 6, I was lower on the totem pole than the multiple 730 surgeries they had scheduled. I also learned they didn't let your family back until your IV was in...and since I was lower priority they had skipped my IV insertion in favor of folks who arrived later, but had earlier surgeries. This didn't bother me at all (wasn't in a hurry for that IV!) but it did cause confusion for valerie as she saw other families who arrived after us getting called back. Altogether it was probably 1 hr 20 min before she was called back.
Just as they were about to (finally!) do my IV, the nurse asked if I had been weighed, and (to my surprise, though I didn't comment on it at the time), I told them I hadnt been. She immeidately dragged me to a "regular" (ie that only goes to 350) Dr type scale and voila 342! Hopefully she wrote it down, as this is my documentation of by 25 lb (367 to 342) lb pre op weight loss.
So back to the table, stick me with the GIANT IV. Did I menion I'd seen one or two IV failures during my period of observation of all the 730 surgical patients, and got to hear the apologetic description the nurse gave of the "larger than normal" IV needles they use for surgery. Anyway, it sucked as usual, but after a few minutes the pain was gone and then Valerie was there talking to me.
Got to meet the Anethesia team (nurse and Dr) and both seemed awesome. Checked air way and explained I'd have a breathing tube during surg, but the anethesia would all be IV.
Also got to meet with the surgical nurse and a student nurse she had with her. All of the above were meeting me for the first time, they were all super professional and sharp with their questions, were super re-assuring in terms of how good shape (relative to many surgical cases) I was in, how I was going to do great, what a great surgeon Dr G was. At some point in this period, they gave me a "happy shot" into the IV. Didn't knock me out, but my lucidity declined. Valerie called it an "instant six pack".
Then Dr G came by, had a quick chat, he seemed in a good mood. He told me the surgery would be 3.5 to 4 hrs. After a few minutes discussion, he asked if I was ready, when I said yes he said let's go. I kissed valerie and they wheeled me out of the prep area and into the surgical theater. I assume this was pretty close to 8 am but dont remember checking the clock.
My memories of this part are pretty vague. I mostly remember a frenzy of activity. I remember one of the nurses pushing the cart asking who was assisting, and they speculated on some Dr's (I think they mentioned primono). I clearly remember them talking about Dr G's very specific music tastes, how he insists on having a certain music (though I cant remember what kind) playing while he operates, and how he likes to sing a long (But is a terrible singer!). I remember having to scooch over from the gurney thing to a much thinner "operating table", and then they strapped me in as I saw what seemed like a dozen people buzzing around me. This was just random stuff I remember but I guess I drifted off...the next memory I have is waking in the recovery room.
In the recovery room, the breathing tube was already out (thank goodness!) and the nurse there kept telling me to breath. The first time memory I have is of seeing a clock reading 12.20, so assuming we started at 8, the surgey was close to 4 hrs. Not sure how long I remained unconscious after they were done. I think the nurse was monitoring O2 Sat. I got my breathing better, then she asked me to cough, and I gave a pathetic cough, and she yelled at me "that wasn't a cough, do it harder!". This was not easy since my whole stomach was not exactly in pain but it didnt feel like I should be coughing for the hell of it. Anyway, I kept breathing and coughing until she was happy. I also realized I was on a comfy wheeled type hospital bed, not the thin table they had me on in the OR, and I couldn't help but wonder how they had moved by 350 lb ass. Anyway, at around 2 I got wheeled to my room on the 5th floor where I would spend the next couple of days. Will detail out the remainder of the hospital stay in the next post.
Pre Op Experiences
Well a lot has happened since the last post.
Had the pre-op on Sep 9, both at Dr G's office and at the hospital. Dr G's was basically just getting all the meal replacement shakes purchased, as well as talking with the clinical director (jamie carr) to see if we had any last minute questions. And paying surg fees. No seeing the Dr, no weighing.
At the hospital it was much more involved. Didn't have to pay them, they offered to let me pay on the day of surgery, which I took. Still filled out all the preadmit forms, so that the formalities would be very limited on the day of surgery (which they were). Then they called me for to the pre admit clinic area, and drew blood, checked weight (367, likely to be my highest ever recorded weight), had me pee in a cup, reviewed a ton of presurgery instructions, and gave me a chest xray. We got there at 230 and were done by 5, they were very professional and efficient.
Then we went and ate at Yia Yia Mary, the Pappas brothers Greek restaurant in Houston. It was quite good. Continued to eat the rest of the weekend, culminating in a tex mex fiesta with the family at El Potrillo on Sunday noon. Then I left for Chicago.
Flying to Chicago (this is now on Sept 11'th, yay for flying on the 10th anniverary of that evil day, although it was surprisingly normal in the airport) I made the decision to start dieting early. The pre Op diet is supposed to be 2 weeks (so I would start on Tue Sep 13th) but instead I decided to start ultra low carbing on the plane, which I did. I continued this the rest of the chicago trip, which was really tough as we were offered awesome breakfast / lunch / snacks at the UOP office, as well as going to fine restaurants each night. I only did a few shakes that week, mostly I ate super low carb. I didn't cheat once -- worst thing I ate the whole week was 5 grapes on the plane flight back on Friday 16 sep.
Once home I got more into the shakes, as Valerie also started doing them with me. However, I didn't go to the full 5 shakes/day routine until about 3 days before surgery. All along I was losing weight. My weight the morning of the day of surgery was 342, so officially 25 lb lost in 2.5 weeks preop.
The day before surgery, valerie and i stayed in the westin hotel located at the memorial hermann memorial city campus, thereby we could just walk to my 6 am surgery appointment. It was nice enough but we had a snafu -- the room they gave us didnt have a bathtub, which V wanted, therefore we had to call down and switch. After that we walked over to the Mem city mall through the sky bridge, had some japanese food (i had miso soup, as I was on clear liquids for the last day before surg). Then we went and saw the Brad Pitt movie Moneyball, it was excellent. Walked back to hotel and did the pre-surgery scrub thing they told me to do. Turned out part of my skin under my "stomach fold" had a bad reaction, so I took a 2nd shower and washed it off. Turned out not to be much of an issue but it was annoying.
Anyway, woke up at 540, got dressed etc, and walked over/checked in for surgery. I will describe that part in the next post.
Had the pre-op on Sep 9, both at Dr G's office and at the hospital. Dr G's was basically just getting all the meal replacement shakes purchased, as well as talking with the clinical director (jamie carr) to see if we had any last minute questions. And paying surg fees. No seeing the Dr, no weighing.
At the hospital it was much more involved. Didn't have to pay them, they offered to let me pay on the day of surgery, which I took. Still filled out all the preadmit forms, so that the formalities would be very limited on the day of surgery (which they were). Then they called me for to the pre admit clinic area, and drew blood, checked weight (367, likely to be my highest ever recorded weight), had me pee in a cup, reviewed a ton of presurgery instructions, and gave me a chest xray. We got there at 230 and were done by 5, they were very professional and efficient.
Then we went and ate at Yia Yia Mary, the Pappas brothers Greek restaurant in Houston. It was quite good. Continued to eat the rest of the weekend, culminating in a tex mex fiesta with the family at El Potrillo on Sunday noon. Then I left for Chicago.
Flying to Chicago (this is now on Sept 11'th, yay for flying on the 10th anniverary of that evil day, although it was surprisingly normal in the airport) I made the decision to start dieting early. The pre Op diet is supposed to be 2 weeks (so I would start on Tue Sep 13th) but instead I decided to start ultra low carbing on the plane, which I did. I continued this the rest of the chicago trip, which was really tough as we were offered awesome breakfast / lunch / snacks at the UOP office, as well as going to fine restaurants each night. I only did a few shakes that week, mostly I ate super low carb. I didn't cheat once -- worst thing I ate the whole week was 5 grapes on the plane flight back on Friday 16 sep.
Once home I got more into the shakes, as Valerie also started doing them with me. However, I didn't go to the full 5 shakes/day routine until about 3 days before surgery. All along I was losing weight. My weight the morning of the day of surgery was 342, so officially 25 lb lost in 2.5 weeks preop.
The day before surgery, valerie and i stayed in the westin hotel located at the memorial hermann memorial city campus, thereby we could just walk to my 6 am surgery appointment. It was nice enough but we had a snafu -- the room they gave us didnt have a bathtub, which V wanted, therefore we had to call down and switch. After that we walked over to the Mem city mall through the sky bridge, had some japanese food (i had miso soup, as I was on clear liquids for the last day before surg). Then we went and saw the Brad Pitt movie Moneyball, it was excellent. Walked back to hotel and did the pre-surgery scrub thing they told me to do. Turned out part of my skin under my "stomach fold" had a bad reaction, so I took a 2nd shower and washed it off. Turned out not to be much of an issue but it was annoying.
Anyway, woke up at 540, got dressed etc, and walked over/checked in for surgery. I will describe that part in the next post.
Saturday, August 13, 2011
got a date
Got a date for my DS surgery with Dr. Garth. Will do preop on Friday Sep 9. This consists of a visit to surgeon's office for paperwork, payment, and picking up shakes and vitamins. The surgeon's office wants 1250 for my share of the surgery and 300 for 3 weeks of shakes and 3 months of supplements. Then I will visit the hospital (MHMC) for pre registration, blood draw for preop labs, probably some paperwork and payment as well. Don't know what the hospital fee will be.
Surgery itself will be Tuesday Sept 27, reporting to hospital at 9 am. Expect to be in the hospital for 2-3 days, and off work for about 2 weeks.
The preop regimen consists of a number of things as follows:
1. a two week liquid diet (commencing 13Sep). This involves 5 shakes a day using BA's meal replacement shake formula. They can be mixed with water or milk, and splenda or vanilla or other flavorings can be added.
2. starting on the vitamin supplements
Fun Fun! Planning to be in chicago on business the week of 12 Sep, so will start my liq diet during that trip. This is probably a good thing otherwise I would be eating badly!
J
Surgery itself will be Tuesday Sept 27, reporting to hospital at 9 am. Expect to be in the hospital for 2-3 days, and off work for about 2 weeks.
The preop regimen consists of a number of things as follows:
1. a two week liquid diet (commencing 13Sep). This involves 5 shakes a day using BA's meal replacement shake formula. They can be mixed with water or milk, and splenda or vanilla or other flavorings can be added.
2. starting on the vitamin supplements
- multi with ADEK 2x daily
- 2000 mg Ca (max 600 mg per dose, spaced 2hrs apart, not with iron)
- 29 mg iron
- Vit D (1 daily unless instructed otherwise)
3. No Advil / ibuprofen / NSAIDS (or blood thinners) from 10 days before surgery. Tylenol is ok if needed.
4. 2 days before surgery, begin to shower twice daily with antibacterial soap
5. the day before surgery, go on clear liquids. broth, water, decaf coffee/tea, sugar free popsicles or jello. No red or orange jello.
6. purchase a bottle of magnesium citrate from pharmacy for bowel cleansing. Consume the entire bottle starting the day before surgery at 4 pm. Stay near the toilet.
7. NO eating or drinking after midnight the night before surgery.
Fun Fun! Planning to be in chicago on business the week of 12 Sep, so will start my liq diet during that trip. This is probably a good thing otherwise I would be eating badly!
J
Sunday, July 24, 2011
whoa where has all the time gone
Wow i've been neglecting this sucker.
Hmm so what is going on. Well I changed jobs in early June from the old PA implementation leader in Engineering Solutions to a business aligned role working for the LHC Technology center as a Technology Associate. The specific job they brought me on for was to be the Manufacturing Rep for a new project that Hydrocarbons will be building in Freeport, with the goal of "on purpose propylene production" as publicly announced a couple months ago by Dow. Its very exciting and demanding (in a good way).
I've also gotten pretty far down the road toward weight loss surgery, specifically the duodenal switch. I had an initial consultation with the surgeon (Dr Garth Davis) in late April 2011. I've had to complete a 3 month series of nutrition classes (last one is next week), and will have an appt with Dr Garth also next week. Still have to get approved by insurance and all that, so earliest likely date for surgery is probably some time in Sept. We'll see.
What else is going on. Hmm well Andrea turned 16 in December 2010, we purchased a Honda Fit for her. I was psyched up to spend 5-6k on a decent used car for her, but Valerie sort of fell in love with these fits. As it turns out, with the economy where it has been, the used car market has been hot and the new car dealers are "dealin". We ended up spending 16k plus ttl on the fit. I was planning to pay cash, as I already have 2 car payments, when the dealer asked me if i wanted the 0.9% honda financing. I started to say no, but when they ran the numbers I figured out i'd spend a whopping 350 bucks over 5 (or 4 cant remember) years in interest, i said sign me up.
What else...? Well I pretty much quit playing WoW in June. Valerie had quit probably in march or april, and I continued on a greatly reduced schedule, only raiding 2-3 nights a week for 3 hrs each (so playing a max of 6-9 hrs). Did achieve 7/13 25M heroic boss kills for T11 before patch 4.2 dropped. V didn't particularly like it, but she tolerated it. However when the new job started in june my free time dropped and something had to give, so like I said I've pretty much stopped.
'Nuff for now, will try to keep this more up to date.
Hmm so what is going on. Well I changed jobs in early June from the old PA implementation leader in Engineering Solutions to a business aligned role working for the LHC Technology center as a Technology Associate. The specific job they brought me on for was to be the Manufacturing Rep for a new project that Hydrocarbons will be building in Freeport, with the goal of "on purpose propylene production" as publicly announced a couple months ago by Dow. Its very exciting and demanding (in a good way).
I've also gotten pretty far down the road toward weight loss surgery, specifically the duodenal switch. I had an initial consultation with the surgeon (Dr Garth Davis) in late April 2011. I've had to complete a 3 month series of nutrition classes (last one is next week), and will have an appt with Dr Garth also next week. Still have to get approved by insurance and all that, so earliest likely date for surgery is probably some time in Sept. We'll see.
What else is going on. Hmm well Andrea turned 16 in December 2010, we purchased a Honda Fit for her. I was psyched up to spend 5-6k on a decent used car for her, but Valerie sort of fell in love with these fits. As it turns out, with the economy where it has been, the used car market has been hot and the new car dealers are "dealin". We ended up spending 16k plus ttl on the fit. I was planning to pay cash, as I already have 2 car payments, when the dealer asked me if i wanted the 0.9% honda financing. I started to say no, but when they ran the numbers I figured out i'd spend a whopping 350 bucks over 5 (or 4 cant remember) years in interest, i said sign me up.
What else...? Well I pretty much quit playing WoW in June. Valerie had quit probably in march or april, and I continued on a greatly reduced schedule, only raiding 2-3 nights a week for 3 hrs each (so playing a max of 6-9 hrs). Did achieve 7/13 25M heroic boss kills for T11 before patch 4.2 dropped. V didn't particularly like it, but she tolerated it. However when the new job started in june my free time dropped and something had to give, so like I said I've pretty much stopped.
'Nuff for now, will try to keep this more up to date.
Friday, September 10, 2010
head up my you-know-what
Did something today that I've never done in 25+ years of driving....drove away from the gas station with the gas pump nozzle STILL IN THE TANK. Pulled away and was about to pull onto the highway and a truck pulling in flagged me down and the guy told me what I had done. I COULDN'T BELIEVE IT! What a dumb ass!
As it turns out, it wasn't as big a deal as I would've thought. I took the nozzle out of my tank and walked back to the pump. The little stub of hose was hanging there, no leakage etc. I'm pretty sure the fill had stopped before I drove off. Not sure what would've happened had it been still filling. I looked up at the little hose stub and it appeared to have a disconnect fitting such that (heaven forbid) if someone pulled too hard it came apart "cleanly". I'd bet money there's some kind of spring loaded shutoff valve or other shutoff mechanism in there.
So I laid the nozzle (and its associated ~8 ft of hose) on the ground at the pump and (after some reasonably good natured harassment from my fellow filler-uppers) went in to the convenience store (buc-ees) to report my stupidity. The lady I talked to (who was the shift team leader) said not to worry, it happens all the time. This surprised me quite a bit (and comforted me as well!). I was a little skeptical and asked if she needed contact info, or insurance info, etc, and she said no its not a big deal. So I did a 180 and headed back to the truck.
HOW EMBARRASSING!!
The only thing I could think of as I drove away, is I really should have taken a picture of that nozzle hanging out of the gas tank and the hose dragging along behind it!
As it turns out, it wasn't as big a deal as I would've thought. I took the nozzle out of my tank and walked back to the pump. The little stub of hose was hanging there, no leakage etc. I'm pretty sure the fill had stopped before I drove off. Not sure what would've happened had it been still filling. I looked up at the little hose stub and it appeared to have a disconnect fitting such that (heaven forbid) if someone pulled too hard it came apart "cleanly". I'd bet money there's some kind of spring loaded shutoff valve or other shutoff mechanism in there.
So I laid the nozzle (and its associated ~8 ft of hose) on the ground at the pump and (after some reasonably good natured harassment from my fellow filler-uppers) went in to the convenience store (buc-ees) to report my stupidity. The lady I talked to (who was the shift team leader) said not to worry, it happens all the time. This surprised me quite a bit (and comforted me as well!). I was a little skeptical and asked if she needed contact info, or insurance info, etc, and she said no its not a big deal. So I did a 180 and headed back to the truck.
HOW EMBARRASSING!!
The only thing I could think of as I drove away, is I really should have taken a picture of that nozzle hanging out of the gas tank and the hose dragging along behind it!
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Updates
Well its been a while since I updated a few topics so here goes.
Dental Saga: Got my #15 molar pulled on Monday 30Aug, it was relatively uneventful as these things go. I'm now 5.5 days post op and everything seems to be healing. I don't think I took any pain medicine (other than an occasional advil) since Monday night. The Dr did put the IV for sedation in my left arm, following my report of phlebitis on the right from the previous surgery. So far no pain there, although the site of the IV needle is slightly tender. Going back on 13Sep for a followup.
Garden Tractor: We bought a John Deere X324 lawn tractor, picked it up tuesday. Have mowed most of the easily mowable part of our land. We were planning to work on it some more this weekend but its been rainy. So far quite happy with the new mower. It also makes doing the lawn at the house a breeze (cuts mowing from about 1hr to about 10 min). Its a little overkill for a simple city lot but it really shines out at the land.
Next step on the land will be (after doing the remaining mowing) to bring in some topsoil and till in a 24x32ft garden plot. Have done some tiller research and have concluded that while we may go ahead and buy a tiller at some point, for the initial ground breaking we will rent one. Sunbelt rentals has a place in pearland (about 40 miles away) and will rent a really super duper tiller for 66$ a day. It may be we can rent one more locally but havent found one yet. I also want to get some driveway material and put it down in the first ~20 feet after our ditch crossing, which has been a little muddy.
Dental Saga: Got my #15 molar pulled on Monday 30Aug, it was relatively uneventful as these things go. I'm now 5.5 days post op and everything seems to be healing. I don't think I took any pain medicine (other than an occasional advil) since Monday night. The Dr did put the IV for sedation in my left arm, following my report of phlebitis on the right from the previous surgery. So far no pain there, although the site of the IV needle is slightly tender. Going back on 13Sep for a followup.
Garden Tractor: We bought a John Deere X324 lawn tractor, picked it up tuesday. Have mowed most of the easily mowable part of our land. We were planning to work on it some more this weekend but its been rainy. So far quite happy with the new mower. It also makes doing the lawn at the house a breeze (cuts mowing from about 1hr to about 10 min). Its a little overkill for a simple city lot but it really shines out at the land.
Next step on the land will be (after doing the remaining mowing) to bring in some topsoil and till in a 24x32ft garden plot. Have done some tiller research and have concluded that while we may go ahead and buy a tiller at some point, for the initial ground breaking we will rent one. Sunbelt rentals has a place in pearland (about 40 miles away) and will rent a really super duper tiller for 66$ a day. It may be we can rent one more locally but havent found one yet. I also want to get some driveway material and put it down in the first ~20 feet after our ditch crossing, which has been a little muddy.
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Now a test from the blackberry
Just checking to see if this works
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
Friday, August 27, 2010
this is a test
This is a test of a sending an email to blogger as a blog post.
Vamos a ver que pasa.
JD
update: well it seems to work quite well =D
update: well it seems to work quite well =D
Dental saga update... day 14
Numbering from the day I got my first tooth pulled, this is day 14.
Today I saw the dentist (dr. daisy at bent tree). She said my #15 tooth might could be root canaled, but it has a very large filling already that is failing. Bottom line, she said if it was her tooth she'd get it pulled and replaced with an implant.
So...i'm going to get it pulled. I called dr fugler's office immediately upon leaving bent tree. They said I could go straight to surgery (since he had just seen me on Thursday and no consult needed). They had a 1030 monday am open, so i'm booked for my 2nd tooth extraction in what will be 17 days. Funness.
Meanwhile, old #15 is still throbbing in pain.
Today I saw the dentist (dr. daisy at bent tree). She said my #15 tooth might could be root canaled, but it has a very large filling already that is failing. Bottom line, she said if it was her tooth she'd get it pulled and replaced with an implant.
So...i'm going to get it pulled. I called dr fugler's office immediately upon leaving bent tree. They said I could go straight to surgery (since he had just seen me on Thursday and no consult needed). They had a 1030 monday am open, so i'm booked for my 2nd tooth extraction in what will be 17 days. Funness.
Meanwhile, old #15 is still throbbing in pain.
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Dental saga continues....
Well, my dental saga is not over, far from it. My pain on the upper left side of my mouth has steadily been increasing. I phoned Dr Fugler office yesterday and they gave me some more hydrocodone, and an appt for today at 4. I had a followup for monday 31Aug but just couldnt wait. The last couple evenings the pain has really been bad, and this morning it was soooo bad I couldnt go to work.
So I saw Dr Fugler today. Good news: the extraction site is healing nicely, no dry socket or other problems that he could see. The Bad news: the pain is most likely coming from a previously filled cavity on my #15 molar (one behind the one that got pulled). He noted this / mentioned it to me as he finished up pulling #14 two weeks ago, as something I should have looked at within a month or so. However upon seeing it today, he said that is most likely the source of the pain, something about having the neighbor tooth removed allowed the old filling to shift or whatever, and now food etc is getting down into that cavity.
I called Bent Tree (my 2010 dentist, due to screwing up the insurance enrollment) and they have agreed to see me tomorrow at 11. They mentioned that in their file (from my visit on 15Jul, only time i've seen them) they had #15 marked for a crown. I'm a little leery and kind of leaning toward getting it pulled and putting an implant in there. We'll see what they say tomorrow.
Pain now is semi manageable (2.5 on a 0-10 scale) hopefully it will stay that way until tomorrow.
To be continued...
So I saw Dr Fugler today. Good news: the extraction site is healing nicely, no dry socket or other problems that he could see. The Bad news: the pain is most likely coming from a previously filled cavity on my #15 molar (one behind the one that got pulled). He noted this / mentioned it to me as he finished up pulling #14 two weeks ago, as something I should have looked at within a month or so. However upon seeing it today, he said that is most likely the source of the pain, something about having the neighbor tooth removed allowed the old filling to shift or whatever, and now food etc is getting down into that cavity.
I called Bent Tree (my 2010 dentist, due to screwing up the insurance enrollment) and they have agreed to see me tomorrow at 11. They mentioned that in their file (from my visit on 15Jul, only time i've seen them) they had #15 marked for a crown. I'm a little leery and kind of leaning toward getting it pulled and putting an implant in there. We'll see what they say tomorrow.
Pain now is semi manageable (2.5 on a 0-10 scale) hopefully it will stay that way until tomorrow.
To be continued...
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Trailers and garden tractors
We bought a 5x8 mesh trailer from tractor supply store yesterday for 699. We will use it for many things but the most immediate driver is to have a way to haul a riding lawn tractor out to our land. Which we don't have yet. That's the next project.
Done a fair bit of research. Am generally fond of the john deere brand from a reputation standpoint (and they have a local dealer, brookside equipment, who my father in law had good dealings with for a while now). All spring and summer have been eyeballing the JD's at Lowes. Now that we have the trailer, we went in to take a look at them (I would most likely not buy from them but its easier to look at them there). Was surprised most of their inventory was gone. The guy told us they had quit getting new ones in June and had been selling a lot all summer. It has been a wet summer (usually lack of moisture is the limitation on vegetation growth here in the summer) which may have played a factor in lots of people buying law tractors in an otherwise tough economy. Who knows.
In terms of internet research, consumer reports recommends the LA115 (1700 MSRP) or LA105 (1500 msrp) models. These are basically the lowest end consumer lawn tractors JD makes. The LA series goes up to 165 or more, and cost approaches 3000. As the scale goes up, the cuts get wider (42, 48, 54), the hp goes up (LA105/115 is 19.5 hp, top is around 26), and there is the "lawn" vs "garden" tractor thing I learned from the Lowe's guy yesterday. "Lawn" tractors have smaller wheels and less facility for attachments - they are just for mowing grass. "Garden" tractors tend to have bigger wheels and higher torque engines which can allow some attachments (eg like a tiller attachment). I believe given the fact that the mowing we need to do is not exactly "lawnesque", plus the fact that we may want to do some gardening with it, I need to go in the direction of the higer torque, larger wheeled garden tractor.
Ah well, no huge hurry here. Plan to visit the local JD dealer this week to see what I can learn there.
Done a fair bit of research. Am generally fond of the john deere brand from a reputation standpoint (and they have a local dealer, brookside equipment, who my father in law had good dealings with for a while now). All spring and summer have been eyeballing the JD's at Lowes. Now that we have the trailer, we went in to take a look at them (I would most likely not buy from them but its easier to look at them there). Was surprised most of their inventory was gone. The guy told us they had quit getting new ones in June and had been selling a lot all summer. It has been a wet summer (usually lack of moisture is the limitation on vegetation growth here in the summer) which may have played a factor in lots of people buying law tractors in an otherwise tough economy. Who knows.
In terms of internet research, consumer reports recommends the LA115 (1700 MSRP) or LA105 (1500 msrp) models. These are basically the lowest end consumer lawn tractors JD makes. The LA series goes up to 165 or more, and cost approaches 3000. As the scale goes up, the cuts get wider (42, 48, 54), the hp goes up (LA105/115 is 19.5 hp, top is around 26), and there is the "lawn" vs "garden" tractor thing I learned from the Lowe's guy yesterday. "Lawn" tractors have smaller wheels and less facility for attachments - they are just for mowing grass. "Garden" tractors tend to have bigger wheels and higher torque engines which can allow some attachments (eg like a tiller attachment). I believe given the fact that the mowing we need to do is not exactly "lawnesque", plus the fact that we may want to do some gardening with it, I need to go in the direction of the higer torque, larger wheeled garden tractor.
Ah well, no huge hurry here. Plan to visit the local JD dealer this week to see what I can learn there.
Refinance and closing costs and title insurance
We closed on a refinance of our existing home loan this past Friday. Basically what we are doing is the following:
We currently owe 88000 at 5.25 % for about 7 more years on our house, P+I = 1502 and change.
We currently owe 51000 at 7.75% for 11 more years for the land we bought at Oakwood shores. P+I = 590 and change.
We applied for a 144,000 at 3.75% for 10 years refinance of our home mortgage. P+I will be 1440 and change. We will receive about 51000 cash out, and use the proceeds to pay off the land loan. Our monthly payments will drop by almost 700 a month. Over the life of the loan we save a lot of interest (since both rates were a good bit higher).
Closing costs ended up being about 3700 (1% origination plus the real fees). This works out to 2.57% of the loan principle, which is pretty bad but could have been worse. We learned from the loan officer that Texas caps closing costs at 3% of principle, so we were pretty close. When we applied our "good friends" at the TDECU estimated our closing costs around 4200 (or 2.9%) but told us (Like it was a good thing) that the government caps them at 3%. Really pissed me off that this super friendly, hometown super sweet special deal banking institution (which it really was until the last few years) feels proud to gouge its customers RIGHT UP TO THE MANDATED STATE LIMIT. Argh. Well it wasn't quite as bad as all that, my ire reduced some when reviewing the HUD-1 closing statement against the GFE (side note: the first HUD1 they sent had an error, our cash out was 2000 less than expected. The TDECU and Stewart title had to do some fancy dancing to get that right on the night before the closing. Anyway...), some of the charges actually went down (they seemed to charge us actuals for things like the appraisal). So maybe they aren't so bad. Still, telling me it wouldnt get any worse because of the state cap didn't endear me to the TDECU any more.
On a positive note, during the process we were pleased to learn our house appraised for 265000. We had gotten the tax value down to around 241000 starting for the 2009 tax year. Given what's been going on in the housing market for the last 2 years, we were afraid it would have dropped to 210 or 220.
Talking to the lady at Stewart title (and griping about paying title insurance for the THIRD TIME on the same piece of property which was originally purchased from the builder. Still pissed. Like there's any damn risk to anybody from a title clarity standpoint. But I digress...) she told us about a requirement of the texas blah blah blah (regulatory agency which governs title insurance) that if we close a loan on our new land within 4 years of purchase, we get a 1500 rebate on the title policy, independent of which title company we use. We've been talking about building out there in the next year or two, and this puts somewhat of a carrot to do it within 4 years. Of course we bought the land over a year ago (July 2009) so only have a little less than 3 years to go. But that is within our planning window.
The loan should fund by next wednesday at which point I'll go pay off the land.
We currently owe 88000 at 5.25 % for about 7 more years on our house, P+I = 1502 and change.
We currently owe 51000 at 7.75% for 11 more years for the land we bought at Oakwood shores. P+I = 590 and change.
We applied for a 144,000 at 3.75% for 10 years refinance of our home mortgage. P+I will be 1440 and change. We will receive about 51000 cash out, and use the proceeds to pay off the land loan. Our monthly payments will drop by almost 700 a month. Over the life of the loan we save a lot of interest (since both rates were a good bit higher).
Closing costs ended up being about 3700 (1% origination plus the real fees). This works out to 2.57% of the loan principle, which is pretty bad but could have been worse. We learned from the loan officer that Texas caps closing costs at 3% of principle, so we were pretty close. When we applied our "good friends" at the TDECU estimated our closing costs around 4200 (or 2.9%) but told us (Like it was a good thing) that the government caps them at 3%. Really pissed me off that this super friendly, hometown super sweet special deal banking institution (which it really was until the last few years) feels proud to gouge its customers RIGHT UP TO THE MANDATED STATE LIMIT. Argh. Well it wasn't quite as bad as all that, my ire reduced some when reviewing the HUD-1 closing statement against the GFE (side note: the first HUD1 they sent had an error, our cash out was 2000 less than expected. The TDECU and Stewart title had to do some fancy dancing to get that right on the night before the closing. Anyway...), some of the charges actually went down (they seemed to charge us actuals for things like the appraisal). So maybe they aren't so bad. Still, telling me it wouldnt get any worse because of the state cap didn't endear me to the TDECU any more.
On a positive note, during the process we were pleased to learn our house appraised for 265000. We had gotten the tax value down to around 241000 starting for the 2009 tax year. Given what's been going on in the housing market for the last 2 years, we were afraid it would have dropped to 210 or 220.
Talking to the lady at Stewart title (and griping about paying title insurance for the THIRD TIME on the same piece of property which was originally purchased from the builder. Still pissed. Like there's any damn risk to anybody from a title clarity standpoint. But I digress...) she told us about a requirement of the texas blah blah blah (regulatory agency which governs title insurance) that if we close a loan on our new land within 4 years of purchase, we get a 1500 rebate on the title policy, independent of which title company we use. We've been talking about building out there in the next year or two, and this puts somewhat of a carrot to do it within 4 years. Of course we bought the land over a year ago (July 2009) so only have a little less than 3 years to go. But that is within our planning window.
The loan should fund by next wednesday at which point I'll go pay off the land.
Update on green mountain
This week I received an email from green mountain energy for my 100$ gift card. It was from giftcards.com or some such. Was disappointed they didn't offer an Amazon.com option. Got one from Dillards, valerie needs some back to school clothes.
Not sure what happened to the 3mo thing that the customer service had told me about. Oh well. Also still havent gotten a bill from green mountain yet. Tried to log in to my account and couldnt get in...but they should be sending a paper bill soon.
Not sure what happened to the 3mo thing that the customer service had told me about. Oh well. Also still havent gotten a bill from green mountain yet. Tried to log in to my account and couldnt get in...but they should be sending a paper bill soon.
Phlebitis after IV sedation
I'm having some pretty bad arm pain in my forearm extending from the back of my hand up toward my elbow. Its a burning sensation and there's some swelling and some slight redness visible. At first I thought it was a bruise, but I couldn't remember injuring it and it doesn't have the appearance of a bruise (the area of tenderness is probably 6-8 inches long by 2 inches wide...not small!). At one point I accused valerie (jokingly) of punching me in the arm in the middle of the night.
After some internet research, I believe I have phlebitis, as a result of the IV sedation I had on 13-Aug during my #14 tooth extraction procedure. Hopefuly it's the surface, or superficial variety (which is not uncommon after IV sedation) and will respond to ibuprofen, moist heat, elevation, exercise, and time. The IV site was on the back of my hand, and in the immediate area where the IV was, there's no pain. The pain starts about 1.5-2 inches "up" the back of my forearm toward my elbow. Its actually fairly unpleasant, so I'm hoping it gets better soon. Will mention to the oral surgeon on my followup visit next Monday 30Aug.
After some internet research, I believe I have phlebitis, as a result of the IV sedation I had on 13-Aug during my #14 tooth extraction procedure. Hopefuly it's the surface, or superficial variety (which is not uncommon after IV sedation) and will respond to ibuprofen, moist heat, elevation, exercise, and time. The IV site was on the back of my hand, and in the immediate area where the IV was, there's no pain. The pain starts about 1.5-2 inches "up" the back of my forearm toward my elbow. Its actually fairly unpleasant, so I'm hoping it gets better soon. Will mention to the oral surgeon on my followup visit next Monday 30Aug.
Saturday, August 14, 2010
cruise
we had a nice cruise Aug7-12 from New Orleans on the Carnival Triumph. We went to Progresso and Cozumel. Valerie, Theresa and I went. Andrea and Jacquelyn were in RI visiting Dana.
At Progresso, we left Theresa on the ship and took an excursion into Merida called "Salsa y Salsa" where we learned to make 3 different salsas and then learned to dance salsa. It was a lot of fun. Merida is quite historic (founded in 1540 or so on top of an ancient Mayan city). The salsas (technically only 2 since the 3rd was guacamole) were interesting, we got the recipes and will try them out.
In cozumel, we signed up for a beginner snorkel excursion. I picked this one because it was the only snorkel trip with a minimum age low enough for Theresa (6) to go. It was a taxi ride to a nearby beach where they had all the gear and gave a fairly extensive safety / training briefing before we got in the water. Theresa has never tried "for real" snorkeling before but she is a good pool swimmer; nevertheless, she struggled at first. One of the instructors (Julian) came over to see if he could help and he ended up basically giving her a 1:1 coaching and instruction for 15-20 minutes. Once she got the hang of not diving under water and filling her snorkel tube with salt water, she did great. As snorkeling goes, this was not the best. Fish were decent, with an ok variety and color (no clownfish), the coral/reef area was very sparse however. I'm sure cozumel offers some much nicer locations but the real point of this was to get some experience for theresa, and toward that end it far exceeded our expectations. Julian's help to theresa was amazing and we gave him a "personal" 15$ tip (which may have caused some tip drama among the other helpers). Oh well.
The at sea days were the typical gorge and relax of a Carnival cruise. Other major highlight on the ship was a magic show (Kevin and Caruso) which was extremely impressive and well done.
We are looking forward to the new Carnival Magic which should be based in Galveston come Fall 2011.
At Progresso, we left Theresa on the ship and took an excursion into Merida called "Salsa y Salsa" where we learned to make 3 different salsas and then learned to dance salsa. It was a lot of fun. Merida is quite historic (founded in 1540 or so on top of an ancient Mayan city). The salsas (technically only 2 since the 3rd was guacamole) were interesting, we got the recipes and will try them out.
In cozumel, we signed up for a beginner snorkel excursion. I picked this one because it was the only snorkel trip with a minimum age low enough for Theresa (6) to go. It was a taxi ride to a nearby beach where they had all the gear and gave a fairly extensive safety / training briefing before we got in the water. Theresa has never tried "for real" snorkeling before but she is a good pool swimmer; nevertheless, she struggled at first. One of the instructors (Julian) came over to see if he could help and he ended up basically giving her a 1:1 coaching and instruction for 15-20 minutes. Once she got the hang of not diving under water and filling her snorkel tube with salt water, she did great. As snorkeling goes, this was not the best. Fish were decent, with an ok variety and color (no clownfish), the coral/reef area was very sparse however. I'm sure cozumel offers some much nicer locations but the real point of this was to get some experience for theresa, and toward that end it far exceeded our expectations. Julian's help to theresa was amazing and we gave him a "personal" 15$ tip (which may have caused some tip drama among the other helpers). Oh well.
The at sea days were the typical gorge and relax of a Carnival cruise. Other major highlight on the ship was a magic show (Kevin and Caruso) which was extremely impressive and well done.
We are looking forward to the new Carnival Magic which should be based in Galveston come Fall 2011.
extraction
Got my #14 molar pulled yesterday. It was infected internally and there was nothing else to be done. Over the last week (while on a cruise) I've been popping vicodin like candy and the pain of the infected tooth was barely manageable.
Less than 24 hrs after the surgery i'm basically pain free other than a little tenderness (haven't taken a pain pill since 14 hrs ago, last night at 9pm). Have a big hole in the upper right side of my mouth. Am eating soft foods (apple sauce, pudding, even had some scrambled eggs just now).
Followup apt Monday Aug 30th at 1pm to see how things are healing.
Not sure what's next. Options are
1. do nothing, have a blank spot. its far enough back not to be a cosmetic issue, but it will probably be missed from a chewing standpoint long term. Will have to see.
2. get a bridge. this involves drilling down/crowning the adjacent teeth and making a 3 piece "crown" that crowns the two real teeth with a bridge between. This is the 'officially recognized' (ie what my current insurance will pay for) treatment. I'm fundamentally opposed to destroying 2 healthy teeth and creating a flossing nightmare. Will choose #1 before I go this way.
3. get an implant. this is the "cadillac" solution and not paid for by dental insurance. strangely, the oral surgeon (Dr Richard Fugler in Lake Jackson, who so far I've been quite impressed with) and his staff inform me that my medical insurance will cover the placement of the implant screw (this is the "surgical" procecdure). Then a regular dentist basically does a normal crown, which might be covered by the dental ins. Not sure of all that. But you cant get the implant done for min 4 months (so mid Dec earliest). So I have some time to decide what I want to do.
Decisions, decisions.
Less than 24 hrs after the surgery i'm basically pain free other than a little tenderness (haven't taken a pain pill since 14 hrs ago, last night at 9pm). Have a big hole in the upper right side of my mouth. Am eating soft foods (apple sauce, pudding, even had some scrambled eggs just now).
Followup apt Monday Aug 30th at 1pm to see how things are healing.
Not sure what's next. Options are
1. do nothing, have a blank spot. its far enough back not to be a cosmetic issue, but it will probably be missed from a chewing standpoint long term. Will have to see.
2. get a bridge. this involves drilling down/crowning the adjacent teeth and making a 3 piece "crown" that crowns the two real teeth with a bridge between. This is the 'officially recognized' (ie what my current insurance will pay for) treatment. I'm fundamentally opposed to destroying 2 healthy teeth and creating a flossing nightmare. Will choose #1 before I go this way.
3. get an implant. this is the "cadillac" solution and not paid for by dental insurance. strangely, the oral surgeon (Dr Richard Fugler in Lake Jackson, who so far I've been quite impressed with) and his staff inform me that my medical insurance will cover the placement of the implant screw (this is the "surgical" procecdure). Then a regular dentist basically does a normal crown, which might be covered by the dental ins. Not sure of all that. But you cant get the implant done for min 4 months (so mid Dec earliest). So I have some time to decide what I want to do.
Decisions, decisions.
Sunday, July 25, 2010
pumpkins and ooze
Well, we planted pumpkins at the land today. Used a cool thing called an 'ooze tube'. Here's a pic of one on amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/TWK40-Forty-Gallon-Tomato-Watering/dp/B00340BMB4/ref=pd_sim_ol_5
Works nice in this case because we have 3 acres of land about 5miles from our house and cant easily go every day to water. This bladder holds 40gal of water and "drip irrigates" the pumpkin plants. It has capacity for a week. We'll see how it works. Should be some photo's on valerie's blog soon
http://valeriesvegetables.blogspot.com/
Edit: we picked 2 of these up on clearance at lowe's for 3.99, not the 19.99 as shown at amazon.
http://www.amazon.com/TWK40-Forty-Gallon-Tomato-Watering/dp/B00340BMB4/ref=pd_sim_ol_5
Works nice in this case because we have 3 acres of land about 5miles from our house and cant easily go every day to water. This bladder holds 40gal of water and "drip irrigates" the pumpkin plants. It has capacity for a week. We'll see how it works. Should be some photo's on valerie's blog soon
http://valeriesvegetables.blogspot.com/
Edit: we picked 2 of these up on clearance at lowe's for 3.99, not the 19.99 as shown at amazon.
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