The worst is over?

 General Health  No Responses »
May 152012
 

The operation to remove my basel cell carcinoma went well. I was taken in right on time at 10 AM, and I was out by 10:50 AM. There wasn’t any pain, as the doctor numbed things up pretty good, but hearing all the cutting an snipping of whatever he was cutting out, and smelling the singing of the skin, as the doctor cauterized some of the veins, made things a little unnerving.  Still, it’s hard to believe that was the easiest part of the entire ordeal.

The most uncomfortable part was the bandaging of the wound. Not only did I look like something out of a horror picture, receiving a few strange looks in the hallway as I exited the hospital, it was extremely uncomfortable. It was supposed to stay on for 24 hours, but that didn’t happen. I took the extra [unnecessary IMO] bandaging off shortly after getting home.

Even worse though was the pain afterwards as the lidocaine wore off. The pain, and the headache caused by it, was more than I could endure. I eventually resorted to taking two Tylenol, which helped alleviate enough of the pain, to allowed me to sleep for about 3 hours, and get through the worst part.

Gradually the headache went away, and I was able to have dinner, and watch some things we recorded on the TV, but there is still just enough residual pain left over, which coupled with the 3 hour nap earlier, is making it difficult to get any sleep now when I should be sleeping.

Fortunately I had something else to occupy my time, and now maybe I’ll have better luck getting some sleep.

If Mantle Cell Lymphoma can’t get me

 General Health, Treatments  3 Responses »
May 112012
 

Hopefully a basal cell carcinoma can’t either.

My dermatologist called Friday evening, and informed me the [small] growth on my forehead (that he biopsied two weeks ago) was a basal cell carcinoma, and since he had a cancellation on his schedule, he could squeeze me in Monday morning to have it removed.

The operation seems simple enough. It’s outpatient surgery, using a local anesthetic, and I can go home immediately after it’s finished. The only issue being I can’t exert myself at all for the rest of the day.

Normally that wouldn’t be so bad, except Monday is my bowling day, but I think my health is just a little more important, and there’ll be plenty more days to bowl. Plus I’d have to wait another 6 weeks if I didn’t do it this Monday, and I’m not willing to do that.

One other thing was the doctor informed me I shouldn’t drink any alcohol, as that can sometimes cause excessive bleeding. I only wish he’d told me that before I opened a good bottle of Pinot Noir for dinner. So I just drank a little less than I normally would have.

So now it’s just more wait and worry, but I should be used to that by now. After all, I’ve been doing for the past 10+ years.

Evidence the flu shot doesn’t work?

 General Health  7 Responses »
Apr 222012
 

Despite no clinical evidence of the effectiveness of the flu shot for those with a compromised immune system, most experts will agree it’s not effective. The immune system just can’t mount the necessary response to the vaccine to fight off the flu.

On that same note, most experts will also tell you, getting a flu shot will do no harm, so I’ve always gotten a flu shot, hoping the experts wrong.

Unfortunately this year has almost convinced me of the futility of getting a flu shot.

For the second time this year, I’ve gotten sick. Both times with the same symptoms, headache, runny nose and sore throat, and both times lasting about the same number of days. [Note: I am feeling somewhat better, but still experiencing some lingering effects.]

Maybe I should have gotten a second shot. Maybe it wasn’t even the flu that I contracted, or maybe it was a different strain of the flu. I can’t be sure.

What I can be sure of is how much this experience highlights the much greater importance of everyone else getting their flu shot(s), and staying away from others when they are feeling sick, preventing the spread of any germs or viruses, especially to those who do not have the ability to mount a proper defense.

 Posted by at 4:26 am

I hate Dr Oz

 General Health  4 Responses »
Apr 112012
 

I’ve always thought of him [and still do] as nothing more than a shill for the vitamin and supplement industry, promoting products that do nothing more than line the pockets of himself, and the industry that produces the products he is constantly touting.

I’m not even sure why I bother watching him, but I did so yesterday, and it just further solidified my position.

His first guest was a self appointed diet guru. He was providing information on how to eat healthier, and while some of the info may have had some merit, two bits of information stood out that I had a great deal of trouble with.

The first was adding sugar to vegetables, supposedly to make vegetables taste better, encouraging people to eat them more. While eating more vegetables is certainly good advice, I’m not so sure adding sugar is such a good idea. Sure it will make your vegetables taste better, but adding sugar to anything will make it taste better. And how much sugar is enough or too much? Where do you draw the line? He didn’t provide that information.

The second thing that got me, was about energy drinks. His contention was instead of drinking the energy drink, simply swish it around in your mouth, and then spit it out. This supposedly will trick your brain into thinking it’s receiving an energy boost from the sugar.

Now while it may trick your brain into thinking it received an energy boost from the sugar, I doubt very seriously it can trick your body into performing like it just received the energy boost it never received. Trust me as someone who has bonked before, when that happens, your body needs real energy, not an imagined one.

He then had some expert, I think from the Mayo Clinic, talking about the importance of antioxidants. The contention was you need to increase your intake of antioxidants to counter the effects of breathing. It was implied [at least I inferred] that oxygen molecules from the air you breathe attach to your DNA (or something like that) increasing your risk of cancer, and only by increasing your antioxidant intake can you counter those effects.

There was also some mention of increasing the effectiveness of your white cells, i.e. boosting your immune system, to fight disease. At that point I couldn’t take it anymore, and had to shut it off.

I hate repeating myself, but YOU CAN’T BOOST YOUR IMMUNE SYSTEM. And even if you could, you wouldn’t want to. How can you control what effect a boosted immune system will have? Will it start attacking your good cells, and forget about the bad cells? That’s exactly what cancer is, and I don’t think it’s a risk worth taking.

Certainly you need to eat a healthy, well balanced diet, something most of modern society doesn’t do. It’s the surest way to helping prevent diseases, obesity, etc. Just don’t waste your money on vitamins and supplements you don’t need, and won’t do you any good, except maybe to cause the exact things you’re trying to prevent, and definitely lighten your pocketbook.

Instead, spend that money you’ve saved on a gym membership, new running shoes, or even a new bike, and get out and exercise more. You’ll find that a lot more beneficial.

Just my opinion!

 

10 surprising steps to staying cancer free

 General Health, Life  No Responses »
Apr 042012
 

Whenever I come across articles such as this one I’m intrigued. If only it were that simple. Exercise regularly, eat a healthy diet, get plenty of sunshine, and you’ll be healthy forever. The thing is, I already knew that, and it didn’t help.

Despite what you may hear or have heard, there is no magic formula! You can no more prevent cancer than you can boost your immune system. Maybe you can delay the inevitable, but truth be told, if you live long enough, you’re going to get cancer.

Then there’s the two biggest factors contributing to cancer, the environment, and your heritage. Two items you have little, if any, control over. It’s been pretty well established, if your parents lived to be 100, you’ll likely do the same.  Of course living in a polluted environment has been known to cancel that out.

So while there’s nothing much new in this article, and there’s at least one step I have a problem with, i.e. talk to your doctor about the benefits of taking a statin drug, I had some time on my hands, and there were two items included that I have stressed repeatedly since my diagnosis, which I felt were worth repeating.

The first being,

Ditch the vitamins and supplements. Unless you’re addressing a confirmed vitamin deficiency, are considering pregnancy or are already pregnant, you can steer clear of multivitamins and save money without sacrificing your health, …………..

I still contend, all the hype surrounding the taking of vitamins and supplements is nothing more than a well designed scam to separate you from your money. I’m also of the belief, it was the taking of various vitamins and supplements, during my life, that contributed to my diagnosis. You can get all the vitamins you need naturally, simply by eating a well balanced, nutritional diet.

And the second most important thing is to

Get an annual flu shot. Having the flu triggers inflammation, which can set the body up for serious problems when it’s most vulnerable, he says. The flu vaccine, …….., helps the body tone down its harsh immune response. “I want [people] to think of a flu shot in terms of not just what it means today but a decade from now,” ……

Even if you don’t want to do it for yourself, at least do it for others, so there’s less likelihood you’ll pass along the flu to unsuspecting friends and relatives, and especially those with compromised immune systems.

I’ll also add to drink lots of green tea, and get lots of sunshine! Just be careful not to burn. Remember, you can’t overdose on Vitamin D from the sun, but you can from a supplement.

If it’s not one thing, it’s another

 General Health, Life  3 Responses »
Jan 242012
 

Just when I thought I was completely over being sick, and ready to resume my normal everyday [boring] routine, what happens? I hurt my neck.

I was fine up until about 4 AM this morning, when I awoke to make the last of my usual 2 or 3 nightly [routine] pit stops, and as I was walking back to bed, all of a sudden, I felt this excruciating (only slightly exaggerated) pain in my neck. It’s like I pulled a muscle, except that I didn’t do anything like that. Not even close. And the pain was almost immediate.

I laid back down in bed hoping the pain might subside, but no such luck.

So now I’m laid up again, feeling sorry for myself, alternating ice and heat, in the hopes I will be somewhat recovered by tommorrow.

I probably shouldn’t be writing this post, as it’s not doing my neck any good, but I thought by doing so, I could garner some well deserved sympathy. :)

Oh well, time for more ice!

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