Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Brief update
So, somewhere over the weekend or Monday I completely overdid it and spent yesterday completely flattened, and went to bed before 9. Which is doubly compounded by my wife somewhere catching a big nasty cold and her also being completely flattened. Which means lots of television for the kids. Oh well.
Last night, I exhibited brief signs of also catching the cold, but so far I haven't finished catching it, at least not to her extent.
So yesterday, I did a few hours of work and a few hours of SWTOR laying down. I did a little more work on Monday. I'm trying to build up to go back to work on Monday.
In general, things are a little more flexible. Yesterday, I was able to lean over on something and grab something from the floor. I think that my quads are also loosening up to actually be flexible.
Summary of overdoing it:
In addition to normal "ambulations",
I did a half mile at 1.2 mph on Sunday (or Saturday - don't remember)
I did 1 minute scale-backs from 2.0 to 1.0 on Monday
Last night, I exhibited brief signs of also catching the cold, but so far I haven't finished catching it, at least not to her extent.
So yesterday, I did a few hours of work and a few hours of SWTOR laying down. I did a little more work on Monday. I'm trying to build up to go back to work on Monday.
In general, things are a little more flexible. Yesterday, I was able to lean over on something and grab something from the floor. I think that my quads are also loosening up to actually be flexible.
Summary of overdoing it:
In addition to normal "ambulations",
I did a half mile at 1.2 mph on Sunday (or Saturday - don't remember)
I did 1 minute scale-backs from 2.0 to 1.0 on Monday
Monday, February 27, 2012
Incision and mobility
So I saw my stitches the other day for the first time. Freaked me out.
A quick note about mobility. Today I managed the following stuff without too much hassle:
* plugging something in - took a step and a half leg-sqat
* putting on socks - brought my legs up and had the sock wrapped around my non-thumb fingers
* putting down the toilet seat. Sorry Dear it took so long.
In the hospital they said "No BLT - no bending, lifting, or twisting". And I could bend/twist absolutely nothing on day 1 without miserable pain. However, each day brings about 1 degree of mobility (maybe). So right now I can do stuff like reaching over my shoulder without throwing out my back.
A quick note about mobility. Today I managed the following stuff without too much hassle:
* plugging something in - took a step and a half leg-sqat
* putting on socks - brought my legs up and had the sock wrapped around my non-thumb fingers
* putting down the toilet seat. Sorry Dear it took so long.
In the hospital they said "No BLT - no bending, lifting, or twisting". And I could bend/twist absolutely nothing on day 1 without miserable pain. However, each day brings about 1 degree of mobility (maybe). So right now I can do stuff like reaching over my shoulder without throwing out my back.
Wolves
So yesterday I spent the entire day worrying about throwing up, today I spent all day EATING!!!! The ravenous wolves! I actually ate dinner as it was served.
But now I worry I ate too much; I think it will be fine though.
However, I still have that "while I'm standing, I feel faint" issue, which I've had since surgery. I called that nausea a few days ago, assuming that I'd been nauseated since surgery. However, today, there were definite signs of non-nausea.
On the other hand, we did have diarrhea (since we spent 2 hours on the toilet yesterday to get all the hard stuff out, we had a soft one to show the softeners were actually doing good, and then a runny one).
Today was a trial work day, with a goal to get a few hours in, and we did. However, it took all day, and I changed positions a bazillion times to get there.
But now I worry I ate too much; I think it will be fine though.
However, I still have that "while I'm standing, I feel faint" issue, which I've had since surgery. I called that nausea a few days ago, assuming that I'd been nauseated since surgery. However, today, there were definite signs of non-nausea.
On the other hand, we did have diarrhea (since we spent 2 hours on the toilet yesterday to get all the hard stuff out, we had a soft one to show the softeners were actually doing good, and then a runny one).
Today was a trial work day, with a goal to get a few hours in, and we did. However, it took all day, and I changed positions a bazillion times to get there.
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Remember those french fries?
Yesterday status:
Poop achieved. Awesomeness.
French fries and gyro - returned. I didn't even try to make it back to the bathroom and let them come right on the carpet.
Called the doctor again. Doctor stressed that the the number one important things were to not throw up and to not strain while pooping. These could cause the suture on the spinal canal to pop and that wouldn't be good.
We started treadmill walking. Sorry - there just isn't enough room in this house to ambulate enough to get anywhere. Started at .5mph, but that was like "baby step - wait 3s, baby step, wait 3s", but then we found that 1.2 was a nice speed. I did 1/6 mile 3 times yesterday.
Saturday, February 25, 2012
Jacob Marley
I had to get up again around 4 to walk around. Laying down around 8, and only getting up to go to bed, leaves one stiff. This was the first time I got up with no backup (half of Saturday, I had either wife or her mom there to catch me if I fell), and I had to take a few dozen laps around the house. My wife woke up and I told her I had to pull a Jacob Marley.
'Nauseated'
So I learned on 'Big Bang Theory' that you say 'nauseated' instead of 'nauseous'. I was looking a video that explained why instead of simply that you do, but couldn't.
Anyway, I noticed that whenever we talked about nausea or being nauseous, our doctor would respond by talking about being nauseated.
Anyway, yesterday, we made it to cane status, went up and down the stairs twice, but I ate a greasy gyro and lots of fries, partially by which (and partially by spending most of the day in a seated position instead of a laying position) I ended up a little nauseated. We noticed that the discharge instructions said that if you feel nauseated, you should call the doctor or return to the ER. The doctor thought that was a little ridiculous, as the pain meds themselves can cause nausea.
So last night we went to fall asleep while my wife and her mom watched "Breaking Dawn" around 8. The kids came out of their movie night after we were asleep already.
Anyway, I noticed that whenever we talked about nausea or being nauseous, our doctor would respond by talking about being nauseated.
Anyway, yesterday, we made it to cane status, went up and down the stairs twice, but I ate a greasy gyro and lots of fries, partially by which (and partially by spending most of the day in a seated position instead of a laying position) I ended up a little nauseated. We noticed that the discharge instructions said that if you feel nauseated, you should call the doctor or return to the ER. The doctor thought that was a little ridiculous, as the pain meds themselves can cause nausea.
So last night we went to fall asleep while my wife and her mom watched "Breaking Dawn" around 8. The kids came out of their movie night after we were asleep already.
Friday, February 24, 2012
End freakout day
<End retrospective>
Today has been the day of "What did we do last time we were here that got us into emergency surgery?" and freaking out about everything from "I ate some Nutty Bars" to "We took a careful shower".
Anyway, no pressing need to go back to the doctor. Main difference being though that it's hard to be up so much - I'm sitting in a supported position much more than I was in the hospital. I spent most of the time laying there.
Today I haven't cheated yet - meaning, when you get up, you're supposed to push off what you're sitting on and not what you're getting onto. Yesterday I just wouldn't do that cuz it hurt so bad except that first time, but today it good. I might even venture downstairs or trade up the walker for the cane a little later.
Discharge for real!
Get back to the same room, and another normal evening. This time, recovery hurts more, as I expected it to, but:
THE ROOM ISN'T SPINNING ANYMORE
So we spend the evening watching the 1st disc of Castle Season 4. I swear it looped 5 times before I made my wife shut it off.
Morning comes, we start inclining the bed (coming off of flat rest, prepping to walk). We go walking, and this time it hurts really bad. In fact this is the first time I haven't made it up yet. I kind of got stuck at the extend-your-legs point. But I pushed through it, and made it to a perceived 7 on the pain scale. But the rest of it is okay, except maybe the sitting part. The bed just seems so much further away this time than before.
The doctor comes and says he would like to discharge us today. As long as PT says we're ready, he didn't see much point in us staying there much longer. He draws up the papers and leaves it in our hands.
My wife and I talk about that and she gets her hopes up. I feel the need to put my foot down and make it clear that it I'm not okay with it it's not going to happen.
So we wash, and the sink is too far away, and we walk a few more times. Then I decide it's time to go, even though I only actually pushed up from the bed once.
Then we had to call in a guy to charge up the car, and call a repairman to get the key out of the ignition, get my mother-in-law and brother-in-law to come get us (he just happened to be in town on the way to ND). Took about 10 minutes to get out of the car, because you know, they're not flat, and then get in the house.
Lots of family to celebrate finally getting home, and then went to bed early.
THE ROOM ISN'T SPINNING ANYMORE
So we spend the evening watching the 1st disc of Castle Season 4. I swear it looped 5 times before I made my wife shut it off.
Morning comes, we start inclining the bed (coming off of flat rest, prepping to walk). We go walking, and this time it hurts really bad. In fact this is the first time I haven't made it up yet. I kind of got stuck at the extend-your-legs point. But I pushed through it, and made it to a perceived 7 on the pain scale. But the rest of it is okay, except maybe the sitting part. The bed just seems so much further away this time than before.
The doctor comes and says he would like to discharge us today. As long as PT says we're ready, he didn't see much point in us staying there much longer. He draws up the papers and leaves it in our hands.
My wife and I talk about that and she gets her hopes up. I feel the need to put my foot down and make it clear that it I'm not okay with it it's not going to happen.
So we wash, and the sink is too far away, and we walk a few more times. Then I decide it's time to go, even though I only actually pushed up from the bed once.
Then we had to call in a guy to charge up the car, and call a repairman to get the key out of the ignition, get my mother-in-law and brother-in-law to come get us (he just happened to be in town on the way to ND). Took about 10 minutes to get out of the car, because you know, they're not flat, and then get in the house.
Lots of family to celebrate finally getting home, and then went to bed early.
Back to the drawing board, part 2
The next day, we arise in good spirits - starting to get hungry, no pain, with the room still spinning. However, with everything, nobody will give us food until the doc says so. Problem is - he's in surgery. (What? He has other patients??!!1) But his PA comes in and examines my dressing, and was very clearly "That's CSF") - coming through the skin.
He does let me eat though - so I have 2-3 saltines and half a spoon of jello. Bout an hour later we were talking about food with some staff, and then the dr walks in and says ""no food - we need to get back into surgery" to fix the leak. He had spent the last few days hoping the exhibited leak would finish healing.
We spent the next few hours waiting with a very "we're ready" attitude. Some visitors at work and family - it was very nice again. We watched the next Castle (we had fortunately the previous season, and caught up on Psych).
This time the whole admission was more normal, and they covered things I had missed on the second one (since that one was more emergency).
The radio played "Already gone" as we were wheeling into the pre-op. Jerks.
As I was coming out of surgery, it was very surreal. It was like I was a part of a big puzzle waiting to be claimed. I'm sure as I trying to explain this to my wife she thought I was a little nuts.
He does let me eat though - so I have 2-3 saltines and half a spoon of jello. Bout an hour later we were talking about food with some staff, and then the dr walks in and says ""no food - we need to get back into surgery" to fix the leak. He had spent the last few days hoping the exhibited leak would finish healing.
We spent the next few hours waiting with a very "we're ready" attitude. Some visitors at work and family - it was very nice again. We watched the next Castle (we had fortunately the previous season, and caught up on Psych).
This time the whole admission was more normal, and they covered things I had missed on the second one (since that one was more emergency).
The radio played "Already gone" as we were wheeling into the pre-op. Jerks.
As I was coming out of surgery, it was very surreal. It was like I was a part of a big puzzle waiting to be claimed. I'm sure as I trying to explain this to my wife she thought I was a little nuts.
Back to the drawing board
So,
[Retrospective]
After we threw up the other night, we were grounded from eating and drinking anything until my body starts reestablishing its own natural order of things, meaning no more vomit and producing its own BMs, and then a natural appetite. So, yesterday we enema'ed, and not much later released stuff, and led to 3 diarrheas later.
And then we waited. More therapy, we're wandering around lazily with a cane now, and I am now completely off the pain meds. So, as my wife said, "Did you rejoice in the small victories?"
However, we still had no natural desire to eat, and the room still spins really fast. Various people have made fun of me because I have tried to non-loserishly describe the direction and speed the room spins. And there were moments,where the room would spin at multiple revolutions per second.
Close to bedtime on the 21st, I was starting to scrape at the bottom of the barrel. I'd been pretty positive most of the time, but this evening I was really starting to lose it. You should know that I'm a religious person, a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormon). I actually wasn't going to talk about religion on this blog, but oh well - I guess it's part of who I am. It's hard to talk about religion without talking about faith, which is kind of where I wanted to go here.
I know the word 'faith' has its own set of definitions, but the way faith works for me is as follows: Stuff happens, and it's okay. That's really a short definition and all. More specifically, I believe that the reason we are sitting here on earth living, having families, working, etc. is not the end of our existence. Particularly, after death, at some point our bodies will be restored and our families can be brought together again.
I really do believe that. Therefore, most of the time, I see death not as the end of the line, but as a change - a retirement or a graduation.
However, as many people who believe in God, I also believe in prayer. Here's a sentence that sums up the purpose of prayer for me: The object of prayer is not to change the will of God, but to secure for ourselves and for others blessings that God is already willing to grant, but that are made conditional on our asking for them. For me personally, I find it difficult to reconcile these statements, or when to invest more in one side than another. However, they are enough to swell the "God doesn't care about me" or similar attitudes.
So what I do typically is pray for assurance, guidance, and peace. As we've been going through all this I've felt strongly that it isn't time to go yet, and that He will yet bring us through it. At this point it's just been so hard to see.
My wife and I then had a nice cry-fest (where I think I elicited almost a tear), and I spent the next while praying, and I found it hard to hang onto any hope of pulling out of it, but I found the strength to keep trying, and after a minute I found one small, faint symbol of hope (think Star Trek - one life sign, very faint): the teeniest desire for food.
[Retrospective]
After we threw up the other night, we were grounded from eating and drinking anything until my body starts reestablishing its own natural order of things, meaning no more vomit and producing its own BMs, and then a natural appetite. So, yesterday we enema'ed, and not much later released stuff, and led to 3 diarrheas later.
And then we waited. More therapy, we're wandering around lazily with a cane now, and I am now completely off the pain meds. So, as my wife said, "Did you rejoice in the small victories?"
However, we still had no natural desire to eat, and the room still spins really fast. Various people have made fun of me because I have tried to non-loserishly describe the direction and speed the room spins. And there were moments,where the room would spin at multiple revolutions per second.
Close to bedtime on the 21st, I was starting to scrape at the bottom of the barrel. I'd been pretty positive most of the time, but this evening I was really starting to lose it. You should know that I'm a religious person, a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormon). I actually wasn't going to talk about religion on this blog, but oh well - I guess it's part of who I am. It's hard to talk about religion without talking about faith, which is kind of where I wanted to go here.
I know the word 'faith' has its own set of definitions, but the way faith works for me is as follows: Stuff happens, and it's okay. That's really a short definition and all. More specifically, I believe that the reason we are sitting here on earth living, having families, working, etc. is not the end of our existence. Particularly, after death, at some point our bodies will be restored and our families can be brought together again.
I really do believe that. Therefore, most of the time, I see death not as the end of the line, but as a change - a retirement or a graduation.
However, as many people who believe in God, I also believe in prayer. Here's a sentence that sums up the purpose of prayer for me: The object of prayer is not to change the will of God, but to secure for ourselves and for others blessings that God is already willing to grant, but that are made conditional on our asking for them. For me personally, I find it difficult to reconcile these statements, or when to invest more in one side than another. However, they are enough to swell the "God doesn't care about me" or similar attitudes.
So what I do typically is pray for assurance, guidance, and peace. As we've been going through all this I've felt strongly that it isn't time to go yet, and that He will yet bring us through it. At this point it's just been so hard to see.
My wife and I then had a nice cry-fest (where I think I elicited almost a tear), and I spent the next while praying, and I found it hard to hang onto any hope of pulling out of it, but I found the strength to keep trying, and after a minute I found one small, faint symbol of hope (think Star Trek - one life sign, very faint): the teeniest desire for food.
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
And then the vomit comes
Ate dinner, waiting for our last walk of the evening, and then right as the evening nurse comes in to check vitals, we vomit all over the place. Well, by 'we', I mean 'I', and by 'all over the place' means 'in a manner where we had a few seconds to get a bucket, not get it all over everybody, and yet still fill a rather sizeable bucket'.
So we have to decide if it's the vomit that will cause more vomit later, or if it's the kind that "ah, that feels much better", so I make everybody bail the plans for the walk and let me rest for a minute. Then, about an hour later, I'll all in freak-out mode, which is probably doing bad stuff for my body, and my wife and my nurse "convince" me to go for a walk anyway. That turned out to be a good thing, and we returned to bed not in not-awful spirits.
We also have to decide if it did something insane like blew open incisions of the spinal cavity or anything last night, but we will don't have any signs of anything bad so far.
Today, so far, nurse comes in, we make a drug plan (to start letting the body take over again), a walking plan, (to let the body take over again) and bowel plan (which really involves doing nothing except eating softer stuff and to let the body take over again).
Was going to try to check work email, but we took work stuff home on Friday and didn't bring it back, so that can wait till later. Since I was up to date on Friday, and yesterday being a holiday, I was hoping to not get really behind.
So we have to decide if it's the vomit that will cause more vomit later, or if it's the kind that "ah, that feels much better", so I make everybody bail the plans for the walk and let me rest for a minute. Then, about an hour later, I'll all in freak-out mode, which is probably doing bad stuff for my body, and my wife and my nurse "convince" me to go for a walk anyway. That turned out to be a good thing, and we returned to bed not in not-awful spirits.
We also have to decide if it did something insane like blew open incisions of the spinal cavity or anything last night, but we will don't have any signs of anything bad so far.
Today, so far, nurse comes in, we make a drug plan (to start letting the body take over again), a walking plan, (to let the body take over again) and bowel plan (which really involves doing nothing except eating softer stuff and to let the body take over again).
Was going to try to check work email, but we took work stuff home on Friday and didn't bring it back, so that can wait till later. Since I was up to date on Friday, and yesterday being a holiday, I was hoping to not get really behind.
Monday, February 20, 2012
Down and back up
This morning we get up and I was pleased with everything.
Then we went for therapy, we walked two laps, and I wanted to push it a little it so I stayed sitting on the edge of my bed for about 5 minutes, but I get really really dizzy and lay back down again. Then the doctor comes and in and is like "Okay, let's watch you today, but you should be good to go tomorrow", and he congratulated us on not having any emergencies in the middle of the night, no leakages, no anything, gave us a goal to get up walking 5 times today and leaves.
However, I was floored for the longest time after that walk this morning. BTW - the walks are so much harder now than they were last week, with the extra time out. My legs are really stiff and I am only doing about 0.3 mph (guessing). So, I lay down for a nap for a bit with the intent of getting up in about two hours, but I was just so tired.
So, after about 4-5 hours, my nurse and I talk about it, and she convinces me that get out and go again, even though I don't feel entirely ready. I think the problem was that I was experiencing a huuuuuge amount of vertigo, which is somewhat normal for people with spinal fluid problems, AND it's my body slowly waking up the anesthesia.
So we go for a walk again, and it's great. And we've been on two more since then, and they've been great.
And I killed a horsefly with my fingers and it was great.
However, I will propose a definition for you:
Exercise is effort spent your energy pool trying to gain/maintain a skill.
Therapy or Rehab is spending effort that you don't have trying to gain/maintain a skill you used to have.
And the world is good for this moment, and for that I will say simply for this moment, "I thank God for the peaceful moments".
Then we went for therapy, we walked two laps, and I wanted to push it a little it so I stayed sitting on the edge of my bed for about 5 minutes, but I get really really dizzy and lay back down again. Then the doctor comes and in and is like "Okay, let's watch you today, but you should be good to go tomorrow", and he congratulated us on not having any emergencies in the middle of the night, no leakages, no anything, gave us a goal to get up walking 5 times today and leaves.
However, I was floored for the longest time after that walk this morning. BTW - the walks are so much harder now than they were last week, with the extra time out. My legs are really stiff and I am only doing about 0.3 mph (guessing). So, I lay down for a nap for a bit with the intent of getting up in about two hours, but I was just so tired.
So, after about 4-5 hours, my nurse and I talk about it, and she convinces me that get out and go again, even though I don't feel entirely ready. I think the problem was that I was experiencing a huuuuuge amount of vertigo, which is somewhat normal for people with spinal fluid problems, AND it's my body slowly waking up the anesthesia.
So we go for a walk again, and it's great. And we've been on two more since then, and they've been great.
And I killed a horsefly with my fingers and it was great.
However, I will propose a definition for you:
Exercise is effort spent your energy pool trying to gain/maintain a skill.
Therapy or Rehab is spending effort that you don't have trying to gain/maintain a skill you used to have.
And the world is good for this moment, and for that I will say simply for this moment, "I thank God for the peaceful moments".
A step up
It's really hard to blog with the finger covered by an O2 sensor.
Saturday we spent catching up on rest. There was some hope of trying to get up and walking around on Saturday, but we were just too tired.
The doctor said on Sunday Morning that we had been really leaking spinal fluid, so that was why nothing good was going on Saturday evening. However, there was not much actual blood, which is good in case the hemotomas keep coming back, but bad in that blood is the best thing to seal up the spinal cavity. So he right there sutured up the drain site, and we were instructed to try to get walking today.
We spent a while increasing gradually up the incline in the chair, about 10 degrees an hour, (20 was last week). I was perhaps freaking out about this a little too much because the doctor said that headaches were indicative of spinal fluid loss, but he said to not be hindered by dizziness or lightheadedness, so we push through it. We do a walk in the evening and all was happy.
There was a nice visit in the evening with my parents, two of my sisters, and some long-time neighbors (thanks guys!) spend a while visiting, and then we walk again and all ways happy.
Saturday we spent catching up on rest. There was some hope of trying to get up and walking around on Saturday, but we were just too tired.
The doctor said on Sunday Morning that we had been really leaking spinal fluid, so that was why nothing good was going on Saturday evening. However, there was not much actual blood, which is good in case the hemotomas keep coming back, but bad in that blood is the best thing to seal up the spinal cavity. So he right there sutured up the drain site, and we were instructed to try to get walking today.
We spent a while increasing gradually up the incline in the chair, about 10 degrees an hour, (20 was last week). I was perhaps freaking out about this a little too much because the doctor said that headaches were indicative of spinal fluid loss, but he said to not be hindered by dizziness or lightheadedness, so we push through it. We do a walk in the evening and all was happy.
There was a nice visit in the evening with my parents, two of my sisters, and some long-time neighbors (thanks guys!) spend a while visiting, and then we walk again and all ways happy.
Saturday, February 18, 2012
And back again
So interesting couples of days. I also can't type with my left my left index finger, so that is clearly where any typos will be.
Within a half an hour of getting home, my legs start feeling tingly. So I go to move to the couch my with my wife's help. This is the first time in all of this I need help lifting. After about 10 minutes of that getting worse, we decide we need to call the doctor, and he tells us to come back.
We had to get an awesome neighbor's help to get back in the car with some nursing techniques ( nursing as in medical and not as in breastfeeding), and the doctor got us back in the MRI once we got there. We decide we need to go back into surgery to remove a hematoma. I couldn't even undress at this point, and had to 3 guys taking off my pants.
Today was rough. Now they had put in a drain to drain the blood, but once the blood was gone, it created a reverse pressure chamber against the spinal canal. The doctor wishes the nurse would have notified him sooner that it wasn't just blood a little more quickly.
They were trying to work me up to pooping and to walking around, but I couldn't get up because of all the spinal fluid drainage. But after the doctor came and looked at it early this afternoon, removed the drain, and having the nurses check the padding all day for spinal fluid or blood, then theoretically both problems are fixed, and I have to build the fluid back up. We had tried to have me ready to walk by 4, but 2 hours wasn't enough to build it back AND work up to inclining, OR I just hadn't eaten much over the last few days and it just wore me out, so we'll try again tomorrow.
We're home!!!
Back to the house. Probably going to sleep the rest of the day. Stupid hiccups are going to be the death of me. I seem to get them whenever I eat or drink anything.
I may have worn myself out with the exercises today. Or maybe it's just the hiccups just wearing me out. One of the nurses told us to try a spoonful of sugar. Trying now.
I may have worn myself out with the exercises today. Or maybe it's just the hiccups just wearing me out. One of the nurses told us to try a spoonful of sugar. Trying now.
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Day 3
Kay, I think we have pan managed pretty well. The things that hurt the most are laying down, standing up, sitting down, laying down, and HICCUPS! Stupid hiccups. While trying to manage them, I make them worse and end up with double-hiccups.
Basically when I move, I have to keep my shoulders, hips, and knees aligned. Otherwise it kills.
The thing we do is walk laps around our floor, and occasionally add a few stairs.
So, right now I'm standing in our room typing this. The nurses removed the catheter this morning and now want me to pee on my own, and I think we're pretty close. The doctor is expecting to discharge us tomorrow.
Regarding the goals I made about 2 week ago:
Run 30 miles - made about 10. But 1 was outside trying to get to the next train transfer before two of the present trains would have gotten there, with my computer bag and going under 3 freeways. I grossly underestimated the trip, but I made it in three trains' time, which is where I would have been if I just would have waited at the stop.
Run 5Ks under 24:00 - I did one, 23:49
Extra work - got about 8 hours.
Got some of the in-head code done. One of them is a hard problem which I haven't solved all the way before.
Didn't do much music except a little doodling.
I did make a new Monkey at work - the "You're so monkey and you don't even know it" for a coworker who last week quoted "You're so money..." from Swingers various times.
No real hot dates, unless you could laying down watching movies and playing games, which for us kind of does.
Basically when I move, I have to keep my shoulders, hips, and knees aligned. Otherwise it kills.
The thing we do is walk laps around our floor, and occasionally add a few stairs.
So, right now I'm standing in our room typing this. The nurses removed the catheter this morning and now want me to pee on my own, and I think we're pretty close. The doctor is expecting to discharge us tomorrow.
Regarding the goals I made about 2 week ago:
Run 30 miles - made about 10. But 1 was outside trying to get to the next train transfer before two of the present trains would have gotten there, with my computer bag and going under 3 freeways. I grossly underestimated the trip, but I made it in three trains' time, which is where I would have been if I just would have waited at the stop.
Run 5Ks under 24:00 - I did one, 23:49
Extra work - got about 8 hours.
Got some of the in-head code done. One of them is a hard problem which I haven't solved all the way before.
Didn't do much music except a little doodling.
I did make a new Monkey at work - the "You're so monkey and you don't even know it" for a coworker who last week quoted "You're so money..." from Swingers various times.
No real hot dates, unless you could laying down watching movies and playing games, which for us kind of does.
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Hospital, day 2
Wow - there's a lot to say already, but I'll just sum up so far, and fill in the holes in a second.
We got here at 6am yesterday, waited a bit, filled out some papers and talked a bit, put in the IV and rolled me into surgery. I remember being wheeled into the OR and seeing about 8 people in the OR.
About 9 hours of surgery later, we were done. I woke up not being able to do much of anything. My back was nice and stiff, and IIRC my arms and legs were too. The surgery was, naturally, face down, and took longer than expected.
It was supposed to be 4-6 hours, but they had to dig the tumor out of the spinal coord branches moreso than they thought.
It turned out not to be a myxopapillary ependymoma, but a schwanoma. Theoretically, that's better. He said he got it all out, but 5% of what could be remaining scar tissue or more tumor remained behind.
I don't remember waking up, or for a bit later...
The rest of yesterday was uneventful - I tried to sleep most of it and didn't eat very much, as eating started to upset my stomach. I was also supposed to be on "flat back rest", as I had lost a bunch of spinal fluid, and raising up would cause a big headache.
My upper thighs killed like crazy - apparently they were resting on something for all 9 hours and they still hurt.
The doctor comes in this morning and tells us he wants us to get off IV drugs today, and probably to walk today. Right now I am inclined about 35-40 degrees up, and when we hit 90 we can start walking. He had me lift my legs (while I was still laying) and I was afraid this would cause an undue burden on my back, but turned out not to, and the more I lifted it, the less they hurt.
They have already taken out the IVs too, and I am on Perkocet. Then they took me for another MRI, during which I had no math problems to think about. So far, I'm not in a lot of pain.
Oh, one more crazy thing - all, my heart rate monitor kept beeping. Kept going below 50. I think my at-rest-sitting heart rate is around 75, so my laying-doped-up-sleeping heart rate is around 48. So they adjusted the machine, and we could get some sleep. That, and I would move my arms around and kink the oxygen tubes.
Sorry this is not terribly cohesive or organized. I'm not going to fix it :)
We got here at 6am yesterday, waited a bit, filled out some papers and talked a bit, put in the IV and rolled me into surgery. I remember being wheeled into the OR and seeing about 8 people in the OR.
About 9 hours of surgery later, we were done. I woke up not being able to do much of anything. My back was nice and stiff, and IIRC my arms and legs were too. The surgery was, naturally, face down, and took longer than expected.
It was supposed to be 4-6 hours, but they had to dig the tumor out of the spinal coord branches moreso than they thought.
It turned out not to be a myxopapillary ependymoma, but a schwanoma. Theoretically, that's better. He said he got it all out, but 5% of what could be remaining scar tissue or more tumor remained behind.
I don't remember waking up, or for a bit later...
The rest of yesterday was uneventful - I tried to sleep most of it and didn't eat very much, as eating started to upset my stomach. I was also supposed to be on "flat back rest", as I had lost a bunch of spinal fluid, and raising up would cause a big headache.
My upper thighs killed like crazy - apparently they were resting on something for all 9 hours and they still hurt.
The doctor comes in this morning and tells us he wants us to get off IV drugs today, and probably to walk today. Right now I am inclined about 35-40 degrees up, and when we hit 90 we can start walking. He had me lift my legs (while I was still laying) and I was afraid this would cause an undue burden on my back, but turned out not to, and the more I lifted it, the less they hurt.
They have already taken out the IVs too, and I am on Perkocet. Then they took me for another MRI, during which I had no math problems to think about. So far, I'm not in a lot of pain.
Oh, one more crazy thing - all, my heart rate monitor kept beeping. Kept going below 50. I think my at-rest-sitting heart rate is around 75, so my laying-doped-up-sleeping heart rate is around 48. So they adjusted the machine, and we could get some sleep. That, and I would move my arms around and kink the oxygen tubes.
Sorry this is not terribly cohesive or organized. I'm not going to fix it :)
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
It's go time!
See ya in a few (!) hours. I probably won't actually be on the computer till tomorrow, though.
Monday, February 13, 2012
Adventures in Medicine, part 13
Got poked again today for a "Type and Screen". Apparently, one's antibodies can change after 72 hours, so it needed to be done today. I also got my bracelet-id tags.
"So I get to wear these to work all day?"
"Yup, you'll draw a crowd"
"Awesome."
I can still eat for 2.5 hours. Any suggestions?
"So I get to wear these to work all day?"
"Yup, you'll draw a crowd"
"Awesome."
I can still eat for 2.5 hours. Any suggestions?
Friday, February 10, 2012
Adventures in Medicine, part 12
Today was pre-surgery registration. Paperwork, lists of current medication, and blood work. Woohoo.
More importantly, I transformed from Bryan, the mild software engineer to Bryan, the parking lot troll!!!!
The hospital's parking lot fills up quickly, and I didn't want to park in the parking garage, so I had to follow somebody inconspicuously to her car and wait for her to leave.
More importantly, I transformed from Bryan, the mild software engineer to Bryan, the parking lot troll!!!!
The hospital's parking lot fills up quickly, and I didn't want to park in the parking garage, so I had to follow somebody inconspicuously to her car and wait for her to leave.
Nutrition code of conduct
This is about a week old in my head. You'll see how in a sec.
We're going to prove by induction how to eat healthily.
Base case 1: not eating junk food is healthy.
Base case 2: eating junk food makes you want more junk food.
Inductive case: After eating bite N of junk food, you're going to want bit N+1 of junk food.
Therefore, to eat healthily, you must either not eat junk food, or understand that somewhere after eating some amount of junk food, that YOU WILL NEVER BE SATISFIED, so you might as well stop now. Or rather, to understand that eating the next bite isn't going to make you want to stop eating.
This was my health conduct last week. Last week, I pulled the carrot sticks out of my fridge in my office when I had the munchies.
Today, I ate half a donut and a butterfinger. Before lunch.
We're going to prove by induction how to eat healthily.
Base case 1: not eating junk food is healthy.
Base case 2: eating junk food makes you want more junk food.
Inductive case: After eating bite N of junk food, you're going to want bit N+1 of junk food.
Therefore, to eat healthily, you must either not eat junk food, or understand that somewhere after eating some amount of junk food, that YOU WILL NEVER BE SATISFIED, so you might as well stop now. Or rather, to understand that eating the next bite isn't going to make you want to stop eating.
This was my health conduct last week. Last week, I pulled the carrot sticks out of my fridge in my office when I had the munchies.
Today, I ate half a donut and a butterfinger. Before lunch.
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
3D stereograms
Hey, you know those pictures that look like a bunch of blurriness, and you're supposed to cross your eyes and find a 3d picture? Well, I've never been able to do them before, until tonight. When my 9yo figured out how to do them, I had to as well.
Turns out I was doing it wrong. I was trying to just find the right focal angle (or whatever), but it turns out you just have to wait for your eyes to settle on it. Sounds backwards, I know. It also wasn't what I expected either - I was expecting a full-color image, but all you get is a popping layer (and the color is whatever the picture is). It's still pretty cool, though.
(I would post a picture, but they're probably all copyright or whatever).
Turns out I was doing it wrong. I was trying to just find the right focal angle (or whatever), but it turns out you just have to wait for your eyes to settle on it. Sounds backwards, I know. It also wasn't what I expected either - I was expecting a full-color image, but all you get is a popping layer (and the color is whatever the picture is). It's still pretty cool, though.
(I would post a picture, but they're probably all copyright or whatever).
Happy drive your car in front of the train day
Okay, so this is a day late.
Monday is now "Drive your car in from of the train" day. Seems to happen almost every Monday. Okay not quite, but in the 3 months I've been using the commuter train, there have been about 7 incidents involving trains, and most of them have been on Monday.
Yesterday, a train hit a truck, the train derailed, and blocked both rails for quite some time.
Monday is now "Drive your car in from of the train" day. Seems to happen almost every Monday. Okay not quite, but in the 3 months I've been using the commuter train, there have been about 7 incidents involving trains, and most of them have been on Monday.
Yesterday, a train hit a truck, the train derailed, and blocked both rails for quite some time.
Monday, February 6, 2012
Bejeweled Blitz
Not quite sure this counts as "gaming", but oh well.
So, about a year or two ago, when I actually looked at facebook, I would play "Bejeweled Blitz". Right about the point where I thought I was any good, I noticed everybody else was 4x better.
So I discovered my 7yo playing it on the iPad. He knew all the names of everything - "Dad, you could have gotten a hypercube". But on average I could do a little better than him. Then, I brought it upstairs, and my wife proceeded to clobber me.
Maybe I was just not meant to win any games :)
So, about a year or two ago, when I actually looked at facebook, I would play "Bejeweled Blitz". Right about the point where I thought I was any good, I noticed everybody else was 4x better.
So I discovered my 7yo playing it on the iPad. He knew all the names of everything - "Dad, you could have gotten a hypercube". But on average I could do a little better than him. Then, I brought it upstairs, and my wife proceeded to clobber me.
Maybe I was just not meant to win any games :)
Friday, February 3, 2012
Anxiety
So, while I was feeling ecstatic and exuberant the other night, facing the prospect of surgery, the last few days I've felt a load of anxiety. While I don't particularly like drawing attention to myself, I find that talking about it (particularly if I can joke about it), and particularly with those who have been there in one form or another, helps a lot.
Today I made a reference like this to my direct supervisor:
"I plan to ... unless I'm dead", but I meant 'dead' figuratively as in no energy/unable to concentrate, as opposed to actually dead.
Anyway, to combat the pre-surgery blues, I have made the following conservative and entirely completable (apparently not a word) pre-surgery goals.
Run 30 miles (I've made it about 15 miles a week when I've made it a priority)
Two of those runs will be a 5K under 24 minutes (This might enable me to beat a coworker at our Spring 5K, if I'm recovered by then)
Work a little extra to help compensate for my lack of time off, maybe 15 hours. Particularly the Saturday before surgery, as it counts as the same work week as the surgery.
Code the coding I've done in my head in the game I'm making, and a little work on my other projects.
Maybe work a little on a trumpet or piano song.
Publish another monkey at work. Maybe retire one of the existing ones so they don't start pairing off.
And let's not forget 2 dates with my beautiful wife.
So... naturally... I spent all evening watching television.
Today I made a reference like this to my direct supervisor:
"I plan to ... unless I'm dead", but I meant 'dead' figuratively as in no energy/unable to concentrate, as opposed to actually dead.
Anyway, to combat the pre-surgery blues, I have made the following conservative and entirely completable (apparently not a word) pre-surgery goals.
Run 30 miles (I've made it about 15 miles a week when I've made it a priority)
Two of those runs will be a 5K under 24 minutes (This might enable me to beat a coworker at our Spring 5K, if I'm recovered by then)
Work a little extra to help compensate for my lack of time off, maybe 15 hours. Particularly the Saturday before surgery, as it counts as the same work week as the surgery.
Code the coding I've done in my head in the game I'm making, and a little work on my other projects.
Maybe work a little on a trumpet or piano song.
Publish another monkey at work. Maybe retire one of the existing ones so they don't start pairing off.
And let's not forget 2 dates with my beautiful wife.
So... naturally... I spent all evening watching television.
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Proxy rant
Sorry, not all posts are going to be updates on my condition. For now I just have a rant about computers.
So, at work, to get on the internet (my browser's dictionary just flagged 'internet' as a misspelled word), I have to change the proxy settings to "Automatically detect proxy settings".
When I bring my computer home (I'll leave the question as to whether my computer is a laptop or not as an exercise to the reader), I have to change it to "No proxy".
Rant:
Why can't "Automatically detect proxy settings" automatically detect that there's no proxy?
So, at work, to get on the internet (my browser's dictionary just flagged 'internet' as a misspelled word), I have to change the proxy settings to "Automatically detect proxy settings".
When I bring my computer home (I'll leave the question as to whether my computer is a laptop or not as an exercise to the reader), I have to change it to "No proxy".
Rant:
Why can't "Automatically detect proxy settings" automatically detect that there's no proxy?
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Stupid youtube
Okay, so a few hours ago, my wife showed me this:
(Don't watch it if you are queasy, or if you passed out while your wife was in labor):
Video: Excision of Lumbar Myxopapillary Ependymoma
My wife was like "you might not want to see this, but ...", and I was like "hey, that's pretty awesome", but then I was like
"HOLY CRAP THEY'RE GOING TO COMPLETELY OPEN IT UP! WHOA WHERE DID THE SPINE GO!"
and then I was like
"Oooh, look at the slimy tumor they're taking out".
So, I think I had my 5 minutes of freaking out, and for some reason right now, I'm excessively giddy.
(Don't watch it if you are queasy, or if you passed out while your wife was in labor):
Video: Excision of Lumbar Myxopapillary Ependymoma
My wife was like "you might not want to see this, but ...", and I was like "hey, that's pretty awesome", but then I was like
"HOLY CRAP THEY'RE GOING TO COMPLETELY OPEN IT UP! WHOA WHERE DID THE SPINE GO!"
and then I was like
"Oooh, look at the slimy tumor they're taking out".
So, I think I had my 5 minutes of freaking out, and for some reason right now, I'm excessively giddy.
Not good example after all
So, we've sent all our kids to the same preschool teacher so far, cuz we think she's awesome.
She has a first-come first-served registration policy though, so for the last N years as far back as I can remember (sort of), I have gone over to deliver the registration at around 12:01 on the morning registration opens.
She has also apparently emphasized the FSFS nature by saying, "I have one set of parents that always comes in the middle of the night to drop off the registration"...
But last night we forgot. Ooops. Guess we're not that great after all.
She has a first-come first-served registration policy though, so for the last N years as far back as I can remember (sort of), I have gone over to deliver the registration at around 12:01 on the morning registration opens.
She has also apparently emphasized the FSFS nature by saying, "I have one set of parents that always comes in the middle of the night to drop off the registration"...
But last night we forgot. Ooops. Guess we're not that great after all.
Adventures in Medicine, part 11 - The Neurosurgeon
The neurosurgeon wanted us in today, immediately following the MRI.
He tells us that the C-spine and the T-spine look fine, which is something he was concerned about.
The L-spine still has something called a 'myxopapillary ependymoma'.
I learned a lot about the spine today.
So the spinal cord is surrounded by bone - big fat bone near the front of your body, with smaller pokey ones (lack of better word) toward the back. Inside the bone, is the spinal sac with spinal fluid. Inside that, is the spinal cord. Between the thoracic spine and the cervical spine, the spinal cord begins to branch off. Right around that point, I have a 30mm x 15mm tumor inside the spinal sac pressing the spinal cord against the edge. He says the tumor can't get any bigger around - there's no room for it.
So he recommended surgery. It will have to be open surgery. To get to the spinal sac, he has to remove portions of the 3 surrounding vertebrae (T12 - L2), open up the sac, take out the tumor, and sew up the sac such that no fluid could leak, and sew me up.
He said he would be able to get it all out in one piece, at which point he will send in the whole thing to pathology (and that I couldn't keep it).
More as it warrants.
Oh, this was on his magazine rack:
He tells us that the C-spine and the T-spine look fine, which is something he was concerned about.
The L-spine still has something called a 'myxopapillary ependymoma'.
I learned a lot about the spine today.
So the spinal cord is surrounded by bone - big fat bone near the front of your body, with smaller pokey ones (lack of better word) toward the back. Inside the bone, is the spinal sac with spinal fluid. Inside that, is the spinal cord. Between the thoracic spine and the cervical spine, the spinal cord begins to branch off. Right around that point, I have a 30mm x 15mm tumor inside the spinal sac pressing the spinal cord against the edge. He says the tumor can't get any bigger around - there's no room for it.
So he recommended surgery. It will have to be open surgery. To get to the spinal sac, he has to remove portions of the 3 surrounding vertebrae (T12 - L2), open up the sac, take out the tumor, and sew up the sac such that no fluid could leak, and sew me up.
He said he would be able to get it all out in one piece, at which point he will send in the whole thing to pathology (and that I couldn't keep it).
More as it warrants.
Oh, this was on his magazine rack:
What to do during an MRI
Had a second set of MRIs today. The doctor wanted to see whether the tumor had spread up or down the spine, so he order a thoracic (t) spine and a cervical (c) spine mri.
This time, I left my eyes closed most of the time, as last time, I came out dizzy and had to spend some time laying down. This time I was all right.
So, if you're like me, which you're probably not, what do you do during an hour-and-a-half MRI? You invent and solve math problems.
(I did all the coding in my head that there was to do on Monday. Problem with coding in your head is you have to go do it on the computer, which takes longer.)
So, here's what I came up with today.
Suppose you can put multiple MRI scanners in one room (which I don't think you can). The scanner takes up 2 vertical units of area. In order for a scanner to be present, it has to be surrounded by empty units of area. Sorry, I'm too lazy to make pictures.
So, for one scanner to be in one room, you need 3 units wide by 4 units tall.
For each subsequent scanner, you need 2 additional units horizontally, or 3 additional units vertically.
Question: Given N units of area, what is the optimal arrangement of scanners?
I had solved this up to the point where I would have to differentiate 1/x, at which point I couldn't keep track of all of it in my head anymore.
This time, I left my eyes closed most of the time, as last time, I came out dizzy and had to spend some time laying down. This time I was all right.
So, if you're like me, which you're probably not, what do you do during an hour-and-a-half MRI? You invent and solve math problems.
(I did all the coding in my head that there was to do on Monday. Problem with coding in your head is you have to go do it on the computer, which takes longer.)
So, here's what I came up with today.
Suppose you can put multiple MRI scanners in one room (which I don't think you can). The scanner takes up 2 vertical units of area. In order for a scanner to be present, it has to be surrounded by empty units of area. Sorry, I'm too lazy to make pictures.
So, for one scanner to be in one room, you need 3 units wide by 4 units tall.
For each subsequent scanner, you need 2 additional units horizontally, or 3 additional units vertically.
Question: Given N units of area, what is the optimal arrangement of scanners?
I had solved this up to the point where I would have to differentiate 1/x, at which point I couldn't keep track of all of it in my head anymore.
Black on khaki
Today is most certainly a black shirt/khaki pants kind of day (see related events in other posts). I'm not particularly a fashion expert, but I think it looks pretty okay.
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