August 9, 2006 - Day 1 - Week 19 - Kreitler Medical Journal

Doctor’s order:  Sit around day, keep the leg elevated because the angiogram is all about going in the groin with a long tube to get dye up into the heart so that it can be mapped, and I have to rest; so I sat around until noon.  Lying down was encouraged, but I had no guilt sitting and writing at the computer.  Actually, I lay on my back yesterday for 6 hours straight, following 1 hour of surgery and that was penance for past sins; and they must have been prolific because that was as uncomfortable a stretch as ever experienced.  In addition, I could not shower for 24 hours, in part because of the incision in my neck where a tube was inserted to probe my heart and then snip a little hunk of heart flesh to analyzed this week.

Lesson number one of the Kreitler Medical Journal:  There are three pain inducing procedures to avoid at all cost, unless mandatory:  Number 1 – prostate biopsy – passed out on that one – snip, snip, nap, nap.    Number 2 - bone marrow biopsy – almost passed out on this one, but survived by squeezing the operating table as if it were my childhood teddy bear on a New England thunderstorm night.   Number 3 – heart biopsy – on a scale of 1-10, 10 being worst I would rate that a 7.  All in all each of the three has merit because the biopsy indicates health or sickness; however, the process to arrive at the answer is not for the faint of heart.

I figure if I keep this up, that is continue to expand my knowledge of modern medicine born of necessity,  my body may become a medical textbook in and of itself.

Just think it could go like this:  Chapter One of the Kreitler Medical Book – enlarged prostate – So far no cancer and following the necessary alternative and conventional therapies to mitigate long term suffering. No pictures in this chapter.  Diagnosis for all men is inevitable, but prostate issues usually occur between age 50 and 60.  I began to deal with them at age 40.

Chapter Two – Type II adult on set diabetes diagnosed on my 50 birthday – three paths to chose from, as offered by the specialist – regulated diet, exercise and diligence – tried this for 10 years – worked fine, but finally had to resort to path # 2 which is the one I am on now – exercise, diet, and oral medication twice daily. The third path is insulin.  Not much I could do about this – hereditary from both sides of families.

Chapter Three – Mantle Cell Lymphoma cancer through no fault of my own probably began to affect me around age 60; though I did not recognize the symptoms; I think that is probably accurate. . Maybe it was a weakened immune system, heredity, environment and bad luck rolled into one; but this could be a long and complicated chapter. However, feeling good about getting a handle on this.

Chapter Four –   Age 64 and heart problems. Ventricular tachycardia and a weakened pumping station within the heart is not a good thing.  Therefore, medication, and a possible de-fibrillate mechanism along with careful monitoring is now the rule of the day. In other words, I must factor in how each impact the other.  Not quite sure how this all is going to work.

There you have it, the beginnings of the Kreitler Medical Journal.  Tomorrow I have another scan – keep your fingers crossed so we find something else wrong with me so we can add another chapter to the Journal.  Just kidding; I think I have enough reading ahead of me and behavioral modification to last a lifetime.

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