Medical care for the ages (and aged)

I want to share two medical procedures I have recently had with the hope it may help those with similar problems to take positive action, i.e. consult with doctors (especially cardiologists) and spinal specialists. 

In June, I had a Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR) because the aortic valve in my heart (the most important) was not functioning properly. In layman's terms,  my doctor (an aortic surgeon) replaced the aortic valve with a minute wire cage inside which was a pig-skin valve. He did this through my groin. Prior to the procedure I was short of breath, tired easily, and sweat profusely during the slightest extended activity. e.g. carrying groceries, walking around the large building (South Bay @ Mt. Pleasant) where I live. Since this successful procedure I have more pep and energy and, for example, am able to ride a stationary bicycle for 30 minutes.

In August, the second procedure was the injection of steroids into my lower back on the right side. Three doctors assured me that x-rays did not show any problems with my hips.  For several months I suffered with continuous pain due to arthritis, had to use a cane and then a walker to get around. I limped daily and normal activities took double the time to complete. It has been three days since this injection and already I have relief from the aching in my right leg from my waist to my foot. The expectation is that in about 14 days time I may be able to dispense with the walker and only use the cane to help maintain my balance. 

Consult with your doctor.  You may be glad you did.

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Living long is the best revenge

Last Wednesday a young lady kept her hand in my groin for about 30 minutes. Normally under such circumstances, you would expect some pleasure, but there was none to be had.

It was a nurse who pressed on the inside of my right leg to close a puncture made by my cardiologist who did a heart catheterization to evaluate my heart function. During the procedure, a second stent was put in my heart. 

Dr. Matthew O’Steen also went into my heart through my right wrist but the puncture there was closed with minimal effort.

My heart and Dr. O’Steen are not exactly strangers. He put an earlier stent in some years year ago and I have great confidence in his skills and abilities. 

As we age, it is often one thing or another. As a child, we can’t wait to grow up and when we get older we wish we were younger.  Whoever said a man is “never satisfied” was “spot on.” 

I am pleased to admit to being 86. When I was a child I could not imagine being 65. That was a long way off and “old” in a child’s mind. 

It will take a few weeks to adjust to my procedure and follow-ups with the doctor have been scheduled. Nevertheless, I am optimistic. I am a believer in a comment attributed many years ago to Bette Davis, one of Hollywood's greatest and most ferociously independent actresses, who was born in Lowell, MA., where I was raised: “Living long is the best revenge.”

You are there (with apologies to CBs)

You are there (with apologies to CBS)

The radio program,You are There, first broadcast on CBS made a transition to television in 1953, with Walter Cronkite as the regular host.

The series featured various key events in American and world history, portrayed in dramatic recreations. Each episode would begin with the characters setting the scene. Walter Cronkite, called “Mr. Believable” by Howard Cosell, from his anchor desk in New York,  would give a few words on what was about to happen. An announcer would then give the date and the event, followed by a loud and boldly spoken "You are there!"

At the end of the program, after Cronkite summarizes what happened in the preceding event, he reminded viewers, "What sort of day was it? A day like all days, filled with those events that alter and illuminate our times... all things are as they were then, and you were there.”

Looking back on my week, the events hardly could be considered to “alter and illuminate our times…” nevertheless you can be there.

President’s Day opened the week and the banks and stock markets were closed. This spared everyone from losing money in the market. Then I had a meeting with a tax advisor who answered some questions that arose out of my having to file a 1040 for the first time since my wife died in August 2015 This was very helpful. 

In the middle of the week the weather turned warmer and I walked 2-3 miles each day. One day, I met a neighbor who had given me a plate of home made cookies for Valentine’s Day and I thanked her again for her thoughtfulness. I had called and left a message on her answering machine when I found the cookies outside my door. 

I had my carotid arteries checked and the technician gave me a thumbs up and said, “I wouldn’t worry if I were you.” This I found comforting. Later in the week I had an echocardiogram and it appeared to go well, but the technician gave the usual response, “The doctor will read it and be in touch with your cardiologist.”  

I did see the cardiologist and he said everything looked good, except that my aortic valve was not functioning at maximum level. There is some stenosis and we will need to watch this and take appropriate action down the road. As this worsens, replacing the valve by surgery or transcatheter aortic valve replacement are options. Neither of these sounds like fun. Just as no one says they want a two-week vacation in Biloxi, Mississippi, no one wants heart surgery or other poking around. We will check this again in a year. This was comforting. If it was reaching critical mass stage the re-check might have been in three or six months,

Things were much easier with my podiatrist. He clipped my toenails, checked the pulse in my feet (pronounced it good), gave me some advice about the type of socks to wear and sent me on my way. Young people may ask, “Why don’t you clip your own toenails like I do.” I don’t because I am 84 (chronological age, not indicative of my zest for life and joy in living),  and more often than not clip the skin around the nails and this could lead to infection and foot trouble. We only get two feet in this life and they are more valuable than your wallet and credit cards, two things you take darn good care of. 

I did some yard work, trimming bushes and putting water in a bird bath. Early in the week the water in it froze. I watched a small bird one cold morning pecking away at the ice without success at breaking through and unable to get water. I added a large pan of warm water which cooled quickly in the 45 degree temperature.

There was the inevitable shopping. I made a list before I went and planned to shop at two locations. Things went well at the first store and when I realized I was going to get only two items at the second I changed my mind. Strawberries and blueberries are better buys at the second location but I picked them up where I was. Saving a few pennies was not worth the hassle of driving, parking, shopping and checking out at store number two. While I was still in number one getting some sliced turkey, two men were serving me and a woman was standing by with her ticket in her hand. That is how they keep shoppers in order. “Get your ticket.” I told one of the men to wait on the woman, “She has to catch the train to Topeka.” The woman laughed but the man, who obviously did not understand my humor, moved over to her quickly.

During the week I spent time on the computer, did the wash, completed household chores, and kept faith with some creditors by paying my bills on time. I read a lot (news magazines) and watched TV (a lot of trash to ignore.) 

Oh, I got at least two dozen telephone calls from Republican Presidential candidates and listened to a couple but just hung up on most. Today, February 20, is the Republican Presidential primary and voting is at the community center. I am going to sit this one out and cast a ballot in next week’s Democratic primary. 

This is hardly the stuff of “those events that alter and illuminate our times... all things are as they were then, and you were there.”

But it is my times… and I log them for posterity

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A Merry Christmas and Happy New Year greeeting

Having crossed the 82^nd meridian of life I pause to wish a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to those living people who played a significant role in my vibrant, interesting and mostly pleasurable life, to wit: my brother and sisters; neighbors and boyhood friends in places I lived; teachers from first grade through high school and fellow students encountered along the way; folks I worked with prior to going in the service and those I hung with after work; men and women I was privileged to associate with during eight years of Air Force service, including those who trained me and advanced my career; the wonderful people over the next 50 years who I met in my work, college and graduate school, community, church, political and social life; my five children  

who made me and their late mother proud by turning out to be good people in their own lives and mating with a good husband and wives and making us proud grandparents; the many folks we came in contact with around the world, especiallyin China, Australia and South Africa; doctors and nurses who have helped keep me going all these years; the fine women and men who cared for my wife in her advanced and declining years; those neighbors and strangers who became fast friends and sustained me in many wonderful ways during those difficult years; and my new wife

and her family and the recently acquired friends and neighbors who continue to make my life worth living.

Merry Christmas one and all and Happy New Year!

The 4th Stent

"The 4th Stent" sounds like a great title for a novel by a contemporary spy author. It is, however, what was put in me on August 28th by an excellent and aggressive cardiologist, Dr. Matthew B. O'Steen, Charleston, SC. This stent went in the artery in my right kidney and followed on two in the left kidney and one in the LAD in my heart. All of this by Dr. O'Steen since April. Needless to say I am feeling much better, my wife, Joyce, says my color is much improved and most importantly indications are that my blood pressure has gone down. This has been a major concern for quite awhile.
The work was done in Roper-St. Francis Hospital in Charleston and the recovery room nurse, Jessie, was great. A patient could not ask to have a better one. 
All was not medical on this trip from Hilton Head to Charleston. On the day before the procedure we went to dinner at California Dreaming and then drove to Folly Beach to show Joyce the famous pier. It was a good night to go. Around 7 pm there were some people enjoying swimming, fishing and playing volleyball on the beach. We took the usual array of photos. 
It made me feel good to see these people having a great time and to see Joyce enjoy some new sights and sounds of South Carolina. It was a good couple of days.

(For the full blog go here.)

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Did it again

 Do you recall doing some things and enjoying them so much you could not wait to do them again? Like the time you went to a carnival as a teen with your own money and had a waffle covered with strawberries and cream. Or the first time you had sex with someone other than yourself.  A more recent experience did not reach those levels of pleasure, but I did it a second time anyway. 
 In April my cardiologist, Dr. Matthew O'Steen put a stent in the LAD (left anterior descending artery which supplies blood to the front and bottom of the left ventricle) of my heart.
 I felt so much better afterwards. I was walking a couple of miles at a good pace and without stress. My wife said my color was better. I felt better all around. But my blood pressure remained high.
 A month later I went back to hospital and Dr. O'Steen put two stents in the renal artery of my left kidney. If one is good, two must be better, right?  
 Suffice that my blood pressure has dropped 30 points over the past week since the kidney work. A major triumph. My doctors and I have been working on lowering my BP for a long time.
 I share this personal experience with the hope it may help someone to do some things in their life if they are having problems of fatigue, shortness of breath and worst of all high blood pressure. See your doctor as the place to start.
 Life is the most valuable possession we have. We ought to take care of it and enjoy it. "Living well is the best revenge."
(Complete blog here.) 
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