General Medical issues thread

[drron]

I went and had a venesection today and will have to go and do that again in a few months. My ferritin level is double the upper limit (603) and my ALT 83 score is 20% higher than it should be.
This getting older is no fun.

Did you get the genetic test for Haemochromatosis?Ferritin can be high in conditions that aren't due to iron overload.
I am off for my venesection in a few minutes.

 

[Pushka]

Getting poked and prodded is something you can get used to as you get quite a few miles on your clock. Look on blood tests as helpful as they can help you keep your organs functioning.

Reckon women get used to the poking and prodding a whole lot earlier than men.

 

[RooFlyer]

My need for venesections has decreased markedly in the past few years. Used to be 2-monthly but I haven't had one for abt 18 months of more now - iron evels montored woth 6-monthly blood tests. I can't see my diet ahs changed much.

 

[drron]

My need for venesections has decreased markedly in the past few years. Used to be 2-monthly but I haven't had one for abt 18 months of more now - iron evels montored woth 6-monthly blood tests. I can't see my diet ahs changed much.

Just make sure something else hasn't happened.A few years ago that happened to me.An endoscopy revealed changes suspicious though not diagnostic of coeliac disease.reduced my intake of bread and my venesections have come back to 3 monthly though not to 2 monthly as they were.follow up biopsy- less changes.

I have seen it also with a couple of patients.Another cause is bleeding.one fellow turned out to have bowel cancer.Sorry not wishing that on anyone but a general warning that as age progresses colonoscopies are advised.

 

[Cossie]

Yep, her knee is knackered! Torn meniscus and other stuff, probable surgery, but definitely a brace and no driving, sigh. Looks like I'm chauffeuring again.

 

[Cossie]

No surgery at this stage, specialist thinks a lot of the damage shown in the MRI is old, there is bone on bone contact but the meniscus tear is new. So brace and physio for now and a new knee further down the track.

 

[Pushka]

I have two friends who are both within 4 weeks of a knee reconstruction. The first is 4 weeks post surgery and because it is her left knee she has been cleared for driving. Her leg was very bowed. She will have the second one done in March next year. She seems to be doing fine. She is on the fluffy side but even so is doing quite well. The other friend just had her right knee done and lives next door up our flight of stairs. She is fit but older than the first friend and her knee went after a simply injury. She is doing as you would expect just a week out. I think husband who is retired is also finding it difficult. . She won't be cleared for driving for longer as it is her right knee.

 

[prozac]

... She seems to be doing fine. She is on the fluffy side but even so is doing quite well. ...

On the "fluffy side"? Different language in Canberra.
My electro-cardiologist looks at the ceiling when I mention diving. He and the PM people have worked hard to give me race-tuned 164 bpm to accommodate my activities.

 

[love_the_life]

On the "fluffy side"? Different language in Canberra.
My electro-cardiologist looks at the ceiling when I mention diving. He and the PM people have worked hard to give me race-tuned 164 bpm to accommodate my activities.

Nah that's Adelaide lingo.

 

[prozac]

Nah that's Adelaide lingo.

What does it mean?

 

[Pushka]

What does it mean?

A Polite term for carrying a little excess weight

 

[Hvr]

On the "fluffy side"? Different language in Canberra.

(Mr) Fluffy has a much different and tragic meaning in Canberra.

 

[Pushka]

(Mr) Fluffy has a much different and tragic meaning in Canberra.

Yes that's a sad story.

However It really bugs me when a saying that has been used for eons suddenly morphs into some other meaning, usually negative, because of a modern day slant. And the modern day slant takes precedence.

 

[RooFlyer]

So, 5 days since my retina re-attachment surgery, things are definitely on the improve.

As I mentioned up-thread, to keep the re-attached retina in place, they inject a bubble of nitrogen into the eyeball. The bubble gradually gets adsorbed over a couple of weeks.

Eye was sore and a bit gritty for a couple of days, as there are some stiches in there, but these soften and will dissolve. I'm on three types of drops, four times a day.

But the funny thing is the bubble. I can see it! Basically I'm looking through the bubble in that eye and things were very blurry; initially I could see the bottom of the bubble at the very top of my vision (as your eye inverts things). Five days on, the bottom of the bubble is now about half way down my field of vision (ie its diminishing downwards, as I see it). It looks like you have half your eye below water, and half above, and the line between moves when I move my head, just like the sea! Sort of like this, but not nearly as much movement - just a uniform line that moves like the line in a spirit level.

Half Underwater View Background Water Surface Waving Gopro Dome

Half underwater view background of water surface waving, gopro dome

depositphotos.com

But the really bizarre thing is that I can see this fluid line even with my eyes closed (eg going to sleep), because its in, not outside the eye. If I was on a moving boat, I think I'd be sea-sick .

 

[prozac]

So, 5 days since my retina re-attachment surgery, things are definitely on the improve.

As I mentioned up-thread, to keep the re-attached retina in place, they inject a bubble of nitrogen into the eyeball. The bubble gradually gets adsorbed over a couple of weeks.

Eye was sore and a bit gritty for a couple of days, as there are some stiches in there, but these soften and will dissolve. I'm on three types of drops, four times a day.

But the funny thing is the bubble. I can see it! Basically I'm looking through the bubble in that eye and things were very blurry; initially I could see the bottom of the bubble at the very top of my vision (as your eye inverts things). Five days on, the bottom of the bubble is now about half way down my field of vision (ie its diminishing downwards, as I see it). It looks like you have half your eye below water, and half above, and the line between moves when I move my head, just like the sea! Sort of like this, but not nearly as much movement - just a uniform line that moves like the line in a spirit level.

Half Underwater View Background Water Surface Waving Gopro Dome

Half underwater view background of water surface waving, gopro dome

depositphotos.com

But the really bizarre thing is that I can see this fluid line even with my eyes closed (eg going to sleep), because its in, not outside the eye. If I was on a moving boat, I think I'd be sea-sick .

I have been through the wringer in recent years ... I am glad I didn't have this!

 

[RooFlyer]

Nah, it’s not too bad, just weird.

 

[Pushka]

The worst eye surgery is pterygium removal which I had in my twenties. Blue eye issues and Australia climate. You are awake but the eye is sedated. Which is because they are scraping the skin growth off your eyeball. You hear this squeaky noise. That is your eyeball being scraped . Then an eye patch for a week then a few sessions of radiation therapy. And then as both eyes were affected, as soon as you recover its start all over again. The cataract surgery sounds easy peasy in comparison.

 

[prozac]

The worst eye surgery is pterygium removal which I had in my twenties. ...

I know a family on the land. Father and daughter needed this surgery.

 

[Pushka]

I know a family on the land. Father and daughter needed this surgery.

Yes, that makes sense. Exposure to sun and wind. My mum had it too.

 

[SuePa]

The worst eye surgery is pterygium removal which I had in my twenties. Blue eye issues and Australia climate. You are awake but the eye is sedated.

It sounds a bit like laser eye surgery. Your eye is taped open and you can see (and smell!) everything that is happening, but you have to concentrate on not moving your eyeball or trying to blink.
Still the best thing I every did. Miraculous!!