Staying the Course -- 10-31-2016

[Superbob]

Happy Halloween everyone!

More later -- I'm on candy distribution duty. We have more than 200 trick or treaters here (we have maybe 2 or 3 when we lived in the mountains). :Face-Laugh:

Today I got the video of my Ct-Scan of last Friday. Suppose to have the results on there, if I am smart enough to discipher them. But maybe Halloween night wouldn't be most propitious time to view it, eh? Might be a rather gruesome flick (though I hope it will be all sunshine and cheer)....

So more later --- ghosts and goblins coming up walkway...

 

[jwinter]

Superbob, Enjoy the Halloween kids and will be waiting to hear of your results when I get on the other side.

 

[epstns]

SB - You will have to give me the short course on viewing CT scan images -- I'm scheduled for one later this week for my "other" issue. Not that I can do anything with it. They will just use it to plan any treatment that may be appropriate.

Hope everyone survived the goblins. We had few, but then again, our neighborhood is at the part of its turnover cycle when families are either older (like us) or very young. Not too many children in the age group that is usually out there scavenging candy. At least it is a quiet neighborhood for another few years yet. . .

 

[Superbob]

We had easily over 200 kids. The young ones appeared to be accompanied by parents, and just about all of them said "thank you." Lots of cute costumes; appears to have been a good night.

We had tons of candy and gave it out from 5 to 8. I turned out the lights then because I was pretty tired. Plus we saved a small quantity of "fun-sized" candy (which lacks calories -- right? ha).... for us -- to eat (hopefully) very gradually.

Bad thing: My son's big ol' yellow lab had a seizure early this morning, second one he's had in past few months. Hope he didn't steal a piece of Halloween chocolate -- we of course would never give him one. Chocolate is very bad for dogs.

Bummer -- I couldn't read the scan on my Mac, nor my DVD player. I could just be patient and wait for the cardio's read on the 21st, but since I have it in my hands, I am likely to try something else. Maybe I will take it to the neighborhood library and see if there is some friendly soul who will help me read it on their PC. Or maybe there is a kindly soul at the Imaging Center who can at least print out the results section (assuming that it is in text)....anyway... To be honest, I think it used to be that you were supposed to see the doc before being given the raw data -- maybe something's changed? I dunno.

So anyway Steve, good luck with your scan. You may be getting your results before I can decipher mine. Anyway, I am glad I have the disc because if the cardio has any concern I will be sending it on to my surgeon back in Northern Virginia to ask his read on it. He kindly did that 6 or 7 years ago when a previous cardio's office was concerned, and he reassured one and all (especially me) that all was A-OK. Obviously I am hoping this is a repeat -- though I have a much better cardio and echo tech now.

So cheers....hope all are having a good week!

PS: ,, and Fred I think we all need some of that homemade ice cream!

 

[Paleowoman]

SB - You will have to give me the short course on viewing CT scan images .

I have CDs of all my CT scans and MRI scans. You have to load the CD onto your computer, or view them directly (most hospitals in the UK seem to use PCs rather than Macs which makes it a bit tricky if you have a Mac like me - but I've got round it in the end) and then you'll find menus to the different parts of the scans. They are meaningless unless you are a doctor who knows how to decipher the scans, although bones are pretty obvious as well as bits of the heart and some soft tissues (eyes look really spooky) but damage or problems or artefacts aren't obvious to non medical plebs. I've never found a report included with my scans, I've always been given the reports separately at follow up consultations, but maybe some radiologists include them as a text file ? Regardless, your doctor should be able to show you things on the scans. Keep the CDs in case you go to other hospitals and have further scans of the same area so that the old scans can be compared to the new ones.

We had one little boy from next door but one with his mum and grandma come to our house trick or treating yesterday evening. There are plenty of children in the street but I suppose Halloween isn't so popular here. We have Guy Fawkes in four days' time so we'll get fireworks then. When I was a kid no one did Halloween at all here but we did 'penny for the Guy' - making a Guy and putting him on the pavement for passersby to give us money (the Guy would susequently be burned on Guy Fawkes night). I've not seen that now for years.

 

[Superbob]

Thanks! There is one icon titled "Results." I may ask the Imaging Center (at the risk of being a pest) if they can print it out for me.

 

[honeybunny]

I can't even follow along when the doctor is pointing out things on my echos, let alone try to decipher a scan on my own! Good luck, SB!

I've lived in my house for 11 years and can count on two hands the number of trick or treaters I've had. It's an old, quiet neighborhood that is on the city limits. But each year I would buy candy "just in case". This year I didn't bother because our street has been under construction since July to replace a sewer line and I can't even park in my driveway at the moment. I'd been very upset and angry, coming home each day to something new (like my mailbox moved over a block away) until I read an article about the flood victims in NC who "just want to go home". Suddenly,

 

[Superbob]

Yes, there are many people still suffering in the Carolinas from the flooding, Honeybunny, -- and in South Carolina, many of them experienced a "thousand year flood" just a year ago! Very sad.

Sounds you spared yourself the problem of "disposing" of leftover candy, lol. Those little "fun-sized" candies are a real temptation.

Well, won't make a habit of posting my medical data, but just to follow up, I did get the imaging people today to print out a copy of the results. 12 years ago, it was an aneurysm in my ascending aorta that was replaced. That area appears to be stable -- 3.7 cm diameter. But now possibly I have an aneurysm developing in my descending aorta -- it is 4.4 cm "at its origin" (which I guess means base of the arch) and then reduces to 3.7 along the way. I suspect this is cause for nothing more than periodic monitoring. What I will suggest they do is go back to a ct-scan I had done 6 or 7 years ago, and see if that 4.4 cm is any significant increase from that -- or not. Will see what my cardio says in a couple of weeks.

I am leaving it there. I guess the moral of this, if any, is to ask for copies of all tests done -- we have a right to the info.

And now back to staying the course -- will take Ellie on her second walk of the day, and give my thanks for having another day to enjoy. Looks like the sunset will be glorious.

Blessings!

 

[Mellyouttaphase]

Hi everybody!

Crossing fingers and toes for scans bringing good news for Bob and Steve.

I had a slow start this week but yesterday morning I did a Crossfit session that has me clutching at my abs and quads in pain as I walk up and down my stairs and then I put in a slow but relatively enjoyable 7km run this evening. That is about the longest distance I had ever run previously but even then, I rarely did more than 5k so I feel really excited about this This morning I wanted to enjoy the peace of my favourite time of the day (even though I'll make excuses not to see it) so practiced some yoga before taking a cup of tea for a walk down to the river. Perfect start to my Thursday and a good thing because what ensued once I got to work could have been stressful if it wasn't for my smooth beginnings!

Happy belated Halloween to those who celebrate it and a shout out to all of us for staying the course

 

[Superbob]

Thanks, Melly -- Re the copy of the Ct-Scan report I asked for and received : It doesn't seem too ominous to my non-med eyes, but it is frustrating to have to wait 3 weeks to see what my cardio says about it. Oh well....

Loved reading about your fitness activities (well except the part about pain -- sorry about that)...but yoga, tea, and a riverside walk sound like the perfect balms.

Cool air blew in here this morning -- my Ellie dawg and I took an extra long walk. Yesterday we did a nice walk along the beach, but it was rather warm. Hope fall weather will settle in now -- I love fall and even winter for invigorating walls.

Cheers!

Superbob