Some Bad Health News - UPDATE x 2

[silverscreenselect]

I'm back, and things went about as well as could be expected. They didn't find any evidence that the cancer had spread beyond the section of colon they removed, although they won't know for sure until they get biopsy results back. The surgery was about three hours, which was longer than originally anticipated because of all the "muscle" i'd built up in my midsection from too many trips to the Golden Corral over the years.

I'm home now and next Friday I'll go back to the surgeon for a follow-up, I need to avoid bending, twisting, and lifting over 10 pounds for a while, but I may be able to resume driving in a couple of weeks. My diet is a lengthy list of no-nos, including no beef, pork, fried foods, high fiber, carbonated beverages, fresh fruit or vegetables and nuts. I was eating chicken soup and jello for four days until I finally started solid foods yesterday. I still don't have much of an appetite, so I'm guessing that I'll be losing some more weight before I go back to the doctor.

In looking down the Bored, it seems a lot of celebrities shuffled off the mortal coil in my absence. I hope I didn't have anything to do with that in a kosmic karma kind of way.

Thanks again for all the kind words and thoughts.

[Beebs52]

Yay!!! Hopefully no more invasive. And don't watch Food Network cause that would be cruel.

[Weyoun]

Glad to hear you are recovering. Best wishes.

[kroxquo]

Glad to hear you're OK.

[gsabc]

I'm sorry to hear this, SSS. Prayers for the best possible outcome. Also some +~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~

[Bob78164]

Sounds like in context, this is good news. I hope it continues. --Bob

[a1mamacat]

Welcome back and keep up the good news!

[Bob Juch]

"lifting over 10 pounds"

I guess you can't pee standing up for a while.

[Beebs52]

"lifting over 10 pounds"

I guess you can't pee standing up for a while.

I'm sorry that made me lol!

[tlynn78]

I'm back, and things went about as well as could be expected. They didn't find any evidence that the cancer had spread beyond the section of colon they removed, although they won't know for sure until they get biopsy results back. The surgery was about three hours, which was longer than originally anticipated because of all the "muscle" i'd built up in my midsection from too many trips to the Golden Corral over the years.

I'm home now and next Friday I'll go back to the surgeon for a follow-up, I need to avoid bending, twisting, and lifting over 10 pounds for a while, but I may be able to resume driving in a couple of weeks. My diet is a lengthy list of no-nos, including no beef, pork, fried foods, high fiber, carbonated beverages, fresh fruit or vegetables and nuts. I was eating chicken soup and jello for four days until I finally started solid foods yesterday. I still don't have much of an appetite, so I'm guessing that I'll be losing some more weight before I go back to the doctor.

In looking down the Bored, it seems a lot of celebrities shuffled off the mortal coil in my absence. I hope I didn't have anything to do with that in a kosmic karma kind of way.

Thanks again for all the kind words and thoughts.

Pretty darn good update, all things considered. Keep it up!

[BackInTex]

Welcome back! Glad things went so well.

[Vandal]

Great news, SSS.

[flockofseagulls104]

I don't frequent this forum much anymore. But I just want to say, I am praying for you, trollboy. Your understudies aren't quite as dedicated as you. Pull through this and come back to annoy me some more.

[mellytu74]

wooooooooooooooo hoooooooooooooooooo

Glad to read this!!

[silverscreenselect]

I had my post-op checkup yesterday, and all the tests revealed no more traces of cancer or any indication it had spread past the area they removed. I'll be coming back in a month for more testing and then every couple of months until another colonoscopy next summer. They also removed all the staples in me and said the wounds were healing well. Before my surgery, the doctors found some things in the CAT scan and MRI that warranted further testing, so I'll check up on whether I need to schedule more visits (including an orthopedist) next month.

I'm still getting tired fairly easily when I walk around too much. I've visited Mrs. SSS a couple of times at her home and she's very active there and gets up and walks around a lot (she doesn't understand my current condition). I got worn out trying to keep up with her and wind up taking a nap when I get home again. But on the positive side, I haven't taken any pain medications in the hospital or since then and my plumbing seems to be working normally.

I've lost about 15 pounds since the surgery, and only about two pounds was the result of what they removed. I haven't had much of an appetite, and I've been on a no roughage, low fiber, no red meat diet since then. The doctor said I can start eating more normally, but I still took it easy at dinner last night (scrambled eggs, white rice, and canned green beans). I've been getting bombarded with emails advertising all-you-can-eat specials which I'm not in a great position (for multiple reasons) to avail myself of. The latest I got was an offer from Zaxby's that if Georgia wins today's game against Clemson, I can get a BOGO tomorrow only on their chicken tender meal. The last thing I need is to strongarm my daughter into taking me to Zaxby's tomorrow to binge on fried food I'm not supposed to be eating. So I've got even more reason to root for Clemson today so I don't feel cheated at missing out on the offer tomorrow.

More seriously, I stopped taking the muscle relaxant yesterday, which was the only quasi-pain medication I'd been taking The doctor says that in another 3-4 days I can resume driving if I handle a test drive around the parking lot (including emergency braking) without pain or problems. That also means I can resume going back to the movies. I"ve missed the new Alien movie and I can't wait to see monsters erupting from people's innards again.

I'm still going to avoid the Political Lounge for now. I love the debate, but I realize that if I enter a thread and someone replies, I'll feel obligated to respond, and I'm not sure I'm up to going through all that just yet. I'll see how I do in writing and posting my reviews on the website.

Thanks again for all the support you've provided.

[Beebs52]

Wooot!

[tlynn78]

Excellent!

Side note from personal experience: when the hubs was in a memory care facility, he also was an avid walker. They let him walk incessantly, including outside in hot weather, and he became extremely dehydrated. Something to watch out for.

[Bob Juch]

Steve, did I tell you why I credit Meredith Vieira for my not winding up in your situation?

[silverscreenselect]

Excellent!

Side note from personal experience: when the hubs was in a memory care facility, he also was an avid walker. They let him walk incessantly, including outside in hot weather, and he became extremely dehydrated. Something to watch out for.

Forltunately, the rooms in Mrs SSS's facility are arranged in a rectangle, so she can walk around the building on the inside. The outer doors are locked, so they can't get outside unaccompanied. They sometimes go for guided walks around the larger facility (there's an assisted living unit in the next building) in the mornings before it gets too hot. They often go to the assisted living building, where they have a koi pond. They time the walk for when they're feeding the fish, which Mrs. SSS loves to watch.

[silverscreenselect]

Steve, did I tell you why I credit Meredith Vieira for my not winding up in your situation?

She told you how many rows of stars were on the American flag?

[a1mamacat]

Excellent update. Continued vibes for even more recovery!

[kroxquo]

Very glad to hear things are going well.

[Vandal]

Great news, triple-S.

[Bob Juch]

Steve, did I tell you why I credit Meredith Vieira for my not winding up in your situation?

She told you how many rows of stars were on the American flag?

After I left the HS, she and I sat on the base of the HS, waiting for the AOL publicity photographer to take our photos. She said, "I never got to ask you, "What are you going to do with your winnings?" One thing I told her was I was past due for my colonoscopy at age 50 because I had a high-deductible/high co-pay health policy (this was pre-Obamacare, remember). She shook her finger at me and said, "You promise me that you'll do that as soon as you get your check!" I promised her I would. When I went in, they found a polyp that was almost ready to burst through the wall of my colon. Thanks, Meredith!

[Timsterino]

Great news, Steve! Continued healing and sending some hugs!