New Year resolution

[Gypsea]

Thanks for the reminder Dr. Skunky ~ sorry about your patient.

 

[dbuck]

I had one back in January of this year. I was totally asleep. Whatever they used on me to knock me out had me asleep before they finished injecting it in my IV. I woke up immediately after the colonoscopy and was able to get dressed and leave. And I was not nauseated at all. The one I had 10 years before the anesthetic made me so sick I could not eat for 3 or 4 days. I also have to have a sigmoidoscope every 5 years. The worst part of a colonoscopy is the stuff you have to use the day before. All that nasty laxative you have to drink. Yuck. If I can do it you can.;-)

The day before is what I dread . . . that AND the IV.

 

[Lady D]

The day before is what I dread . . . that AND the IV.

Needles are not my favorite either.

 

[peapod1980]

Thank-you, Dr. Skunky. I will show this to Merman, who--in typical British fashion--thinks that a physical once every ten years is sufficient.

Uh-oh. I didn't even know I was British. Thanks for the nudge, Skunky. I need to do this. I get my mammos as I should, I get my well-woman exams yearly, but I can't even recall my last routine physical. This year, it's a deal.

 

[Rudyjohn]

Thanks for this info. & important reminders that are sometimes inconvenient.

I've just taken this past week off from work (vacation?) to have blood work done, get established with a physical therapist for back pain, & make numerous other dr. (mammo.) appointments. I figure this was a must do rather than having some funn. This way, I'll be sure to enjoy life.

Guess I should think about the colonoscopy too.

 

[ItzKatzTime]

When I first read this I had to get off real quick. It just hit me like a ton of bricks thinking about that woman on the floor...locked in the bathroom. I cried for 30 minutes. So much emotion going on these days. What a good time to start thinking :nono1: NO....doing something about outr health. January 2007! Let's all remind each other of the consequences of letting it go....and the rewards of taking care of ourself. Thanks so much Skunky for sharing this with us.

I worked for four OB/GYN's in New Orleans off Napoleon Street (a block from Baptist Hospital)...and one thing I learned is that one pap smear a year may not be enough. We had a wonderful patient, who came in once a year for the works....healthy young woman...everything always looked great. Then one year, six months after her one year check up, a problem brought her back in....she had ov cancer.
It was very sad.

So again, THANKS Dr. Skunky!!!!

;-) Kat

 

[rapunzel]

All this talk about breast cancer, and Kat's mention of ovarian cancer brought something else to mind that I don't think many people know about...BRCA testing. BRCA1 and BRCA2 are the two genetic markers for hereditary breast and ovarian cancer. If anyone has a family history of breast cancer, and especially any incidence of ovarian cancer or male breast cancer at all, take a look at this link.

http://www.myriadtests.com/provider/hboc-testing-benefits.htm

These test are so valuable, they allow people to be proactive, and there are so many things that can be done these days to insure BRCA+ people live long and healthy lives. If anyone is interested, PM me and I'll gladly point you in the direction of more information on the subject.

 

[Jdarg]

Check on your tetanus shot status- I got mine re-upped at the GYN a few years back because they asked. I never would have remembered.

Also bone density scan.

 

[KISH7374]

I also have a story about the high blood pressure. The day after Thanksgiving I took my wife to the hospital with severe back pain. She twisted wrong and could hardly stand. The hospital did the regular work up and found that she had high blood pressure. This is very abnormal for her. They thought that it was due to the back pain but after medication it still did not go down. They were very concerned and made her set up a followup appointment. She could not get in to the doctor until after Christmas. She finally went in and found that her blood pressure was still high. In fact it was higher then when she was in the hospital. The doctor did a EKG and found that half of her heart was enlarged. They set up more tests and did blood work and a ultrasound and various other tests. They would not do a stress test until they knew why the blood pressure was high or why the heart was enlarged. We are waiting for the last results this week and then they will set up a plan of attack. She has been very healthy and this really comes as a shock. So please get a physical often and avoid the hell that we are going through.

 

[30A Skunkape]

An update on the patient I told you all about. She is awake and alert in the ICU, was removed from the ventilator yesterday. Her condition is such that she is being transferred to a standard room today.:clap_1: While she has permanant neurological damage, it looks like she might have a pretty good outcome. I have no doubt that she is doing well because she had a stroke in the hospital...had she been at home, she probably would be much worse off.