Zenrat's Flying Circus

[kerick]

I've been a side sleeper for 40 years but after the surgery they told me to sleep on my back, legs on a big pillow with this big wedge of foam between my legs to keep them spread apart. I got no sleep at all. What torture!  I was overjoyed when the doc told me I didn't need to do that anymore!

[PR19_Kit]

No, the issue is what they did to my back, neck, sides, and shoulders when they opened me up.  They are all sore, cartilage has been wrenched and joints were pulled into positions they didn't like and then held there.  If I move too quickly or adopt a position i shouldn't then it hurts.

Too true, they hacked a 1.5 ft long hole in my back to shove a TV camera inside my right lung when I got pneumonia back in 2012.

And now the lung is working just fine, apparently while lacking some 15% of it's max. capacity, but the scar from that hole in my back STILL gives me gip on occasion. 

[Rick Lowe]

Yowch! Wot, no keyhole surgery? 
That's just taking the urine.

[PR19_Kit]

Yowch! Wot, no keyhole surgery? 
That's just taking the urine.

I guess it was a big camera. 

But they sure did a good job, thank goodness. The surgeon (An Irishman called Michael Collins, yes, really!) reckoned my lungs stood up to the infection very well because they'd been strengthened over the years while dealing with the asthma that I've had since I was four. At least I gained SOMETHING good from it!

[zenrat]

Yowch! Wot, no keyhole surgery? 
That's just taking the urine.

For me?  No.  Not this time.  When the new valve wears out (10 to 15 years) they will replace the petals with new ones via my femoral artery.  But the hardware to allow that needs to be put in the old fashioned way.

As they say, the way to a man's heart is through his sternum...

I've been a side sleeper for 40 years but after the surgery they told me to sleep on my back, legs on a big pillow with this big wedge of foam between my legs to keep them spread apart. I got no sleep at all. What torture!  I was overjoyed when the doc told me I didn't need to do that anymore!

I got very little sleep in the hospital.  Being strongly advised to back sleep with the bed tilted to at least 30º was a major part of that.  I get it, they have their reasons but I can never get good sleep like that.  Same on aircraft.

Rehab was hard work.  I neglected to take a water bottle so dehydrated myself (being on Lasix didn't help), possibly over did it and ended up flat out on a sofa sipping water with my blood pressure down to 95.  It bounced back, but next week i'll be taking a water bottle.
The presentation was as I suspected "how to eat right for heart health".  Basically leave out all the stuff that makes it taste good - salt, red meat, butter...

Weather was dank so no shed time.  I sat indoors and got more KV-2 parts attached.  I have to grok the best way to do the link and length tracks for convenient and easy painting.

Blood tests tomorrow for a GP visit on Monday.  And then on Satyrday morning I will drop into work.  One of my Satyrday team has handed in her notice and it's her last day so I want to see her.  This keeps on happening.  I get a good team (of three).  One where we work together well.  And then one of them leaves.  Usually because they get another job with more hours or no Satyrdays.  Post can't match that and so off they go.  Can't say I blame them but 

[Weaver]

The presentation was as I suspected "how to eat right for heart health".  Basically leave out all the stuff that makes it taste good - salt, red meat, butter...

There are alternative opinions available on that kind of diet advice.

Just sayin'...

[NARSES2]

It'll do you good popping in to the workplace, even if it isn't for the best of reasons

[zenrat]

The presentation was as I suspected "how to eat right for heart health".  Basically leave out all the stuff that makes it taste good - salt, red meat, butter...

There are alternative opinions available on that kind of diet advice.

Just sayin'...

The rehab group was mostly those who have had bypass surgery for whom diet is important if they are to not clog up the new plumbing.
I had a congenital defect fixed and as my cholesterol and levels of coronary artery disease are "normal for my age" I am choosing to treat it all as guidance rather than rules.
We eat pretty healthily anyway.  Little processed food and plenty of fresh veggies.  And lashings of olive oil.  Butter is an important taste enhancer IMO but given my high blood pressure I will be cutting back on the salt.

I definitely went at the rehab too hard.  My thigh muscles are letting me know they don't want to do that again.  Standing from sitting and crouching are painfull.  I think I thought "op was on my chest, legs were not touched, go for it".  Ignoring the fact i'd spent a week in bed and then only done minimal gentle walking since coming home.
I'll be taking it easier next week.

No modelling today.  I did however spend most of the afternoon finalising the transfers for the Pe-8 (formerly of the Op Downfall GB).  I got them done but as detailed elsewhere I am having problems getting them to print with accurate colour representation.
I was very pleased with them.  Typical.    

[Weaver]

The presentation was as I suspected "how to eat right for heart health".  Basically leave out all the stuff that makes it taste good - salt, red meat, butter...

There are alternative opinions available on that kind of diet advice.

Just sayin'...

The rehab group was mostly those who have had bypass surgery for whom diet is important if they are to not clog up the new plumbing.
I had a congenital defect fixed and as my cholesterol and levels of coronary artery disease are "normal for my age" I am choosing to treat it all as guidance rather than rules.
We eat pretty healthily anyway.  Little processed food and plenty of fresh veggies.  And lashings of olive oil.  Butter is an important taste enhancer IMO but given my high blood pressure I will be cutting back on the salt.

That's all good stuff. Plenty of protein is always good too: eggs and red meat are fine, not the enemy as some people claim. Saturated fats like butter and monounsaturated fats like olive oil are fine too, it's polyunsaturated fats that are a problem. The processed food ingredients to avoid are seed oils and nitrite preservatives in cooked meat. Both those are, frankly, a PITA to avoid, especially seed oils since they're in 80% of all processed food. I can get olive/avocado oil mayonnaise and a small range of nitrite-free bacon, ham and prosciutto here, but I've no idea about Aus.

I've found that salt isn't a problem as long as I drink plenty of fluids. Salt's water-soluable: you piss it away just fine IF there's enough water to dissolve it in. To give you an example, I've been eating salt freely, but not excessively, for over 18 months now. Just under a month ago, I got the doc to cut my Losartan (blood pressure reducer) in half (from 50mg/day to 25mg/day) and Bisoprolol (heart regulation) by 1/3rd. I've been monitoring my blood pressure and heart rate 3-4 times a day ever since, using a spreadsheet to calculate the averages and plot them on a chart. My average BP+pulse has gone from 112/66, 58 to 111/70, 67 over that period. Those are just the first and last readings: the values have fluctuated up and down, and were, in fact going down consistently until the last few days.

I've found that cutting down massively on carbohydrate intake has been very helpful for getting my diabetes under control without the use of insulin or other drugs. That may not be relevent to you, but I've also lost a fair bit of weight and kept it off, which is good for anyone.