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HalfMooner
Dingaling
Philippines
15831 Posts |
 Posted - 01/09/2008 : 00:10:31 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by H. Humbert
My latest video. A belated homage to my former town of Fredericksburg, Virginia. It's a compilation of some places we frequented and some of the surrounding Civil War Battlefield cemeteries. Though I only lived there a few years, it will always be a place of fond memories.
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That was beautifully made, simple, restrained. Thanks!
The haunting theme you used was from the Ken Burns Civil War documentary, but I cannot for my life recall the name of the music. The Old Time Fiddlers Association up in Aberdeen, WA used to play it, and it always made tears flow from my eyes to hear it.
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“Biology is just physics that has begun to smell bad.” —HalfMooner
Here's a link to Moonscape News, and one to its Archive. |
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H. Humbert
SFN Die Hard
USA
4574 Posts |
Posted - 01/09/2008 : 00:38:58 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by HalfMooner
The haunting theme you used was from the Ken Burns Civil War documentary, but I cannot for my life recall the name of the music. The Old Time Fiddlers Association up in Aberdeen, WA used to play it, and it always made tears flow from my eyes to hear it. |
It's called Ashokan Farewell by Jay Unger.
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"A man is his own easiest dupe, for what he wishes to be true he generally believes to be true." --Demosthenes
"The first principle is that you must not fool yourself - and you are the easiest person to fool." --Richard P. Feynman
"Face facts with dignity." --found inside a fortune cookie |
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Dave W.
Info Junkie
USA
26022 Posts |
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Podblack
New Member
9 Posts |
Posted - 01/11/2008 : 07:52:58 [Permalink]
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Thanks! Glad you liked my blog. I thought the video was rather apt... ;) |
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Dave W.
Info Junkie
USA
26022 Posts |
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Dave W.
Info Junkie
USA
26022 Posts |
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Dr. Mabuse
Septic Fiend
Sweden
9688 Posts |
Posted - 01/23/2008 : 07:11:39 [Permalink]
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Hello everybody!
Monday Jan 14th, I reported to the hospital for scheduled surgery.
My blood pressure was still about 150/95 but the surgeon and the anasthesia doctor talked about it and finally decided that the surgery was on.
Mostly waiting but I got a shot of Fragmin, but I also had to scrub myself down with an anti-septic soap.
Tuesday morning another scrub with the antiseptic, got IV-needles installed, and dressed up for the surgery.
I also got to drink something foul tasting tranqulizer which made me very calm and and positive about the coming surgery.
I was rolled over to the side, and was strapped to a funny-looking fixture meant to fix the position of the pelvis and the leg. There were other kinds of gear but my memory is kind of fuzzy.
Then we hit a snag...
The anasthesia planned was some kind of spinal shot, and after the shot was given and the doctor started to make sure it had taken effect. But it didn't. First he tried placing a cold instrument against my skin, and asking when I felt it. When I disappointed him, he started to pinch me instead, but I felt it every time. Obviously, the anasthesia wasn't working, but I'm very glad I was lucid enough to communicate it...  So, I heard the doctors say "ok, we'll have to put him under" And I don't recall anything after that.
I woke up puking in the afternoon, just as I did last time I had surgery. The pain from the hip was practically gone. Well, the old pain was completely gone, and before the surgeon closed, he put a 24 hour local anasthesia in the hip, so when I woke up, I wasn't bothered by pain from where the implants are. What pain I do have comes from the inscision itself, and the muscles, tendons, and ligaments the had to be bent out of shape in order to break up the old joint, and to put the new joint in place.
The doctor came by and announced the procedure a success. The cup of the joint was a titanium-cup with rough surface where the bone grafts to the metal, and the cup contains mechanics for easy replacement of the plastic friction surface. The femur part is a smooth surgical steel neck-and-ball which is cemented in place with (as I understood it) acrylic glass.
Pictures are coming... 
This monday evening I got home again after a week at the hospital. The rehab started out fine, and the hospital crew wanted me off the premisis as soon as saturday saying that I was fine enough to manage on my own at home. I nagged them into staying until monday, complaining about a splitting headache. The doctor was rather sure that it came from a low blood-count, and didn't think much moore of it. 6 days, then home. I waited to get back here until I felt comfortable at home. My computer lab on second floor is dark, I'm writing this on my GF's laptop in the living room.
I'm walking assisted with two crutches, but the pain level when I'm lying down is much less than it used to. If I walk carefully, I can also walk shorter distances ( 100-200m) without pain.
This is a huge step toward becoming free from pain and get my life back.
I have been ordered 3 months sick-leave. The national health system pays all this surgery, and covers 75% of the loss of salary during this period. I also have an insurance thanks to my union, that covers an additional 15% of my salary.
I now have three months where I can relax and focus on nursing myself back to full recovery without having to worry about making ends meet.
Am I living in the greatest country in the world or what? 
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Dr. Mabuse - "When the going gets tough, the tough get Duct-tape..."
Dr. Mabuse whisper.mp3
"Equivocation is not just a job, for a creationist it's a way of life..." Dr. Mabuse
Support American Troops in Iraq:
Send them unarmed civilians for target practice..
Collateralmurder. |
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HalfMooner
Dingaling
Philippines
15831 Posts |
Posted - 01/23/2008 : 07:27:35 [Permalink]
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Good for you, Mab! You Swedes sure do have a fine health system, one we would do well to emulate. I'm so glad that things went well for you, and that you are already in some ways better than before. Enjoy the rest, but do keep up the PT!
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“Biology is just physics that has begun to smell bad.” —HalfMooner
Here's a link to Moonscape News, and one to its Archive. |
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Kil
Evil Skeptic
USA
13477 Posts |
 Posted - 01/23/2008 : 08:19:56 [Permalink]
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Hey Mab, you missed chat for that?
Seriously, it's great that you finally got your hip and you are recovering nicely.
I didn't know they did surgeries like that with a local anesthetic. If it had been me, I think I would have wanted to be asleep. The waking up puking thing wouldn't be so great though...
I envy you your countries health care system. Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to live in a civilized country.
Take care of yourself and enjoy your recovery.  |
Uncertainty may make you uncomfortable. Certainty makes you ridiculous.
Why not question something for a change?
Genetic Literacy Project |
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Dr. Mabuse
Septic Fiend
Sweden
9688 Posts |
Posted - 01/24/2008 : 03:45:05 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by Kil
I didn't know they did surgeries like that with a local anesthetic. If it had been me, I think I would have wanted to be asleep. The waking up puking thing wouldn't be so great though... |
The cool thing about local anesthetic is that I'd still have the option of sleeping. They just administer a sleeping agent through the IV. This was the preferred option for me. I asked to be asleep during the operation. The difference was only that "normal" sleeping agent wouldn't make me puke when I woke up.
Unfortunately, or luckily depending on the point of view, I got the deep-sleep.
Take care of yourself and enjoy your recovery.
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You bet I will!
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Dr. Mabuse - "When the going gets tough, the tough get Duct-tape..."
Dr. Mabuse whisper.mp3
"Equivocation is not just a job, for a creationist it's a way of life..." Dr. Mabuse
Support American Troops in Iraq:
Send them unarmed civilians for target practice..
Collateralmurder. |
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Dr. Mabuse
Septic Fiend
Sweden
9688 Posts |
Posted - 01/24/2008 : 04:53:49 [Permalink]
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Ok, here comes the pictures...
First an x-ray that was taken friday after the surgery.
You can see how three screws is keeping the titanium cup in place while the bone is slowly grafting itself to the rough surface.
Also, below the letters "Sin" you can see the small metal staples that was used to close the point of entry, instead of using sutures. You can also see how they curve around the leg. Nifty things, those small staples.
I wonder if they are painful to remove...
This is a picture of an old cup that has been removed from a patient.
What isn't clearly visible is the mechanism that allows for the plastic cup within the titanium to be replaced. Once the plastic is worn down, the cup may be replaced with a much less extensive operation than the initial one. But that should hopefully be some 25-30 years in the future. By then, there may also be a new material available that have lower friction, and with lesser dammage to the body.
As I understand it, the microscopic plastic dust produced by friction have a tendency to cause osteoporosis, which cause the metal cup to disengage from the skeleton.
And here we have the Titanium femure-neck-and-ball.
After such an extensive invasive operation, there is an increased risk of blood clotting in other parts of the body. To prevent that, I have to be injected with a dose of Heparin once a day for ten days. At the hospital, nurses took care of administering those shots. But since I was sent home after 6 days, I had three shots left to take on my own. The needle is really fine, so a small stabbing motion where the needle quickly penetrates the skin is practically painless. It's when the payload have been delivered... an area about 5-10cm radius around starts to ache with a burning sensation which usually dissipate within a half hour.
Injection is deposited in the sub-dermal fat, just below the belly-button.
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Dr. Mabuse - "When the going gets tough, the tough get Duct-tape..."
Dr. Mabuse whisper.mp3
"Equivocation is not just a job, for a creationist it's a way of life..." Dr. Mabuse
Support American Troops in Iraq:
Send them unarmed civilians for target practice..
Collateralmurder. |
| Edited by - Dr. Mabuse on 01/24/2008 04:55:27 |
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marfknox
SFN Die Hard
USA
3739 Posts |
Posted - 01/28/2008 : 23:28:33 [Permalink]
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| I hate to try to top Mabuse's pics here, but I thought I'd show off my first Squidoo page. It's called "Cats, Baths, Intolerable Ennui, and A Block Of Wood": http://www.squidoo.com/catartbymarf |
"Too much certainty and clarity could lead to cruel intolerance" -Karen Armstrong
Check out my art store: http://www.marfknox.etsy.com
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H. Humbert
SFN Die Hard
USA
4574 Posts |
Posted - 01/29/2008 : 00:44:23 [Permalink]
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Mab's a cyborg!
I wish you a speedy recovery free of complications, and as little pain as can be expected. Get well soon.
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"A man is his own easiest dupe, for what he wishes to be true he generally believes to be true." --Demosthenes
"The first principle is that you must not fool yourself - and you are the easiest person to fool." --Richard P. Feynman
"Face facts with dignity." --found inside a fortune cookie |
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Chippewa
SFN Regular
USA
1496 Posts |
Posted - 01/29/2008 : 03:05:14 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by H. Humbert
Mab's a cyborg! |
Yes. Dr. Mabuse and I have more in common. (I too have artificial inner parts and even wiring to my heart.) Cyborg's Rule!
Here's wishing Mab a speedy recovering! Its good that you did not end up like your namesake!
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P.S. Marf's cats are cool! Cats Rule! |
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Dr. Mabuse
Septic Fiend
Sweden
9688 Posts |
Posted - 01/29/2008 : 07:16:06 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by Chippewa
Originally posted by H. Humbert
Mab's a cyborg! |
Yes. Dr. Mabuse and I have more in common. (I too have artificial inner parts and even wiring to my heart.) Cyborg's Rule!
Here's wishing Mab a speedy recovering! Its good that you did not end up like your namesake!
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P.S. Marf's cats are cool! Cats Rule!
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Indeed! On all acounts above. |
Dr. Mabuse - "When the going gets tough, the tough get Duct-tape..."
Dr. Mabuse whisper.mp3
"Equivocation is not just a job, for a creationist it's a way of life..." Dr. Mabuse
Support American Troops in Iraq:
Send them unarmed civilians for target practice..
Collateralmurder. |
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The water cooler, part 3
