Tag Archives: surgery

January 22, 2023 · 11:54 pm

Recovering from lung cancer surgery …

I am writing this in late January 2023. My experience with lung cancer began in early November 2022. I have posted several times on it and rather than rehash those posts, I have collected them onto a Page entitled – My experience with lung cancer so you can go back to any part that may interest you.

The experience began in November and I had a ‘period of darkness’ that lasted eight weeks during which I knew that I had lung cancer, but had no idea how bad it might be. On December 20 I met my ‘cancer team’ and got a ton of information about cancer in general, my cancer, in particular, and my options going forward. They scheduled surgery for January 11. So, for more than two months, I lived with the idea that I was carrying cancer and now I might be getting free of it with the surgery.

Cut to today – late January. I have had the surgery and the upper lobe of my left lung was removed along with a larger than two inch sized tumor. I am now in RECOVERY. Having lived a relatively healthy life with very few serious encounters with doctors or hospitals, I really had no idea what to expect after major surgery. I thought, naively, that once I had the surgery I was done…. Not so.

Now, I have a much clearer idea. I have an incision in my left side through which the tumor and lobe were removed. The ribs needed to be separated for this to occur. So, when I was released from the hospital, 36 hours after the operation, I was given a prescription for painkillers and told to be sure to use them. As it turns out, the operation has left me with a really ugly scar on the left side of my chest (I’m doing you the favor of not showing a photo). Because of the surgical activity, my chest feels like a big guy wearing a Super Bowl ring punched my ribs several times. So, while I have a full range of motion with my arms and legs, my torso activity is highly restricted.

After 11 days, I am still taking the pain pills religiously. It hurts to turn my body in either direction.

The good news in all this, besides the fact that I think I am cancer-free, is that I am able to walk my dog three times a day. Walking was one of the recommendations upon my release. I don’t have a lot of energy, so the walks really make up the bulk of my exercise for the entire day. Also, I don’t have much of an appetite. I understand that is par for the course. I just have to wait this thing out one day at a time.

Besides walking, I was given an Incentive Spirometer which I use regularly throughout the day to build up my lungs.

So, nearly two weeks into RECOVERY, I have been enlightened as to the nitty gritty of recovering from major surgery.

Fingers crossed.

Tony

10 Comments

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as lung cancer, lung cancer surgery, recovering from surgery, surgery

January 13, 2023 · 11:25 pm

My successful lung cancer surgery

Regular readers know that I learned that I had contracted lung cancer in the first week of November. After undergoing a number of tests, biopsies and scans, I got to meet my ‘cancer team’ on December 20. At that meeting I learned that the tumor in my lung was of a sufficient size that surgery was the best avenue of removal.

My daughter shot this picture of me after I was admitted to the hospital,

Just to back up a step, I want to recall my shock at learning that I was carrying a deadly growth in my left lung. Writing this blog about living a healthy life and pretty much doing everything in my power to accomplish exactly that, I didn’t expect anything of the sort. I don’t smoke. Since my diagnosis, I have learned that 15% to 20% of lung cancer victims are not smokers. So, my ignorance of that fact was costly. Also, lung cancer is very much a disease of the aged. Only about 10% of lung cancer cases occur in people younger than 50 years old. I am 82, another costly oversight.

Pages: 1 2

26 Comments

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as aging, lung cancer, successful aging, superager, surgery

May 24, 2022 · 11:16 pm

Preventing infection with an improved silver coating for medical devices

According to folklore, silver bullets kill werewolves, but in the real world, researchers want to harness this metal to fight another deadly foe: bacteria. Recently, scientists have tried to develop a silver coating for implantable medical devices to protect against infection, but they’ve had limited success. In a study in ACS Central Science, one team describes a new, long-acting silver-ion releasing coating that, in rats, prevents bacteria from adhering to implants and then kills them.

Sometimes medical care requires surgeons to implant a device, such as a tube to drain a wound or the bladder, or to deliver medication directly into the blood. However, bacteria can attach to and collect on the surfaces of these devices, creating a risk for dangerous infections. Researchers have been working to develop bacteria-repelling coatings, including those containing silver, which is known to kill microbes. However, their efforts have faced numerous challenges: Silver can also be toxic to human cells, and it’s difficult to make a coating that continually releases small amounts of the metal over long periods, for example. Dirk Lange and Jayachandran Kizhakkedathu wanted to identify a formula that could overcome these and other difficulties.

Pages: 1 2

Leave a comment

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as infection, medical devices, silver coating, surgery

December 31, 2020 · 12:02 am

Scientists learn how nutrition affects recovery of cardiac surgery patients

Nutrients are the structural components of food that the body needs to function properly. They are divided into macro-nutrients (proteins, fats, carbohydrates) and micro-nutrients (vitamins, pro-vitamins, various minerals, and so on). Their shortage is called nutritional deficiency.

‘Modern medicine pays little attention to nutritional deficiencies in cardiac surgery patients. At the same time, in oncology, pediatrics, gastroenterology, nutrition is treated more closely. To remedy this situation, in 2011 we began a study that included the task of identifying the prevalence of nutritional deficiency among those who underwent cardiac surgery,’ says Sergey Efremov, the main author of the article, an anaesthesiologist-resuscitator, Head of the Research Department at the Pirogov Clinic of High Medical Technologies, St Petersburg University.

Pages: 1 2

Leave a comment

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as cardiac surgery, heart heatlh, surgery

April 16, 2020 · 12:12 am

Surgery with anesthesia not associated with indicator of Alzheimer’s disease – Mayo Clinic

Older adults who have surgery with general anesthesia may experience a modest acceleration of cognitive decline, even years later. But there’s no evidence of a link to Alzheimer’s disease, according to new research from Mayo Clinic.

Photo by David Cassolato on Pexels.com

The research, published in the British Journal of Anaesthesia, examined brain scans from 585 patients, ages 70 to 91 ― 493 of whom had at least one surgery with general anesthesia. The analysis found cortical thinning in cerebral areas but no significant evidence of deposits of amyloid protein, a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease. The cortex is the outermost layer of the brain’s nerve cell tissue, and thinning of that tissue is associated with diminished cognitive functions. Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Filed under Alzheimer's disease, Alzheimer's risk, anesthesia, surgery, Uncategorized

Tagged as Alzheimer's Disease, Alzheimer's risk, anesthesia, surgery

December 10, 2019 · 12:07 am

Manuka Honey ‘sandwich’ could be the key to fighting infections

Here’s a sweet story from Newcastle University. Layering minute amounts of Manuka honey between layers of surgical mesh acts as a natural antibiotic that could prevent infection following an operation, new research has shown.

Meshes are used to help promote soft tissue healing inside the body following surgery and are common in operations such as hernia repair. However, they carry with them an increased risk of infection as the bacteria are able to get a hold inside the body by forming a biofilm on the surface of the mesh.

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Skin and soft tissue infections are the most common bacterial infections, accounting for around 10% of hospital admissions, and a significant proportion of these are secondary infections following surgery. Continue reading →

2 Comments

Filed under bacteria, hernia, honey, infections, Manuka honey, surgery

Tagged as bacteria, hernia, honey, infections, Manuka honey, surgery

September 28, 2016 · 8:14 am

Are you fit enough for surgery?

I have written a lot of words on the benefits of living a healthy life by eating intelligently and exercising regularly. We have the opportunity to live long healthy lives with our mental abilities functioning as well as our bodies do. We need only follow a few simple rules of good health. Our bodies are organic machines that need proper care and maintenance or they will fall into disrepair just like our inorganic machines, autos, refrigerators, etc., do.

Now the Wall Street Journal illuminates another aspect of fitness. The other side of good health, namely hospitalization and surgery.

“In health care, we often bring patients into surgery without fully addressing their chronic medical conditions,” says Dr. Solomon Aronson, executive vice chair in the anesthesiology department at Duke University School of Medicine in Durham, N.C. By improving their health before surgery, he says, “we can significantly diminish the risk of complications.”

The item cites a seriously overweight man who had a knee replacement in 2013, but the hardware began to come apart leaving him hobbled and in pain. The failed knee had to be removed. The patient was warned about the dangers of his being overweight. “No one had ever mentioned to me that this might be a problem…”

“The reason many patients don’t do well is because they are already deconditioned as couch potatoes, and then they get a big operation which makes them even more frail,” says Michael Englesbe, a University of Michigan transplant surgeon and associate professor who led the study and directs the Michigan Surgical and Health Optimization Program. Dr. Englesbe says that the program “empowers patients to have control over their outcome,” and recommends all patients train for elective surgery, much as they would before athletic competition.

Maybe this will be the final reminder for folks who are currently letting themselves go physically. There is always hope. It is never too late to improve your physical condition. Your body will respond to good behavior and nutrition and you can begin to flourish again on your own and before you need medical intervention. The choice is still yours.

Tony

7 Comments

Filed under Exercise, exercise benefits, fitness, fitness facts, Wall Street Journal

Tagged as Exercise Benefits, fitness, surgery, Wall Street Journal

December 30, 2015 · 6:12 am

What About a Bubble on my Elbow?

I woke up from a nap on Sunday and it felt like my shirt had bunched up around my elbow. No amount of straightening seemed to help, so I took the shirt off to see if something was stuck in the sleeve. Nothing. However, when I felt around my elbow I found the problem. I had an almost golf ball sized bubble on it! The bubble felt like it was filled with fluid as it was very flexible. I experienced no pain of any kind.

Although I did not remember banging my elbow against anything, as a regular bicycle rider, I am forever knocking my shins on the pedals, skinning my knuckles and generally banging my limbs against the bike not to mention nearby objects . If I don’t draw blood, I don’t give it a second thought, so it is possible that I bumped it and forgot.

I couldn’t even figure a way to look it up on the web. How do you say “I have a bubble on my elbow?” So, I didn’t.

My version of Popeye’s elbow

My biggest concern was not that I had injured it, but that something had gone awry in my body. That was scary. I couldn’t wait to call my doctor on Monday.

My doctor said for me to come in and see one of her colleagues if she wasn’t available. That is one of the benefits of living in a big city and being affiliated with a major hospital. I live near Northwestern Memorial Hospital which is a fully staffed teaching hospital. I have written numerous posts about their wonderful “Healthy Transitions” program for us folks over 55 explaining the physical changes we can expect as we age.

I showed the nurse who took my vital signs my elbow. Before leaving she laid out a little place setting with a big needle as well as bandages and cutting instruments for the doctor. Not promising. My imagination kicked into overdrive ….

For the first time I realized that there might be some surgery in my very near future.
Continue reading →

10 Comments

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as aging, bursitis, Olecranon bursitis, Popeye's elbow, surgery

October 1, 2014 · 9:17 pm

Three Weeks After Skin Cancer Surgery

I went back to the doctor this week to have the stitches removed from my back. That pretty much brought my third surgery to closure (pun intended).

To summarize, this go ’round with skin cancer was much stronger than my previous one, two years ago. In each instance I had a basal cell carcinoma removed. Two years ago, I had one growth cut out and ended up with about 15 stitches in my cheek. This time I had one removed from my cheek and another from my back. I had 15 stitches in my cheek again, but more than double that in my back. The facial scar is about 1.5 inches long while the one on my back extends to three inches. So, there was more cutting this time and as a result my body had a lot more healing to do.

Two years ago I was riding my bike within five days of the surgery. In contrast, this year, I did not have the energy to ride for two full weeks. Then, when I returned to riding, I felt a lack of power in my legs which tired easily.

This year, I napped nearly every day for the first two weeks. Good naps that extended an hour and sometimes two. Clearly my body craved downtime.

In my third week, I have commenced riding again, but can feel limited by my condition. I am taking it slow. I rode around seven miles the first day and went up to 10 on the second. At the end of the third week I managed 20 miles today, but it was in two rides. I don’t think I could have done it in one bite. The good news is that I didn’t feel the urge to nap today. Last, but not least, I added one and a half pounds in the past three weeks with my sedentary recovery. I have no worries about burning that off going forward.

I feel that my life is coming back into its own now in terms of energy, if on a slow pace.

Since my first surgery I have been amazed at how many people I know have suffered from skin cancer in one form or another. If you would like to learn more about this important subject, I just put together a Page recounting my surgeries as well as general facts about it. Check out Skin Cancer Facts in General and My Three Skin Cancer Surgeries in Particular.

Remember, as my dermatologist said, “There is no such thing as a healthy tan.”

Tony

Leave a comment

Filed under skin cancer, Skin cancer surgery, sunburn, sunlight

Tagged as basal cell carcinoma, skin cancer, skin cancer surgery, surgery

February 8, 2012 · 4:02 am

What About a Bubble on my Elbow?

I couldn’t even figure a way to look it up on the web. How do you say “I have a bubble on my elbow?” So, I didn’t.

My version of Popeye’s elbow

My biggest concern was not that I had injured it, but that something had gone awry in my body. That was scary. I couldn’t wait to call my doctor on Monday.

For the first time I realized that there might be some surgery in my very near future.
Continue reading →