Because it could have been worse.
I just got back from having a nice lady do an Ultrasound scan of the arteries in both my legs. However, I won’t know the full results of any of these damn tests I’m having to go through until I get to the last level of this Medical Test Hell and meet The Final Boss, the Cardiologist.
In the mean time, the pretty young thing today did answer my question if she had found something in my left leg after I noticing her running the Ultrasound gizmo back and forth over my left side inner thigh more than once.
I asked her if she had found something there and she said yes.
She said there was one artery in my upper thigh that didn’t seem to have a lot of blood flow but that there was another one there trying to make up for it.
Why is this good news?
Because a couple days ago I was doing some research on all this crap and I found a Youtube showing this new technique of them being able to install small stents in multiple places inside the same artery where they bend behind the knee. Apparently clogged arteries behind the knee are very troublesome because the flexing pinches off the stents and the stents themselves can cause the artery to crack when it bends.
So if the blockage up in my thigh requires a stent, that’s not as bad as having one behind the knee.
She didn’t say much about the other leg but that’s not the one giving me so much grief anyway.
I have also been experiencing some numbness in some of the toes and upper half of my left foot for the last week at least. I’m pretty sure that is nerve related and not a circulation problem because there isn’t any discoloring and it doesn’t seem to be affected by foot elevation.
I let the Doc know about that today and told her that we can discuss it next week at my next appointment.
She said that was fine.
Shit seems to be coming apart at the seams quite rapidly lately.
Oh Joy.
It is what it is and all I can do is what I can do.
And that is exactly what I am going to do, until I can’t do it anymore.
I am doing my damndest to not let any of this get me down and depressed.
For that way lies madness and I been there before.
Don’t fret about every little thing. Let the docs do the worrying about what can & cannot happen next.
Hang in there old timer !!!!
hey, no one gets out alive anyway. just live the best life you can for as long as you can. hang in there. get your ass on SSD. there are a lot of worthless fucks who never worked as long as you on it. might as well get it now before they give it all
away to the illegals. and get a lawyer too on it. that will save you a lot of time.
a lone white guy walking in there will have his paperwork tossed in the trash can before you get out the door. ask me how I know that ?
make sure you bring a note pad or book and WRITE DOWN EVERY ASSHOLE
YOU TALK TO THERE.
and don’t be shocked to find you might be the only one there that speaks English
applying for it too.
and do not trust them to file it. that is why you need a lawyer- he will make them do it.
I upped my butter intake and feel great! Hope this helps you out Phil.
https://www.doctorkiltz.com/butter/
Hang in there, buddy! I’m up and moving without my “Walking Stick”, and going up and down stairs normally. Had three stents emplaced in my heart about 12 years ago, but my other arteries are fine. My next hurdle is getting the urinary retention problem resolved, as I hate wearing a damn Foley catheter and collection bag!
There’s lots of good advice here Phil, but “everyone’s an expert” can get you into trouble. Tread carefully and keep being an asshole, you’ll survive BFYTY.
We are with ya, Phil.
Good luck to you Sir. My Father suffered from PAD, and they started off with a stent, then a femorial artery bypass, then things got Very, VERY ugly. Lack of blood flow led to gangrene, foot gone, half lower leg gone, gone at the knee. By the time they got done he only had half his ass left to sit on. Try to avoid any sort of surgery, I know 3 folks who had very bad outcomes once that ball started rolling.
Hey Busted – I’ve had a similar problem since at least 2008. Had a couple of PEs as a result. Not fun but I survived. Coumadin proved useless. Spent more time in the hospital with DVT in both legs than I did for major abdominal surgery.
I went to the hospital with what I thought was a severe charlie-horse. They plopped me in a hospital bed before the paperwork was filled out and I stayed there 5 days with a heparin drip. Plugged up from ankle to groin. That was long ago and the condition has stabilized now.
No more long airplane rides – and first class (for the room) if by some chance I ever get on an airplane again. I’m now on twice daily heavy injections of Lovenox. My gut looks like a pin cushion but I haven’t needed a hospital visit in quite a while. Right now, just the injections, no artificial parts, no stents.
Bit of trouble walking long distances. Can’t sit too long, can’t stand too long – need to change position a lot while sleeping.
(My doctor literally told me eggs, bacon, and butter. WTF??? Not that I go against doctor’s orders. Sometimes.)
“some numbness in some of the toes and upper half of my left foot”. yep I have that. I can blow a hair dryer on the top of my foot and not feel it. The bottom though is hypersensitive.
YMMV but it is possible to survive with a more or less normal life. Can even hide the problems from most people most of the time. Not the wifely unit though.
good luck with it …
You absolutely MUST change what and how you eat and cook or you will not see any improvement, and the disease and symptoms will progress and continue to get worse.
After performing over 5000 coronary bypass procedures, Dr. Dwight Lundell realized he was doing second & third operations on THE SAME PATIENTS because they failed and refused to change their diet.
https://price-pottenger.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Dwight_Lundel_Article_2011.pdf
“Thousands of heart patients get stents that may do more harm than good.”
https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2017/11/3/16599072/stent-chest-pain-treatment-angina-not-effective
“Heart Stents Are Useless for Most Stable Patients. They’re Still Widely Used.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/12/upshot/heart-stents-are-useless-for-most-stable-patients-theyre-still-widely-used.html
/\ THIS!!!!!
Have they ruled out stenosis?
Also, ask your Dr if ischemia is a consideration.
Hey you got my doctor too?
If you do get pissed, angry, depressed, etc, ride it out. When you earth suit starts turning on you, that’s just part of the road. It took me a while to get used to the idea of my lungs being wimpy. You got this, ya bastid.
No worries. I got this, one way or another.
Thanks for the pep talk buddy, I really do appreciate it.
May God comfort you and ease your pain. Be safe and God bless.
I crossed paths with Jack Elam, a couple of times. As nice a man ever to be in the cesspool Hollywood.
His personal generosity. (children with cancer), was inspiring. A blinding bright light among the darkness.
Health? May internal dialog, is often: “I’m too old for this shit.” But I don’t let it stop me.
Good luck! Thanks for sharing. You have our prayers. I don’t know how to thank you guys for the work you do. I come to this site every day and am uplifted by your work! My day is better and I always leave with a smile. Sounds like you have a pretty good crew treating you, they will get ahead of this. Keep the faith!
There’s so much “new” tech out there it’s disturbing for sure… and that we can research so much online… I try not to play around too much w “Dr. Google” but it’s tough to do.. .and as Mr. Tom Petty said… “The waiting IS the hardest part”.
May you best this challenge with the help of a Higher Power of your understanding… and if that’s just a group of us here pulling for you, that’s fine too.
Hang in there! I am recovering from open heart surgery , it was a rough time , but Im on the mend now. It started out just a heart murmur then they found it was getting worse then they found the aneurism, then it went into high gear ,all kinds of testing and the appointments got closer together and before I knew it it was the big day. Now Doctors scare the hell outta me , so I was having a hard time of it , but I have to give the nurses lots of credit. They were compassionate and professional , and they made a frightening situation lots more bearable . I’ve been down for recovery a month and a half and am getting shack wacky now so I guess I’m healing , too bad the weather has been cold and wet , makes it hard to get outside and do stuff
Han in there, CRC – wife’s just coming out of ICU after a double bypass, I had an aortic valve replacement 4+ years ago. Recovery can be fast or slow, but if you work at it things will be fine.
Diet, exercise. Two biggies that help.
We’ve got your (and Phil’s) back!
Pop had similar symptoms but it was the next pipes up that feed that femoral region. He had a FEMBOP (femoral bypass) and that helped him along. Or you could just drink some pipe cleaner and get all that shit at once.
R
Phil, you are stubborn, hard headed and determined; the same as many of the readers of your writings. Several have overcome their hardships and are counting on you to overcome yours. Hang in there as readers are living this with you.
Hang tough and you will make it.
As a side note maybe the doctors can replumb you using some plex tubing. I jokingly say this.
Brace yourself Phi, cause sure as shooting the doc is going to tell you to quit smoking.
That will be difficult as hell for ya, but take heed, my dad was a smoker from age 15 or so and quit cold turkey at 55 when his doc said “quit” or you won’t be around in 5 years. He made it to 80 and of sound mind.
Pray it all goes well and they fix you up right.
Shocked she told you, it pisses Dr.’s ego’s off.
Jack Elam, one of the greatest character actors of all time. As a kid my Dad called him gotcheye because of his lazy eye.
Phil, give it and them hell take a few with you when you go. Your in my prayers as you well know.
ps At this point on the quit smokin, fuck’em BFYTW
Well, at least you’re sucked into the system and they’re working on it even though you have to keep them on a tight leash.
My mom and sisters were critical care nurses. They talked shop all the time. “That one has his ticket for the bus (to heaven). He’s not on it now, but he has his ticket”
So when I was going through the first stages of scans for cancer, I’d joke with the tech about that. They see it enough. They know when to look and probably see what the doc will see and think, “man, that guy’s boned”. But every one of them said they weren’t allowed to say.
One of the times I was getting a sonogram for my guts, it was a super cute blonde doing the test. She rubbed the warm lube on my stomach before she started. I was bantering about and said it must be nice to see all new mother’s checking out the kid in the oven. But she said they never see that since the docs have the machine in their office. I asked what she sees the most of.
“Testicular cancer”
Nice. Then again, I nearly popped a boner thinking of that hot thing smearing warm lube on my nutsack. I never thought to ask if that happened. But it went away as she was digging in with the probe on my guts and I realized that would suck if it were happening to my nuts.
So look up. Your working on the issue. At least you didn’t have a sonogram probe mashed into your doo-dads.
Best wishes and health to you. I too have so many health issues the doctors are shocked that I am still alive…!!! I just tell that only the good die young… LOL… On another note; Jack Elam was one of the great actors from long ago. I especially liked him in his many characters he played in “Gunsmoke”…
Cheers, Rocky
Hubby’s health became a downward spiral but he could still work – mostly – which became less and less. Doc and I urging him to go on disability. Nope said he, too proud, not for me. Finally when he understood that he wasn’t able to work any longer he applied but this was 5 years later. By then we were in final years and had gone through almost everything. Of course they screwed around and kept putting off appointments with state doc’s who have to certify. The problem at the time was they send you money but health insurance is delayed for 9/12 months. When health benefits finally kicked in he was on his last year. Lost him 10 years ago and doc listed 7 causes of death. But this entire 10 year episode left me dead broke due to co-pays and all the extra’s as no ins. pays 100%. So, get the paperwork started as it will take a while. If at the end of the testing and treatment your doc’s approve you for full time work you just call them and terminate your case.
Quit smoking – can’t stress that enough. My lung capacity was down to 72% when I quit my 3 pack a day cold turkey. With 3 years it was back to 99%. Hubby quit his 2 pack with Chantix.
Good Luck with whatever way you choose to deal with this.
On stents and bypasses: My Dad had a quadruple heart bypass when he was 75. That was in 1995 before stents were a big thing. He went on to live another twenty years with nary another heart problem. They also put him on a cholesterol med, as that was what caused the blockages. However, he did have some negative side effects from the surgery mainly where they harvested the vessels from his leg to make the bypasses. He lived another twenty years in reasonably good health and passed from old age at 95.
Fast forward to 2012. Mom had a heart attack at 92. They put three stents in her heart arteries. She lived another six years with nary another heart problem in reasonably good health and passed from old age at 98.
So, there are various corrective measures that you may have to choose from that have, from my perspective, good outcomes.
I, along with the rest of Bustednuckle nation, am praying for you.
Good Luck.
After my heart attack and stent, the cardiologist that did the stent gave me a piece of advice, “never eat anything with a mother or a face”, I just thought it was odd and funny. My LAD was 99 percent blocked at 48 years old