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So I'm about to lose my right foot.

Discussion in 'Fred's House of Pancakes' started by TJandGENESIS, Jan 1, 2008.

  1. AuntBee

    AuntBee New Member

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    T. J. , to answer your question from a few posts back, I think wanting to see your favorite nephew get hitched is just as good a reason as any to stick around this world for a while.
     
  2. BellaRose

    BellaRose New Member

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    Really rather ironic that you are pissed at yourself for what you didn't do 20 + years ago to put you where you are now.
    Yet you are still NOT doing what you should be doing.
    So you F'd up back then, you don't have to punish your body now (or back then when you were diagnosed & didn't get on track with monitoring, etc).
    I am an RN. I have seen both types of patients, and sometimes no matter what you do, it ends up being shitty. I get that.
    Attitude means SO much in life, and death.
    All the best to you and your wife.
    You don't need to explain your choices to anyone but yourself.
     
  3. geologyrox

    geologyrox New Member

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    I haven't been active here at PC for quite some time - mostly just checking in on folks. I've been here every day since you posted, checking in on you. I don't know that we ever actually corresponded, but I had you marked down in my book as a most tolerable sort of preacher. I was worried for you, relieved for you, and now I am some combination thereof.

    Your recent messages scare the bejesus out of me, but give me a little perspective on my father. In recent years, he has suffered from sciatica, cancer, and the aftermath of a wilder-than-average youth. He often has bad stretches of pain and misery, and there is nothing anyone in the world can really do about it. He hates doctors (and doctor's bills) and I constantly worry that he'll let something go too long to fix.

    My dad is too young to give up. You are too young to give up. I don't know how close you are to your nephew, but it will break his heart if you die through inaction. Are your parents alive? Will you make them bury you out of fear of doctors? Your wife might understand, but do you want to do that to her? A belief in the afterlife must make the end less petrifying, but even believers think that this life is a gift. If your questionable decisions in your youth haunt you now, why ignore chances to preserve and recover the life you were given?

    I'm glad you maintain a good diabetic diet, and are taking the pills - and I hope you will schedule at least the recommended followups. I know it's not much compared to the bills you're facing, but I would be happy to pay for your next followup. I'm serious, PM me. I'm only 24, I can't do much - but I can do even less for my dad. There is nothing in the world that scares me more than the loss of my loved ones - except perhaps the idea that they might think that living isn't worth the effort.
     
  4. Loveit

    Loveit New Member

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    TJ, how are things going for you today? How is the rest of the foot? And are you home yet?

    loveit
     
  5. TJandGENESIS

    TJandGENESIS Are We Having Fun Yet?

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    I'm home again!!
    Actually I got home a while ago, but then I went right back out to do this and that.
    More later. But how is this for a tease? I am going to be included in a diabetic program that will give me my meds and doctor's office visits for free...
     
  6. Rangerdavid

    Rangerdavid Senior Member

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    Hay, Welcome home !!! nothing like getting some sleep in your own bed after being away for awhile IMHO.... glad you out and about TJ..:cool:
     
  7. swiftyprius

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    I was off line for a while and just stumbled on this thread. A few weeks ago I read a story about a guy on his way for an amputation, when one of the doctors happened to bump into him and ask a few questions. He ended up going for a test treatment with maggots and kept his foot. Here is a related story, ( pretty graphic picture )

    http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/05/070503094447.htm

    Good luck with your treatments.
     
  8. AuntBee

    AuntBee New Member

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    Oh yuck! Someone made a joke about maggots earlier in the thread...but they really do use them??!!! sounds so middle ages but I guess whatever works.


    Congratulations T.J. on all your good news :)
     
  9. Godiva

    Godiva AmeriKan Citizen

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    That was me and it's no joke. Doctors have been using maggots for years. Maggots eat only dead tissue. I'd much rather have maggots eating on the dead tissue on my toe, then have Doctors attempt to cut the dead tissue away through surgery. At least the maggots doen't touch the healthy tissue.

    They're using leeches again too. They use them post op after reattaching severed fingers for one.

    It's really too bad T.J waited as long as he did. Maggots and antibiotics might have saved his toe. He might not have even needed the maggots if they had put him on antibiotics early enough. We'll never know.
     
  10. TJandGENESIS

    TJandGENESIS Are We Having Fun Yet?

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    Click this on if you are brave:
    http://gallery.mac.com/tjthedj#10016...&bgcolor=black

    I mean it. It's pretty knarly, seeing how raw a foot without a pinkie toe looks.

    Don't click it if you are put of by eww. You have been warned.


    It looks better then that now, but still. Eww.
     
  11. TJandGENESIS

    TJandGENESIS Are We Having Fun Yet?

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    A Tale Of the Toe

    [FONT=Verdana, Helvetica, Arial]On the SECOND of JANUARY, I went into the hospital, and on the next to next day, I lost my pinkie toe. Gone. Amputated as in. [/FONT]

    [FONT=Verdana, Helvetica, Arial] I have a picture, but you don’t want to see it. It’s pretty gross. In fact, I have a before and after shot. But really. You don’t want to see it...do you?[/FONT]

    [FONT=Verdana, Helvetica, Arial] Okay. Head over here:[/FONT]
    [FONT=Verdana, Helvetica, Arial] http://gallery.mac.com/tjthedj#100167[/FONT]

    [FONT=Verdana, Helvetica, Arial] But be warned. IT’s pretty EWW with a major EWW.[/FONT]

    • [FONT=Verdana, Helvetica, Arial]I woke up on the first feeling pretty weird, and this feeling did not go away by the second. So Ellen came home, and took me to the hospital, ER. [/FONT]
    • [FONT=Verdana, Helvetica, Arial]Where we waited in a crowded third world ER for what seemed like forever, only it was longer. Maybe I come from another era, but how hard is it to be respectful of the sick in the ER by not talking loudly, on the cell phone, kids running around...how hard? Pretty hard so it seems. [/FONT]
    • [FONT=Verdana, Helvetica, Arial]When I was waiting in there, I was shaking so much, it was like I was a leaf. And I was seated in this wheelchair that was two sizes too small. Not comfortable. So Ellen covered me with her hoody jacket, backwards, so I did not have to see anything or anyone. Occasionally, I growled, so I heard later. [/FONT]
    • [FONT=Verdana, Helvetica, Arial]Got put into a hall, on a cot, with no pillow or blanket, so I shivered with Ellen’s coat now as a pillow, and thankfully, our green cat haired covered blanket. Got told I was going to be spending the night there; not in the hall, but in the hospital. Susanne, the wonderful ER nurse, she took care of me very well. She was the first, outside of me, who knew my toe was a goner. [/FONT]
    • [FONT=Verdana, Helvetica, Arial]Got up to a room on the surigical floor at about 0300 or so. That night, sleep was not to be found. Ellen slept on a couple of chairs; she was my angel through out this. As always. [/FONT]
    • [FONT=Verdana, Helvetica, Arial]Did you know they run ZAMBOINIS through the halls of hospitals at 0430? They do. [/FONT]
    • [FONT=Verdana, Helvetica, Arial]I saw for the first time the doctor I was assigned, Dr. Khan (and yeah, every time I hear his name, I think of Captain Kirk yelling ‘KHAN!’ from Star Trek II). Anyway, he is a nice Indian. Did I mention that my hospital is apparently a mini UN place? Not that that is a bad thing. [/FONT]
    • [FONT=Verdana, Helvetica, Arial]He tells me that a surgeon, Dr. Soo, would see me soon. And Soo does. He is a young turk from San Francisco, who thinks the toe can be saved. Not according to his trauma nurse Rita, but what do two nurses and myself know? Seems like later, more then the trained surgeon. [/FONT]
    • [FONT=Verdana, Helvetica, Arial]At this point he schedules the surgery for Friday morning at 0830. I spend the day in and out of pain and sleep. People don’t really rest at hospitals, you know? They can’t. Too much noise, the machines that go ‘bing’, or breathe, or people waking you up to tell you to take this sleeping pill. That sort of thing. [/FONT]
    • [FONT=Verdana, Helvetica, Arial]Friday comes, and goes my toe. The surgery, now that was easy, as in, out like a light (strapped to a table a bit like Christ being crucified), and I felt nothing. On second, I am being told to breathe in the mask, the next moment, I am waking up to the sound of my heart beating on this machine, being told by the disappointed surgeon, that my toe is gone to heaven ahead of me. Well, not that way, but I think that my toe is there, so I have to go to heaven now, right? Can’t be separated from my toe for all eternity. [/FONT]
    • [FONT=Verdana, Helvetica, Arial]Spend Friday doing more of the same as Thursday, only less a toe. [/FONT]
    • [FONT=Verdana, Helvetica, Arial]Saturday I spend being ill, because of a staff infection (when told to a frined, this, she said, ‘It must be the accounting staff’; I thought that was Freaking Hilarious!). Anyway, they make me take a Cat Scan, which is a tube a bit out of Star Trek (KHAN!) and normally I would have enjoyed it, but I was too busy hurling what was not in me out to enjoy it. Ellen was again great. [/FONT]
    • [FONT=Verdana, Helvetica, Arial]Later on Saturday, a bit more stabilized, the Redskins lost their playoff game. A couple of days later, they would lose Coach Gibbs again. For what I hope is the last time. [/FONT]
    • [FONT=Verdana, Helvetica, Arial]Sunday, I start to feel a bit better, and Ellen takes me out of the Hospital on a wheelchair. Which makes me long for home and my three kitties and one puppy. I have to say, you can go ape poop fast in a Hospital. Fortunately for me, the hospital has free high speed internet, so I can occasionally prop up my sore butt to a sitting position to type every now and then. [/FONT]
    • [FONT=Verdana, Helvetica, Arial]Oh, how can I forget the craptastic food there? I mean, a starving man would eat it, but by the second meal, even he would turn away the food. Thankfully, Kerri Kennedy (who I find out, is a distant cousin of the late Teddy Roosevelt, my FAB FAVE PRESIDENT, which I tell her, and she thinks that is neat), anyway, she is the Program Coordinator for the Dieabetics, she tells me that CHIC-FIL-A Nuggets are YUMMY!® and okay to have. So Ellen starts getting me this every other meal, with ARBY’S thrown in. Thanks to that, I don’t waste away to nothing. [/FONT]
    • [FONT=Verdana, Helvetica, Arial]Whilst in the Hospital, they take all kinds of tests on you. Like Blood Sugar. And once, I had three different readings, at the same time, on three different fingers. Makes you confident in the system. Yup. [/FONT]
    • [FONT=Verdana, Helvetica, Arial]Find out that I won’t have to take insulin, which is a Good Thing™. I will have to take a pill. But much later, after I got out, I will find something out that makes that not happen. [/FONT]
    • [FONT=Verdana, Helvetica, Arial]On Monday, I go officially ape poop, and have figured out I can go AMA, which means Against Medical Advice, and check out anytime I want to. I also hear from my disappointed surgeon, Soo, that I can leave Tuesday, which also suits Khan. Tuesday I plan on leaving. [/FONT]
    • [FONT=Verdana, Helvetica, Arial]And on Tuesday I do, with a hearty handshake from KHAN! And a promise to stop by his office to get a script for a handicap parking permit. Walking and I are not big friends right now. Maybe later we will be friends again, but now I am on a cane. For at least six months. [/FONT]
    • [FONT=Verdana, Helvetica, Arial]When I leave, I drive home since Rita the trauma nurse tells me that Soo says I can drive, as long as it’s not to Austin. There goes my weekend plans. Nuts. [/FONT]
    • [FONT=Verdana, Helvetica, Arial] I go to KHAN! And see him about that script. That is when he tells me in confidence, that I can participate in a program that will give me all my meds for free, and doctor visits, if I want to. It’s this deal where instead of a insulin type pill, or a insulin shot, I can take this insulin inhaler and do that. Hmm. Seems like it’s time to be a guinea pig. [/FONT]
    • [FONT=Verdana, Helvetica, Arial]Also went to the DMV and got my red handicap placard, that hangs when I park, in the car, so I can park in the handicap places, and walk short distances to the store. Which I did when we went to WALLY WORLD and I got my meds and drove the cart around, because I really needed to. Now I am old officially, since I really had a reason to drive the scooter cart[/FONT]

    [FONT=Verdana, Helvetica, Arial] And that is about it really. [/FONT]


    [FONT=Verdana, Helvetica, Arial] Well. Time to take a pill, and some sleep, in my own bed. [/FONT]​
     
  12. patrickindallas

    patrickindallas Shire rat

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    1. EWW is right! That looks like an Evil Dead prop.

    2. Grrr. Growling seems like a pretty natural thing to partake of while sitting in a waiting room.

    3. You have a 'green cat'? Schweet!

    4. Zambonis? Who would have guessed?

    5. Kahn and Soo? I would not want to be an MD named Soo.

    6. If your toe is anything like mine, it is thanking its lucky stars that you can no longer bash it into the coffee table. My poor toe gets broken every couple of years, and now it can't feel anything.

    7. Chic-Fil-A rocks!!! I can second that e-motion.

    8. Front row parking rocks, too. So I hear.

    9. Hope you get to feeling better soon!

    PS: Don't hit me with the Wally World mini-cooper. Is the back-up alarm really loud on that thing?
     
  13. efusco

    efusco Moderator Emeritus
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    Look how much more aerodynamic that foot is now!
    did they take some of the metatarsal as well? It sort of looks like it but it's hard to be certain from the pics.

    The foot shots are a little nasty (for those who don't see this every day), but the one that scares ME is :
    [​IMG]
    :eek::p
     
  14. TJandGENESIS

    TJandGENESIS Are We Having Fun Yet?

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    Scares me as well.
     
  15. Loveit

    Loveit New Member

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  16. Loveit

    Loveit New Member

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    Well, TJ, I am glad that you are going to be in some sort of program. I know that you will be the type of person who will do what needs to be done, and get on with your life. I know that you have a lot of living left to be done, including riding your bike!

    By the way, I remember a long time ago, you were in Florida and now in Texas? Was there a change of jobs? Just curious.

    Glad to see you up and about. :)
     
  17. Lola'05

    Lola'05 New Member

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    See how things are starting to fall into place. Free doctor's visits and medication. The missing toe? Soon no one will know. But you , me and all of the Prius Chatters. Diabetics are not supposed to wear sandals...just keep your shoes on. That up front parking is a perk. I only get that when I am driving my Mom around. I always wanted to drive one of those little carts around the store but have not had the opportunity yet.
    Anyway, so glad to hear that you are home and well. Sleeping in your own bed is only second to your own bathroom. Come on, admit it.

    Is that Ellen in the pictures? She looks like a keeper.:)
     
  18. PriuStorm

    PriuStorm Senior Member

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    Just 2 cents that are not worth much...

    It's a bad idea to discount regular blood sugar testing just because you encounter an episode where you get two different counts on two different fingers. It's been my experience that if your hands are not clean (i.e. maybe you ate some food recently and residue of sugar or something remains on the hand), then that will inflate the reading. Or if the alcohol is not allowed to dry completely, then that will falsely lower the reading.
     
  19. Zap

    Zap New Member

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    Pardon my bluntness, but what's your point, and what comparison do you mean?
     
  20. TJandGENESIS

    TJandGENESIS Are We Having Fun Yet?

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    Yes, I am in Texas now. Change in jobs, well, not so much as wanting to make my $10 last longer, so to speak.

    In other words, cheaper here.

    And yeah, get 'er done, yeah, that is usually me. As in, I hate leaving a project not done.

    Good to see you Loveit...