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Post by Kapitan on Aug 30, 2024 14:28:12 GMT
Everything you're saying makes perfect sense to me, Sheriff John Stone. I am the same way, and I think I get it from my dad, who is, too. If I can avoid a prescription, I will. If I can avoid a surgery or procedure, I will. I have a strong inclination to manage problems myself first and foremost. It's why it took me a long while to accept an anxiety prescription, and even now, I only got (a mild) one for as-needed use, not a daily prescription. It's why when I was first diagnosed with borderline/modestly elevated blood pressure, I first tried to manage it purely with diet and exercise before accepting a (low dose daily) prescription. It may not make any sense, but to me it does. Somehow in my head, I'd rather be me, and deal with issues myself, as much as possible, as opposed to being me+ with some outside assistance. My bet is that if I were in your situation, I'd be similarly reluctant. But I'm not sure that's the way to be. If there's good reason to believe it will improve your daily life and minimal risks that it won't, it's probably a good idea to proceed. (Easy for me to say...)
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Post by kds on Aug 30, 2024 14:43:01 GMT
I'm having an issue with my left ulner nerve. I first noticed it in March. It's basically some pins and needles feeling in my left ring and pinky finger. It hasn't really affected my life in any real way. I was given a brace that I wear when I'm working, as I have a tendency to lean on my left elbow.
I know surgery is an option, but I'd really like to avoid it because I know what would mean having my left arm out of commission for a bit, and I'd honestly rather deal with the pins and needles right now than disrupt my life.
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Post by Kapitan on Aug 30, 2024 16:09:20 GMT
I read in NYT this morning something so crazy that, while it has no bearing on my life whatsoever, I had to share it.
The story was about a trend in college dorm residents putting more effort and money into interior design of their dorm rooms. Emphasis on the money. The story said the average dorm resident now spends $1300+ a year on decorating their dorm rooms. That already sounds insane to me, having lived among people who mostly picked up free or very cheap used furniture, "design" meant posters on the wall, etc., and maybe building lofts for the beds from a few 2x4s.
What's crazier is, apparently especially in the south, students (or their parents, I suppose) are hiring interior designers for this task. The story said the typical designer has costs "for those people on a budget" that begin in the $5-10k per dorm room range.
This is just beyond my comprehension. I guess when I was a kid, I had somehow romanticized the idea of "poor college student," and being poor in college didn't bother me at all. Movies, books, and my older siblings just gave me the impression that was not just normal, but good: it was better than living off your parents' dime, even if they had the means to send cash. You wanted to go it alone, and tough it out, and make your own (cheap) fun. I don't think I was such an outlier, either. Most of my friends were pretty broke most of the time. Decorating dorm rooms was not a priority, and as I said, if it happened, it was posters, black lights, and for guys, sometimes pyramids of empty beer cans or rows of empty bottles...
Even if I had the cash, as a college kid, there is a LOT I'd rather spend $5-10k on than some throw rugs or candles or mirrors or whatever the hell they're getting from the interior designers!
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Post by kds on Aug 30, 2024 17:06:08 GMT
At the risk of getting into a Get Off My Lawn rant, this seems like another example of setting young adults up for disappointment later in life. More people who will fold into themselves the first time they actually experience a slightly rougher patch in life.
Its also an amazing waste of money. I'll bet the parents who fork over this money for their kids to have glamour dorms are the same who continually gripe about the high cost of gas, groceries, and utilites.
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Post by Kapitan on Aug 30, 2024 17:45:48 GMT
At the risk of getting into a Get Off My Lawn rant, this seems like another example of setting young adults up for disappointment later in life. More people who will fold into themselves the first time they actually experience a slightly rougher patch in life. Its also an amazing waste of money. I'll bet the parents who fork over this money for their kids to have glamour dorms are the same who continually gripe about the high cost of gas, groceries, and utilites. And of college! Anyone who does this should immediately, forever be barred from complaining about the cost of college, at least. To me, the whole phenomenon sounds like a joke from the snooty, preppy bad guy in a 70s or 80s college movie. I can imagine the scene: it's the first Friday of the school year and the ensemble cast of protagonists are going room to room scrounging up beer money for a case or keg, and when they get to Spencer's or Buffy's room, there's an interior designer there going over her plans for the room.
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Post by kds on Aug 30, 2024 17:53:29 GMT
At the risk of getting into a Get Off My Lawn rant, this seems like another example of setting young adults up for disappointment later in life. More people who will fold into themselves the first time they actually experience a slightly rougher patch in life. Its also an amazing waste of money. I'll bet the parents who fork over this money for their kids to have glamour dorms are the same who continually gripe about the high cost of gas, groceries, and utilites. And of college! Anyone who does this should immediately, forever be barred from complaining about the cost of college, at least. To me, the whole phenomenon sounds like a joke from the snooty, preppy bad guy in a 70s or 80s college movie. I can imagine the scene: it's the first Friday of the school year and the ensemble cast of protagonists are going room to room scrounging up beer money for a case or keg, and when they get to Spencer's or Buffy's room, there's an interior designer there going over her plans for the room. I started thinking of Rodney Dangerfield's "dorm" in Back to School.
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Robert
The Surfer Moon
Posts: 161
Likes: 68
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Post by Robert on Aug 31, 2024 3:02:19 GMT
Just to be clear, Sheriff, you're talking about a hip joint replacement, right? I'm pretty sure that's what people refer to whenever they talk about a "hip replacement". I can tell you about my mother's experience, about 25 years ago, as long as we're talking about the same thing - hip joint.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Aug 31, 2024 13:08:12 GMT
Just to be clear, Sheriff, you're talking about a hip joint replacement, right? I'm pretty sure that's what people refer to whenever they talk about a "hip replacement". I can tell you about my mother's experience, about 25 years ago, as long as we're talking about the same thing - hip joint. Yes, hip joint replacement. I'd like to hear about your mother's experience, but with the advances in medical technology over the last 25 years, I don't know how much is relatable. But, please, share.
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Robert
The Surfer Moon
Posts: 161
Likes: 68
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Post by Robert on Aug 31, 2024 15:19:02 GMT
My memories of her actual hip surgery and immediate recovery have been supplanted by memories of a subsequent spinal fusion she had done a couple of years afterward, which was a far more involved procedure. The latter surgery had nothing to do with the former. At the time of her hip surgery, she was just over 60 years old, and otherwise healthy and active, except for spinal problems she had had for many years. What I do remember of her hip joint replacement is that she dislocated the joint three times in the month or two after the procedure, due to her own fault. As you mentioned uptopic, the one thing her surgeon emphasized above all else is that she had to be careful of how she moved, especially during the first few months of recovery, so as not to dislocate the new joint. She didn't take that advice seriously enough.
The first time I was lucky to have spent the night at her house. I awoke one morning to her yelling for help. What had happened is that she had tried to cut her toenails in her usual manner, by propping her foot upon her toilet and cutting the nails. Apparently when she did it with her left leg, the joint dislocated, she fell inbetween the toilet and the wall, tearing out the toilet paper holder from the wall in the process. She said she'd laid there for about ten minutes, yelling for me to wake up and help her. There was nothing I myself could do, because any movement caused her extreme pain. All I could do is call the ambulance. They came, extricated her from the position she was in as carefully as possible, and took her to the hospital. As I understand it, after giving her a substantial amount of painkiller, they were able to basically pop the joint back into the hip socket, and after a couple of hours discharged her. For some reason, I cannot remember one of the other times she subsequently dislocated the joint, but it was within days, or a week or two at most, of the first time. I do remember a third time, again within a week or two of the other two times, that I was at her house and she was just sitting in her chair watching TV when she simply told me that her hip had popped out again. Once again the ambulance was called and they took her to the hospital. But this time, they completely put her to sleep in order for them to "properly" get the joint back into its socket, unlike the first two times when they only gave her painkillers. What had apparently happend the first two times is that they had not actually been able to properly seat the joint back into its socket, which is why it popped out twice more. I want to emphasize that all three of these events took place within weeks of her initial surgery, when she was still getting used to the new hip. Once it was fixed the third time, she no longer had any problems. The doctor who did the original surgery was also the one that was summoned to fix the three dislocations. He told her that when it became time to replace the hip joint, some 20 years down the road, to not bother contacting him because he didn't want anything to do with her any more, because she didn't follow his instructions to be careful. So, this is the thing I guess I want to empasize. You need to realize that if you're not careful, especially during the first few months while you're getting used to it, your hip joint can become dislocated, like a leg being twisted off a Barbie doll. According to my mother, this was the most painful thing she'd ever exerienced. She said every bump the ambulance drove over on the way to the hopital caused her extreme pain. I think once your muscles and surrounding flesh become used to the new joint and the area becomes more stabilized, the danger of dislocation is probably reduced, but I'm not a doctor giving advice, I only play one on the internet.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Aug 31, 2024 20:18:38 GMT
Robert, thank you very much for that detailed post. I'm sorry that your mother had to suffer through that, but it's that kind of information and first-hand story that I want to know about. I appreciate it. I'll eventually have the surgery (probably sooner than later), but I think it will go smoother the more I'm prepared, especially mentally.
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Robert
The Surfer Moon
Posts: 161
Likes: 68
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Post by Robert on Aug 31, 2024 23:29:45 GMT
I hope it doesn't scare you and remember that her three dislocations were her due to her own fault initially and that the second two were because they didn't fix it right the first time. So this is not the norm.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Sept 2, 2024 0:52:59 GMT
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Post by Kapitan on Sept 2, 2024 12:20:50 GMT
Indeed, happy Labor Day, all (in the US, anyway). And I don't know about you all, but that one extra day off sure feels good: somehow it feels like it doubles the length of a weekend.
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Post by Kapitan on Sept 4, 2024 12:19:02 GMT
As I've said before, I like taking walks in the morning, while it's still cool and without interrupting my workday. I often go along a nearby creek, or one of the nearby lakes. As such, I've seen more than your typical city critters like squirrels, rabbits, and typical birds. I've often see ducks, cranes, geese, turkeys, hawks, bald eagles, schools of fish visible from shore, occasional raccoons, and even some deer.
This morning I saw a coyote, I think for the first time ever (in the city, that is: I've seen them in state parks). It darted out in the darkness from the trees along the shore of the creek and ran across a yard and the eastbound lane of a divided parkway, then made an orderly turn to the left and trotted quickly but casually along the westbound traffic lane, which thankfully was otherwise unused at 5:40 a.m. or so.
So, coyote. Add that to my list of wildlife seen in the city.
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Post by kds on Sept 4, 2024 12:49:36 GMT
As I've said before, I like taking walks in the morning, while it's still cool and without interrupting my workday. I often go along a nearby creek, or one of the nearby lakes. As such, I've seen more than your typical city critters like squirrels, rabbits, and typical birds. I've often see ducks, cranes, geese, turkeys, hawks, bald eagles, schools of fish visible from shore, occasional raccoons, and even some deer. This morning I saw a coyote, I think for the first time ever (in the city, that is: I've seen them in state parks). It darted out in the darkness from the trees along the shore of the creek and ran across a yard and the eastbound lane of a divided parkway, then made an orderly turn to the left and trotted quickly but casually along the westbound traffic lane, which thankfully was otherwise unused at 5:40 a.m. or so. So, coyote. Add that to my list of wildlife seen in the city. We've seen some stray coyotes in recent years too. One Christmas, at my father's house, we saw what at first appeared to be a mangy fox. Dad took a picture of it, and upon a closer look, it was a coyote. I've seen at least one in my backyard at dusk.
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