Message From Kreij

[theJesus]

lol @ "terrible midwestern food"

[Kreij]

Last round of tests for possible post-op complication(s) came back showing no problems. YAY !
I have an appointment with the surgeon today and my primary care doctor tomorrow. Not sure what will be discussed.

There are really three metrics that I am using to evaluate my recovery.
Appetite : my appetite and ability to consume food is almost completely back to normal.
Energy : This is a crap shoot and varies from day to day, but I seem to be gaining a little stamina to do things for longer periods of time.
Pain : This is still as bad as the day they released me. Narcotic painkillers FTW

@cdawall : After 16 days of nothing but ice chips I doubt you will be able to find a food I don't think is delightful.

[Frederik S]

I hope you get better soon!
Fingers crossed for a speedy recovery.

Regards,
Fred

[jpierce55]

Good news. I am sure the energy will come back completely once your diet is normal for a few days.

[stinger608]

Originally Posted by Kreij

Last round of tests for possible post-op complication(s) came back showing no problems. YAY !
I have an appointment with the surgeon today and my primary care doctor tomorrow. Not sure what will be discussed.

There are really three metrics that I am using to evaluate my recovery.
Appetite : my appetite and ability to consume food is almost completely back to normal.
Energy : This is a crap shoot and varies from day to day, but I seem to be gaining a little stamina to do things for longer periods of time.
Pain : This is still as bad as the day they released me. Narcotic painkillers FTW

@cdawall : After 16 days of nothing but ice chips I doubt you will be able to find a food I don't think is delightful.

Whew, that is frigging awesome news bro!!!

Thanks a ton for the update man. Since you had not posted in a couple of days I, along with probably several, were a bit concerned.

[theJesus]

Excellent news!

[Ahhzz]

Thanks for the update, Special K

[Mindweaver]

Great news Dean! When you get your 100% bill of heath you should run down the hospital hall way FULL MONTY! hehehe

[qubit]

Originally Posted by Kreij

Last round of tests for possible post-op complication(s) came back showing no problems. YAY !
I have an appointment with the surgeon today and my primary care doctor tomorrow. Not sure what will be discussed.

There are really three metrics that I am using to evaluate my recovery.
Appetite : my appetite and ability to consume food is almost completely back to normal.
Energy : This is a crap shoot and varies from day to day, but I seem to be gaining a little stamina to do things for longer periods of time.
Pain : This is still as bad as the day they released me. Narcotic painkillers FTW

@cdawall : After 16 days of nothing but ice chips I doubt you will be able to find a food I don't think is delightful.

Thanks for the update, I'm really glad it's getting better for you.

Originally Posted by Ahhzz

Thanks for the update, Special K

"special K". Kreij is now a breakfast cereal. Love it.

[theJesus]

Originally Posted by qubit

"special K". Kreij is now a breakfast cereal. Love it.

My first thought was the drug >.>

[FreedomEclipse]

Originally Posted by theJesus

My first thought was the drug >.>

My second thought was the song from Placebo's 'Blackmarket Music' album (still one of my favorite albums from them)

[PopcornMachine]

Thanks for the update and glad things are getting better. Keep up the good work!

[Black Panther]

Thanks for the update Kreij. That was good news!

Here's a little 'gift' for you, it'll make you smile but can always consider it kinda... virtual medicine



Get well soon bro!

[assaulter_99]

Hell yeah! Seems its only on TPU that we have happy endings! Get well soon!

[FordGT90Concept]

Originally Posted by Black Panther

Thanks for the update Kreij. That was good news!

Here's a little 'gift' for you, it'll make you smile but can always consider it kinda... virtual medicine

http://img.techpowerup.org/120116/extreme healing.jpg

Get well soon bro!

Why not Ultimate Healing with a side of Cure Disease? XD

[xrealm20]

You and your family will be in my thoughts. Hope that you get better soon!

[Delta6326]

Originally Posted by kreij

last round of tests for possible post-op complication(s) came back showing no problems. Yay !
I have an appointment with the surgeon today and my primary care doctor tomorrow. Not sure what will be discussed.

There are really three metrics that i am using to evaluate my recovery.
Appetite : My appetite and ability to consume food is almost completely back to normal.
Energy : This is a crap shoot and varies from day to day, but i seem to be gaining a little stamina to do things for longer periods of time.
Pain : This is still as bad as the day they released me. Narcotic painkillers ftw

STAMINA!!!! Here you go.

[DanishDevil]

Dah, took my idea with the Skyrim stamina potion

Glad to hear tests went well! Hang in there buddy, you're well over the hump. Your stamina will be back in no time!

[LifeOnMars]

Really great news, hang in there mate and you know that all of our best wishes are with you. Look forward to seeing you back on here regularly very soon!!

[Kreij]

Here's a recap and and update on all my trials and tribulations. It's get's a bit technical in the "male-oriented" department, so guys you may want to prepare to cringe and lady's prepare to laugh.

When we last left off I had been released from the hospital after the surgeon went all Ginsu on me.
I was experiencing air being expelled from my urethra during urination (we shall from this point on refer to this as "dick farts" as the technical term is virtually unpronouncable).
After a few urine analyses they determined I had a rare baterial infection (to go along with my rare cancer) that creates air in the bladder. They gave me antibiotic and it (dick farts) has never happened again.

However, I have still been experiencing bladder pain and also pain when peeing.
They then decided to do a Cystogram. This is were they take a catheter, insert it into a place you NEVER want something inserted, and fill your bladder with a contrast agent to make sure (using realtime x-rays) there are no leaks (fistulas) in the bladder wall or urethra, and watch as the fluid is expelled to make sure all is well. I got to watch along with the radiologist. Pretty interesting except for the part about having a tube shoved up my d... never mind.
This showed no problems, however the pain persisted.

So they sent me to a urology specialist and he decided to do Cystoscopy. This is basically the same as the Cystogram except they use a scope so they can have a (full color) look-see inside. This was even more interesting as I've never seen the inside of my bladder before and always wondered what it looked like. Note : if you ever have this or the Cystogram done, don't look down. You've been warned.

This showed no problems, so they did a CT scan with contrast agents as they wanted to do everything possible (other than cutting me open) to make sure they saw no problems before starting chemo. The CT scan came up showing nothing, so the specialist said his best guess was that scare tissue from the operation(s) had adhered to the bladder and was causing pain when it expanded, contracted, etc. ... which only happens rarely.

Two weeks ago everything went south. I lost my appetite, was so tired I had to drag myself out of bed, couldn't concentrate and have trouble comprehending simple stuff, and have a basic feeling of joylessness, nothing seemed to matter and being overwhelmed (which is why I've been quiet on the boards, and it's hard for me to concentrate on writing this). It's also why I've been non-existant on the P&W forums and haven't helped people (sorry FordGT ) I've mostly been in the Skyrim thread because you really don't need a brain to play or post about Skyrim.

So today I went and talked to my new surgeon and he said I have a classic case of Post-Operative Depression (I never new this existed as I never experienced it from previous surgeries). This can be caused by a whole slew of factors and he said with what I have gone/am going through it would not only be common, but expected (Like two surgeries, two anethsesias, lots of narcotic pain killers, finding out you have cancer, no time to mentally prepare, etc.). They just don't warn you because it doesn't always happen to people and times vary greatly (like right after surgery to months later).
They are going to give me drugs to help deal with this (he said it usually naturally goes away after while, but I'm tired of looking at my Jeep and thinking, "who cares" and even more tired of looking at MY OWN CODE and not understanding it), and ...

Next Thursday I have to go in for surgery to have my chemotherapy port installed (should be a simple out-patient procedure unless something rare happens ), Friday I have to have a bunch of blood drawn for a whole battery of pre-treatment tests, and Monday (the 12th) I am supposed to start chemo. I'm not worried about the chemo as long as they don't want to give me the treatment using something shoved up my d... nevermind.

So hopefully in a few days I will be back to my old helpful self here on TPU.
Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers,
Dean

[NdMk2o1o]

Good to see you haven't lost your sense of humour through all this as I found the "dick farts" comment hilarious, obviously your illness is not and I wish you all the best with your treatment and recovery, god bless

[Easy Rhino]

your situation blows. thank God for skyrim!

[PopcornMachine]

I agree. You haven't lost your sense of humor. I wouldn't dare to say that I know how you feel, as I have never been through anything close to this.

But I am not unfamiliar with depression. Just try to keep your perspective wide, not too narrow. Easy for me say, but it sometimes helps.

Hang in there.

[Mindweaver]

Dick farts!...lol I'm not a prayer... but I"M PRAYING YOU DON"T HAVE ANYMORE DICK FARTS! I know one thing that's not hard for you to remember.. and that is You Da Man! Keep up the good fight! When you look back at your corner I'll be there to holler, "Rip'em apart! Your gonna eat lightning, and your gonna crap thunder!". -Not everyday I get to use Rocky Quotes.. hehehe

[Kreij]

@MW : The first time it happens to you it is so foriegn and out of the realm of anything you ever thought could happen, your mind simply rejects it as hallucination. lol

Just to let you know my level of concentration and comprehension, I was reading a magazine at the Drs' office and they interviewed the guy who wrote the first antivirus software. It took me two or three minutes to realize they didn't mean medical viruses. For us who live and breath computers, that should give you an idea of why I don't understand my own code.