Health

Teeth & Bones

Chris Jefferies — Thu, 10 Feb 2005 00:37:00 GMT

Yesterday I had a followup appointment with the oral surgeon that performed the gum surgery on me back in January. He poked around a bit and seemed pleased with his work and said that the bad tooth looked like it was firming up since the surgery. The problem with the loose tooth is that there is bone loss around the root, so it doesn't have much to hang on to. The consensus from my oral surgeon and my dentist is that I may have the tooth for perhaps up to 5 more years, but I will not grow old with this tooth.

Today, I had my bi-annual cleaning with my longtime dentist, Dr. Myung Sook Son.

Here's what she looks like when she gets serious with me.

She's always cheerful and does a terrific job with my teeth. Today she gave me a Novocaine shot that did not even hint at being painful.

Once Myung finishes with the heavy picking, and cavitroning (a cavitron is a dental tool that uses high frequency ultrasonic waves to clean teeth) and scrapping, she hands me over to Lillian Hickethier who polishes my pearly whites.

Gum Surgery

Chris Jefferies — Mon, 17 Jan 2005 02:08:00 GMT

On Friday afternoon I had gum surgery primarily to fix a bad tooth and to fix potential problems with other teeth. I took 2 mg of a tranquilizer called Lorazepam about an hour before the surgery. It was still an excruciating experience. The worst part was the Novocaine shots into the roof of my mouth and the cutting and scrapping sounds were horrible in spite of being completely numbed.

This weekend was spent sleeping, watching TV, browsing the web and eating soft mushy foods. And Vicodin!

Stitches will be removed in about a week.

No fun.

Jumano Forums

Chris Jefferies — Fri, 16 Jul 2004 14:30:00 GMT

I've set up a web forum for discussion threads at: http://www.jumano.com/Forums

Please visit the forums and start up or join a discussion.

Century City - New TV Series is coming

Chris Jefferies — Tue, 16 Mar 2004 00:42:00 GMT

“Legal drama set in Los Angeles around the firm of Constable, Crane and Montero in 2030 that will speculate on how the legal system will change by then.”

I think this show poses a very interesting approach to the socialization of the American “viewing audience“. Imagine the enlightened future where gay marriages are common, women's choice is honored, equal education is a right and the repression of religious fundamentalism is long past... What moral legal issues will we have to deal with?

We'll sit in our 2004 living rooms and see our present future possibility and realize that our current issues pale in the face of the loss of personal privacy and human genetic engineering fiascoes.

I hope the program lives up to it's potential...

Tuesday, March 16, 9PM ET/PT
A young boy’s father wants the right to use the boy’s genetic embryo clone to develop a baby who could donate a portion of his liver to save him. The firm also takes on the case of a boy band that is suing its lead singer for not adhering to his contract to keep up his physical appearance.

Additional episode airs Saturday, March 20, 10PM ET/PT.
The firm argues that a young man with a bionic eye, who is being barred from playing baseball, should not be considered enhanced, but rather, disabled. Meanwhile, a couple must redefine their marital contract regarding the "family" they pledged they'd never have.

Update - 05.05.2004: Show was cancelled. Dolt!

Fish Decisions

Chris Jefferies — Sat, 06 Mar 2004 12:43:00 GMT

With all the hullabaloo about fish; mercury in fish, fish farming, I did some looking around on the internet and found a resource that looks good:

http://www.environmentaldefense.org/seafood/fishhome.cfm

My Colonoscopy - update

Chris Jefferies — Tue, 24 Feb 2004 20:11:00 GMT

Dr Hosseini, the doctor who performed my colonoscopy, called and left a message yesterday. He said that both of the polyps that were found (each about 3mm in size), which were biopsied, were benign, but that one had an Adenoma.

This means that I will need to get another colonoscopy in 3 years.

My Colonoscopy - Conscious Sedation

Chris Jefferies — Thu, 12 Feb 2004 22:01:00 GMT

Today I had my first colonoscopy. Everybody was right about the basic routine; about the evening before being the worst part of the ordeal. What they found was two 3mm polyps which they biopsied and I'll get the results in about a week.

Yesterday afternoon, I started off by taking a 10 mgs of Metoclopramide. I think it's meant to reduce nausea associated with the process of cleaning out the colon. Thirty minutes later I began drinking a solution called NuLYTELY that runs through the gastro system and causes about 4 hours of diarrhea. It took about 3 hours to drink about 3 quarts of the solution. It's not that the solution tastes bad, but it has a slightly salty, slightly lemony taste and it's super saturated so it's thick. Yeck.

Today, Aurora and I went to EastBay Endoscopy offices in Emeryville and after the traditional paperwork they got me set up in hospital robes put me on a gurney and plugged an IV into my right arm.

Cindy helped with the prep and Valerie helped after the procedure:

Cindy Valerie

They wheeled me into the operating room and Patricia injected a drug cocktail of 3 mg of Midazolam (a type of drug known as benzodiazepines that cause sleepiness or loss of consciousness) and 100 mg of Meperidine (aka Demerol, a synthetic narcotic) into the IV port. They call the state you achieve conscious sedation. Gooood. Unfortunately it worked too well and I was out for most of the procedure.

What I remember is that Dr Hosseini started going in with the colonoscope and then he was saying that they were finished. I missed all the fun. After a de-briefing by Valerie, Aurora drove me home.

a colonoscope

Here's some of what the report said...

Procedure:

Digital rectal examination was performed. The CF-Q140L colonoscope was introduced and under direct visualization passed through the anus and advanced to the ileum. The colonoscopy was accomplished without difficulty. The patient tolerated the procedure well.

Findings:

One sessile polyp with no bleeding was found in the transverse colon. The polyp was 3mm in size. This was localized. Biopsies were taken with a cold forceps for histology.

One sessile polyp with no bleeding was found in the sigmoid colon. The polyp was 3mm in size. This was localized. Biopsies were taken with a cold forceps for histology.

Non-bleeding internal hemorrhoids were found.

I think it's interesting, the use of the words “introduced“, “advanced“, and “tolerated“.

I'll get a call with the biopsy results in 7-10 days.

Images of my polyps, my terminal ileum and my cecum to follow when I get my scanner working again.

Bet you can't wait...

New Dental Crown

Chris Jefferies — Tue, 03 Feb 2004 23:26:00 GMT

Just before Christmas, 2002, I chipped a molar on the bottom left side. Ben set me up with his dentist and the dentist did a great job of patching my tooth. He did such a great job, it held up for over a year. Yesterday I had a new permanent crown placed on that old chipped tooth.

Here's an image of my new bling bling...

I love the feel of gold on my tongue...

Cardio Update

Chris Jefferies — Tue, 03 Feb 2004 21:29:00 GMT

I had a follow-up meeting with Dr Micheal Tsang today (seen below).

The analysis of my echocardiogram test revealed good news. Dr. Tsang indicated that my heart beat 'vigorously' at rest AND under stress. His evaluation was that my heart seems to be OK.

Dr. Tsang thinks that perhaps the pain I feel when I excercise (what I describe as a burning sensation in my heart) might be the result of an acid reflux problem. I'm not fully convinced, but I'm willing to give it a try. If it works, I'll be very happy. He has put me on a 4 week course of Protonix (40mg once in the morning). Protonix is used for “healing of a gradual breakdown (erosion) or sore (ulceration) in the esophagus which may be caused by the backward flow of gastric acid from the stomach into the esophagus“.

Next moves:

I will be setting up an appointment with my primary care physician, Dr Arthur Bakal, in the next few days.
I have a re-scheduled colonoscopy coming up on the 12th of February.
I will be getting a blood test in about 3 months as a follow-up check with Dr Tsang to see where my colesterol and triglycerides stand.

Cardio Update - Echo - Stress Test

Chris Jefferies — Mon, 26 Jan 2004 17:47:00 GMT

Today I had a Stress Echocardiogram. This is a procedure where they raise your heart rate and capture an image of the heart by using sound waves. 2 echo-techs, Lawana and Susan, helped me through the procedure with relative grace and dignity.

First, as I laid down on a bed, Susan captured some images of my heart in a resting state. Then Lawana ran me on the treadmill checking occasionally to make sure my blood pressure was OK. As my heart rate climbed, I could feel, and see on the EKG read-out on the monitor, the PVCs that seemed to be occuring every minute or so. I felt a slight burning in my chest as I warmed up, but it seemed to even out and disipated after about 5 minutes. She ran my heart rate up to the target of 169 and then I jumped off of the treadmill, got back on the bed, and Susan captured some more images with my heart running pretty fast.

I have a follow up meeting with Dr. Michael Tsang on Febrary 3rd to see what, if anything, this test reveals about my heart condition.

Here I am all plugged in at the beginning of the test, smiling (which didn't last long).

You can upload a medium sized AVI file (732K) of one of the images of my heart here:
http://www.jumano.com/uploads/ChrisHeart.avi

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