General Medical issues thread

[prozac]

I think (thought) theoretical max was 220- (80x0.7) which is 164 +/- 20 and that the advisory or optimal 70% was just a feel good number for aspirants.
The gp knows me pretty well well and said no limits, push as hard as you like…..
Post op I was only achieving 130 on woosy little hills but as the fitness has ramped up so has the achievable heart rate.
The light headedness yesterday I took as a sign of my functional limit atm.
I guess the cardiologist may have an opinion , I will arrive armed with my blood pressure graphs an a screen shot of one of my walks that shows the heart rate increases with stress and quickly recovers.

Cynics view : why bother, you will likely die soon from something else….

The optimal figure is one at which you attain good exercise benefit, not one that you should not exceed (i.e. you can). I can't remember if my cardio said it should be 70%, or 80% or indeed 60%...so I picked the middle figure. You are very dedicated regardless. I wish I was a bit more. First spot of rain and I go, 'I'll get wet, better stay home.' haha.
I have to work on my glutes which burn now whenever I exercise because I've lost muscle mass from sitting around too much.

 

[Pushka]

MrP has gone on to BP medication. He's extremely fit, his recent stress test showed his heart function was that of a 40 year old. BP not that high but wanted to see if it could be improved. Trouble is that at the gym he can't get his heart rate up to the level he was able to reach prior to starting treatment 3 weeks ago. I reckon he will ditch it.

 

[drron]

Didn't give it more than 1 week.

I think you're doing great. There's no way I'm doing 13,000 steps per day. I walk 100 metres and I need to stop. Yes I can push myself to do that everyday but that'd be torture.

Also I was feeling sorry for myself having to move out of apartment but God had other plans.

I now struggle badly to walk up 29 steps to our current apartment. Can be just as bad walking down too. We were rejected on at least 15 rental applications in May and June and the one that was successful has only 7 steps. I keep thinking back to meeting the young Lass at the inspection and something didnt feel right. We were successful in less than 24 hours. Now I understand. Almost as if an angel was involved.

We get the keys in 2 days and move in after 7 days. We're now in flat part of Toowong. I'm going to try and walk around the block once each day and see how I go.

Great that you have a new apartment.
I am afraid though you will just have to live in a world of pain. There is no magic either in pill form or a program that is magically going to get you where you want to be within a week.
In January /February this year I was walking 2000 steps a day. however that was between 0900 and 2300 each day. At the beginning my usual number of steps I took before having to sit 5-10 minutes because of the pains was 30-50. But I persevered because I wanted to be better. Yes it was hard but by March I was walking up to 6000 steps per day. At worst I could walk 250 steps before having to stop. At best 600 steps. but again thos steps ere over the same 14 hours as before.
Then I tried the walking stick. Again no magic bullet but I began to recover more quickly and slowly the number of steps increased. So now after 4.5 months I can get to 90000 steps per week and the best daily totals ~16500 steps. But again over 14 hours. The best I have done in 1 session is 5000 steps - a bit over 2KM. But often only after a minute sitting I am able to get going again. Yes at times it was torture but the results are worth it.
I did surprise myself last week when I actually jogged a 100 metres. A very slow jog though.

You get out of life what you put into it.

 

[Katie]

FIL update.
We arrived home from Europe last Weds. Told the ILs in the group chat we were home. On Thurs, Mr Katie gets a message from one sister "call me as soon as you can". He calls her back in the afternoon, discovers that FIL was admitted to hospital on the day we left (24/7), spent a week or more there, discharged, and was readmitted early last week. My SIL seems unimpressed that Mr Katie isn't shocked by the revelation that FIL was in hospital.

Mr Katie and the Teen visit FIL on Friday afternoon; MIL was also there.

Apparently FIL's kidneys aren't doing great and his legs are/were swollen. He's also had a skin cancer cut out of his leg (after adamantly refusing any more cancer removals after the last one a few months ago??!!) and will need stitches out. Some issues between the skin clinic and hospital staff about who is now responsible for removing said stitches.

There was also some confusion at the hospital last week when he was admitted, as his medications hadn't been collected by the staff and he took some of his own accord when they were due. Apparently, he reduced a poor nurse to tears when she tried to tell him off for taking his meds on time without their knowledge.

Mr Katie went back to visit yesterday (Monday) and managed to meet FIL's cardiologist. Mr Katie, sceptic, cynic and negative nancy since forever, has decided the cardiologist is the most negative medical professional he's ever met. Mr Katie's take is that the cardiologist is only interested in operations and FIL's issues won't be helped by an operation, so he's ready to sign him over to palliative care.
Mr Katie is taking the notion of palliative care with a grain of salt as the same cardiologist said FIL wouldn't survive to see Christmas 2024.

MIL is apparently starting to notify family and close friends of the situation. This probably explains why my SIL was so upset about FIL being in hospital - I guess either Mr Katie didn't hear her or she didn't say FIL was terminal/close to terminal.

I asked Mr Katie how he was doing last night; he said there's no point being sad in advance.
The Teen took it upon herself to visit her Grandad today.

 

[JohnK]

That’s limited mobility but in this case I don’t understand how you can continue to play golf?

Haven't played golf since April. I will try again end of next month wgen we are in Thailand.

Also note that in Thailand I only use buggies and in most courses the caddie drives the buggy pretty close to my ball, tees and greens as they give you a mobility flag with free reign to go anywhere within reason. I may only need to walk 10-15 metres at a time but not sure the knees can take the pressure of a rotating golf swing.

I shall try my best and if I cannot play golf then so be it.

 

[JohnK]

Great that you have a new apartment.
I am afraid though you will just have to live in a world of pain. There is no magic either in pill form or a program that is magically going to get you where you want to be within a week.

I don't think I ever stated there's a magic cure.

I accepted my fate a long time ago. I mainly go through each day without painkillers but I know what's best for me. I know what works for me. It'd be nice to find a GP that was supportive rather than a lap dog of the government.

I need Xanax. I don't want to find alternative treatments to panic/anxiety attacks. I've been forced onto black market.

I need Panadeine Forte or something similar. GP didn't want to prescribe anymore and the suggestion was the pain medication pyramid starting off with Panadol Osteo, Mobic and Tramadol. It actually helps on the occasion that I do medicate. New GP thinks it's too much medication. No it's not too much if it means I'm not suffering too much.

I need Prednisolone or something similar for severe inflammation. GP does not want to prescribe so again I source on black market.

I don't ask for a lot. All I'm looking for is some quality of life without feeling like an invalid.

And contrary to a lot of advice the latest advice from Urology outpatients is for wife to self medicate to treat UTI. It would appear that 14 days of Trimethoprim has cleared up wife's UTI. Urine sample free of bacteria for first time in a long time. He advised we ask GP for prescription of Trimethoprim to take with us to Thailand in case UTI re-occurs. It doesn't mean we will abuse it but we will be prepared.

And yes I do realise that for life you get what you put into it. Unfortunately it's not that simple. I try my best to play the cards I have been dealt.