Tag Archives: surgery

March 25, 2019 · 23:56

A Walking Anachronism: thoughts on Approaching my 59th Birthday

Friends of Padre Steve’s World,

In two days I celebrate my 59th birthday amid a lot of physical issues regarding and concerns for the future of the country I am reminded that in today’s military I am an anachronism. I’m old, broken, and pretty much useless. I have so many medical and physical therapy appointments that my deputy and other staff pretty much handle everything, and I sign a few things, give them advice and support them.

In the mean time I try to collect the multitude of medical records from the different branches that hold them, and since I am still being treated every so often I have to request the latest bunch. I am sure that I have over 2000 pages of them. Today I organized them. I bought a bunch of those brown accordion file binders, the big ones, hold up to 5 1/2 inches of documents each. I have them dived up into the old handwritten records, the new records in a system called ALTA, which I have no idea what it stands for; of which there are so many that it requires two binders to hold them all; my mental health records, all of which have been occurred since I returned from Iraq in 2008, I have a full binder of those and am waiting on the records from the civilian psychiatrist the Navy sent me to at Camp LeJeune to complete that set as well as the records I continue to compile. I also have a binder of dental records in which I have also placed the CDs of my radiology studies. The whole collection must weigh 25 or 30 pounds, and I have a big bag to carry them around in, it was actually a bag sent back with Judy from the hospital after her first knee replacement surgery.

Last night was tough. I had a bunch of stuff going in my mind about the future of the country under Trump. I couldn’t be in the moment and Judy called me on it. I went to bed early but woke up with my left hip in screaming pain. Of course it was about 4 AM and the dogs decided that they needed to go outside. In agony I hobbled down the stairs and let them out, and after rewarding them I dragged myself up to bed. It still hurts like the devil so I have an early appointment to get it looked at, afterward I get to do physical therapy. The only good thing about it was that it made me forget the pain in my right and left knees and right hip. I am beginning to wonder with all the physical injuries piling up and needing treatment if I will have to have my official retirement date pushed back. Next week I go to the sports medicine doctor who has been working on my right knee, I presume that the next step is sending me to the bone and joint center. Since arthroscopic surgery has already been ruled out the next step will likely be be knee replacement, after which they might get around to my hips and shoulder.

I am a broken down anachronism. Of course once I get repaired I won’t be broken down, but I’ll still be an anachronism. In season five of the series The Blacklist, Raymond Reddington is asked a question by Agent Elizabeth Keane who has been revealed as his daughter:

Liz: How does it feel to be a walking anachronism?

Red: Righteous.

In a way it does, especially when someone asks you out of the blue to tell you your story because it was included in an article that was required reading for a class on Moral Injury at Yale Divinity School. At my point in life there is nothing to embellish, nothing to try to make me look heroic, just tell the truth, warts and all. It is as Reddington described, righteous.

So this anachronism will continue to live, do all I can to get my injuries fixed, and look forward to a future that has been as good or better than my past. Judy helped get that into my head this afternoon when confronting me on my attitude.

In spite of everything I can say I’ve had a great life, a wonderful wife, and over the course of our marriage 6 dogs, three of which live with us and are the light of our lives, and two of the others who make ghost appearances from time to time. The last is obviously too happy in heaven getting her belly rubbed with an infinite supply of puppy cookies.

So until tomorrow,

Peace,

Padre Steve+

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October 20, 2018 · 22:07

Dog Days: Pierre has Emergency Stomach Surgery

Friends of Padre Steve’s World,

I didn’t post anything last night because we had a bit of a crisis with our little Papillon boy, Pierre.

He had an upset stomach and threw up earlier in the week but still acted pretty normal so we weren’t concerned. He continued and also had diarrhea and started being a bit lethargic so Judy took him to the vet. Then there wasn’t too much cause for alarm, although some liver enzymes were elevated. There were a number of possible causes for the elevated levels, but none were obvious, so he was sent home with medication scheduled for a follow up visit the next day.

He didn’t improve and was in obvious pain so x-rays were taken and they revealed that he had a lot of gas in his stomach. So that night we watched him closely and took him back in Friday morning. This time his discomfort was more pronounced, more x-rays were done and he was taken in for emergency exploratory surgery in case he had ingested any foreign objects or toxins. None were found, but he had a very angry ulcer in his stomach. The veterinarians took care of the bleeding, cleaned out his stomach, took a biopsy of the ulcer, and sent him home with us and a lot of medications.

When we discussed the situation with the vet, who has taken care of our dogs since we moved here in 2003 we came up with the probable cause of what happened. We think that he ingested or inhaled portions of a very large, dried out, purple mushroom that was in a pile of branches that were knocked off our tree in our backyard. It would account for the high liver enzymes and the ulcer which came on so quickly. We went home with the vet’s wife’s cell number in case we had any emergencies during the night.

The good news is that he did well and is recovering very well. We are having to keep him from jumping on the furniture and wanting to do his own thing. At the same time we have had to deal with a less than five pound dog who is not happy about having medications pushed on him. That being said it is funny to have such a little boy growl every time he knows he is getting medication.

and who still didn’t want eat this morning after we took him back to the vet to get his IV catheter out and a post surgery check. That being said, he has been more cooperative with his medications, especially since we put the pills in cream cheese, and he loves cheese. He is also eating now that we mixed cheese his recovery food and convinced him that it was safe by having Izzy eat a bit of it in front of him. If Izzy eats it, it must be good.

A funny thing happened when we brought him home this morning. We set up a pen for him with a Ed, his food and water, and a pee pad. He wasn’t happy at all with the restrictions. He sulked by the gate of the pen looking like a prisoner on strike, so we decided to keep him on our laps and only plan on putting him in the pen when we can’t watch him or both have to be out of the house.

I didn’t sleep well last night because I was hyper vigilant and worried about him. But today he he has spent most of the day on my or Judy’s lap. This afternoon I fell asleep on the recliner with him sleeping on me. Izzy occasionally checks on him, nuzzling him and kissing him. She is very sensitive and I think that she isn’t happy that her play buddy and security force partner is not feeling well.

So anyway, he seems to be doing well, so send your positive thoughts and prayers his way.

Until tomorrow,

Peace,

Padre Steve+

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