Saturday, June 28, 2025

Murder, Opiods, Eyeballs, & Teeth

Note: This is another blog based on my weekly emails to my family on the mainland. Since much of my news these days relates to trying to age gracefully, this series might be called The Geezer Gazette.]

6/28/25
 
Aloha All!
 
Wow, it looks like you mainlanders are having summer a little early this year -- scorching temperatures,
Above line is electric we had to buy
violent storms, fires, floods, etc.  Fortunately the NWS forecast predicts some relief for you over the weekend.  Our crappy weather has continued for yet another week, and is predicted to keep going into the foreseeable future.  This is undoubtedly the longest stretch of bad weather we've had since we moved here 25 years ago.  For the third month in a row our PV system couldn't generate enough energy to cover our electric usage, and the pool solar heating has barely kept the water temperature in the geezer-tolerable zone.  The best thing about the cloudiness is that it makes nice napping weather.
 
On a happier note, last Saturday we went to our local community theater's production of "Murder on the Orient Express."  It was great fun.  I've read and seen versions of Agatha Christie's famous mystery many times, of course, but enough time has passed that I forgot a lot of the details.  The local actors were quite good and the staging was very clever in its depiction of the train. Tonight we're going to another local presentation, this one at the theater up north in Waimea.  It's a performance by a touring mainland musical group called  "Dirty Cello."  We've never heard them before, but the name promises a fun time. I'll let you know next week.
 
 The Geezer Gazette news this week is more about my hernia surgery recovery, and about medical manipulations of other parts of my body.  I was premature in touting the low level of pain following my operation a week ago Wednesday.  I thought the nerve blocks had worn off when I wrote last time, but they were longer lasting than I thought.  When the deadened nerves fully woke up, they let me know they weren't happy -- big time.  I finally tried the opioid pain killer my surgeon had prescribed (Hydrocordone-acetaminophen).  It dulled the pain but after 2 days it also drove my blood pressure so low I nearly passed out if I stood or even just sat up.  I stopped taking it, figuring I'd just power through the pain, and my bp recovered quickly.  I was pleasantly surprised that the pain had subsided on its own and I didn't even need over the counter pain killer.  In general, I've been surprised and fascinated by how fast my improvement has been.  At the moment I'm very sore, but not much more so than after a rigorous workout at the gym.  The small incisions seem to be healing nicely, except for the one at my navel which has required some antibiotic ointment.  I see my surgeon next week, and I will be interested in his assessment of my overall progress.
 
On Tuesday I had a double-header, first with my Ophthalmologist and then with me Endodontist. As expected and needed, my retina doc gave me another eyeball injection, this time in my right. This has become so routine that it is pretty much a non-event.  Later that day I finally had a root canal -- my first real treatment of the tooth I broke on May 1.  I laughed when it was all done and the assistant advised me to (a) be careful to chew mostly with the other side of my mouth, and (b) be sure to see my dentist for a real restoration because my filling was only good for 30 days.  With slurred speech I informed her that I had been careful since May 1, and that I'd be lucky to get an appointment with my dentist within 30 days -- it had taken longer than that to see the Endodontist  She seemed chagrined, but could only mumble "sorry about that."  I was shocked when I called the dentist office and was told I could have an appointment on Friday, only 3 days out!!  This is the first of at least two sessions to finally get this thing fixed. So, for my third doctor visit of the week I got to lay flat with my mouth open for two hours while the dentist drilled, chiselled and built up my broken stub to hold the crown, now on order.  Next appointment, on July 29th to put in the actual crown, a total of about 2.5 months since my first dentist visit after the break occurred.  Patience, grasshopper...... I should note that the care I'm getting seems first rate, but it is obvious we need more physicians to speed up the delivery of that care.
 
Ok, on that snarky note I'll sign off for this week.  Keep cool, physically and mentally.  CarpeVitam. 

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Looks like good progress on the medical front. Did you go see the volcano geysers? Guess that was a while back now. Here we are still experiencing June gloom with temps pushing, almost to the 70s, maybe a bit more late in the PM if the fog subsides enough. Probably today for instance. Going to the mountains to warm up, eastern Sierra for a week with home base at Mammoth Lakes. Should be fun! As for health, Carole and I both have 2 weeks of symptoms from a virus that never "amounted to anything." No fever, but just drawn out symptoms... Hope it dies a full and complete death soon!

Happy summer! I expect we could have a hot spell before its over, if not, Fall always brings along it's own heat these days.

Coleen Hanna said...

I am sorry to hear about the surgical pain not really being gone, but it sounds like things are looking up. Teeth and eyes, for me problematic from approximately the day I was born. But now doing better with both. Our weather this month has been excellent in every way. But I better not get too used to it. We have short summers here in Buffalo. I was just reading in the Post that the country still has a shortage of geriatric physicians and other medical professionals; not good for the early-dinner crowd like us. We are told to be careful about taking too many meds. I am on three and feel fortunate about that.