Went to my appointment with the surgeon who would do my hernia operation today.
Had a bad moment when I thought I was going to have to go up three flights of stairs. That would have been bad enough way back when I was going to VFS.
But these days, where I can’t even walk a block without feeling like I am going to die right there on the street, it would have been a nightmare.
Luckily, this was just another all too typical case of my jumping to a crazy negative conclusion out of sheer neurotic paranoia.
The elevator was right behind me. D’oh.
I’m so wacky.
Talked with the surgeon, Doctor Nguyen. Turns out the “g” in “Nyguyen” is either silent or represents some subtle consonant we don’t have in English.
I think I heard something between the “N” and the “uyen”, but I’m not sure.
Anyhow, we discussed options. He said the sort of operation it would take to repair my big ol hernia has a very high failure rate in fat dudes. The mesh they use can’t really take the pressure of all that adipose tissue for long.
And seeing as, as far as I know, my hernia isn’t causing me pain or health complication or whatever, it just doesn’t make sense to go through what would be a MAJOR operation (involving opening up almost my entire lower abdomen and all the complicated digestive pluming in it) for something that would fail anyhow.
But I have been slowly but steadily losing weight for a while, so when my BMI gets low enough, I will call him up and we’ll have another talk.
And I am fairly disappointed. I was looking forward to getting myself patched up and seeing what effect it has on my life.
But whatever. Currently, it’s a nonissue, so I am content to wait. Obviously, if I begin to experience acute abdominal and/or digestive issues, I will go to the ER and it will be an entirely different game of ball.
Tomorrow’s the podiatrist. Yesterday I withdrew the money (grr) I will have to pay to get my legitimate and serious medical condition treated here in CANADA.
I feel like that is not going to stop pissing me off any time soon. Just thinking of it makes me imagine my eyes turning red, a snort of steam coming out my bovine nose, and the sound of a roaring, crackling fire.
I have a highly cartoonish imagination.
Lord knows what will come of the appointment. If the answer is “a whole lot of even more expensive appointments”, I dunno what I will do, because I can’t afford that.
And yet, unlike the hernia, I am pretty sure this is not the sort of thing I should or could ignore. It will likely only get worse over time and could even threaten the foot itself if it gets bad enough.
And yet, apparently, podiatry is a luxury, as are feet.
That makes no fucking sense.
More after the break.
A very Richmond experience
So I am waiting to cash my check at the bank last Friday when I observe one of the tellers, a big Caucasian girl, trying to explain something to a tiny Asian old lady.
It goes something like this :
Teller : No, you see, because you put 400 here, you…
Lady (tiny but defiant voice) : I have eight hundred and forty two!
Teller : No, what I am trying to explain is that you put…
Lady (a little louder) : I have eight hundred and forty two!
Teller : Yes, you GAVE me eight hundred and forty two, but now…
Lady : I HAVE EIGHT HUNDRED AND FORTY TWO!
A few more rounds of this, and then the teller heaves a huge sigh of utter defeat and says “Cantonese or Mandarin?”
She then calls over her very Fresh Young Asian Executive looking co-worker to come take over the transaction.
Obviously, I have no idea what they said, but body language told me that he was doing a classic “deferring while trying to keep the transaction moving” kind of two step.
I think everyone who has dealt with the elderly has learned that move.
“You’re right, Obama was definitely an alien, now if you would just sign here… “
All in all, I quite thoroughly enjoyed observing such a wonderfully human moment.
Made the wait for a teller whizz on by.
Like Alan Funt said about Candid Camera, “we catch people in the act of being human”.
And as the success of the show proved, that’s marvelous stuff.
That’s good eating
Had a much better than average supper tonight.
Instead of the usual mix of popcorn and trail mix, I had a can of Campbell’s Chunky Chicken Corn Chowed I picked up as an impulse purchase a while back plus some melted cheese on toast/.
And I really should eat that way more often, because not only was that soup crazy delicious (unpaid endorsement… for now at least. Call me, Campbell’s!) it was also very satisfying and gave me a healthy, hearty feeling I don’t normally get from my usual tasty but unsatisfying grub.
I have long wondered exactly how much nutrition I get out of my various trail mixes. I’ve often felt like my body just couldn’t handle all those nuts.
I have no science to back that up. It is merely, as it were, a gut feeling.
But given how good I feel after an actual decent meal, I am willing to bet that at the very least, there was something missing from my diet.
Like B12, for instance. I have to keep reminding myself to get meat and cheese and things like that into my diet.
I ate all the bologna I got in my last order from Sav-On. Not in sandwiches, mind you, just a couple slices with a meal.
Less carbs and less work that way.
I should probably do another order, and this time include some hearty soups and chili and such. Go whole hog on that stuff.
Check out the prices on microwave friendly pot pies, too.
Maybe some eggs too? Hmmmm.
I will talk to you nice people again tomorrow.