I was supposed to get surgery on my knee for a torn meniscus tomorrow. I wasn’t looking forward to the surgery itself, but to getting everything back on the path to healing. It’s been three goddamn months!
Then, this past weekend, I had a blood vessel pop in my eye. I immediately went in to the eye clinic, and they confirmed that yes, I had a broken blood vessel, and then to my dismay the hospital went on full alert: this could be a symptom of stroke, so I got blood tests, an electrochardiogram, a CT scan, etc. It was a long day. In the end, everything was fine, no signs of a stroke, the hospital could stand down, everyone relax.
Yesterday, the orthopedist called to cancel my knee surgery. I’m at elevated risk of a stroke, you know, so they’re not going to risk it (I commend their caution). Surgery cancelled, they’ll re-evaluate in six months. Maybe in nine moths. I asked my doctor what I’m supposed to do in the meantime, and she said to take it easy and maintain and consult with PT.
I’ve been thoroughly housebound for 3 months already, and have been taking it easy and maintaining and I met with PT yesterday. I guess I’ll continue sitting in a wheelchair and occasionally hobbling about with the aid of a cane, then.
Unless I stroke out and die, which could happen.
Good luck with the PT, PZ. Both my partner and I have had good success with PT. My partner started PT after an accident where she probably tore her meniscus and got almost well enough to forgo the complete knee replacement surgery. She did the surgery because her knee was in bad shape beyond a torn meniscus. She was told 8 years ago that she would eventually need knee surgery. After the surgery the orthopedic doctor told her that she had “soft bones” so I suspect more to come.
Ouch. That sucks. Stroke units are funny things. Last year I drove myself to the hospital and was then forbidden to stand up.
Zubeen Garg: Lived as an atheist, died as a god
Are we talking a subconjunctival hemorrhage? This is not and has never been a stroke warning sign. Never heard such BS in my life, short of Trump speaking at the UN. You take blood thinners, this can happen. Nothing to do with strokes at all. shakes head
Despair Is Not An Option
by Rev. Allie Perry
…
What is required of us in these times? What I can say unequivocably is despite despair lurking, I cannot afford the “luxury” of despair, nor can any of us. Despair is not an option. It has been said that “despair is the spirituality of empire.” How so? It’s obvious. If, out of despair, we cede our power to, surrender to the dictates of, or go along to get along with, the divisive, domineering, and destructive terms of the current regime, the empire wins.
The antidote to despair is hope. And what is hope? It is a refusal to accept things the way they are. It is an insistence on acting in spite of the evidence and then watching, as a consequence, the evidence change. It is a discipline. It takes energy, it takes practice, it takes commitment, it takes community, and it takes persistence. It also takes courage…
I’m not going to complain about an excess of caution from people with sharp knives.
Well you have 5 stents in your heart iirc so yes you are a vascular patient, but an eye bleed is no reason to delay an operation required to improve your mobility. And if anyone should have a say in that it’s the anaesthetist, not the surgeon who knows bugger all about stroke risk. Anyway, hope this still works out for you.
Best wishes from me. As useless as they might be.
Defeatism and despair lead nowhere good. Hard as they are to reject at times. Keep fighting, keep thinking, keep going and do the best you can because what are the alternatives to those & where do those take you?
Not much of a philosophy but something.
Anyhow.
Hoping and .. hoping and wishing you the best. You deserve better and respect.
As a surgeon myself, I’d recommend finding another surgeon. While it’s reasonable to delay the surgery a couple of weeks after such an incident, if you were worked up and found not to have had a stroke and not to have some serious ongoing unfixed cardiac issue that puts you at high risk for general anesthesia (having stents doesn’t count unless they’re recent or you’re having symptoms of cardiac ischemia again), there is no good reason to delay the surgery six months. That’s just bullshit. You’re way more likely to have a pulmonary embolus due to the lack of mobility that the surgery would fix than to have a stroke..
Heard this today:
Hope had two daughters: Anger and Courage
Dear PZ,
Well, crap!
First: it is my sincerest hope that you get the best medical treatment possible. Selfishly, we want you around here causing ‘good trouble’ for a long time.
Second: reading your article and all the comments as a lay person, even though the new ‘medicare AI’ will not pay for it, I think you need to get another highly educated and experienced opinion.
Third: I am certain the hospital went into full panic mode JUST TO MAKE SURE THEY COULD PAD YOUR BILL AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE!
Fourth: Assuming they bothered to read and understand your medical history, it seems that six months is an unwarranted amount of time.
Not being mobile and using a wheelchair has its own problems.
You are going to lose a lot of aerobic conditioning and muscle mass and tone that way.
Being sedentary in old age is a risk factor in itself for a lot of cardiovascular conditions. It may be more dangerous to delay that surgery than not.
I would read a lot of medical literature on the internet, get a second opinion, or try to reason with your doctors.
I’m not going to say I know what else is in your medical history. There could be reasons this seems sane that we don’t know or didn’t account for. Based on what you told us, I’m going to chime in with everyone else. An anesthesiologist should know their job. A wheelchair has side effects.
Long funeral processions, with no drums nor music,
slowly march by in my soul; Hope,
defeated, weeps, and atrocious, despotic Anguish
on my inclined skull plants its black flag.
Sorry to read this, PZ.
Perhaps you should seek a second opinion in a larger city?
Isn’t the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota? Would that be an option?
Is your surgeon RFK Jr or one of his disciples because as Rorschach pointed out a subconjunctival hemorrhage is not a sign of or a risk factor for a stroke. (though thay can look pretty scary)
This was a hemmorrhage in the retina, so I’ve now got a permanent blind spot.
It’s easy to say I should go elsewhere for a second opinion, but I really do live in the middle of nowhere. One of the factors in the doctors’ decision was that if something did go wrong, I’d have a two-hour ambulance ride to get to the closest major hospital in St Cloud.
Sorry to hear all this, PZ. I’m a retired ophthalmologist and there was some confusion over the nature of the bleed in your eye. You made it clear that you have a retinal hemorrhage, not a conjunctival hemorrhage. While the latter is not associated with stroke risk, the former certainly is. This is mainly because it can be reflective of your overall vascular health. I don’t know your medical history of course, but things like diabetes and hypertension have a huge impact on the cerebrovascular system and are independent risk factors for stroke (and MI). If the bleed was the result of a retinal vein occlusion, this has been shown to be a significant risk factor as well. So, I think you are wise to go with the advice you’ve been given by the “people with sharp knives”. I wish you the best and I hope that your knee pain gives you a break between now and your next opportunity for the surgery.
PZ wrote: I’d have a two-hour ambulance ride to get to the closest major hospital in St Cloud.
I reply: There are healthcare deserts developing everywhere. Rural hospitals are closing. In N. scarizona, the major hospital doesn’t even allow ‘admitting privileges’ to any doctors but their own. Healthcare entities are all being bought up by Vulture Crapitallists. A brain worm is now dictating vaccines. WTF.
As I said, it is my/our sincerest hope that you get the best medical treatment possible. Selfishly, we want you around here causing ‘good trouble’ for a long time.
It is not just rural areas any more either.
Our large regional medical center is a nonprofit. In the last two years it has started losing money on an annual basis.
And this is in a well off area. 75% of their patients are either Medicare or Medicaid and reimbustments aren’t enough.
They are having one round of layoffs soon.
The patients they are seeing also come in with advanced medical conditions. This is because a lot of people can’t afford medical care and so they are waiting until they are really sick and can’t avoid it any more.
Maybe the universe is hinting, PZ. Phases of life. Retirement, a light at the end of the tunnel.
Stoicism is well and fine, but it’s basically a coping mechanism. Despair is not.
Perceived need is also a coping mechanism, and you feel you must keep working for financial reasons.
(Surely pride is not part of it! ;)
[addendum]
That said, I am aware you would not have the insurance you now are using were you not employed.
(Circumstances)
I’m sorry to hear that. I’ve got one of those. (One in addition to the usual blind spot, I mean, also most likely a result of a hemmhorage). Had it for nearly ten years now, but it’s small and out of the way in the lower periphery of my right eye, so I don’t notice it unless I’m looking for it on purpose.
Where is yours at?
We don’t know where PZ’s small blind spot is. But, we know that pres. magat and the rtwing xtian terrorists have a huge blind spot where they should be able to see honesty.
This is why the coolest species always make sure they have lots of eyes to spare.