I'm more broken than you

[Drunk Monk]

hmm, now i wonder if that's what i have...

dammit greg, i told you 'no tongue'

TMI FTW

[Greg]

Woohoo! We could start a new rare disease sub-club. I name it the Bartholomew-Sargasso Society!

[Drunk Monk]

Thanks for doing the recon?

I was going to say that this was a good band name but I had second thoughts...

[King Bob]

The dermatologist threw that out as a possibility when I had the weird rash, but immediately changed his mind since I'm not diabetic.

The surgeon said my oozing incision was from a surgical granuloma, which he wanted to excise, but the wound closed. (Whew.)

So do they just use the word "granuloma" for something when they really don't know what it is?

[Drunk Monk]

So they now make a non dairy Cherry Garcia. I've never even had Ben & Jerrys because it came out after I lost my lactose tolerance. Of course, now I'm diabetic.

[Greg]

Cherry Garcia was my Ben&Jerry flavor of choice.

[Drunk Monk]

There's a good quote form Jerry's last lover in Long Strange Trip where she said he said he could live of his ice cream (implying the royalties). I'll have to try some at some point.

So I thought I might have strep, went in for a test, but it came back negative. However, as I was surfing around my online kaiser record, it lists Neuropathy (Nerve Damage) as one of my ongoing conditions. They told me the tests were negative (and that nerve test sucked) but my doc just gave up in the end when nothingness could be found. I consulted a trusted acupuncturist but she felt acupuncture wouldnt help.

The tingling in my hands is constant now. I don't feel like I've lost grip strength or typing speed. It's pretty annoying. Sometimes, when tired, I feel it in my feet and face too. I should parley it for more Rx.

[Dr. Ivor Yeti]

Gene, you concern me. In many ways, but in your new guise as The Tingler, even more.

[Dr. Ivor Yeti]

So, tomorrow I'll get some work done on my right knee (the "good" knee) and be away from fencing for a couple weeks. It's the being away from fencing that is the weird thing.

[Drunk Monk]

Hoping for a speedy recovery.  What's the procedure exactly?

[Dr. Ivor Yeti]

Arthroscopic clean up the joint, trim + a little stitching of the meniscus. Seeing if there is any cartilage left at all (the two docs can't agree and I suspect there may be a bet). Hopefully minor and not complicated by bloodthinners. This is to get the "good" knee better so that I can get the "bad" knee worked on next. That one will take some work and likely have a longer recovery time. Two sets of docs have told me on different occasions that the best course of treatment for my knees is to replace them, but that I'm too young. Nice to be "too young" for something.

My main worry is that as the sole breadwinner who makes his living with his abused body, if a complication arises, there is no safety net except moving in with my brother(s). We have been living on the edge for a few years now.

[Drunk Monk]

Let us know if we can help beyond just moral support here. 

When we said blow something up for the 4th, we didn't mean your good knee.

[Dr. Ivor Yeti]

If it blows up, I can get a new one.

Are you finally home and relaxing? I hope so.

[Drunk Monk]

Got home last night. Did some writing today for work as KaiJULY roarth played. But I've got a wicked kink in my neck for some unknown reason and now my hood is a freakin battlezone. So not that restful really but I'm home.  

But then again, I'm not going under the knife tomorrow.

[Greg]

If you would like to go under the knife, we can make that happen.

Good luck, today, Mr. Theodoric. I hope all goes well.