So last night was the first time we were able to see the wedding pictures from end-to-end. Wow! There are some amazing pictures in the mix. I haven't copied the pictures over and started editing them yet (part of our photo deal was me receiving original digital negatives of everything) but there are many keepers in the mix. I think the final photo count was something like 591.
I think I'm going to continue to hold off on finding a final photo solution for wedding.pachogrande.com - at least until the weekend. So far this week I have to write a competition humorous speech for Toastmasters and I have a whack of private computer labour to undertake for Saturday. Good times but makes for a busy week.
Monday, September 20, 2010
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Whatever doesn't kill you...
Life is good. I mean, really good. Thank you to everyone who offered their kind thoughts especially my fellow PG boy mathematician. I'm definitely not entirely fixed in the stomach/intestines but at least life is manageable with a couple small restrictions on my diet.
The biggest is the complete restriction of milk and milk products including whey powder. Effectively I have eliminated my ability to eat fast food at all. Almost everything that I ever ate out was covered in cheese, frozen ice cream, fried with a milk batter, etc. Where ten years ago I ate all three meals out, I effectively cannot any more. Even at Subway I'm down to having cold cuts, no cheese, no cheesy bread, no creamy toppings, no deserts of any kind.
So what do you think this will do effectively? Well, so far I can fit two hands into my pant waist, and that's just my starting point.
I walked down the frozen lunch aisle at Superstore with my lovely wife on the weekend and discovered that there are three different frozen lunches that I can still eat. All are weight watchers. Today's "Orange Chicken" had a whopping 200 calories in it. Considering that I used to consume 1000+ in a sitting, this is definitely an improvement.
I just finished another half hour walk today at work. Until I can start my swim membership again in October, I figure I may as well get my walking in. I've got inquiries in at the UNBC indoor track as well so I can keep my walking up once the snow starts to fly. Both are unexpected expenses but the positive is that PG subscribes to the "Communities in Action" program (swim program is called "Aquatic Community Swim Pass") which effectively scales a discount based on your participation in programs like this. As long as you're going twice a week or more you get an immediate 20% discount. Very cool.
In short, I can't do much about the health of my child for now but I'm definitely doing my bit to get my own life in order. I figure even if this is a "phase" then I may as well run with it while I can. I haven't really enjoyed the process of slowly getting fatter and less healthy as the years drag on - turning 30 and having a baby coming has been a good wake up call for me, hospital visits not withstanding.
Anyways, thank you Universe and fellow blaggers for your support. I will try to make the best of this positive burst of energy. :)
The biggest is the complete restriction of milk and milk products including whey powder. Effectively I have eliminated my ability to eat fast food at all. Almost everything that I ever ate out was covered in cheese, frozen ice cream, fried with a milk batter, etc. Where ten years ago I ate all three meals out, I effectively cannot any more. Even at Subway I'm down to having cold cuts, no cheese, no cheesy bread, no creamy toppings, no deserts of any kind.
So what do you think this will do effectively? Well, so far I can fit two hands into my pant waist, and that's just my starting point.
I walked down the frozen lunch aisle at Superstore with my lovely wife on the weekend and discovered that there are three different frozen lunches that I can still eat. All are weight watchers. Today's "Orange Chicken" had a whopping 200 calories in it. Considering that I used to consume 1000+ in a sitting, this is definitely an improvement.
I just finished another half hour walk today at work. Until I can start my swim membership again in October, I figure I may as well get my walking in. I've got inquiries in at the UNBC indoor track as well so I can keep my walking up once the snow starts to fly. Both are unexpected expenses but the positive is that PG subscribes to the "Communities in Action" program (swim program is called "Aquatic Community Swim Pass") which effectively scales a discount based on your participation in programs like this. As long as you're going twice a week or more you get an immediate 20% discount. Very cool.
In short, I can't do much about the health of my child for now but I'm definitely doing my bit to get my own life in order. I figure even if this is a "phase" then I may as well run with it while I can. I haven't really enjoyed the process of slowly getting fatter and less healthy as the years drag on - turning 30 and having a baby coming has been a good wake up call for me, hospital visits not withstanding.
Anyways, thank you Universe and fellow blaggers for your support. I will try to make the best of this positive burst of energy. :)
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Medical problems solved...
So on day 13 I tried to go into work and by the afternoon I was home sick again. I can't express how frustrating the process of steady improvement turning into setbacks is and has been.
So late on day 13 I bit the bullet and went out to visit my RN BSN Mom and I explained the whole gamut of how I've been feeling and what they've been trying. She nodded sagely, pointed out about seven people within the second cousin range with stomach/bowel problems, and then gave me a variety of weird over the counter medications and pills. All legitimate stuff, none of which any of the doctors had tried, and she basically told me to give it a shot.
Quite grudgingly I tried it all out and damnit if by day 15 I'm not feeling about 8/10 which is way better than I've been for the last couple weeks.
As it was explained to me, a good cross section of our family is sensitive or immune to different pathways of drugs. For example, my grandma is so overly sensitive to ibuprofen (and similar drugs) that when they gave her an extra strength pill in hospital her heart literally stopped. I'm not as sensitive but ibuprofen gets me high which is grossly unusual for such a common drug.
So for anyone who is ever having bowel/stomach problems, here's the nuts and bolts:
Morale of the story is my mom is smarter than a hospital full of doctors and I'm an idiot for not going to her first.
So late on day 13 I bit the bullet and went out to visit my RN BSN Mom and I explained the whole gamut of how I've been feeling and what they've been trying. She nodded sagely, pointed out about seven people within the second cousin range with stomach/bowel problems, and then gave me a variety of weird over the counter medications and pills. All legitimate stuff, none of which any of the doctors had tried, and she basically told me to give it a shot.
Quite grudgingly I tried it all out and damnit if by day 15 I'm not feeling about 8/10 which is way better than I've been for the last couple weeks.
As it was explained to me, a good cross section of our family is sensitive or immune to different pathways of drugs. For example, my grandma is so overly sensitive to ibuprofen (and similar drugs) that when they gave her an extra strength pill in hospital her heart literally stopped. I'm not as sensitive but ibuprofen gets me high which is grossly unusual for such a common drug.
So for anyone who is ever having bowel/stomach problems, here's the nuts and bolts:
- Regular doses of probiotics
- Kaopectate on a self-scaling dose (i.e. every time you have issues you re-dose up to the proscribed 8 doses a day)
- A complete elimination of lactose, milk products, whey powder, etc.
Morale of the story is my mom is smarter than a hospital full of doctors and I'm an idiot for not going to her first.
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Out of the hospital, for now...
So I spent a nice long morning in the emergency ward of PGRH today. I had tried to see my family doctor first in the hopes that I could get my appointment with him moved up but no dice. Emerg was pretty good today - only one lady in front of me so I was in a bed within five minutes. In the end they did a full workup - multiple blood tests, urine tests, X-rays. They checked my previous sets of blood/stool tests.
The conclusions that they drew:
The conclusions that they drew:
- I was grossly dehydrated. Almost immediately they had me on an IV drip of saline and pumped over a litre into me which, to be honest, felt amazingly good. Stating that differently, as it stands my body is not capable of retaining enough fluids to function on its own without medical intervention. I'm to return to PRGH emerg as required.
- They can prove out my pancreas, my liver, my kidney's, my urinary tract. All are basically functioning normally or at least within normal tolerances. The X-rays confirm that I have no blockages in my body.
- Beyond that they are stumped. They know that they can't effectively test the stomach itself through PGRH emerg and believe that at least part of my problems are originating from the stomach.
- They believe that I have some kind of compound problem although no combination of factors explains all the symptoms that I have.
- The best guess from the attending is that I have a stomach ulcer combined with "beaver fever" although this doesn't explain the vomiting and they can't figure out any way that I would have been exposed to contaminated water.
- I have another three days of hospital visits to get full workups of tests done, I have a doctors appointment on Thursday to get a GI referal, and I'm to complete taking my narcotic + a new medicine that will treat ulcers and stomach bleeding.
Monday, September 6, 2010
And now, in graphic detail...
OK, before I get into the meat of this, I advise strongly that if you have any aversion to hearing about bodily functions, illness or anything similar that you disregard the remainder of this post and go about your day. I am getting to the point where I feel that the need to document the last couple weeks takes a higher priority than the normal G-rated nature of the blogosphere.
If you're still here then sobeit.
On the weekend of August 28/29 I started getting sick. I didn't clue into the fact that there was anything unusual about this - I basically felt a bit flu-ey and didn't give it much thought beyond that. I first started throwing up after helping Ernie load up a truck load of waste from my house - wall framing, old insulation and things like that. It felt like I was blowing orange juice out my nose - pulpy, sour, and basically burned like stomach bile. I definitely had diaherreah but this was in keeping with a flu issue so I didn't give it much thought.
Monday Aug 30th came and went without issue. I was still having issues keeping food down, still running for the toilet, but I thought it was a bit less intense so figured I was on the way back up.
Tuesday Aug 31st was a bit of a mistake - Carol and I thought we had our prenatal visit so instead of starting work we went to the doctors, found out when we got there that it was for the next day, so I went to work. Literally couldn't stomach food at all - immediately ill. I was starting to worry a bit being ill so long but figured I was seeing the doctor on Wednesday so I'd talk to him then. Tuesday evening was the last time that I was able to actually pee - after this point any water that I took in came out again as painful diaherreah about 5-10 minutes after drinking.
Wednesday Sept 1 was our prenatal visit. I mentioned my stomach/bowel issues to the doctor and he basically suggested taking Immodium and letting it blow over. I had tried Immodium off and on - generally has no effect on me - but I figured I'd give it a shot. Again, spent most of the day getting sick. My stomach was starting to hurt fairly seriously but I could ignore it for the most part. I'd say 3-4 on the pain scale of 10.
Thursday Sept 2 was very hard for me. I went to work early because I couldn't sleep with my stomach hurting so much. Once I got to work I quickly realized that there was no chance of consuming food. Any water immediately went through me so I confined myself to sips when I could afford to run to the toilet. By mid-afternoon the pain was bad enough that I was either going to the walk-in or the emergency ward. I left work early and sat through an hour and a half of people to talk with the doctor at the walk-in. The conversation almost immediately took a serious focus - at this point it had been 48 hours since I'd last been able to pee at all, my stomach lining was flared up enough that I could guide the doctor through tracing my intestine with her finger. She seemed quite alarmed at how frequent my bowels were acting up and my intolerance of water. She asked about Immodium as well - it was doing absolutely nothing for me. She put me on the max clinical dose of Lomotil which basically is a suped up sedative version of Immodium. She ordered a whack of tests from the Phoenix - bowel and blood both. She explained that there are all sorts of things that could be wrong but impending organ failure, hepatitis and complete milk allergy (not lactose intolerance but allergy) were all very much on the table. I'm to head into emerg immediately if things don't get much better.
Friday Sept 3 I filled my prescription and did my tests first thing. I'd forgotten how unpleasant bowel tests are. The pharmacist was a bit surprised by the dosage on the Lomotil - she suggested that I aim for perhaps 1 daily rather than the 8 daily as prescribed. She warned that Lomotil on these dosages would pretty much put me on my back. I went to work and took the day off - explained all of what had happened and started taking the Lomotil. It spaces me out but definitely slowed down my bowels - now I'm only having painful liquid diaherreah four times daily instead of continously and I can pee again.
This last weekend has been a blur. Take more Lomotil, try to consume more water, try to build up my stomach to being able to accept food again. In the time it's taken to write this I've had to run and throw up three times. I can't stop shaking. I feel feverish and weak. My insides are on fire. If I had any idea what I could do to make it stop then I would but honestly I'm at a loss. The only debatable part for me is whether I go back to the hospital and see if I can get more tests run on me. I can't tell if this is a nasty flu virus (and thus nothing can effectively be done) or whether I legitimately have something wrong with me.
If you're still here then sobeit.
On the weekend of August 28/29 I started getting sick. I didn't clue into the fact that there was anything unusual about this - I basically felt a bit flu-ey and didn't give it much thought beyond that. I first started throwing up after helping Ernie load up a truck load of waste from my house - wall framing, old insulation and things like that. It felt like I was blowing orange juice out my nose - pulpy, sour, and basically burned like stomach bile. I definitely had diaherreah but this was in keeping with a flu issue so I didn't give it much thought.
Monday Aug 30th came and went without issue. I was still having issues keeping food down, still running for the toilet, but I thought it was a bit less intense so figured I was on the way back up.
Tuesday Aug 31st was a bit of a mistake - Carol and I thought we had our prenatal visit so instead of starting work we went to the doctors, found out when we got there that it was for the next day, so I went to work. Literally couldn't stomach food at all - immediately ill. I was starting to worry a bit being ill so long but figured I was seeing the doctor on Wednesday so I'd talk to him then. Tuesday evening was the last time that I was able to actually pee - after this point any water that I took in came out again as painful diaherreah about 5-10 minutes after drinking.
Wednesday Sept 1 was our prenatal visit. I mentioned my stomach/bowel issues to the doctor and he basically suggested taking Immodium and letting it blow over. I had tried Immodium off and on - generally has no effect on me - but I figured I'd give it a shot. Again, spent most of the day getting sick. My stomach was starting to hurt fairly seriously but I could ignore it for the most part. I'd say 3-4 on the pain scale of 10.
Thursday Sept 2 was very hard for me. I went to work early because I couldn't sleep with my stomach hurting so much. Once I got to work I quickly realized that there was no chance of consuming food. Any water immediately went through me so I confined myself to sips when I could afford to run to the toilet. By mid-afternoon the pain was bad enough that I was either going to the walk-in or the emergency ward. I left work early and sat through an hour and a half of people to talk with the doctor at the walk-in. The conversation almost immediately took a serious focus - at this point it had been 48 hours since I'd last been able to pee at all, my stomach lining was flared up enough that I could guide the doctor through tracing my intestine with her finger. She seemed quite alarmed at how frequent my bowels were acting up and my intolerance of water. She asked about Immodium as well - it was doing absolutely nothing for me. She put me on the max clinical dose of Lomotil which basically is a suped up sedative version of Immodium. She ordered a whack of tests from the Phoenix - bowel and blood both. She explained that there are all sorts of things that could be wrong but impending organ failure, hepatitis and complete milk allergy (not lactose intolerance but allergy) were all very much on the table. I'm to head into emerg immediately if things don't get much better.
Friday Sept 3 I filled my prescription and did my tests first thing. I'd forgotten how unpleasant bowel tests are. The pharmacist was a bit surprised by the dosage on the Lomotil - she suggested that I aim for perhaps 1 daily rather than the 8 daily as prescribed. She warned that Lomotil on these dosages would pretty much put me on my back. I went to work and took the day off - explained all of what had happened and started taking the Lomotil. It spaces me out but definitely slowed down my bowels - now I'm only having painful liquid diaherreah four times daily instead of continously and I can pee again.
This last weekend has been a blur. Take more Lomotil, try to consume more water, try to build up my stomach to being able to accept food again. In the time it's taken to write this I've had to run and throw up three times. I can't stop shaking. I feel feverish and weak. My insides are on fire. If I had any idea what I could do to make it stop then I would but honestly I'm at a loss. The only debatable part for me is whether I go back to the hospital and see if I can get more tests run on me. I can't tell if this is a nasty flu virus (and thus nothing can effectively be done) or whether I legitimately have something wrong with me.
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