This week in health news…
In my best News Anchor voice :
“A week ago, an exasperated and overworked Blaine came down with a wicked cold just as he anxiously approached a long weekend. In a slight act of desperation, he made a last minute appointment with the doctor consuming a good portion of one of his two vacation time days he took off.
At the doctor, he learned that years of bad posture and months of smoking had culminated into a pilonidal cyst and weakend immune system respectively. These these things combined caused an infection which has caused pain, increased fever, and soiled clothing. Prior to infection, Blaine went to the doctor, but the doctor refused to oporate since the cyst was in such early stages and “would probably go away on its own”.
With a stubborn “tough guy” attitude and optimism induced from a historically strong immune system, the condition went untreated for a year and a half after the first infection. The doctor stated that this persistent state of fever would have lead to mood swings, volatile behavior, mild dementia, and mild hallucinations.
To avoid complications with surgery and the following healing process, Blaine quit smoking over the weekend using the patch. While previous attempts using the patch have been futile, Blaine purchased a stronger plan and has thus far been successfully smoke free since Friday evening - Novemeber 9th.
Blaine’s surgery will take place the 2nd week of December and it will dramatically change the landscape of his lower back. If left untreated, the syst could become cancerous and/or spread into his intestines. ”
So a few thoughts…
1. Smoking and sitting on my ass all the time changed this. Plain and simple. Time to quit the former and do less of the later.
2. The only times I noticed my fever high was when I was ill. When I had my temperature taken when my wisdom teeth became infected it was a near death 107 degrees. I measured it another time when I was sick last Spring and it was 103. Aside from that, I never have checked, however, i defiantly felt similarly the majority of the time as to when I knowingly had a fever. Theoretically this explains some of my very erratic behaviors and mood swings this last year. It is going to make me rethink a lot of my relationships with people since the start of 2006 (when I first noticed the bump on my tail) and definitely since August 2006.
3. Although, I felt like shit today because I was up late last night, I otherwise feel wonderful. I can tell the patches are working because I have hardly thought about cigarettes at all and my energy is a lot higher - I even rode the bike for an hour tonite while watching some Charlie Rose. It isn’t such a pleasant time to be around me, however, as years of tar work their way loose from my lungs. Sarah is a wonderful friend for putting up with crabiness and hacking through this mess.
4. I started smoking fall semester 04. Between roommate conflicts, intense upper division coursework, and an unsually mild (i.e cold and sloppy) winter, I turned to smoking to get me away from my situation. What started as a casual cigarette on the way to class to stay warm, turned into a pack per day habit. A man that was in decent shape and ran fairly regularly, turned into out of shape oaf that could hardly walk up stairs without getting weazy.
So cheers to ridding myself of two of the worst things to happen to me in the first quarter century and finally get rolling with the next quarter century.
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Our friendship wasn’t real? I’m crushed!
I hope for the best buddy.
Smarmy Blond Muskrat