March 10, 2017 - Decided to head up north again
to Nishinoomote, the largest "city" on the island to get my hernia looked at and
give this place another chance before heading to mainland Japan. The office
visit cost a total of 220 yen, the copay amount, which is about $1.91 in
equivalent U.S. dollars. I met this incredibly cool guy who has been doing these
kinds of surgeries for about 22 years now. Gonna be totally knocked out and
should be up and running again in about a month after the procedure. Still
planning to do the family 2K run this weekend and see the rocket launch at the
space center next week before getting cut open....again. Then this Summer
heading to Kagoshima to see a specialist about my fucked up arm. No worries
though....beautiful island....fantastic friends....naturally grown food....and
most importantly, the support of my incredible family.
March 23, 2017 - Email
Message -
Hi Dr. B. Hopefully you guys are doing well. This Sunday, March 26, I am being
admitted for surgery for an inguinal hernia repair. The procedure will be done
the next day on Monday, March 27. I was going to call you on your phone about
this but quite honestly I did not want to bother you again. Unlike my distal
bicep tear, where no surgery is an option, this hernia apparently needs to be
repaired. I am pretty much freaked out these days knowing you will not be doing
the procedure, but being in Japan, I need to learn to trust someone to do this.
I actually considered returning to America in order for you to do this and pay
the costs out of pocket but with no insurance there it would no doubt be very
expensive. Anyway, I am going to be completely knocked out, general anesthetic,
and home in a few days. Apparently they will put in some kind of mesh and then
sew the whole thing up. Hopefully this is correct and I am making the right
decision to get this done. For many months now my pubic area has been tilted.
Then the last few months I returned to full days of computer use in order to
work on my sites. I developed a pretty awful case of bronchitis and I think the
coughing made the situation worse. Anyway my pubic area began bulging a lot on a
single side. Although it did not hurt much, I could feel stuff shifting to that
side when I got out of bed every day. An office visit confirmed the hernia.
Please send email as soon as you can, hopefully before this weekend. Any words
from you would make me feel incredibly better. Really sorry to bother you with
this and thank you again. Please send email when you can.
March 25, 2017 - This will be the last update
until after the hernia surgery which is scheduled for 3/27/2017....in a couple
of days. Being admitted tomorrow and should be home in a few days. Thanks to a
lot of help from my family, we were able to get most of the Spring farms in
already. Usually do this about a month from now....hopefully the temps warm up
enough for the seeds to germinate and the winds are not too strong. March is
typically a very windy month as evidenced last week when this place was slammed
with sustained winds of 35 mph with gusts over 50 mph. The new seedlings barely
made it. Anyway, all the farms should be at least productive at some level. We
also spent the last week processing the cool season stuff and our 200 liter
storage unit is now filled with white radishes and leafy greens which will hold
us until the Spring stuff is ready. We are growing our stuff with no chemical
fertilizers and pesticides. Simply using a ton of compost made last season and a
bit of chicken poo pellets. Anyway, going to continue the next couple of days
staying away from anything negative, relaxing with music, sitting in the house
view area looking out to the farms, and staying positive. Cannot drink wine now
which kinda sucks but oh well. Anyway, thanks to all of you who are reading
this.
March 23, 2017 - Email
Message -
Hi Howie, how are you. I received your text today and I completely agree with
the course of therapy. The new technique is that of placing a mesh on the inside
of the abdomen, sort of like a boot patch.it's a fairly simple procedure. No
need to return to the states to have this repaired as it seems that this should
be able to be performed without any difficulty, there. Best wishes hope all goes
well.
Edward Brantz.
March 27, 2017 - Actually walked out of the
hospital only 6 hours before scheduled hernia surgery when the anesthesiologist
showed up in my room reeking of alcohol and apparently wasted. Still getting
over this procedure being cancelled after spending a month mentally preparing to
get this done. Gonna post the full story when I am up to it. Crazy shit.
March 29, 2017 - Email
Message -
Hi Dr. B. Thank you very much for your email and advice. Crazy situation now and
need a bit more advice from you when you can. I was all set to get this done and
a few hours before surgery this old guy came into my room in street clothes
stinking of alcohol and apparently drunk. He then introduced himself as the
anesthesiologist. He was supposed to meet with my wife at nine am and came a
couple of hours early which he was not supposed to do because I can only speak
basic Japanese. After all involved agreed to do the general anesthetic he said
he does not recommend it and wanted to do a local anesthetic. This guy could
barely even talk. My older son had spent the night with me and was also freaking
out. I called my wife who was still home and an hour drive away and told her to
come and pick me up immediately and said to call and cancel. We packed up our
stuff and me and my son literally walked out of the room and the place until
Akiko and my other son picked us up. Later she talked to this guy and he said he
had been drinking the night before. A conversation with the staff revealed he
drinks a lot which is typical in Japan. I was really sad this took place after
getting up the confidence to do this. The same place also misdiagnosed my arm
twice calling it a simple bicep tear which would get better. Then when we pushed
them for the diagnosis in writing they wrote distal bicep tear showing they lied
during the initial appointments. We are still not sure why they lied. This was
the other reason for needing to build up confidence to get this done. Anyway the
guy who was supposed to do the inguinal hernia procedure said that it was
possible for me to wait. He said there was no hole but this area was weak and
causing the bulging. This was all from only a visual inspection and touching the
area. Anyway I began walking a lot and doing light leg workouts and already the
bulge is not coming out much. For a couple of years I was farming and in really
good condition. Then the last four months I was sitting from morning until night
and working on my site projects. During these months I developed a strong case
of bronchitis and was coughing a lot. I believe this was the reason for the
hernia. Anyway my question is with continued working out and losing weight and
not lifting heavy objects is it possible to not need this procedure. Please let
me know and send email when you can. Thank you very much for dealing with this
again. |
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