I just got back from the doctor's office. Dr. Denkler did the work on my bent fingers condition (Dupuytrens Contraction). Dupuytrens is a hereditary condition that afflicts some anglo-saxon and nordic types. They are mostly male and the condition doesn't manifest itself until you get into your fifties. Slowly one or more of your fingers begins to bend in towards the palm. The tendons of the afflicted fingers get gristly and hard. The condition isn't that common in the U.S. But in Holland, twenty-six percent of men over the age of fifty have it. Apparently the condition originated with the Vikings. The Vikings, on their various rape and pillage missions, spread it around and my "people", probably living near the coast somewhere in the British Isles got 'impregnated' with the offending gene.
I pointed out to Dr. Denkler this growth I've had for some time on my left calf. It is (was) a semi-circular pink thingy that looked like a pregnant woman's nipple (as seen by me in medical textbooks...) My GP at the community clinic (Dr. Kathy Chang) laughed out loud when I said that to her. Anyway the Doc looked at it and said that it looked like a basal cell carcinoma (skin cancer tumor) and he'd take a slice off and send it off to UCSF to be biopsied. The results were positive so after we stopped admiring the wonderful job he did on my newly, mostly straightened fingers he went to work on my calf nipple. When he was finished there was my growth lying on his tray. It was the size of a full grown garden slug. Man, I'm glad I was numbed up! Because it was cancer he had to take a bunch of tissue around the tumor as well as the tumor itself. His comely medical assistant popped it in a bottle of alcohol. I almost asked her if I could keep it. I didn't want to just throw away that much of my personal tissue.
I pointed out to Dr. Denkler this growth I've had for some time on my left calf. It is (was) a semi-circular pink thingy that looked like a pregnant woman's nipple (as seen by me in medical textbooks...) My GP at the community clinic (Dr. Kathy Chang) laughed out loud when I said that to her. Anyway the Doc looked at it and said that it looked like a basal cell carcinoma (skin cancer tumor) and he'd take a slice off and send it off to UCSF to be biopsied. The results were positive so after we stopped admiring the wonderful job he did on my newly, mostly straightened fingers he went to work on my calf nipple. When he was finished there was my growth lying on his tray. It was the size of a full grown garden slug. Man, I'm glad I was numbed up! Because it was cancer he had to take a bunch of tissue around the tumor as well as the tumor itself. His comely medical assistant popped it in a bottle of alcohol. I almost asked her if I could keep it. I didn't want to just throw away that much of my personal tissue.
So the anesthetics are due to wear off in about an hour but I'm armed with a vicodan from the Doc's medicine cabinet. The Colonel has some medical problems he has to deal with and I don't think my bedroom remodel will be done anytime soon. There are currently exactly no women who are disappointed about that fact. Sunday night when we had that big "wind from Winnecta" to say there was a draft in my bedroom would be an understatement since about a square foot of floor and wall are exposed to the outside world. I lay in bed that night waiting to be joined by various local varmints who wanted to get in out of the weather. If they did come in they were remarkably quiet and well behaved... Luckily my file cabinet was acting as a buffer and I couldn't really feel the wind from my bed. I finally found a source for turtlenecks and I ordered four in various festive colors. I can't wait for winter so I can vogue in my pink cashmere sweater and colored turtlenecks... I got an Amazon package yesterday containing my new gravy separator and my non-stick two piece broiler pan---perfect for EZ cleanup! My metro-sexuality is growing...
The post-carcinoma-nipple-removal leg is doing just fine. There's no bleeding now, although the original bandage was pretty well soaked. I have a nice little 2 1/2 inch stitched up incision. I redressed it this morning with antibiotic ointment and several soft pads that I taped around my calf covered by an elastic sock type of deal. I took the vicodan this morning that the Doc. gave me but there really hasn't been any pain to speak of. Just a little twinge when I stand up as the blood flows down. Other than that I can hardly feel it. I'm sure I'll soon be right as rain.
The colonel managed to rally and he's back on the bedroom renovation project. The hole in the corner of the room is pretty much covered up for the moment. We have to lay a bit of flooring into that corner once we get the evil, mold infested red rug out of there. We're going to move stuff around and cut the rug up in pieces. We're thinking of sealing the wooden floor with varathane or some such to keep any moisture/mold from sneaking up from below. I plan on purchasing a nice area rug for the space between the bed and the door. The rest of the floor will be nude so the dust bunnies have somewhere to hide... I'm determined to clean up my pathetic little man-cave of a bedroom until it's babester ready...
I hear the Red Sox won the "World Series" (snicker) I was hoping the finals was going to be Yemen versus Paraguay...maybe next year. I skipped through the first game recording on my VCR, but I couldn't really get into it as I did not have a rooster in that cock fight... The weather is here and I wish you were beautiful. I'm still coming down to Pacific Grove on Sunday for a little brotherly get together. I'm scheduled for a Holter halter fitting at 1PM on this coming Tuesday 11/5. I'll see if I can get that moved to a later hour so I don't have to rush out Tuesday morning. I'd like to take you and Howard out for breakfast at your favorite greasy spoon so I can watch Howard fawn over his favorite waitress...(or is that mistress?). Victory! I just got the Holter appointment moved to Wednesday afternoon. Timmy, you're off on Sunday through Tuesday, right? I want us to go on a whale watching boat. Can you look into that for us?The colonel managed to rally and he's back on the bedroom renovation project. The hole in the corner of the room is pretty much covered up for the moment. We have to lay a bit of flooring into that corner once we get the evil, mold infested red rug out of there. We're going to move stuff around and cut the rug up in pieces. We're thinking of sealing the wooden floor with varathane or some such to keep any moisture/mold from sneaking up from below. I plan on purchasing a nice area rug for the space between the bed and the door. The rest of the floor will be nude so the dust bunnies have somewhere to hide... I'm determined to clean up my pathetic little man-cave of a bedroom until it's babester ready...
I think I may have mentioned it before but the Holter halter is a vest with electrodes that are stuck to your chest. It's like a 24 hour AKG that records your cardiac performance continually. I'm really excited because I love to perform... I have to wear it for a full 24 hour day. No showers or bubble baths of any kind and I have to stay away from electric blankets or the electrical interplay between the blankets electricity and the halter's will electrocute me and I'll be fried until I'm nothing but charred, blackened bones. I may be exaggerating a little on that last point but since I don't have my electric blanket currently plugged in, I don't think that will be a problem. Here's hoping I stay "in sinous" for the full 24 hours. That will further assure the good doctor and myself that I may, finally, be out of the atrial fibrillation woods.
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