Slow night in the Cole household. Tunch demonstrates the level of activity:
I think I am going to watch another old episode of Californication and go to bed early so I can deal with the garden before it is 4000 degrees outside.
by John Cole| 50 Comments
This post is in: Open Threads
Comments are closed.
FoxinSocks
Is that thing by Tunch…a Steeler Garden Gnome? (I’m not judging, I’m just asking)
jayjaybear
That’s Tunch’s baseline of activity…
IrishGirl
Cole, I think we have the same couch and I definitely have a fat white cat similar in repose to the Tunchinator. However I do not possess a Steeler’s Garden Gnome, which I did not know even existed. I learn something new every time I stop by this place!
Narcissus
He’s just keeping an eye on that creepy little gnome.
jl
@jayjaybear:
The Tunch Baseline.
Tankyou. That is going into my handy dandy mental list of essential phrases.
After looking at that pic, I’m falling asleep right here in my chair.
And, Cole, did Californication scare you out of visiting the Golden State again? It ain’t that bad, trust me. Really. Trust us CAians. We will arrange a wonderful time for you should decide to visit, bwwaahhhahahahh.
soonergrunt
the only reason that your cat looks that contented is because he’s playing a loop in his dreams of various ways of killing you slowly and painfully.
It’s what cats do.
NotMax
A truly scary tell about what kinds of things to expect in the next Congress should R majorities prevail (bolded emphasis mine).
taylormattd
What’s up with that goddamn gnome?
Yutsano
Proper authorities alerted.
Made pork cutlets and zucchini with garlic for dinner. Not missing a starch at all.
burnspbesq
@jl:
Send him to Stockton and San Bernardino on the Chapter 9 Tour.
Once again, California sees where America is going and leads the way.
MattR
@jayjaybear: To see what happens when Tunch gets active, click here.
asiangrrlMN
TUUUUUUUUUNCHIE! Squee squee squeeeeee! He looks so content, Cole. Now about that gnome….
@Yutsano: Thanks, hon, for letting me know!
Politically Lost
So, I confessed to you all awhile back that I went on one of those medically supervised 800 calorie diets. All was well for a time and I lost about 40lbs. However, my body decided that it just had to be one of those that goes on a diet like that and makes gall stones.
A trip to the ER with stabbing pains and a heart rate that dropped down to an average of 30 beats a minute and month ago…they didn’t find anything. It acted like a gall stone but it wasn’t found after a battery of tests.
My liver enzymes were out of whack among other blood problems. I was sent home to follow up with my primary care Dr. After weeks of another battery of tests and a visit with a nice cardiologist they finally found the 5 mm stone in my common bile duct.
So, tomorrow I get to have my gallbladder yanked.
I’ve maintained the weight loss and have a long way to go.
For some reason, I’m having a lot of anxiety about this surgery. It seems that this is the only viable treatment for the condition because it is almost certain to recur. Oh well, just thought I’d unload on you guys tonight.
Hope all is well with everyone out there.
asiangrrlMN
@Politically Lost: Oh, so sorry to hear you’re going through that. Good luck with your surgery tomorrow.
::crossing important bits for you and sending MASSIVE positive vibes your way::
freelancer
@Politically Lost:
Cholecystectomy is about as routine as general surgeries go. You should let them know about your anxiety and in pre-op, they might give you something like versed to make you snowy. The surgery itself is 90 minutes to 2 hours and PACU/Recovery will be about 2-3 hours.
My 93 year old grandmother had this surgery a few months ago and is back to gardening in record heat as if it never happened.
Congrats on the weight loss, that’s an awesome thing to be proud of.
Yutsano
@Politically Lost: Gallbladder surgery is nowhere near as drastic as it used to be. A few small incisions and they pull it right out. You’ll have a nice short recovery time too. Nevertheless ganbatte kudasai.
MattR
@Politically Lost: Geez. That sucks. I don’t know anything about that particular surgery, but I am sure it’ll be fine. And better to take care of it now than deal with recurring, horrendous pain.
I am actually going through something similar, but kidney related. My liver function is off. I just went in for a CT scan but haven’t gotten the results. And I still need to have a more in depth urinalysis done after the doctor found blood in my urine. Luckily, the pain has been very infrequent and tolerable, more like an occassional cramp. But I am worried that something larger is forming that will hurt like hell when it passes. It really is amazing how much pain such a little object can cause.
asiangrrlMN
@Politically Lost: Just to add, my mom had emergency gallbladder surgery years ago, and she recovered nicely and rather quickly. Still, good luck.
@MattR: Good luck, man. I know you’ve been dealing with shit for awhile. I hope the doctors find out what’s wrong and that it’s relatively easy to fix.
Politically Lost
Thanks to everyone. I think the added anxiety is that my wife has to leave on a business trip the day after the surgery.
I’ve decided that a long day of a low and slow pork shoulder on the Weber kettle grill will be the best way to enjoy my recovery. My wife has agreed to score the essentials at the store while I’m getting cut. She’s a vegetarian so it’s always a bit of a negotiation for her to buy me meat. Yes, she’s the best.
Politically Lost
@MattR:
I haven’t had the pleasure of a kidney stone, but the gall stone is definitely something to avoid.
Politically Lost
One thing about the surgery that I have learned is that they’ve been doing it for over a 100 years.
I find it bizarre that you can gank out a body part like that and the rest of the body doesn’t seem to care.
mai naem
@Politically Lost: It’s a routine surgery. I assume you are having it done laparascopically. Just be careful with the incision site after, follow all the post-op instructions carefully and don’t eat high fat meals afterwards. I don’t know if they told you to wash yourself down well with antibacterial soap/cleaner day of surgery but it would be a good idea to do it. You’ll be fine.
askew
@Politically Lost:
I’ve had that surgery and it really isn’t bad at all I swear. I’ve had an exploratory stomach surgery and two kidney stone surgeries and they were both worse than the gallbladder. I was back to normal within a couple of days after the surgery. Just be careful and stay away from greasy food for a couple of weeks after surgery and you’ll be fine.
Good luck!
MattR
@asiangrrlMN: Unfortunately, I have an incurable genetic kidney disease. It is very possible that the blood in my urine is coming from the cysts in my kidneys hemmoraghing (which is semi-normal and a better option that a stone or a tumor). And the pain may be “normal” as well as my kidneys swell and put pressure on my other organs. My primary care doctor forgot I had PKD for a second at a recent physical and was quite confused but the unexpected lump he felt while prodding my abdomen (apparently you should not normally be able to feel normal kidneys from the front – normal is 10-13 cm, mine are currently 17 and 20).
Overall, my kidney function is still good, though it took a bit of a hit in the last round of blood work. Unfortunately, they are just starting to learn what diets or behaviors minimize cyst growth so I just have to wait and see what happens. I assume I will end up on dialysis and need a transplant like my father (medicine has gotten much better at managing the symptoms and side effects like hypertension so I am less concerned that I will die of a heart attack like my uncle – though if I have a choice, going while roller skating in Venice Beach is not a bad way)
(EDIT: On the positive side, Medicare covers dialysis at any age, Obamacare makes my life easier wrt pre-existing conditions and I have Canadian citizenship so I can always escape north for medical care if need be)
Yutsano
@MattR:
Having an attractive companion can’t hurt either.
MattR
@Yutsano: Dying in bed is obviously the number one choice, with a preference given to being active just beforehand rather than being asleep.
asiangrrlMN
@MattR: That really sucks, Matt. I remembered it was serious, but not that serious. ::gentle hugs::
MattR
@asiangrrlMN: OK. That was pretty cool. I typed in a response and it posted. Then I tried to edit it to add something and it said it was spam and delted the entire thing.
The part it liked was me pointing out that I could get lucky and go my whole life without needing dialysis. But I prefer to plan for the worst and hope for the best.
I am not gonna try and find a way to rephrase the part it didn’t like. As I re-read it I can think of three or four phrases that might have tripped a filter.
The prophet Nostradumbass
@MattR: That’s kind of weird, because I actually saw the original comment.
MattR
@The prophet Nostradumbass: You probably caught it after I posted it and while I was editing it to add a few sentences saying that the silver lining is that my sister looks like she is in the clear, though we can’t be 100% sure based on the tests that were done (Not gonna get into details because I think one of them was what tripped the filter)
Anne Laurie
@Politically Lost: Along with all the other reassuring & quite true stories other people have shared, I can tell you that I had the same problem. But this was some 15 years ago, so I was one of the last Americans with decent health insurance to undergo the old-fashioned pre-laser full-incision removal. (I would later compare scars with a friend who’d had a full-term caesarian section, and mine was longer.) They kept me in the hospital for 3 days, and I didn’t want to get out of bed for another couple weeks. Everything’s worked just fine since the incision healed, however, and what I regret most in retrospect was waiting 6 months to see if a low-fat diet would prevent recurrance — it didn’t — before having the blasted thing yanked!
Politically Lost
@Anne Laurie:
Yeah, all of the literature and all of the three doctors that I talked with said that yanking it was really the best thing to do.
I think I’m just remembering my mother’s surgery. She had all kinds of strange symptoms for months before they finally figured out it was a gall stone. And, she had the same experience that you did. That was about 30 years ago.
Maybe the pulled pork isn’t such a good idea…
MattR
@Politically Lost:
But is a life of only lettuce worth living? :) One of the scariest things I’ve read recently is that bites from the lone star tick appear to be causing people to have allergic reactions to meat.
asiangrrlMN
@MattR: I’m glad you have backup plans, and I will hope with all my might that you have the most positive outcome possible.
Yutsano
@Politically Lost:
Pork shoulder is actually rather lean. Just skip the cracklins.
Odie Hugh Manatee
My little guy, Stewie, is pissed off at me tonight because he got his monthly bath. What’s funny is that he never gets pissed at my wife for assisting in the bath, just me for putting him in the water and scrubbing him down. The little guy never struggles and never makes a sound, he just gives me dirty looks throughout the bath and then it takes about a day for him to get over it.
I told my wife that she gets to put him in the water next time and I will assist. :)
@Politically Lost:
Ouch. As said above, tell the doc about your anxiety and they will probably plug you into something to ease the anxiety. When I went through my first neck fusion they had me all prepped on the gurney, IV in place and all, and the doc called to tell them that he was delayed by another surgery and would be about 20 minutes late. He prescribed a shot of Valium (I think it was that) and the nurse came up to tell me “Your doctor really likes you” before hitting the IV with a dose of it. I wasn’t stressed but hey, I wasn’t complaining about the Happy Happy Joy Joy juice.
I wuz really relaxed! :) Good luck with the surgery and congrats on the weight loss. Keep with it, you’ll be happy you did. It’s not easy doing the right thing but this is something that’s worth it.
John Weiss
John, I’ve figured out why all of your pictures of the mighty Tunch look out of focus. It’s ’cause, as my friend Tom says, cats are trans dimensional creatures. It’s ’cause they’re in flux. Your pics are further proof.
BigD
It is a quiet night here as well. One big bit of news though; I learned that my first dog is very protective.
THis makes me happy.
Gozer
@Politically Lost: I have a friend who had gallbladder surgery last month. She was only out of commission for a week or so and then all was back to normal.
As for the anxiety, docs will commonly give patients Valium (or some other fast acting benzo) beforehand to calm the nerves. When I had my vasectomy done the nurse gave me a shot of the stuff in the arm before the doc put the Novocaine in my junk. He could have put a torch to my nuts and I wouldn’t have cared.
R-Jud
I tried to go to bed early, but toddlers don’t understand jet lag. By the time the kid got to sleep it was 3:30. As a consolation prize, dawn was starting. So I sat in the garden with some coffee and hung out with Venus and Jupiter.
TheMightyTrowel
@Gozer: Goodness I wish I could get you to say that to my other half. I’ve been trying to talk him into it for years and he just can’t wrap his head (either one) around the idea. He’s spoken with the doc about it, but still… nope.
something fabulous
@Politically Lost: Just to pile on (positively!), my dad, who was 80ish at the time had this done a few years back. As I’m sure you know, they do it laproscopically (spelling?) now, and he just has a few teeny marks instead of scars from it, and barely even remembers it when the docs ask him about his recent medical history– we have to remind him he’s had this whole surgical event! He says compared to some UTIs he’s had since, it’s nothing.
something fabulous
@Politically Lost: Just to pile on (positively!), my dad, who was 80ish at the time had this done a few years back. As I’m sure you know, they do it laproscopically (spelling?) now, and he just has a few teeny marks instead of scars from it, and barely even remembers it when the docs ask him about his recent medical history– we have to remind him he’s had this whole surgical event! He says compared to some UTIs he’s had since, it’s nothing.
Gozer
@TheMightyTrowel: The procedure itself didn’t hurt. It was honestly less painful than when a doc checked me for a hernia during my enlistment physical. You don’t really feel any pain for about 3 days or so. And then it just feels like you’ve gotten a good kick in the balls…all the time for several days.
For me, from consultation to when Dr. Mrs. and I left the office was less than 1 hour.
rammalammadingdong
I am in the hospital now. Just completed left knee replacement and now i have two shiny new knees. Both surgeries went well and i had a great surgeon. Just tried to use a bed pan but i failed to complete which is slightly embarassing. I dont think passing pork shoulder as a requisite to leaving the hosspital would be pleasant
Marcellus Shale, Public Dick
balloon juice, EXPOSED!
Joseph Nobles
It could just be a garden-variety gnome with a small Steeler sticker stuck to the hat.
Ronzoni Rigatoni
@Politically Lost: YIKES! I had the ol’ gall bladder yanked several years ago via a microsurgery procedure. A hole the size of a shirt button. Home in 22 hours. Pain killer Rx unfilled as 3 Ibuproferin worked fine. Up and running immediately. Nurse told me I drew the right Dr. Other guy woulda cut me in half LOL. No after effects and diet change since. Gall Bladder? Who needs it?
ET
Dude. If Tunch lolling is an indication of the level of activity in the Cole household then there is always a low level of activity in the Cole household.
And a Steelers gnome? Really?
kindness
OMG John has gnome statuary? OK…..