Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Infrastructure week. at last.

Let’s delete this post and never speak of this again.

Wow, you are pre-disappointed. How surprising.

Impressively dumb. Congratulations.

In my day, never was longer.

It’s always darkest before the other shoe drops.

Let me eat cake. The rest of you could stand to lose some weight, frankly.

I’d like to think you all would remain faithful to me if i ever tried to have some of you killed.

This has so much WTF written all over it that it is hard to comprehend.

Not so fun when the rabbit gets the gun, is it?

Republicans are the party of chaos and catastrophe.

Usually wrong but never in doubt

Balloon Juice has never been a refuge for the linguistically delicate.

Nothing worth doing is easy.

Teach a man to fish, and he’ll sit in a boat all day drinking beer.

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Prediction: the GOP will rethink its strategy of boycotting future committees.

Speaking of republicans, is there a way for a political party to declare intellectual bankruptcy?

Proof that we need a blogger ethics panel.

Since when do we limit our critiques to things we could do better ourselves?

No one could have predicted…

Let’s not be the monsters we hate.

Happy indictment week to all who celebrate!

Make the republican party small enough to drown in a bathtub.

You are here: Home / Pet Blogging / Dog Blogging / Respite Open Thread: Be Like Tuba

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147Comments

  2. 2.

    sab

    Balloon Juice would not be the same without your input, TaMara. Queen of Respite.

    I have known pitbulls that like to hang and spin, but usually they just hang by their teeth, no swing required.

  7. 7.

    Ohio Mom

    This is the time of year I forget what green leafed-out trees look like. It feels like brown sticks against a gray sky is all there ever was or ever will be.

    Thank you for the reminder of what summer is like.

  8. 8.

    Ken

    Every now and then I try to imagine what heaven is like, and I often come up with “be like Tuba”.   Just be, living in and enjoying the moment, with no worries about the future, no regrets for the past.

    And a huge library containing everything ever written, of course.

  10. 10.

    sab

    @raven: Me too. LOL, loudly

    Reminds me of when my cat met our new rottmix. She was five times his size and he dominated her life.

  11. 11.

    LuciaMia

    And a huge library containing everything ever written, of course.

    Oh my, yes. Seems, everytime I search my local library online, every book is ‘on hold.’

  13. 13.

    The Pale Scot

    So the QAnon ‘Shaman’ is willing to testify against trump at the impeachment trail. So do we want him to show up in his “shaman” gear.

  15. 15.

    SFBayAreaGal

    I love to swing. I need to go find a swing. It’s been a couple of years since I’ve been on one.

  17. 17.

    sab

    @Alison Rose: This is driving my cats insane.

    By the way, why do nightingales have such a great reputation for beautiful birdsongs? Half the birds there sound better than nightingales.

  19. 19.

    Ken

    @Benw: Oh yes, and all the movies and shows, including the decayed silent films from the nitrate era, Welles’ cut of The Magnificent Ambersons, and the lost Dr. Who episodes.

  21. 21.

    Wapiti

    @raven: Heh. In my Army days I couldn’t imagine taking a dog out and holding the leash in my right hand. Next thing you know some enlisted soldier would appear out of nowhere and salute. The right hand is always empty.

  22. 22.

    SFBayAreaGal

    My sister’s dog (a pittie named Domino) loves to play fetch. When tired of chasing the ball and bringing it back, he will lay down in his frog like pose and happily chomp on his ball.

    It’s a joy to watch him leap in the air to catch the ball, run back and spit the ball out at my feet. He then takes off running before I throw ball.

  23. 23.

    BruceFromOhio

    I will cut you if you muddy this thread ? Gaia, that’s right up front, isn’t it!

    I had some scratch left over after the holidays, and bought all 26 episodes of Jonny Quest on DVD. The mid ’60’s animated representation of multi-culturalism is blindingly racist, but the science is presented in ways very accessible for the then-7-yr-old mind. Plus the writers had no problem blowing shit up, total catnip to this sheltered child.

  26. 26.

    Alison Rose

    @debbie: I am a birb fanatic and we don’t get a big variety where I live. Mostly I see finches, robins, blue jays, and juncos, so it was neat to hear some of these that I’ve never experienced in person. Especially my all-time fave, the Black-capped Chickadee :)

  32. 32.

    Kent

    So I have a very severe and unexpected medical emergency to report on.  If I have been off line the past week this is why.

    On Friday and Saturday I experienced fainting spells after working out hard.  I basically got light headed and passed out.  My wife who is a doctor with the Kaiser Permanente network was obviously alarmed and started dialing into her network for advice and the cardiologist she got ahold of after hours on Saturday told her to take me into the local Kaiser hospital ER for an echocardiogram and other diagnostic tests.  So Saturday night I’m with my wife at Kaiser Sunnyside in Portland getting my first proper echocardiogram.  What they found was a congenital bicuspid arterial valve which is a congenital defect that prevents your arterial valve from closing properly.  It had calcified over time to where the valve was barely opening anymore.  I am 56 and pretty active so older but not THAT old.  The cardiologist was so alarmed that he grabbed the head of cardiac surgery who happened to still be in the hospital at that time and they discussed my case together.

    They decided that it was urgent enough to fix right away and they happened to have a Monday morning surgical cancellation and wanted to get right on it.  There was no debate that I needed open heart surgery to repair my aortic valve. They only debate was whether to get a mechanical valve (titanium and carbon compounds I think) or a Bioprosthetic tissue valve which is made out of animal tissue like pig tissue.  The advantage of the mechanical is that it tends to last forever so you never need it replaced.  The disadvantage is that you are on blood thinners for the rest of your life to prevent clotting at the valve.  So you have to regulate diet and constantly regulate your clotting levels with coumadin.  The advantage to the bioprosthetic valves is that they don’t require blood thinners.  They disadvantage is that they typically last between 8-15 years so I would be looking at a second open-heart surgery at around age 70.  And often the second surgery doesn’t go as well as there is scar tissue and it gets harder and harder to replace the damaged valve.  They can start doing inflatable valve replacements using a transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) which they inject in through an artery at your groin, position into place, then inflate.  But those typically don’t last as long either.  So based on their advice and my age I went with the mechanical valve so I’ll never need another surgery and will just put up with managing my blood thinners the rest of my life.  The night before surgery they did an angiogram which is inserting a probe with a mini camera up an artery from my wrist to look at the condition of my arteries to see if there was plaque or obstruction that might require any sort of bypass surgery while they had my chest open.  There was not so I was good to go.

    The whole experience was extremely sudden, which was a good thing I think as I didn’t have 2 weeks of sitting around googling and second-guessing or critiquing my previous life choices.  Saturday I was being diagnosed.  Sunday morning I’m talking about my options with the doctors, and Monday morning I’m getting prepped for open heart surgery.  I was extremely impressed with the cardiac surgery team at Kaiser Sunnyside.  They have a high-volume cardiac surgery ward with top surgeons cardiologists and cardiac ICU and transition wards.  Everyone was exceptionally professional.  And I got to appreciate first-hand how seamless things go when everyone who sees you works for the same employer and is in the same computer systems.  Everywhere I went on every computer screen every detail of my medical records, labs, test results, etc. were available to anyone looking.  No issues with in or out of networks or all that nonsense.  I have  no idea what the bill will be but we will only owe $4,000 because we have a high deductible HSA family plan with Kaiser with a $4,000 annual deductible and many times more that saved into the HSA by now.  So when the bill gets paid it will just get paid out of the Kaiser HSA and won’t cost us anything out of pocket.  That is a huge relief.  I’m curious what the bill will be, but not worried about it at all.

    I was out of course for the whole surgery.  My surgeon was a young black surgeon of west African origin judging from his name and accent.  Of course I googled him and found he had trained in Buffalo and did specialty cardiothoracic surgical fellowships at Duke and had top reviews.  He was great.  After surgery I awoke in the Cardiac ICU where I spent the night in an ICU room under the care of an ICU nurse named Alex who was from Russia.  His job was to monitor me and keep me going.  I had about 5 or 6 IVs dripping into me, several drainage bags, and all kind of wires and such so about 15 different monitors on a bit stack that were all beeping and needing attention.  At the cardiac ICU they have one nurse per patient who’s sole job is to monitor you.  After about 15 hours in the Cardiac ICU they transferred me to the Cardiac Progressive Care Unit (CPCU) which is a step down from the ICU but a step up from a regular hospital ward.  I was feeling good enough to walk over as it was next door.  In the CPCU they have one nurse station for every 2 or 3 rooms and a lot more staff around than a regular hospital ward.  I was there from Tuesday through Thursday with a series of super great nurses.  I think the top nurses gravitate to these sorts of wards because they were all super professional and efficient and generally great.  The hardest part is the nights when you want to sleep but someone is in your room every 1-2 hours waking you up for meds or blood pressure test or blood sugar test and starting about 5 you get a parade of people through running all the labs that the doctors want to see when they round at 7 am.  So x-ray, EKG, blood labs, etc.  It basically means you can’t really sleep.  The first day after surgery I was feeling pretty OK.  The second day I was a exhausted zombie who could barely think or stand up.  I think mostly due to complete lack of sleep.  On Thursday I was cleared to go home and so here I am.  Home is much more comfortable than a hospital ward. My wife is taking off 2-weeks of family medical leave to look after me but there honestly isn’t much to look after.  I’m up and about.  I just can’t use my arms for any pushing, pulling, or lifting as that will strain my sternum where they cut the bones open.  That is the worst complication they warn you against because it is hard to repair.  But I’m walking, sitting, reading, taking showers and such.  I feel fine and can walk up and down stairs and maybe around the block.  They want you up and walking to stimulate the healing.

    Pain is still an issue.  In the cardiac ICU when I came out of surgery I was in a mess of pain and they put me on a fentanyl drip which knocked me way out but erased the pain.  After 24 hours I’ve just been on Oxycodone pills, mainly at night to sleep and Tylenol during the day.  The Oxy works great but I’m so hyper-aware of the possibility of addiction that I’m only taking it once a day at night to go to sleep and after today, maybe not at all.  I have a big bottle with enough for a weeks worth 4-times a day but trying to avoid that.

    Otherwise I feel pretty good and will have an impressive scar right up my chest to my throat that will be very visible any time I wear an open collar shirt.  They say I should feel much better and more athletic when everything heals in 5-6 weeks as this surgery should make my heart work much better than before.  We shall see, but I’m hopeful.

    Anyway, that was my week.  How was yours?

    Anything you want to know about open heart surgery I can probably tell you now.  Or at least the type that I had

    This is where I went under the knife and this might have been my OR:  https://permanente.org/an-elite-cardiac-program-with-heart/

  35. 35.

    sab

    @Kent: Isn’t it amazing how far in life we can get with congenital heart defects?

    Also, spouses are amazing. I know a couple of people who died this year who died from heart issues because they didn’t have a spouse at home to say “Dammit, this is serious. We are seeking medical help NOW.” Mine saved my life about five years ago.

    ETA It may take some time but the pain will go away.

  36. 36.

    raven

    @Kent: Hang in there brother. The only caution I have is that my old man had it and, somehow, broke the wire sutures on his sternum and they had to do it again. Take it easy.

  37. 37.

    raven

    @sab: One of my best buddies insisted on living way the fuck out in the country. He had the big one and there was non way his wide could move his 300lb ass so we lost him when it took the meat wagon an hour to get to him. If I go out front I can see the hospital from the street.

  39. 39.

    Kent

    @raven:@Kent: Hang in there brother. The only caution I have is that my old man had it and, somehow, broke the wire sutures on his sternum and they had to do it again. Take it easy.

    They put the fear of God into you about breaking the wire sutures.  Apparently it is hard to do.  But if you do it, it is very bad. They had one heart patient get taken down to the floor by a cop who came out OK, and others who have had CPR done on them and came out OK.  The one story they had of a guy who split his sutures open was a clown who decided to go bowling a week or two after surgery.  Duh….”But you didn’t say I couldn’t go bowling!!!”   So he had weeks of additional repair and such.  Shows you how you just can’t buy common sense.  I intend to be a 100% model patent and not “that guy” who pushes things.  I only have 6 weeks to get through.

  41. 41.

    NotMax

    Holy moley. Wishes for full and fast recuperation. But not rushed: do, don’t overdo.

    Do you get some sort of card to carry and show if faced with going through a metal detector?

  42. 42.

    BruceFromOhio

    @Booger: LOL this is the original and yes ‘Race” Bannon is one of the main characters.

    One of the interesting elements in an otherwise-forgettable animated series is the background music, it’s quite elaborate with some catchy big-band swingy pieces during the adventurous bits. Very unusual (in my experience) for a Saturday morning kids show.

  44. 44.

    evodevo

    @Kent: ​
      OMGerd!! Well, I can tell you that several people I know who have valve replacements said that after they healed they felt better than they had in years, so there is that…

  45. 45.

    sab

    My husband just ordered me to resume baking. I thought we were all on a diet. Oh well. I have historically managed to stay married despite my personality by cooking well so baking I will be.

  48. 48.

    Kent

    @sab:

    @Kent: Isn’t it amazing how far in life we can get with congenital heart defects?

    Also, spouses are amazing. I know a couple of people who died this year who died from heart issues because they didn’t have a spouse at home to say “Dammit, this is serious. We are seeking medical help NOW.” Mine saved my life about five years ago.

    ETA It may take some time but the pain will go away.

    The thing is, I’ve always had a heart murmur that my wife always knew about.  And I had a echocardiogram when I was much younger to check for something called a PFO which can be a deadly heart defect if you scuba dive.  But I checked out fine and perhaps they were only looking for the PFO as they said nothing about the bicuspid valve defect (or didn’t see it).  In the 20 years since it apparently slowly calcified into what they call arterial valve stenosis which is an extremely restricted valve that can barely shut or let blood through.  A healthy adult aortal valve is maybe 2 cm across.  Mine was down to less than a soda straw and barely moving.  Which mean when I exercised heavily I would get light headed and weak as the heart was sending insufficient blood to my brain.  As a guy I just thought I was getting older more out of shape and just needed to get my ass in gear with a better workout regime  But no.  This is deadly if you don’t catch it and no amount of working out will help.  Not even diet.

    It is a real wake-up call to get my ass in gear in terms of healthy living and my family is all on-board.  So we will see how much that lasts.  But I’m hopeful.  Coming home with a massive scar on your chest after open heart surgery tends to focus the mind of your teenage daughters.

  49. 49.

    BruceFromOhio

    @raven: ​
     

    My brother used to give me shit about living in the ‘burbs. He was into Big Sky Country and thought he was all that. I told him I liked civilization and the things that went with it, like good roads, shorter commutes, and better take-out. Then he had a hip replacement and that shut him up. I can’t see the hospital from here, but I can probably drive it blindfolded, we’ve been there enough.

  50. 50.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Kent:

    Wow, what a saga! So glad the surgery was successful and that you’re recovering nicely. Wear that scar with pride — I had quad bypass surgery about 20 years ago, and would like to welcome you to the Zipper Club.

  51. 51.

    Kent

    @evodevo:@Kent: ​
    OMGerd!! Well, I can tell you that several people I know who have valve replacements said that after they healed they felt better than they had in years, so there is that…

    My wife and all the other doctors and surgeons say that an arterial valve replacement is by far the best kind of open heart surgery to have as the results are supposed to be immediate and better than before.  Stuff like bypass surgery and heart transplants and such are must harder to recover from apparently.  So I’m happy that if I had to have open heart surgery, I had the “best” kind.

  52. 52.

    Gravenstone

    @Kent: Best wishes on your recovery! Sounds like a world of surgical progress in the last 35 years to be able to walk a bit after only a couple of days. My mother developed a heart murmur due to a childhood bout of rheumatic fever and ended up needing a valve replacement in the mid-80s. Hers was a ball and cage model valve, and yes she was on blood thinners the rest of her life. You could also hear her heartbeat in a quiet room. The muffled “click” of the ball settling against the closure ring.

  55. 55.

    Kent

    @raven:@Kent: He was alone and dropped the goddamn phone and tried to reach the floor and pick it up.

    Damn…..that’s harsh.  They tell you to keep your elbows at your side and don’t reach anything you can’t reach from that position.  And especially don’t lift, push, or pull anything with your arms.

  57. 57.

    LuciaMia

    @Kent: Oh my Lord, what a sudden ordeal. Like you said, maybe it was better you didnt ave time to worry over the procedure.

    Wonderful that youre doing good and wonderful when modern medicine works the way it should.

  58. 58.

    NotMax

    @Kent

    an impressive scar right up my chest to my throat that will be very visible any time I wear an open collar shirt.

    Chest toupée?

    :)

  60. 60.

    raven

    @Kent: He was alone and got spooked when he woke up an no one was there. He was a tough old dude but that was too much for him in his 80’s.

  61. 61.

    Gravenstone

    @Kent: The one story they had of a guy who split his sutures open was a clown who decided to go bowling a week or two after surgery.

    I hope he enjoyed his visit with the hospital admin who explained to him why his insurance coverage stopped here after a self-inflicted bout of stupidity.

  65. 65.

    zhena gogolia

    @Kent:

    Wow! I’m glad you’re doing so well. I have a friend who had a valve replaced a few years ago and he’s been doing great.

  68. 68.

    Barbara

    @Kent: ​
      Wow. So glad you are home and healing. It’s a hard choice between future surgery and lifelong blood thinners. My FIL took the animal tissue valve because he was in his late 80s at the time of surgery. Lots of people end up needing blood thinners anyway, including my mother and all of her siblings.

  69. 69.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    @Kent: Wow, that sounds…actually, it sounds great. I mean, it’s obviously bad that there was this congenital problem, and nobody likes pain, but it sounds like modern medicine has done its work well.

    I used to see people with those scars when I was in cardiac rehab. They are indeed impressive.

  70. 70.

    Kent

    @Gravenstone:@Kent: Best wishes on your recovery! Sounds like a world of surgical progress in the last 35 years to be able to walk a bit after only a couple of days. My mother developed a heart murmur due to a childhood bout of rheumatic fever and ended up needing a valve replacement in the mid-80s. Hers was a ball and cage model valve, and yes she was on blood thinners the rest of her life. You could also hear her heartbeat in a quiet room. The muffled “click” of the ball settling against the closure ring.

    Those old ball valves went out decades ago.  They new ones are some kind of titanium and carbon fiber double butterfly valve with two semi-circular halves that fold shut.  They give me a nice metallic tick so that with a stethoscope I sound like clock ticking.  But you can’t hear it in the room.

    With all the advances in technology has come advances in medical technology and surgery.  It’s all good.  The imaging technologies they have today are amazing.

  71. 71.

    Kent

    @Dorothy A. Winsor:

    @Kent: Wow, that sounds…actually, it sounds great. I mean, it’s obviously bad that there was this congenital problem, and nobody likes pain, but it sounds like modern medicine has done its work well.

    I used to see people with those scars when I was in cardiac rehab. They are indeed impressive.

    Yep, I was actually happy with the experience all things considered.  It is nice to put yourself into the hands of a team of top professionals and know that they are all at the top of their game with the top equipment and facilities.  You don’t get that experience very much in this life frankly.  Everything else in life is a serious of compromises and cut corners for “efficiency” and cost containment.   I can’t imagine Wal-Mart heart surgery for example.

  72. 72.

    trollhattan

    @Kent: 
    Holyfuckballs!

    Very glad you’re still with us. Guessing mid to longterm you might find you have more energy than before on account of the restricted bloodflow that has been corrected, but what a way to get there! I’d rather take spinning classes.

  73. 73.

    The Pale Scot

    @NotMax:

    an impressive scar right up my chest to my throat that will be very visible any time I wear an open collar shirt.

    “Dueling scar, “Heidelberg”

  74. 74.

    NotMax

    @Kent

    I can’t imagine Wal-Mart heart surgery

    17-year-old following along with a YouTube video on his/her phone?

    “Hold on, it’s buffering.”

  75. 75.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @NotMax:

    @Kent

    an impressive scar right up my chest to my throat that will be very visible any time I wear an open collar shirt.

    Chest toupée?

    :)

    That’s fine for Kent; wasn’t really an option for me. A few times after the surgery, when I was still attending dressy evening events, I used to put sparkly eye shadow on mine, just for a bit of fuck you glitz. If you’ve got it, flaunt it.

  79. 79.

    Gin & Tonic

    @Booger: Odd. I have plenty of metal parts, and (in the before times) would fly a lot, both domestic and international, with never an issue.

  83. 83.

    debbie

    @Kent:

    Yikes, glad you’re doing as well as you are. Don’t get too anxious about blood thinners; I’ve been on them for more than 20 years. Once they’ve figured out the right dosage, the food choices will become second nature pretty quickly.

  84. 84.

    Kent

    @sab: Yep.  Lots of N95 and the standard blue surgical masks.  I never once got to see the face of any doctor, nurse, or assistant my entire stay.  They wear them all shift long without exception.  I just have zero patience with the MAGA creeps who politicize basic public health.  Fuck every last one of them to death. The Trump years and the pandemic have wrung every last ounce of empathy out of me.  I no longer give the slightest shit about any of these folks and I’m related to a bunch of them.   I will have to bite my lip until I bleed the next time I get some GoFundMe with prayer requests for a MAGA relative or their spawn because they didn’t get the right insurance or some such because of religious freedom.  Fuck them all.

  86. 86.

    Kent

    @TaMara (HFG):Oh, my gosh. What a weekend! Glad you are able to comment. Keeping a good thought to your full recovery and keep us up to date as you can.

    Thanks.   I think the hard part is over and now it’s just 6 weeks of relaxed home time for recovery.  Luckily we have a nice house and neighborhood and have set it up well for quarantine.  I’m semi retired from full time teaching and just subbing which wasn’t happening during the pandemic anyway.  And getting my Covid shots to go back to hybrid school starting in March.  My wife is mostly doing home office virtual care telemedicine from our home office and the kids are home doing their virtual high school. So it is a good time to be out of commission as I have plenty of helpers to come running from a text message.  We will see how well that continues 6 weeks out.  But they are all super great now.

  88. 88.

    BruceFromOhio

    @SiubhanDuinne: That’s what MrsFromOhio does with her port scar from chemo. No glitter, just not afraid to wear plunging necklines or other revealing fashion. What’s more fun is when we run into another woman with same, it’s instant sisterhood.

    She’s of similar mind – “I survived this nightmare, here’s my passport stamp to show it.”

  89. 89.

    sab

    OT I just discovered leeks as an actual vegetable, not just an ingredient for soup. They are lovely. Slightly oniony, but sweet and delicate. Plus vitamins and minerals. We need to stop scoffing at British food.

  91. 91.

    Nutmeg again

    Tuba is adorable.

    My Murphy has a Dx of degenerative myelopathy. She’s been getting increasingly weaker and more wobbly in her hindquarters.  I just put her on a trial of carprofen (Rimadyl) to relieve and pain she might have from arthritis and all that stuff.  She’s a giant breed, and (about) 12 going on 13, so, not entirely unexpected, but sad.  At least I have a heads up to spoil her like crazy until the end, when ever that happens.

  92. 92.

    Kent

    @debbie:

    Yikes, glad you’re doing as well as you are. Don’t get too anxious about blood thinners; I’ve been on them for more than 20 years. Once they’ve figured out the right dosage, the food choices will become second nature pretty quickly.

    That was my calculation.  A second surgery around age 70 sounded worse   My dad has been on Coumadin for 20 years as well for clotting in his legs and he has been fine   He’s late 80s   The doctors all assured me that it was just a hassle but no long term side effects to worry about   My wife concurred   She has tons of patients on thinners

    the thing about the bio prosthetic valves is that they can just deteriorate no matter what you do   It isn’t  a question of diet and exercise  and healthy living to keep them running longer   Sometimes they just decay for no apparent reason.    So that didn’t sound promising for long term at my age   The surgeons say the  mechanical valves are speced to last 300 years in terms of function so that sounded the better choice.

  93. 93.

    SWMBO

    @Kent: Glad they fixed you up.  And really glad you’re able to sit up and howl with the rest of the jackals.
    A friend of ours got really sick and went to the ER.  Kidney stone.  With heart hiccups.  He wound up having open heart surgery for that.   He’s fine (I guess it’s been over 10 years) and he’s still trundling along.​

  95. 95.

    sab

    @Nutmeg again: I am so sorry for you and your dog. I adopted a St Bernard mix (short hair, 30 inches tall, 85 pounds when healthy.) She died of some sort of cancer about two years after I got her. We gave her a couple of happy years after a horrible life, but we so much wanted to have longer, and she deserved more

    ETA my labrador retriever rescue had degenerative myelopathy. You have my sympathy and good wishes.

  97. 97.

    Anotherlurker

    @Kent: I’m glad you are OK after a most un-welcome surprise.  When I think of “things were better in the old days” I say to myself: “Not in the field of transportation, Civil Rights, medical care and surgical materials and techniques, etc.”  I like our modern world.

    I wish you a complete and speedy recovery.

    Will you still be able to SCUBA Dive?

  98. 98.

    Kent

    @Anotherlurker: Most things weren’t better in the old days unless you were a white male.  I didn’t ask about scuba so that will be a follow up question.  I don’t dive much anymore.  But my teen daughters both want to learn so maybe we will do a dive vacation somewhere where the can learn in warm clear water.  It is all drysuit diving up here so more complicated to learn.

    I used to do a lot of extreme deep caving diving and shipwreck diving on helium mixed gasses and that sort of thing but haven’t done that in years.  I’ll never get back into that sort of thing now that I’m married and older.

  99. 99.

    Brachiator

    @Kent:

    Wow. Good to hear that you are up and about now.  Best wishes to you and your family.

    It is amazing that heart surgeries are generally so successful that they are considered almost routine now.

    I know at least one person who elected for the pig valve, hoping that 15 years from now, new developments might see an improvement in types of materials used. Obviously, this is not based on any specific research, just a hope about trends in innovation.

    I had a less invasive surgery at Kaiser a few years ago, but before they put me out, I got a whiff of some turf jealousy between my surgical team and the “regular” staff. I asked about it later and the doctor chuckled and admitted that he and his people (nurse, anesthesiologist, etc) were a team who would kind of swoop in and take over.

  102. 102.

    Kent

    @Brachiator: I had that same thought.    But honestly 15 years isn’t really all that long in medical technology.  15 years ago was 2006.  No guarantees of anything dramatically better developing and you are setting yourself up for an almost certain second surgery.  Which is not fun. So I went with the sure thing and will just deal with the blood thinners.  But I can see the arguments both ways.  The surgeons and cardiologist let me make my own decision.  But for someone my age I could tell they definitely approved of the choice that I made.

    watching my surgical team go through their pre op checklists and discussion and take direction from the main surgeon before I went out was impressive.   It is nice to see top people at the top of their game.  And also nice to see what a top team looks like that works together all the time.

  103. 103.

    Nutmeg again

    @sab: It’s so true, with the big ones.  Murph is a mix (Pyr + Black lab) so she’s had a little more time. But she also came from some awful early home. I really cannot comprehend treating a dog badly. Or any critter.

  104. 104.

    Doc Sardonic

    @Kent: Only thing with Warfarin is get very accustomed to pain.  Once you start the thinner no NSAIDs, little Acetominofen. Only options are opioids which don’t work for shit for me, some muscle relaxers and ‘roids  ie prednisone. Fixing to go see my cardiac electrician and get fired as a patient for telling him to shove the Warfarin up his ass, after 10 years I’m tired of a good day being a pain level 4. But on the other hand don’t worry about your diet, Warfarin is very adjustable, make it fit you not the reverse. Just avoid grapefruit.

    ETA: Best wishes for a speedy recovery and take the pain meds. Pain slows healing.

  106. 106.

    Kent

    @Doc Sardonic: I never use pain meds for any reason normally.  The women in my life are all on ibuprofen for monthly periods.  But I never take them except rarely maybe for an extremely bad sore throat.  So I hopeful it won’t be an issue.  Tylenol once a day is OK for me now.  Ibuprofen is what they said I can no longer ever take.

    Kaiser has a whole Coumadin clinic that monitors your labs and keeps you on the straight and narrow.  Or at least so they say.  Kaiser is generally good about that kind of care.  So we shall see.

  107. 107.

    Another Scott

    @Kent: Well, that’s surprising!!

    I’m glad they quickly figured out the issue and got you patched up better than new.

    Thanks for the report.

    Heal quickly and well.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  108. 108.

    sab

    @Nutmeg again: I could never figure out if my lab was in pain. At the end he fell down stairs when his legs gave out. It was easy to protect him from that. But he became obsessed with hanging out outside in the snow. I wondered if he was purposely chiling his extremities. Dogs can’t talk, so who knows.

  109. 109.

    Another Scott

    @Kent: When I first got a big physical with my doc, he did and EKG and saw some little wiggle and thought it might be a PFO.  I went to a cardiologist and she did a “bubble test” and, yup, PFO.  She was impressed that he saw it from just the wiggle in the graph.  They said it was fairly common and she said to “come back in 20 years”.

    Apparently the PFO hole is supposed to close when the delivery doctor (the only “real” doctor, amirite?) spanks us to make us take our first real breath.  Apparently I took a breath without being spanked, or something.

    I never heard about the scuba diving stuff!!  Fortunately, I never liked the ear pressure going deep in a swimming pool, so scuba was never an interest of mine…

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  110. 110.

    Doc Sardonic

    @Kent: I have found that depending on the Coumadin variant has an effect on dosage. I had to switch from generic Warfarin to Jantoven and that was fun my system doesn’t like it as well and is a pain to keep adjusted. Just be careful of grapefruit, when I first started with warfarin I went in for an INR and it rang up 3.8. Lab nurse freaked out and I mentioned it was grapefruit season and was told do not eat or drink anything grapefruit because it inhibits your liver processing the drug so you have way more circulating around than you should. Seems to do that with a lot of meds.

  111. 111.

    Brachiator

    @Kent: 

    watching my surgical team go through their pre op checklists and discussion and take direction from the main surgeon before I went out was impressive. It is nice to see top people at the top of their game. And also nice to see what a top team looks like that works together all the time.

    Yep. I hear you.

    Continued good mending.

  112. 112.

    catclub

    @Kent: ​
     

    Coming home with a massive scar on your chest after open heart surgery tends to focus the mind of your teenage daughters.

    AND they can boss you about your diet and exercise, a plan with [almost!] no downsides.

  113. 113.

    PsiFighter37

    At an urgent care facility because some asshole Uber driver drifted right in front of me, right after I was on my scooter and got out of his way by ditching off the scooter. I don’t think I broke anything, but the pain in my left arm is insane. I have never felt anything like this in my life.

    Mad at the idiot driver who was not paying any attention, and mad at me for somehow ending up in this situation. Fuck fuck fuck.

  114. 114.

    catclub

    @Brachiator: ​
     person who elected for the pig valve, hoping that 15 years from now,

    It is interesting scaling that mouse hearts, and Pig hearts and human hearts and whale hearts have approximately the same number of heart compressions over a lifetime.

  115. 115.

    Anotherlurker

    @Kent: When things open up for travel, I can recommend Cozumel or Tulum , Mx. for you and your daughters.  Easy drift diving off Cozumel. Less crowded reefs off Tulum with the added bonus of Cenotes.

    Did you ever get there as a Cave Diver?

  117. 117.

    Nutmeg again

    @sab: So much truth. My various Newfies were all stoic like that. It must be the Canadian cold!  Murphy never complains, but she has begun to pant most of the time–I gather that’s an indicator of pain. I hope her new NSAID controls it without any gastric upset.  She’s failing on a lot of the stairs coming in the easy way from her fenced yard–so, it’s a little more work for me. Not a problem, not at all. Even though it was 7 degrees here today… and yeah, she does like to lie outside in the cold/snow. Sending best wishes to all the dogs, to get through the winter.

  118. 118.

    karen marie

    @Ken:  And all your god damned family members.

    Your family members may be fine but mine are a nightmare.  Yeah, thanks, but I’ll pass.

  119. 119.

    Brachiator

    My 90 something mother who lives in Texas got her first Covid vaccine shot today. Everything went smoothly.

  121. 121.

    sab

    Dumb question for curious olds.

    I am old. I inherited my late uncle’s cocker spaniel. He and my mom had a childhood cocker. I never was curious so I never asked them how they trimmed that girl before there were dog groomers. I heard about bathing (in the basement stationary tub. Wait until fleas get to the tip of her nose, then dunk the dog and fleas underwater.)

    My cocker looks like a very small bearded collie. His ears are disgusting ( I know, cocker snoods) and the whole dog is a smelly ball of fur. I do not want to take him to the groomer, where they trim the dogs maskless in a steamy environment then send them home. Sounds infectious to me.

    I have sheared my husband twice and he is quite happy. Dogs have more fur so I am reluctant, but I must. Any advice? What do I do with this smelly fuzzball? I did buy some professional grooming clippers, but they don’t seem up to the job.

  122. 122.

    debbie

    @sab:

    How did you prepare them? I love leeks, but I once tried adding them to the pan when roasting chicken and was very underwhelmed.

  124. 124.

    sab

    @debbie: Just chopped them up into inch or two inch chunks and sauteed them in a pan with butter. Very Brit cooking. Kind of like green beans. Incredibly easy. And even the tough green stems cooked down like normal veggies.

  126. 126.

    karen marie

    @sab:   I have a Cocker/Cavalier cross now and previously had a pair of full Cockers. I can help you with all your Cocker questions!

    When you say his ears are disgusting, is that just the outside or is it the inner ear canals as well?  If it’s his ear canals, after he has a bath, you want to take him to a vet where he should be checked for ear infection and you can get a liquid ear cleaner that should be used every time the boy gets a bath (theoretically, every two weeks – spaniels are greasy dogs and are dirt magnets).  I’ve never had an issue with my spaniels’ ears getting dirty from dragging in their food or water bowl.  It sounds like this guy simply hasn’t been bathed regularly.

    Given what sounds like a somewhat neglected (no judging!) condition, I would definitely have a professional groomer give him a once-over this time at least.  Find one that’s “local,” don’t send him to a Petsmart or Petco groomer.   My experience has been that groomers wear masks, and some still come out to your car to collect and return your dog.

    Ask for a “puppy cut.”  If it’s cold where you are, they should know (you can remind them) to not cut him too short.  Typically, they leave the ears long but trim them, including shaving the area where the back of the ear meets the head and underneath the ear flap – necessary because spaniels are greasy.  They’ll also shave around his nether bits – known as a “sanitary cut.”  And of course, they’ll trim his nails.

    In Massachusetts groomers can stick their fingers up a dog’s butt to express the anal glands but in Arizona they cannot.  If you ask, Arizona groomers will tell you that they express the anal glands.  They don’t, because squeezing from the outside does not express them.  You’ll want to get him to a vet to have that done.

    Oh, squee!  You are so lucky!  A boy spaniel!  I love my current girl but my previous boy was the best dog that ever lived.

  127. 127.

    Kent

    @Anotherlurker:

    @Kent: When things open up for travel, I can recommend Cozumel or Tulum , Mx. for you and your daughters.  Easy drift diving off Cozumel. Less crowded reefs off Tulum with the added bonus of Cenotes.

    Did you ever get there as a Cave Diver?

    Cozumel has kind of been my list because of the famous drift diving.  But I’ve never actually dove in Mexico.  I did cave training in High Springs Florida with the real pros mostly to up my technical skills for Alaska wreck diving.  And went back there every year for a while with my main dive buddy for refreshers and vacation.  But I was always an ocean wreck diver, not a cave diver.

    Was also thinking Belize or Costa Rica with the girls.  We like doing Costa Rica vacations but have never done a scuba one there.  I have a friend who has a hotel in Caye Cauker Belize that has also been on the list for a while and I know they have good diving there.  Same basic reef as Mexico I guess.  I learned to dive in Belize many years ago when I was in the Peace Corps in Guatemala and have since dived all over, except, strangely Mexico.  Best diving was Fernando de Noronha Islands off the coast of Brazil.

    We shall see  That will likely be for 2022.

  128. 128.

    Jay

    @sab:

    a good shampoo and bath, clean the ears and eye snot, dry the dog and brush the fur. Cocker’s don’t need to be groomed if the fur is cared for, and not matted.

  129. 129.

    karen marie

    @Jay:   I have yet to meet a spaniel who didn’t need to see a groomer at least periodically.  Matting is their specialty – behind the ears, between their toes, their armpits – pretty much all over – and the older they get, the less tolerant they are of even the most careful and gentle brushing.

  130. 130.

    sab

    @Jay: He is extremely fuzzy, but I will take your word for it. This is an old breed, and clippers are very new. Just wash and trim his face, and wash the rest of him. The inside ears seem okay. It’s just the stuff he gets stuck eating. Knit him a snood and then wash and brush him should work. Trim him if summer gets too hot. Forget he is a “cocker” and treat him like a normal furry dog.

  131. 131.

    sab

    @karen marie: Inside ears okay. Outside ears disgusting because he stuffs his face in his food, typical cocker enthusiasm. I am used to finicky German Shepherds. This cocker nosedive into potential edibles is new to me. He gets food stuck around his eyes! What dog does that? It should have gone into his mouth!

  132. 132.

    Jay

    @karen marie:

    we used a rubber brush on Tan, ( created electrostatic charges which caused the fur to stick to the brush rather than float around), Black Cocker Spaniel X. Tan got brushed every day, a mango soap/shampoo bath, ( cuts the oil big time) once a week, and after every outdoor “adventure”. Never got groomed and loved couch time wrapped up in towels, before the brushing.

    Buff on the other hand, ( Golden X) however got “groomed” every spring because when spring came, his coat would explode like a dry dandelion puffball for weeks at a time. Easier to just shave it all down to a half inch then just keep brushing.

  135. 135.

    PST

    @Kent: That’s quite a story. All the best wishes for a speedy recovery. One thing I took note of was, “They have a high-volume cardiac surgery ward ,,,” I spent most of my career working on medical malpractice, and that is such a key. It should be obvious, but many people feel better being treated by a familiar physician who technically has privileges to perform a procedure. In my humble opinion, you always want the team that does it all the time if possible. There are measurable differences in outcomes. I would also like to offer a pain tip that a friendly orthopedic surgeon gave me once. Tylenol and ibuprofen work using different mechanism. There is no cumulative toxicity, the way there would be taking two different NSAIDs like ibuprofen and naproxen. So taking them both at full strength and the recommended intervals is safe but produces much substantially more pain relief than either alone.

  136. 136.

    Jay

    @sab:

    Digger used to have food issues. 3 small meals a day, lots of treats, ( human food as well) eventually (2 years) convinced him that there would always be food in the house. (Well, that and the always full cat bowl).

    Eventually all his food issued went away except for wild strawberries, raspberries and mangos.

  137. 137.

    karen marie

    @sab:  Spaniels can be quite the fluffballs!  My boy James was a yeti if left ungroomed.  Life is more pleasant for everyone if they’re shaved at least twice a year.

    I hope we get pictures!

  138. 138.

    Kent

    @PST:@Kent: That’s quite a story. All the best wishes for a speedy recovery. One thing I took note of was, “They have a high-volume cardiac surgery ward ,,,” I spent most of my career working on medical malpractice, and that is such a key. It should be obvious, but many people feel better being treated by a familiar physician who technically has privileges to perform a procedure. In my humble opinion, you always want the team that does it all the time if possible. There are measurable differences in outcomes. I would also like to offer a pain tip that a friendly orthopedic surgeon gave me once. Tylenol and ibuprofen work using different mechanism. There is no cumulative toxicity, the way there would be taking two different NSAIDs like ibuprofen and naproxen. So taking them both at full strength and the recommended intervals is safe but produces much substantially more pain relief than either alone.

    Yep, it is amazing how good it is to be in a whole cardio unit where everyone from the surgeons to the nurses to the assistants does NOTHING but care for cardiac surgery patients.  They have it DOWN.  Especially the nurses who have every question answered and know their shit.  They never have to ask anyone about anything.  They are just really good.  They have maybe 30-40 Cardio ICU and Cardio transition rooms and nurses who do nothing but cardio surgery every day of their lives.  Same with the surgeons.

    They did warn me off ever taking ibuprofen again in my life because it interacts with blood thinners like Coumadin.  I was told that Tylenol was my only pain killer of choice for the rest of my life because of the blood thinners.   The Kaiser Anticoagulant Clinic already called me today to go over all the rules about living on Coumadin including limiting or being constant about diet of leafy greens with high Vitamin K which increase clotting, and things like Ibuprofen and Grapefruit which reduce clotting and amplify the thinners.  It is a lot to to absorb.  But I think I’ll get a handle on all of it. Most is common sense once you understand the reasons and mechanisms.

  139. 139.

    karen marie

    @Jay:  My previous female Cocker was cuckoo for tomatoes.  I had a garden in the Fenway Victory Gardens when I had her and James.  During tomato season, she would race into the veg section of my garden and demand tomatoes.  She and James also loved early peas.  Neither them nor my current dog get “people food” as such – no cooked food, just veg scraps that I would otherwise discard when prepping my dinner, and carrot sticks as an alternative to five dog cookies a day.  An entire carrot is alleged to be only 25 calories, so cut into a half dozen sticks, Lucy (the current princess) can have as many as she wants.

  140. 140.

    J R in WV

    @raven: ​
     

    I’ve had titanium rods on my spine since 74 and never trigger an alarms.

    I have both shoulders replaced, I tell them before I get scanned, it always trips, they scan me with a wand, feel for a shoulder holster, I go on to the boarding gate.

    Adds 2-3 minutes to the scanning process, tops.

  141. 141.

    Jay

    @karen marie:

    people food was just a treat.

    imagine being a dog, smelling a pot roast cooking for half a day, being fed, and discovering it was all just dry kibble. A couple of tablespoons of au jus, made it seem more like what everybody ate.

    Casey loved the organic baby carrots, peeled in the bag, right up until I started growing (organically) Nantes carrots. Once she had one of those, she turned up her nose at every other carrot. I was pulling some for dinner one day, had a bunch in my left hand, felt a gentle tugging. She had decided that I must have been picking them for her.

    T one day was picking from the garden, filling a 5 gallon bucked of what was ripe, wasn’t paying attention until she noticed both Digger and Casey, heads buried in the bucket, chowing down on freshly picked peas, carrots, beans, chard, tomatoes and potatoes.

    Digger learned to snuff up wild strawberries, to the point that he would actually push you off a patch just to hog them all.

  142. 142.

    Ohio Mom

    Kent:
    Oh, the memories you evoke! Ohio Dad has his aortic valve replaced just over three years ago.

    No one could give a reason for why it had calcified but it had been surveilled for a number of years before the cardiologist said, You need to get this done before the end of the year.

    After interviewing several different surgeons, he went with a cow valve and a new-fangled robot-assisted surgery where a slit is made between two ribs and somehow, in that little space, they get it done. He’s working on the assumption that when this valve starts to fail, they’ll snake a trans catheter replacement in over the old one.

    You left out my favorite part, which is knowing they are going to stop your/your spouse’s heart from beating for a couple of hours. And then (hopefully) restart it.

    A note for NotMax, if you are still here:
    Ohio Dad is fond of pointing out that even though he has a cow and not a pig valve, he doubts the cow was schetched.

  143. 143.

    J R in WV

    @Kent: ​

    So glad to hear how smoothly all that went. I had my joint replacements at a hospital that had a specialty ward just for joint work — no infectious patients ever, and a team that worked with my ortho guy every other day. Was pretty swell.

    Congratulations on the successful treatment of what must have been a pretty scary diagnosis. Keep us posted!!

  145. 145.

    TaMara (HFG)

    @Nutmeg again: My heart goes out to you. One of mine had that, but we didn’t really get the diagnosis (it was probably before such a thing was readily diagnosed). Rimadyl definitely helped extend his life and relieved his pain. It’s tough, sending you hugs.

  146. 146.

    lurkypants

    @Kent: Wow!  Glad you caught all that in time.

    Just curious, though:  Did they give you any options on the blood thinners other than coumadin?  I had bilateral pulmonary embolisms last year (such fun!) and was offered a choice between coumadin and a newer blood thinner.  Since I wasn’t about to give up kale and blueberries, which I eat in mass quantities, I went with Xarelto.

  147. 147.

    Aleta

    @Kent:  Glad you’re OK.   (+ Thanks for the reminder about heart health.)   The body healing and modern medicine are both kinda miraculous whenever I think about them.   Very glad you’re home safe.

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