New healthcare thread...

[CrimsonJazz]

I had a cardiversion 4 years or so ago during my worst AFIB episode. I chose this rather than lay in the hospital until I reverted. It worked for three years before I had another episode. Never sure what tomorrow holds!

That's exactly the experience I had with the ablation. The cardioversion never did anything, but the ablation held for quite some time.

 

[TIDE-HSV]

Eliquis is the only BT I've ever been on, so I can't offer up any sort of comparative analysis. Make no mistake, though, this is exactly why I was taking it. Way back when all this started, I distinctly remember my PCP openly wondering how I hadn't had a stroke yet. (I suffered through the symptoms for a very long time because I didn't think this was heart-related. I figured it was panic attacks, so I stupidly put off going to the doctor.) He couldn't get me referred to a cardiologist fast enough.

AFib strokes took my best friend last year. He had done the AT and a number of other long trails. He was doing the Pacific Crest Trail when he developed plantar fasciitis, odd after all those thousands of miles of walking. He left the trail near Las Vegas and went to a podiatrist, who shot up the soles of his feet with cortisone. He started feeling bad and flew straight from Vegas back to Hatteras, still feeling subpar. He finally went to his PCP there, complaining that he had also developed a pain in his left side. The doctor didn't let him go home but medivacted him straight to Norfolk. He had MRSA, probably from the shots, and it had damaged his aorta. He then developed Afib and went on Eliquis. Eventually, the strokes caught up. I miss him terribly. We understood each other's thoughts without speech. He had a HS education but with a massive library, the self-educated Renaissance man, a very gentle man...

 

[TIDE-HSV]

That's exactly the experience I had with the ablation. The cardioversion never did anything, but the ablation held for quite some time.

My grandson needed ablation, but the secondary nerve path lay too close to the primary, so they had to do cryo instead. It was only a partial solution...

 

[Padreruf]

I should have mentioned that a main drug I take, Revlimid, (an immunomodulary) is a cousin of thalidomide...and it also is a blood thinner in that it eats both red and white blood cells. The Eliquis' purpose is to avoid throwing a clot in the heart and having a stroke. So now I am on a 3 medications that thin your blood...no wonder I am cold all the time, have minor nose and gum bleeds, and the bruising.

If anyone ever tells you that dealing with a blood cancer is easy, even in the best of times it can be taxing. Yet, I am doing well, play golf 2-3 times per week-- most of the time walking -- and enjoy life. I can take you to the cancer center here and show you a lot of people far worse than myself.

Can we just win the game this week and play well?

 

[arthurdawg]

Eliquis and Xarelto were revolutionary drugs for us when they came out and replaced Coumadin.

Soooo much easier to use!

 

[CrimsonJazz]

AFib strokes took my best friend last year. He had done the AT and a number of other long trails. He was doing the Pacific Crest Trail when he developed plantar fasciitis, odd after all those thousands of miles of walking. He left the trail near Las Vegas and went to a podiatrist, who shot up the soles of his feet with cortisone. He started feeling bad and flew straight from Vegas back to Hatteras, still feeling subpar. He finally went to his PCP there, complaining that he had also developed a pain in his left side. The doctor didn't let him go home but medivacted him straight to Norfolk. He had MRSA, probably from the shots, and it had damaged his aorta. He then developed Afib and went on Eliquis. Eventually, the strokes caught up. I miss him terribly. We understood each other's thoughts without speech. He had a HS education but with a massive library, the self-educated Renaissance man, a very gentle man...

I’m sorry to hear about your friend. And this hits home pretty hard because I was wondering if I was going to die. By all rights, I probably should have. My PCP certainly thought so. I was so stupid, but when this whole thing started, I was 42. What 42 year-old automatically assumes his problem is cardio-related?

I have stared death in the face so many times, by all rights I should be dead. I survived a motorcycle accident when I was 14. I survived a car wreck in an 87 IROC-Z only 3 years later. In 2017 I developed A-Fib and in 2022 I was hospitalized with my fourth bout of pancreatitis which had abcessed the artery which runs parallel to my pancreas. The doctors were so freaked out by the mass on my pancreas, they completely missed the abscess and if it hadn’t been for a bored technician looking at my CAT scan, it almost certainly would have broken open and I would have died within 2 minutes.

To be honest, I don’t know why God has kept me around. I guess I still have a purpose, but I’ll be damned if I know what it is. I never gave much thought to whether or not God exists, but considering the odds I have beaten, I’m now pretty much forced to consider it. I mean, seriously, why me? There are certainly better people out there. I utterly loathe the very concept of fatalism, but then again, why AM I still here? I don’t know. I live in a state of perpetual confusion.

In any case, I am taking RCIA classes and trying to make sense of it all. It sounds to me like your friend was a much more suitable candidate for survival than a cynical old bastard like myself. Again, I’m sorry for your loss.

 

[Go Bama]

I’m sorry to hear about your friend. And this hits home pretty hard because I was wondering if I was going to die. By all rights, I probably should have. My PCP certainly thought so. I was so stupid, but when this whole thing started, I was 42. What 42 year-old automatically assumes his problem is cardio-related?

I have stared death in the face so many times, by all rights I should be dead. I survived a motorcycle accident when I was 14. I survived a car wreck in an 87 IROC-Z only 3 years later. In 2017 I developed A-Fib and in 2022 I was hospitalized with my fourth bout of pancreatitis which had abcessed the artery which runs parallel to my pancreas. The doctors were so freaked out by the mass on my pancreas, they completely missed the abscess and if it hadn’t been for a bored technician looking at my CAT scan, it almost certainly would have broken open and I would have died within 2 minutes.

To be honest, I don’t know why God has kept me around. I guess I still have a purpose, but I’ll be damned if I know what it is. I never gave much thought to whether or not God exists, but considering the odds I have beaten, I’m now pretty much forced to consider it. I mean, seriously, why me? There are certainly better people out there. I utterly loathe the very concept of fatalism, but then again, why AM I still here? I don’t know. I live in a state of perpetual confusion.

In any case, I am taking RCIA classes and trying to make sense of it all. It sounds to me like your friend was a much more suitable candidate for survival than a cynical old bastard like myself. Again, I’m sorry for your loss.

Life doesn’t always make sense, Jazz. I’m glad you are still here. I, too, have had several brushes with death. Some of us are just lucky.

 

[Padreruf]

I’m sorry to hear about your friend. And this hits home pretty hard because I was wondering if I was going to die. By all rights, I probably should have. My PCP certainly thought so. I was so stupid, but when this whole thing started, I was 42. What 42 year-old automatically assumes his problem is cardio-related?

I have stared death in the face so many times, by all rights I should be dead. I survived a motorcycle accident when I was 14. I survived a car wreck in an 87 IROC-Z only 3 years later. In 2017 I developed A-Fib and in 2022 I was hospitalized with my fourth bout of pancreatitis which had abcessed the artery which runs parallel to my pancreas. The doctors were so freaked out by the mass on my pancreas, they completely missed the abscess and if it hadn’t been for a bored technician looking at my CAT scan, it almost certainly would have broken open and I would have died within 2 minutes.

To be honest, I don’t know why God has kept me around. I guess I still have a purpose, but I’ll be damned if I know what it is. I never gave much thought to whether or not God exists, but considering the odds I have beaten, I’m now pretty much forced to consider it. I mean, seriously, why me? There are certainly better people out there. I utterly loathe the very concept of fatalism, but then again, why AM I still here? I don’t know. I live in a state of perpetual confusion.

In any case, I am taking RCIA classes and trying to make sense of it all. It sounds to me like your friend was a much more suitable candidate for survival than a cynical old bastard like myself. Again, I’m sorry for your loss.

God has a special place in His/Her heart for cynical old bastards...why am I still around? Why are any of us still living? Probably to learn a few things and to bring some civility and kindness to this world...

 

[Go Bama]

God has a

God has a special place in His/Her heart for cynical old bastards...why am I still around? Why are any of us still living? Probably to learn a few things and to bring some civility and kindness to this world...

I think I’ve said this before, Padre, but I would have loved to have been a member of your church. You have a special way with words. A few our posters here do.

 

[Padreruf]

Here's a link to a new focus in medicine. We probably need NationalTitles18 to interpret this. Found it quite interesting:

The Dawn of Spatial Medicine

For the first time spatial omics leads to a lifesaving treatment

open.substack.com

 

[arthurdawg]

Here's a link to a new focus in medicine. We probably need NationalTitles18 to interpret this. Found it quite interesting:

The Dawn of Spatial Medicine

For the first time spatial omics leads to a lifesaving treatment

open.substack.com

Interesting... so much cool stuff coming down the pike!

And complex as well.

 

[NationalTitles18]

Here's a link to a new focus in medicine. We probably need NationalTitles18 to interpret this. Found it quite interesting:

The Dawn of Spatial Medicine

For the first time spatial omics leads to a lifesaving treatment

open.substack.com

I'm not your guy on this one, but I can say that machine learning is going to transform medicine in many ways.

 

[Go Bama]

Here's a link to a new focus in medicine. We probably need NationalTitles18 to interpret this. Found it quite interesting:

The Dawn of Spatial Medicine

For the first time spatial omics leads to a lifesaving treatment

open.substack.com

Pretty deep, Padre. Looks extremely promising. Thanks for sharing.

 

[JDCrimson]

That Steven-Johnson Syndrome looks like something out of a Freddie Kruger movie, geesh.

Here's a link to a new focus in medicine. We probably need NationalTitles18 to interpret this. Found it quite interesting:

The Dawn of Spatial Medicine

For the first time spatial omics leads to a lifesaving treatment

open.substack.com

 

[arthurdawg]

That Steven-Johnson Syndrome looks like something out of a Freddie Kruger movie, geesh.

I nearly had a lady die from Stevens-Johnson early this year...

The worst variant and a step further is TENS or toxic epidermal necrolysis... the mortality rate is 50% plus.

Very bad.

 

[jthomas666]

Eliquis and Xarelto were revolutionary drugs for us when they came out and replaced Coumadin.

Soooo much easier to use!

My oldest brother was on Coumadin for a bit. That was a pain in the butt.

 

[TIDE-HSV]

I’m sorry to hear about your friend. And this hits home pretty hard because I was wondering if I was going to die. By all rights, I probably should have. My PCP certainly thought so. I was so stupid, but when this whole thing started, I was 42. What 42 year-old automatically assumes his problem is cardio-related?

I have stared death in the face so many times, by all rights I should be dead. I survived a motorcycle accident when I was 14. I survived a car wreck in an 87 IROC-Z only 3 years later. In 2017 I developed A-Fib and in 2022 I was hospitalized with my fourth bout of pancreatitis which had abcessed the artery which runs parallel to my pancreas. The doctors were so freaked out by the mass on my pancreas, they completely missed the abscess and if it hadn’t been for a bored technician looking at my CAT scan, it almost certainly would have broken open and I would have died within 2 minutes.

To be honest, I don’t know why God has kept me around. I guess I still have a purpose, but I’ll be damned if I know what it is. I never gave much thought to whether or not God exists, but considering the odds I have beaten, I’m now pretty much forced to consider it. I mean, seriously, why me? There are certainly better people out there. I utterly loathe the very concept of fatalism, but then again, why AM I still here? I don’t know. I live in a state of perpetual confusion.

In any case, I am taking RCIA classes and trying to make sense of it all. It sounds to me like your friend was a much more suitable candidate for survival than a cynical old bastard like myself. Again, I’m sorry for your loss.

Bob was in his late 70s and had lived a full life. Another friend's father just died at 95. His last night, he spent discussing what comes next. I hope I was able to comfort her some. My beliefs are unorthodox, although I still consider myself Christian. I'll just say I think consciousness is indestructible. There's fascinating reading with some quantum physicists right now on our continuing connection to the universal consciousness available. I've read scores of stories of NDEs*. None of those people are ever afraid to die again. These kinds of thoughts are normal for people like me, whose life expectancy is figured in single digits. However 42 is awfully young for you to have faced what you've faced. I thought I was invincible until 72, when I had to have my first stent placed...

*"NDE" is a misnomer. Those people didn't nearly die. They died - and then came back...

 

[Padreruf]

Bob was in his late 70s and had lived a full life. Another friend's father just died at 95. His last night, he spent discussing what comes next. I hope I was able to comfort her some. My beliefs are unorthodox, although I still consider myself Christian. I'll just say I think consciousness is indestructible. There's fascinating reading with some quantum physicists right now on our continuing connection to the universal consciousness available. I've read scores of stories of NDEs*. None of those people are ever afraid to die again. These kinds of thoughts are normal for people like me, whose life expectancy is figured in single digits. However 42 is awfully young for you to have faced what you've faced. I thought I was invincible until 72, when I had to have my first stent placed...

*"NDE" is a misnomer. Those people didn't nearly die. They died - and then came back...

I get you..."how" we exist in the life to come is a great mystery that is beyond the veil of our existence. I also studied people who died and came back...they do almost universally live without fear.

 

[Bazza]

Stories like this deserve more attention.........

A nurse attending the Alabama-Missouri game performed CPR on an EMT who was in medical distress. It was all caught on video.

 

[NationalTitles18]

Just a notification/warning that whomever Trump appoints to head health agencies - Kennedy or anyone else - is going to undermine public health and cannot be trusted to give facts or evidence-based information to the American public or work in the best interests of the public at all.

Oh yes, you can make your many arguments that there is some level or another of equivalence or malfeasance anyway and wash your hands of it.

It is going to be bad and it is going to get people killed, just like his first time in office, but even worse. (and I didn't think that could be possible)