Walks in the garden do await.  I wish I knew how to take a picture and publish it on the net.  We own a old corner lot from the 50's, which means it huge.  Back yard the size of several more modern yards.  a few years ago we took out an inground swimming pool and incorporated it into the rest of the yard, which is an organic garden with a dozen or so herbs, vegs, some fruit trees, succulents, flowers of all kinds--plants everywhere.  It's pleasant to spend time in.  And of course, tending it takes time.  So, lucky for me, many more walks in the garden with and without tools. :)

Quote from: Mike Cl on October 21, 2022, 07:37:11 PMWalks in the garden do await.  I wish I knew how to take a picture and publish it on the net.  We own a old corner lot from the 50's, which means it huge.  Back yard the size of several more modern yards.  a few years ago we took out an inground swimming pool and incorporated it into the rest of the yard, which is an organic garden with a dozen or so herbs, vegs, some fruit trees, succulents, flowers of all kinds--plants everywhere.  It's pleasant to spend time in.  And of course, tending it takes time.  So, lucky for me, many more walks in the garden with and without tools. :)

Make an account at imgur and add images there. You can then post them on this site. Some highly moderated sites allow direct uploads from your computer, but atheist sites in particular (that I know of) require posting from an image posting site. The buzz is that it keeps the porn at bay, but I don't know about the veracity of that bit of information, I just follow their rules. Political example-

Update. My condition is called myelodysplastic syndrome. The myelo part means marrow. The dysplastic part means misshapen. So, my bone marrow produces teardrop shaped platelets which are also too large and at the rate of 1/2 of what I need. I just finished four once a week shots, called procrit. My hemoglobin came up .3 units improvement. The Dr. said that is not unusual, and that this treatment could go on for months. So, it will be 4 shots a month for who knows how long. If a treatment is not found then I'm looking at leukemia or another cancer, but the dr. has found no evidence of that and does not expect it to happen because she calls my case a light version of MDS. I asked what caused it and there is not any particular reasons for it--she said it was an effect of living--as one enters 'old age' almost everybody gets something.

I feel sort of normal (energy wise and physical strength) and as the day moves along I grow more tired. At night I'm really ready for bed. I was hoping for improvement over the last month, but it was not to be; yet I do have hope that the coming months will see improvement. It has been made clear by my dr. and the internet that I will never fully recover; but I am NOT giving up. Another downer is that I cannot do any gym exercises because the lack of oxygen in my body could trigger a massive heart attack. So, walking it is. I am certainly more in touch with the idea that one should be appreciative what one has (health wise, loved ones wise and just life in general) and stop and savor it from time to time.

Well, shit. Here's hoping that you maintain at least some quality of life! I have bone marrow issues, as well. I blame mine on years of having had my hands awash with gasoline containing tetraethyl lead, and a host of other chemicals that, unbeknownst to me, are carcinogenic. I've been readying a house for sale, and am not yet ready to get a doctor-ordered bone density scan. Probably not too bad, I tripped over the strap of a bag of pipe wrenches getting out of my son's truck, and nearly face planted. My right wrist hurt a bit, but nothing was broken. That asphalt came up really fast! 8^D

Quote from: Dark Lightning on December 01, 2022, 07:07:09 PMWell, shit. Here's hoping that you maintain at least some quality of life! I have bone marrow issues, as well. I blame mine on years of having had my hands awash with gasoline containing tetraethyl lead, and a host of other chemicals that, unbeknownst to me, are carcinogenic. I've been readying a house for sale, and am not yet ready to get a doctor-ordered bone density scan. Probably not too bad, I tripped over the strap of a bag of pipe wrenches getting out of my son's truck, and nearly face planted. My right wrist hurt a bit, but nothing was broken. That asphalt came up really fast! 8^D

Well, Dark, I hope you too can have some quality of life.  I do appreciate the life I do have left in me and will not go down without a fight.  At some point I will lose that fight, but that will be death and I have not lost any sleep over that.  I do appreciate each day that I am alive. 

Quote from: Mike Cl on December 01, 2022, 07:27:40 PMWell, Dark, I hope you too can have some quality of life.  I do appreciate the life I do have left in me and will not go down without a fight.  At some point I will lose that fight, but that will be death and I have not lost any sleep over that.  I do appreciate each day that I am alive. 

Thanks!

Well, I am back from the dead too. I went to hospital for flank pain a few days ago, got some morphine and that barely touched it. I have stoned kidneys, oh joy. That's what I get for eating my spinach.

Getting old isn't for wimps.

Mine are just on a slow slide. Given that I grew up in the desert, where we used to go hiking for hours without bringing any water, I'm amazed about no stones, but understand why the damage. I also have macular degeneration, but it's stable. I told the last eye doctor that that is because of damage from watching burning magnesium in my misspent youth. One of my friends' dad worked in a machine shop. The friend used to go in on Friday and weekends to sweep up, and used to bring home shopping bags of shavings to play with. Pyrophiliac, here. 8^D We had us some great fun with it!

I'll be getting cataract surgery on Thursday. I'm really looking forward to once again being able to ogle the pretty young women, since that's all I can do with them these days...
😍

To wrap this up---I have cancer, but an odd one. It's called myelodisplastic syndrome and causes my bone marrow to produce about half the red blood cells (and hence much less oxygen than my body should have) and they are bigger and of an odd shape than they should be. I am taking procrit injections once a week in series of 4. On my 3rd round. My dr. was pleased with my progress--even tho it is slowly, slowly raising my hemoglobin count, it is working. So, this will be the treatment for the rest of my life. It is not curable and like many cancers it is not known why I have this condition. But I have it. It is very rare (goody for me) and occurs in about 1 in 100,000 people. And most of the 'people' who have it are passed the age of 65 and male. So, my advice for all you guys past the age of 65, get a blood panel looking for this condition. If found early it is manageable; if found too late it usually goes to leukemia. I guess it's just another joy of being in my 'golden years'---:)))).

Hey, I get up early in the morning, take my dogs for a walk, come back and have a mug of coffee--life is good!

Good luck to ya.

Yeah, live your best life.

Procrit shots did not work.  Had another heart attack a few days ago--sort of an odd one, I guess.  Had horrible chest pains and went to the local emergency room.  They said I had had a heart attack (a mild one, if there is such a thing) and saw in the blood work that my hemoglobin count was very low and gave me a transfusion.  I was told that I would be sent to the hospital I was sent to before--my local hospital does not do heart stuff.  12 hrs later I was transferred. Two days later, my cardio Dr. came to visit and he told me that I had not had a heart attack, but failed to mention what it was.  I knew that my mds is what caused my heart not getting the oxygen it needed.  After another transfusion I was sent home.  My oncologist indicated that a very low level of chemo is next up.  So, now I get to have chemo for 7 straight days a month, with each session being about 1 1/2 hrs. each.  Yeah--I'm looking forward to that, for sure.  Oh well, as Forest Gump said--shit happens.   

Quote from: Mike Cl on March 07, 2023, 08:10:27 PMProcrit shots did not work.  Had another heart attack a few days ago--sort of an odd one, I guess.  Had horrible chest pains and went to the local emergency room.  They said I had had a heart attack (a mild one, if there is such a thing) and saw in the blood work that my hemoglobin count was very low and gave me a transfusion.  I was told that I would be sent to the hospital I was sent to before--my local hospital does not do heart stuff.  12 hrs later I was transferred. Two days later, my cardio Dr. came to visit and he told me that I had not had a heart attack, but failed to mention what it was.  I knew that my mds is what caused my heart not getting the oxygen it needed.  After another transfusion I was sent home.  My oncologist indicated that a very low level of chemo is next up.  So, now I get to have chemo for 7 straight days a month, with each session being about 1 1/2 hrs. each.  Yeah--I'm looking forward to that, for sure.  Oh well, as Forest Gump said--shit happens. 

Does this happen to you? Whenever I have a serious health problem, I'll go to bed at night and when I wake up in the morning, sometimes for a few minutes I seem to forget something is wrong. And then I remember.
"Oh yeah. That's right, I'm sick." Well, that sucks.

You aren't dead until you're dead. Illigitimi non carborundum est.