Health Problems

  • Guest, it's time once again for the massively important and exciting FoH Asshat Tournament!



    Go here and give us your nominations!
    Who's been the biggest Asshat in the last year? Give us your worst ones!
Haus

Haus

I am Big Balls!
<Silver Donator>
14,178
55,728
So.. because the hits just keep on comin at Chez Haus...

I think I mentioned a while back about going into the hospital over an abscess which formed, and that they detected something on my left kidney. Found out about that today....

Urologist went over everything and says it's a cyst with solid complications, putting it at a 3 or 3.5 on the Bosniak scale. Told me there's around a 60-75% chance there's cancer involvement based on her experience with these. And that we should monitor it for 3 months and do another CT with contrast, but that the long term prognosis will be that she will have to remove it. And it's at 2.8cm and partially inside my left kidney, so that will mean partial nephrectomy. Upside is that she doesn't think I'll lose the WHOLE kidney, and that it's not threatening enough to need immediate surgery.

yay

My biggest question is still what causes these, for which there seems to be little consensus. Since both my wife and I have BOTH had cystic formations on our kidneys, and that just feels way too coincidental not to have some common thread. But as has been my experience with the medical profession in the US, everybody has a pill, a surgery, or a treatment, and almost nobody can tell you a cause half the time.
 
  • 2Like
Reactions: 1 users
Kithani

Kithani

Blackwing Lair Raider
1,314
1,688
Haus said:
My biggest question is still what causes these, for which there seems to be little consensus. Since both my wife and I have BOTH had cystic formations on our kidneys, and that just feels way too coincidental not to have some common thread. But as has been my experience with the medical profession in the US, everybody has a pill, a surgery, or a treatment, and almost nobody can tell you a cause half the time.
Click to expand...
To be fair knowing what caused something generally has very little to do with what to do about it moving forward. Not to mention everyone wants to know it was some weird chemical they were exposed to and not the fact that they ate crap and didn’t exercise etc. their whole life’s

Risk factors for renal cell carcinoma (RCC), the most common type of kidney cancer, include:

Lifestyle factors:

  • Smoking
  • Obesity
  • High blood pressure
  • Physical inactivity
    • Excessive alcohol consumption
    • Use of certain pain relievers (e.g., acetaminophen, phenacetin)
Environmental factors:

    • Exposure to certain chemicals, such as trichloroethylene
    • Use of pesticides and herbicides
    • Radiation therapy
 
  • 1Like
Reactions: 1 user
Gurgeh

Gurgeh

Silver Baronet of the Realm
4,925
13,489
Kithani said:
To be fair knowing what caused something generally has very little to do with what to do about it moving forward. Not to mention everyone wants to know it was some weird chemical they were exposed to and not the fact that they ate crap and didn’t exercise etc. their whole life’s

Risk factors for renal cell carcinoma (RCC), the most common type of kidney cancer, include:

Lifestyle factors:

  • Smoking
  • Obesity
  • High blood pressure
  • Physical inactivity
    • Excessive alcohol consumption
    • Use of certain pain relievers (e.g., acetaminophen, phenacetin)
Environmental factors:

    • Exposure to certain chemicals, such as trichloroethylene
    • Use of pesticides and herbicides
    • Radiation therapy
Click to expand...
Most people want to hear it’s bad luck and that there is a miracle pill.
They say 40% are preventable, I'm convinced it’s a lot more than that. Same for dementia.

Doctors tend to be jaded because most people will not even consider the slightest lifestyle change, even facing the most terrible diseases, but at the very least they show major benefit in combination with regular therapies.
 
Haus

Haus

I am Big Balls!
<Silver Donator>
14,178
55,728
Gurgeh said:
Most people want to hear it’s bad luck and that there is a miracle pill.
They say 40% are preventable, I'm convinced it’s a lot more than that. Same for dementia.

Doctors tend to be jaded because most people will not even consider the slightest lifestyle change, even facing the most terrible diseases, but at the very least they show major benefit in combination with regular therapies.
Click to expand...
Oh I don't doubt that there are lifestyle factors. I am overweight (but I don't think I'm clinically obese just yet.. not positive) But I do know I have high blood pressure (all the men in my family it seems). Haven't been a drinker of any significance in over a decade.

I'm more curious because my wife and I neither had this type of issue, then both developed it. And strangely enough, she cooks great and keeps me probably overfed, but we actually eat very different diets. So I was wondering about if there was something in our house potentially contributing that needed to be removed. It's an older house, but I had it checked for the "usual" suspects when I bought it (but that's really just lead and asbestos)

But also the Dr made me aware that this could have been growing slowly for a very long time, it was literally luck that I had to go the hospital for the other thing that let them catch it, and she said relative to the ones she's seen we caught this one "very early when it's smaller". (Which in my head contradicted the "growing slowly for years" part but whatever...)

Now it's all just getting things lined up and ready to have surgery around my 56th birthday.
 
Kajiimagi

Kajiimagi

<Aristocrat╭ರ_•́>
2,841
5,335
Haus said:
Oh I don't doubt that there are lifestyle factors. I am overweight (but I don't think I'm clinically obese just yet.. not positive) But I do know I have high blood pressure (all the men in my family it seems). Haven't been a drinker of any significance in over a decade.

I'm more curious because my wife and I neither had this type of issue, then both developed it. And strangely enough, she cooks great and keeps me probably overfed, but we actually eat very different diets. So I was wondering about if there was something in our house potentially contributing that needed to be removed. It's an older house, but I had it checked for the "usual" suspects when I bought it (but that's really just lead and asbestos)

But also the Dr made me aware that this could have been growing slowly for a very long time, it was literally luck that I had to go the hospital for the other thing that let them catch it, and she said relative to the ones she's seen we caught this one "very early when it's smaller". (Which in my head contradicted the "growing slowly for years" part but whatever...)

Now it's all just getting things lined up and ready to have surgery around my 56th birthday.
Click to expand...
Bro I never got a straight answer about my brain tumor. It took them a fucking month of back and forth arguing to even agree that it wasn't the type that makes me dead fast. You'll just have to deal with what you know and move forward. Best of luck!
 
Haus

Haus

I am Big Balls!
<Silver Donator>
14,178
55,728
Kajiimagi said:
Bro I never got a straight answer about my brain tumor. It took them a fucking month of back and forth arguing to even agree that it wasn't the type that makes me dead fast. You'll just have to deal with what you know and move forward. Best of luck!
Click to expand...
I know. It's the fact that I have chronic "engineer brain" so I see everything as a problem I need to analyze to resolve.
 
  • 1Solidarity
Reactions: 1 user
moonarchia

moonarchia

The Scientific Shitlord
24,982
46,257
Haus said:
I know. It's the fact that I have chronic "engineer brain" so I see everything as a problem I need to analyze to resolve.
Click to expand...
The time to resolve it was 20 years ago. Put that energy and effort into minimizing impact, and being as healthy as possible going forward. Step 1 is getting your diet and exercise in order.
 
Haus

Haus

I am Big Balls!
<Silver Donator>
14,178
55,728
moonarchia said:
The time to resolve it was 20 years ago. Put that energy and effort into minimizing impact, and being as healthy as possible going forward. Step 1 is getting your diet and exercise in order.
Click to expand...
I agree, but I'd like to know if it was something in the house, or something in the food/stuff we brought into the house. As we're about to build a new house and I want to not potentially take anything of this situation with us.

Like many, I know I struggle with big diet changes, but I also know the reasons, and unraveling those is more complicated it seems than "be more stubborn than your habits".
 
Goatface

Goatface

Avatar of War Slayer
10,282
17,089
1741788476427.png

had my 6 month check in with my endocrinologist for my parathyroid. all my levels were good, except vitamin d. in sept, she changed me from daily d3 2000ui to d2 2000ui. for some reason, she was sure she changed me from D2 to D3. i had to pull up where i messaged her nurse to make sure of the change, as daily d2 isn't carried by walmart, cvs, etc. anyway, now i am on 4000ui of daily d3 which is like 10x the normal recommend amount. i do get sun, so not sure what is going on. get it rechecked in may. going to have the simple bone density test tomorrow to see if that has gotten better/worse. my last test showed like 10% to 14% bone loss, which is osteopenia. believe osteoporosis is more than 24% loss.
 
ToeMissile

ToeMissile

Pronouns: zie/zhem/zer
<Gold Donor>
3,414
2,228
Goatface said:
View attachment 577713
had my 6 month check in with my endocrinologist for my parathyroid. all my levels were good, except vitamin d. in sept, she changed me from daily d3 2000ui to d2 2000ui. for some reason, she was sure she changed me from D2 to D3. i had to pull up where i messaged her nurse to make sure of the change, as daily d2 isn't carried by walmart, cvs, etc. anyway, now i am on 4000ui of daily d3 which is like 10x the normal recommend amount. i do get sun, so not sure what is going on. get it rechecked in may. going to have the simple bone density test tomorrow to see if that has gotten better/worse. my last test showed like 10% to 14% bone loss, which is osteopenia. believe osteoporosis is more than 24% loss.
Click to expand...
"I do get sun" is very vague. You can look into the factors of vit D absorption as well. I recall reading that more body fat = less absorption. I'm sure others here are aware of others.
 
  • 1Like
Reactions: 1 user
Gurgeh

Gurgeh

Silver Baronet of the Realm
4,925
13,489
Goatface said:
View attachment 577713
had my 6 month check in with my endocrinologist for my parathyroid. all my levels were good, except vitamin d. in sept, she changed me from daily d3 2000ui to d2 2000ui. for some reason, she was sure she changed me from D2 to D3. i had to pull up where i messaged her nurse to make sure of the change, as daily d2 isn't carried by walmart, cvs, etc. anyway, now i am on 4000ui of daily d3 which is like 10x the normal recommend amount. i do get sun, so not sure what is going on. get it rechecked in may. going to have the simple bone density test tomorrow to see if that has gotten better/worse. my last test showed like 10% to 14% bone loss, which is osteopenia. believe osteoporosis is more than 24% loss.
Click to expand...
4k ui is really a small amount compared to what you would get from the sun. Do you live up north? Because that would explain the drop through the winter.
 
ToeMissile

ToeMissile

Pronouns: zie/zhem/zer
<Gold Donor>
3,414
2,228
Also, not to be insulting, but the sun has to hit your skin for the vit D production to be kicked off. There's also factors like time of day/year, your skin pigment, etc. Pretty good overview of sun/skin stuff in this Peter Atilla video
 
sleevedraw

sleevedraw

Revolver Ocelot
<Bronze Donator>
2,063
5,860
More of a health insurance/Medicare video than strictly a health video, but for those of you who are starting to get close to Medicare age (or have parents that are) and considering whether to stick with Original Medicare + Medigap (MedSupp) versus going with Medicare Advantage (MA). This is a very impartial look and a good place to start your research.

Disclosure: I previously worked for an insurance company that underwrote MA plans, and I currently work for an insurer that underwrites MedSupp. I have no vested interest in selling either, this guy is not me, and I have no financial interest in this video.

 
You must log in or register to reply here.