Silent letters

[Kellemora]

My late wife had Liquid Oxygen, and along with it refillable portable units, very lightweight compared to tanks.
She started out with an oxygen concentrator, but they didn't put out enough oxygen for her.
Rather than drag that 150 foot hose all around the house, I installed stainless steel oxygen pipes inside the walls leading to the bedroom, bathroom, den, and kitchen. Had the plate on the wall like you see in hospitals in each room. But I only had two regulator valves, one special one in the bedroom and one normal one in the kitchen. She carried the kitchen one with her to the bathroom or den. You wouldn't believe the inspections required to install that oxygen piping.

I think I got into the story about my new front deck with a ramp that the inspector wouldn't pass all because of 1/2 inch. We did finally get around the knot-head's many complaints by changing three components and adding a one inch layer of cement on top of the driveway for about 3 feet. This finally appeased him.

For a little over a year I had to go over to the hospital's annex to do my cardiac exercises where they kept us on monitors during all the banks of exercises. The only machine they had of those they had me on that I didn't have was the arm ergonometer. However, after I bought a new exercise bike, I took the old weighted type and turned it upside down so I could use my arms to pedal it. When I was having my stress test at the hospital, my heart doctor said I only had to lean into a door casing to get my arm exercises, so I got rid of that old bike, which made the frau happy to see it gone.
My wife joined Planet Fitness and I go with her as a guest when she goes, where I do their 30-minute exercise routine, and I get through it each time, and set it a tad harder for a while, then harder again, and they do have arm ergonometers there which I make use of too.

My next heart doctors appointment isn't until May of 2021, and I'm sure he will insist I get a stress test again.
That particular test scares the bejesus out of me the way they do it on the treadmill then just hit the kill button.
However, the doc said next time, due to how fast my O2 drops, they might do it chemically, which scares me even more.

Every three months I go to my regular doctor who has me get a lab test done each time, and one of those tests are actually ordered by my heart doctor for them to do, and he gets the results of that test, and probably all the rest too.
Even the Vampire who draws my blood says she has very few patients where she had to do so many vials of blood. Plus a couple of tests it seems only me and a couple of others have to get done, and theirs are six months apart.

[yogi]

I know very little about stress tests. The only ones I've been involved with were prior to my wife's surgeries. It makes sense to stress the system to be certain you can survive the surgery. Before you do the test they make you sign a waiver. You can actually induce a heart attack and die from this test. So, they want you to know up front and remove themselves from any liability. It's a choice of dropping dead during the stress test or dropping dead because you didn't have the surgery. The same kind of waiver needed to be signed each time my wife had chemo therapy. It's poison and it can kill you. So you have to choose to die from the poison or die from the cancer.

I can tell you my wife was a bit like yourself and didn't like the test or the chemo. She ultimately decided the risks of the treatment were less than the risks of the diseases. She made the right choices and survived it all. Many people do the same thing. It is without any doubt a high risk to stress a weak heart or to ingest huge quantities of chemicals. But, it has been done many many times with a lot of success to report. If you are not going in for surgery, I don't see why you need the stress test. But, then, I'm not your cardiologist. I think you actually might be in good shape considering all the cardio exercise you do. You might suffer oxygen deprivation, but I'm betting your heart will keep on ticking.

[Kellemora]

The heart doc thought I was doing great after my first heart attack, and he was a little surprised when I had the second one. It did cause more damage to my heart, but in the same place as the first, only now it was much worse, which was why I couldn't raise my hands above my head for two years. No sudden jolts either.
As gross as this sounds, apparently the dead back of my heart had to rot away and slough off leaving only a thin skin and muscle behind. The skin would thicken over time, and exercise will keep that poor muscle from deteriorating any further.
But at any time in that first two years, that thin film of skin could easily rupture, and/or bulge out and pop from the heart pumping. So there was nothing strenuous at all for those two years. I was just lucky I managed to get my plumbing work done after the first heart attack and before the second one.
On the bright side, my heart is now as strong as it can be, but still only about 20% functional since the back side is dead.
It has built some new small veins to that area which is also helping to thicken up the skin. But what muscle portions are gone, they will never be restored. However, I can make what is left stronger or keep it strong by exercise.
Now, if only the Lungs would cooperate eh!

[yogi]

I'd have to say you are doing all that is possible to do to keep yourself healthy. The most amazing fact about your heart is that it's keeping your body functioning even thought it only has 20% capacity. That is truly amazing. I thought mom was doing well for missing 1/3rd of her heart, but you have her beat by a mile.

I can't tell you my thoughts about your lung problem without sounding like I'm lecturing a young kid. I realize there is some permanent damage that cannot be overcome. But hey, it just doesn't make sense to fill them up with smoke when you are oxygen deprived. Enough said. I'll just leave it at that.

[Kellemora]

My dad only had 18% of his heart functional, but unfortunately they didn't have the drugs back then that we have today. So his heart kept getting larger until it was down to around 13%. But his actual cause of death was pneumonia which of course was brought on by a failing heart.

I've been on a smoking cessation program that might just work for me.
Started it on May 1st, and have been able to stick to it without having a single extra cigarette.
But now that they are over an hour apart while I'm in my office, it is getting really hard.
My office is the only place I do smoke, not in the house at all.

However, things I have cut out breathing in:
Asbestos dust from blowing out brake drums.
Asbestos dust from rewrapping steam pipes in the greenhouses.
Asbestos dust from drilling through asbestos siding to install furring strips for new siding.
Pesticides from spraying plants in the greenhouses and elsewhere.
Coal dust from loading the boilers with coal.
Candle soot since we no longer burn candles, got enough of that in previous years, hi hi.
Airborne oils from urns brewing the Speed Drug Coffee, I avoid places with lots of urns poisoning the air.
Diesel fumes from chasing after a bus, hi hi.
I do however stop and smell the roses from time to time!

[yogi]

I admire people who recognize they have a problem and make an attempt to fix it. You deserve many Kudos for your efforts to slow down and/or eliminate the intake of tobacco smoke. I acquired a terrible lung infection way back when I was a pipe smoker. I'm certain it came from the tobacco imported from Holland that I special ordered. It was powerful stuff. I felt I was safe because I didn't inhale the smoke. Of course that is a myth. Second hand smoke is as bad as direct injections. I also felt I was ahead of the game because I only smoked one pipeful a day, usually after dinner. Well, it came down to me coughing up blood and some terrible pains when I inhaled. The doctor never said the infection was related to my smoking, but I quit cold. After I healed, which took a couple months, I read up on the positive effects of quitting the habit. The most remarkable statement I read was that in about ten years your lungs would return back to their healthy normal condition. I asked a doctor or two about that and they had no evidence of such a thing, but they did all agree it is best not to smoke.

I don't know if I have any permanent lung damage or not. If I do it has to be minor. I just saw the doctor this morning and he said I'm sounding good in the chest. He doesn't need to seem me for 12 months. To be perfectly honest I don't know if continuing the habit would have made me worse than I am today. I have a few other problems not related to lungs that can do me in just as well. But, I do feel better and am moving right along for a guy my age. So, if nothing else, not smoking, in my case, is a psychological boost.

I don't have a list of things I quit doing to pollute my lungs, but there is one item that I think is critical. I moved out of the smog filled air up near Chicago to the relatively clean air of O'Fallon. That's the good news. On the other hand, I never had allergy problems to the same extent as I have them here. Somehow I think itchy eyes are better than corroded lungs. Maybe. Maybe not.

[Kellemora]

Ragweed is the most common cause of itchy eyes.
That being said, I have itchy eyes do to Blepharitis.

I used to smoke pipes, but I did inhale them.
I smoked Sail Regular four cans mixed with one can of Captain Black.
Ironic, everyone at work loved the smell of my pipe.
That was then. Today people complain about everything.

They say all the cells in your body replace themselves within a few years, but this is only true for the cells that work that way, other cells once they die, they are gone forever, which includes lung cells and brain cells among others.

[yogi]

I heard that same acclamation regarding all the cells of your body replacing themselves in seven years I believe it was. Well, some cells, as you point out, don't follow that rule. If they all did then your heart would eventual repair itself. So, I think the vital organs are exempt from that claim. The skin cells, however do fall off of their own accord and replace themselves. But, I have reason to suspect the validity of that happening in a few years.

About 15-20 years ago I was using some herbicide on my lawn. I don't recall the brand but it probably was Ortho manufactured because that is what was popular up there. The sprayer was attached to the garden hose and the small container was filled with the chemicals. I loved this method of treating the grass way better than using a spreader with granulated chemicals. Well, my hand got wet and I saw a small leak where the hose connected to the sprayer. I was anxious to complete the job so I just carried on with the wet hand. When I finished I noted my hand smelled like the weed killer. Apparently it wasn't clean tap water that was being sprayed on my hand. So, I went to the kitchen sink and washed up thoroughly. I even let my had soak for maybe ten minutes. All looked fine to me.

As you probably guessed already, all was not fine. It took a couple weeks for the hand to start blistering. It itched like crazy and reminded me of the time I got involved with poison ivy. Well, it took about a week for the hand to settle down and return to normal again. The skin was kind of calloused, but then it has just gone through some trauma. I kind of suspected that was a reaction to the herbicide, but I wasn't positive. To make a lengthy tale shorter, this skin problem kept coming back for about ten years. It gradually, very gradually, reduced in size until just before we moved down here to Missouri. It didn't recur for about a year beforehand and I've not seen it again.

My thinking all along was that there was some cell damage and that they would die off eventually and be replaced by that new skin that is suppose to grow back every few years. Well, it took at least ten years for my hand to normalize again. And, by the way, I do realize now how insane I was to allow this to happen. There are warnings all over the packages telling you not to touch this stuff, and if you do, call poison control and/or your physician immediately. I am now thinking how fortunate I was not to lose my hand, or more. What the hell was I thinking?

So, now I wear protective clothing and have rubber gloves to handle anything I put in the garden. The only exception to that rule is potting soil. It's fairly safe stuff, but I notice lately they are dousing it with chemicals so that you don't have to water or feed your plants as much. Back home, where I had about an acre of black dirt, I'd make my own posting soil. Down here the clay and rocks are not so friendly.

[Kellemora]

I had something similar happen, but it was from 2-liter soda bottles.
I worked Friday and Saturday nights and private reception hall.
Usually from around 7:30pm until the last person was out, which was often 1:30am.
All of the soda's they offered they bought in 2-liter bottles.
The part of my first finger below the knuckle got blisters at first then callouses.
When one hand got too sore I would switch to the other hand.
I don't remember how long it took for it to go away after that place closed down.
But at least once a year for around ten years here also, that area of both fingers would once again callous over for no obvious reason, then turn red and itch for about a week and then would slowly subside.
It got milder each year, but still it was the weirdest thing to happen every year.
I mentioned it to a dermatologist when I was there for something else, and she said I probably caused sub-tissue damage, and also was affected by the chemical in the plastic handling so many bottles in the same way every night.

Working in the greenhouses we had to protect our hands, because some of the chemicals we used back when I was younger if they even got under your fingernails it would be the same as ingesting them.
Folks don't think much about that with home use dilutions, but concentrated stuff is deadly.
We had a routine we had to do before we even put our gloves on.
We had this soft wax that we scraped with our fingernails until under the nails was loaded.
Most uncomfortable feeling, but you get used to it. Then a glove liner, not much unlike today's surgical gloves, only back then they were just thin rubber gloves, then our heavy black rubber gloves went over those.
For some of the things we used or sprayed we had to wear Respirator style masks, some with very expensive canister filters on them. Now I never handled the really deadly stuff my uncle had to use on occasion called Lethal Aire.
Before he used that deadly gas, every door had to be sealed so they could not be opened, and a huge sign hung on every door. As deadly as that gas was, it was actually the most environmentally safe product to use. Being it was a gas, it lost its potency in about 2 to 3 hours, and when mixed with outside air became neutralized. No residue on the plants.

Many years later several products were developed that were neither pesticides or fungicides, although everything, including water has a chemical name, they were not considered chemicals. For example: Diotomacious Earth aka swimming pool filter powder. Perfectly safe to humans and pets, deadly to roaches and some spiders. But too large to harm the smaller insects. But we had similar things that were safe to handle the small insects, aphids, etc.

[yogi]

I don't know how you managed to survive the greenhouse business. LOL Obviously you knew how to handle the chemicals and you actually followed good practices. I have an idea about the wax you put under your nails. My guess is it was bees wax. I have a cutting board and one of the things they say you can use on it to preserve it is ... bees wax. This prevents the organic matter from being absorbed by the wood. Apparently if it does get absorbed the organic material rots and can attract all kinds of deadly bacteria. So, Boos, the people who made the cutting board, sells a mixture of food grade mineral oil and bees wax that you can spread all over the cutting board from time to time.

Way back when corner stores were the norm I recall watching the butcher at our corner store use a wire brush on his butcher bloc. He would put a lot of effort into it and the center of the block was lower than the edges from all that scrubbing. After he scrubbed the meat particles off, he had a block of bees wax that he rubbed all over the block. I distinctly recall thinking he was nuts and never understood why he did all that work. Well, now I get it. LOL

[Kellemora]

Our butcher used some type of oil on his after a heavy cleaning. And it looked like you described, well worn down in the center and along the front edge. He would turn it around every so often, so the four corners were now fairly high. But every so often he would haul in a belt sander and lower those corners, hi hi.
All of our wooden cutting boards, and those my mom used, were drenched in alcohol and then coated with the oil she got from the butcher. The ones we had, we used a special olive oil on for treating cutting boards. It was probably regular olive oil but the label said it sanitizes and kills bacteria and pathogens. Now we only have plastic cutting boards. The only wood ones we have are used only for baking dough, for breads and cookies, nothing else. The only thing the frau does with them is she boils a pan of water and pours it over them before she uses them again. Said she was taught that by her mom. The water like reboils when it hits that wood.

The greenhouse business is a very hard business. People say they would love to work in a greenhouse, that is until they do get to work there for a short time and see what kind of work is really involved.
They soon discover it is only the matter of carrying splintery old wood flats filled with slime covered clay pots filled with dirty dirt and a hybrid weed sticking out the top of each pot. Then they go and clean the slime off the pots, and/or repot the plant into a new pot to send to the sales house, then clean the slime off all the pots so they can be reused again. Then they get sterilized along with another batch of dirt, which smells to high heaven when being sterilized, hi hi.
In other words, the main job is tote and retote, change it, change it, and rearrange it, hi hi. As the plants grow they need to be potted up and/or spaced out further, and further, hi hi.
We had one lady who was surprised that a little 14 inch by 8 inch flat of planted seeds or cuttings would end up filling an entire 100 foot long 6 foot wide greenhouse bed, by the time they reached salable size. Nor how many times they had to be repotted in between. Yeppers, it's a lot of work, which is glad after my stint in each greenhouse I ended up in the cut flower shop, hi hi. Even then it is not a bed of roses, hi hi.