A week of health stuff not mentioned

My week last week was filled with a lot of activity, most of which I talked about on my personal Facebook, but not here. Many of those posts were topics I’d normally talk about here—precisely what I was talking about in my post last Wednesday. However, I realised that three of the posts shared related themes, and so, this post was the result.

Two of the three posts this past week were about things that happened last week, and one was about an anniversary of another event. In each case, there was more to the post than just the subject.

On Monday, I shared the photo up top and wrote:

Leo has a special message for you: His daddy just got his results from the National Bowel Cancer Screening Programme: Negative. No surprise at all, but Leo said he’s happy, anyway. I “poo it” again in two years. 😁

I actually talked about the latest test both on Facebook and here, and that was when the test kit arrived back in August of last year. However, I didn’t get around to it at the time, and by the time I sent it back, the kit had expired (they’re only good for six months). So, I got a new kit in the mail to do it again. This surprised me, but only because I didn’t think to look up when the first kit arrived, and in my mind it was October, not August. Now, of course, I completely get why I had to do it a second time.

I posted the sample using second kit on Thursday, the week before last, and the results were posted to the doctors’ website on Monday. I haven’t yet received a copy by post—not that I need one, it’s just that’s how I got my results the first time, in 2019. I got my next one on 2021, in the midst of the Covid era, and for many reasons (including Covid restrictions), I just didn’t get around to it. That means this was my first test in five years, and my next one will arrive in 2025 (maybe August, again?). At any rate, it’s great to get that off the agenda.

One thing that's not necessarily obvious about me sharing the test results is why I shared it at all: There’s a promotion campaign designed to get people to do the screening test, and there are plenty of lighthearted “poo” jokes and puns throughout the TV ad (like I did in my Facebook post; more are in the YouTube video I shared in last year's blog post). The point of the ad campaign is to de-stigmatise the test (and subject), and to normalise people looking after their own health. The test can catch many bowel cancers early, often before there are any noticeable symptoms. By posting about my own participation in the test, I hope to do my part to encourage others to do the test and to talk about.

Last week, too, I finally made it to the vampires for my annual bloodletting (the routine blood tests I get done every year). The same day I posted my bowel screening sample, I tried to fo the vampires’ closest location to my house, but there was absolutely no parking available, so I skipped it and went to the supermarket instead.

So, I decided that Friday was the day. I thought I should to go to the vampires on the other side of the city because there’s always parking at the shopping centre where it’s located. Unfortunately, I just wasn’t feeling it (poor sleep for a week, broken by some of the weirdest dreams I’ve ever had). I decided to try the vampires close to my house again.

The parking didn’t look and better Friday, but then I glanced over at the detached shop next door and noticed it was vacant (the shop had closed and moved out), and that meant their car parks were available (a few other folks also worked that out). I finally had my blood removed, then again went to the supermarket.

There were two other things I shared about the trip on Friday. First, I added a comment that mentioned the graffiti I saw when I went to the same vampires last year (a photo is at the link). It was actually on back wall of the now-empty shop, but the wall had been repainted solid brown, possibly recently because there was no graffiti. The other thing was at the end of my Facebook post, and somewhat cryptic. I wrote:

I had one of the bagels I’de bought, and I’m pleased to report that it didn’t try to kill me, like the ones I got a couple weeks ago. I suppose I should tell that tale sometime.

I actually expect to write such a blog post, but I have a few more things to evaluate in the AmeriNZ Test Kitchen.

Finally, last week was the fifth anniversary of when I was in Middlemore hospital again. They ended up shocking my heart back into sinus rhythm, then put me on a—and dangerous—drug to keep the rhythm normal. I posted about this on Facebook at the time, writing:

So, I’ve won another all-expenses paid trip to Middlemore Resort and Spa. This time it’s for a fast irregular heart beat. Not life threatening by itself, but annoying and uncomfortable. They’ll keep me overnight to monitor me, then in the morning doctors/cardiologist will suggest way forward so the afib is under control and my heart doesn’t race. In the meantime, nurses and doctors are awesome, as always, and not paid enough IMHO. Also, today I learned that Nigel loves me more than “Game of Thrones” (he was with me all day), so apart from that racing heart thing, not all bad today. 🙂

Of course, a mere four months later, my heart was broken when Nigel died, but it kept beating despite all the reasons I really thought it might not, The fifth horrible anniversary is now only a four months away.

A bit more than 19 months after the trip to Middlemore, and just under 15 months after Nigel died, I finally got the cryoablation procedure at Waikato Hospital, and that fixed my heart rhythm problem. This means that the cardiologists were right: I really was a good candidate for the procedure, and only needed one procedure (people sometimes need several treatments. They stopped the dangerous drug I’d been on as soon as the procedure was completed.

Even though it’s been nearly three and a half years since the cryoablation procedure, I still worry, in a low-key sort of way, that the rhythm problem may return, and that’s mostly because Nigel’s no longer here to get me through it. Of course there are other folks, but that’s not the point: Nigel isn’t here, and he’s the one person I’d want with me the most. Of course. After all, five years ago he gave up “Game of Thrones” to be with me! The truth is, he loved that show and it really did mean the world to me that he stayed with me.

There was one more thing about this story, something more lighthearted than the memory of five years ago and the horrible anniversary that’s looming. That other thing is clearly vital in these modern times: I learned to take a selfie the right way around, so everything’s not backwards in the photo I shared on Facebook five years ago, but not here. Actually, “learned” is a bit generous: I googled it—and then promptly forgot what I did. Some things don’t change. The photo as it should have been posted in 2019 is at right.

My health is sound at the moment—and all we can ever count on is one moment at a time. I’ll take that good thing. There’s a very good update to this story: So far, that 2019 stay at Middlemore was—again, so far—the last time I was in hospital, after several different stays—so far (I don’t want to tempt fate!). The cryoablation procedure was just a day procedure.

Last week I made several different posts on my personal Facebook about things related to my health (among other things). There will be more health stuff this week. Maybe be I’ll actually post about them here, and on time. Even I’m curious to see what happens.