Quote from: 18hammers on Oct 15, 2023, 09:02 PMI have not heard of it, I will check it out though. I had a few Morphine Sulfate pills and a few Cyclobenzaprine to help with the pain. I used them up fast and then only had Tylenol #1 after that. I wish I could have stayed in the hospital for 6 days and been kept in a comma until the swelling stopped, it was that bad. I had no idea skin could stretch so much without bursting. Yes, I can be upright with the help of crutches and hobble around ok now. I know I am lucky, It could have gone much worse.I hope in a few more days I can get around without crutches.

Unfortunately, they won't keep you anaethitized into a comatose state like an anaesthesiologist does during surgery to keep you obliviouus to pain for more than a few hours, a day at the most.  You have to be constantly monitored or you can easily be overdosed and never wake up.  During my worst 3 months prior to the amputation of my right leg (which had gone septic and they were trying to close the wound) I got 20 mg oral morphine every 4 hours, and when it was really bad, an IV drip of a 5% morphine solution on top of that.  That does a good enough job of dulling the pain so it's tolerable, but you are not unconscious.

They sent me home with a bottle of 120 10 mg Percocets, which have 10 mg oxycodone together with 325 mg tylenol as a 1 month supply, 4/day.  After a month or so I decided to go cold turkey and stop altogether instead of weening off it, and had a hellacious 2 week long withdrawal.  I stayed off pain meds for a couple of years after that, basically just learning to compartmentalize it and live with it, since they make it a real pain in the ass nowadays to renew your narc prescription.  Your regular PCP (Primary Care Physician} won't do it, due to licensing and malpractice issues.

After getting sick again with a new case of cellulitis which caused my remaining leg to blow up to the size of the Hindenberg, I got put on oxycodone again at the hospital.  After a cuple of months here at the SNIF, the suprvising doctor would not sign off on the order to keep it coming, so now I have to go every month to a Pain Clinic, where I chat with the Pain Doc about where it hurts and the type of pain, and we chit chat about what meds are available and how to juggle them around.  Don't take too much Tylenol BTW, it's bad for your liver.  Right now I added Lyrica which is a ind of nerve blocker and use 7.5mg Percocets 4X day as well.  This is fine at the moment, and I am making no attempt at getting off it.  I get a ride once a month to the clinic, the doc signs off  on anther order, and they ship up the pills from the corporate pharmacy in the lower 48.  Medicare covers the cost, no clue how much the pills cost each month.

Pain really sucks, and nobody ever can really know how bad yours is, because everybody has a different tolerance level for it, and different resistance to pain meds as well.  The longer you take narcs, the greater your tolerance gets, so to get the same effect, you need higher doses.  When you really need it though in the hospital, as long as you scream bloody murder nonstop for a few hours, eventually a doctor will write an order for some decent narcs.  They wanna make sure you are really serious about it and not just taking them for fun. lol.

RE

My fluid buildup in my legs was caused by Cellulitis.  Is that the name of what is causing yours?  If so, it's very dangerous and can spread rapidly if not treated with antibiotics.  Just draining the fluid isn't sufficient to cure it.    Ultrasound testing won't reveal it, they need to biopsy the skin to find out what type of bacteria is responsible for the infection.  Before the results come back on that though (takes a couple of days to culture the samples) it should be treated immediately with a broad-spectrum antibiotic to prevent or at least slow further infection.   You need IV antibiotics for this, not pills.  Hospitalization is necessary.

This disease is life threatening if not treated quickly.  Hopefully it is not what you have, but if it is, you need to be in the hospital and admitted yesterday.

RE

Quote from: 18hammers on Oct 20, 2023, 05:02 PM

Quote from: RE on Oct 20, 2023, 01:58 AMMy fluid buildup in my legs was caused by Cellulitis.  Is that the name of what is causing yours?  If so, it's very dangerous and can spread rapidly if not treated with antibiotics.  Just draining the fluid isn't sufficient to cure it.    Ultrasound testing won't reveal it, they need to biopsy the skin to find out what type of bacteria is responsible for the infection.  Before the results come back on that though (takes a couple of days to culture the samples) it should be treated immediately with a broad-spectrum antibiotic to prevent or at least slow further infection.  You need IV antibiotics for this, not pills.  Hospitalization is necessary.

This disease is life threatening if not treated quickly.  Hopefully it is not what you have, but if it is, you need to be in the hospital and admitted yesterday.

RE

No, the Doctor called it a Hematoma, not cellulitis. The largest they have seen. It feels much better having been drained. The side is all tapped up to keep compression on it.

Hematomas can produce similar symptoms to cellulitis.  Yours likely was a result of trauma, particulaly if you take some type of anti-coagulant to reduce the chance of blood clots which can cause strokes.  Yuo can read a bit about it from this study

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7948628/

In conclusion, elderly patients with reduced resilience and weakened connective tissues who are taking antiplatelet or anticoagulant medications may present with haematoma formation mimicking cellulitis. Thus, haematoma should be considered one of the differential diagnoses for cellulitis in such cases, especially for those with a prior history of trauma.

RE

Quote from: 18hammers on Oct 20, 2023, 07:49 PMThat  was not a fun read.

Generally speaking, getting old is not fun, so reading the details about the process is even less fun. I have a morbid fascination with it though, so I like to stay abreast of my own decay as I inch my way closer to my date with the Grim Reaper.

RE

Quote from: 18hammers on Nov 14, 2023, 06:55 PMthe constant pain in the right foot is a bitch

I highly recommend narcotics for constant pain. 

RE

Quote from: 18hammers on Nov 14, 2023, 09:25 PM

Quote from: RE on Nov 14, 2023, 07:20 PM

Quote from: 18hammers link=msg=900 date= 1700016925the constant pain in the right foot is a bitch

I highly recommend narcotics for constant pain. 

RE

I agree, they work but supply, or more correctly constant supply can be a problem.

I have not had any problems with supply on either oxycodone or percocets.  I haven't used morphine in a while so I don't know about supply issues there.

RE

Quote from: RE on Oct 07, 2023, 06:49 PM

Comparing the top of the monument in the video to its current condition, does it look like it has weathered more than expected? Particularly the pins that appear to hold the top plate on?

Quote from: TDoS on Dec 02, 2023, 05:55 PM

Quote from: RE on Oct 07, 2023, 06:49 PM

Comparing the top of the monument in the video to its current condition, does it look like it has weathered more than expected? Particularly the pins that appear to hold the top plate on?

Did you take that photo recently?  When did you go by there?  If so, I would say the neodymium magnets are oxidizing faster than I expected.  I thought the epoxy coating would keep the air out better.  I wonder if they still hold their magnetic properties?    Did you try sticking any ferromagnetic object to them?

Those magnets aren't structural, they are a surface decoration.  It's pinned together from the bottom where the uprights are, which is protected from the elements more.

I kind of expect the stones to eventually be cannibalized and individual parts taken as souvenirs.  That stone globe particularly is a one of a kind thing, that was tough to have engraved.  The dodecahedron and tetrahedron also were tough because of the non-square angles.

RE

Quote from: RE on Dec 02, 2023, 07:18 PMDid you take that photo recently?  When did you go by there?  If so, I would say the neodymium magnets are oxidizing faster than I expected.  I thought the epoxy coating would keep the air out better.  I wonder if they still hold their magnetic properties?    Did you try sticking any ferromagnetic object to them?

Photo from early November. Didn't realize they were magnets, looked like support pins or some part of holding it together. The locations on the US map look like they are doing the same thing. Are they magnets?

Quote from: TDoS on Dec 03, 2023, 07:18 PMPhoto from early November. Didn't realize they were magnets, looked like support pins or some part of holding it together. The locations on the US map look like they are doing the same thing. Are they magnets?

Yes, the ones on the globe are magnets also.  Not just on the US map, also one on Rio de Janeiro in Brasil and another on Sydney, Australia.  All the locations I lived for 2+ years.  The idea was visitors could attach a memento to any of them.  The top ones were to attach a metal top piece which I never got round to having welded together.

I must say you have made me extraordinarily happy to have had at least 1 person who is familiar with my years writing on collapse that has visited the monument.  How did you find it?  It has been years since I last published the location.

I myself have not been back to Springfield since the final placement of the stones, at least 5 years ago by now I think, so that's a good little interval to see the initial wear & tear.  I am not sure of the process on rusting with Neodymium, if it rusts through and corrodes away completely like Iron, or if once the surface oxidizes it protects what is beneath like Aluminum.  I would guess at least for now they still hold their magnetic properties, but if/when they oxidize through they no longer will.  Very powerful magnets though when new.

I don't suppose you got photos of the 12 Principles of Sustainable living for Homo Sap on Earth?  I can't find any of my old files with that stuff on it.

For anybody else who wants to make the trek there, it's at Greenlawn Cemetery on North National Street in Springfield , MO, 37 degrees N latitude, 93 degrees West longitude.  I used to have the location to 4 decimal places, I also can't find that. 

Other than the rusting magnets, structurally it looks to be pretty solid and the site looks like it is being well maintained with good gas powered lawn tractors and Monsanto weed killer.  I wonder how long before it becomes all overgrown?   Anyhow, I think that cemetery is pretty safe from being developed with McMansions dropped on top of it before we get full on collapse.

RE

Quote from: RE on Dec 02, 2023, 07:18 PMI don't suppose you got photos of the 12 Principles of Sustainable living for Homo Sap on Earth?  I can't find any of my old files with that stuff on it.
RE

I can't quite make out 5-6 and 12, they are behind the shapes, but having the others might remind you of the missing.

Quote from: REFor anybody else who wants to make the trek there, it's at Greenlawn Cemetery on North National Street in Springfield , MO, 37 degrees N latitude, 93 degrees West longitude.  I used to have the location to 4 decimal places, I also can't find that. 

https://greenlawnmemorialgardens.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Greenlawn-maps.pdf  Section C is the general location.

https://web.greenlawnfuneralhome.com/api/Inter/Search
Search for Christopher Cantrell, born in 65, passed in 96, Section C, Lot 252. Spit hard enough from that headstone and you'll hit the SUN monument.

Quote from: TDoS on Dec 07, 2023, 07:05 PMhttps://web.greenlawnfuneralhome.com/api/Inter/Search
Search for Christopher Cantrell, born in 65, passed in 96, Section C, Lot 252. Spit hard enough from that headstone and you'll hit the SUN monument.

Double thanks!   

I can't make out the text either, but that's OK.  Gives people a reason to go visit the monument.

Great shots btw, and it looks overall like it's holding up well, particularly the Stonehenge Headpiece which I was most concerned about because of the small size of the stones and small suurface area for the glue.  They are drilled and pinned of course, but the epoxy covers the whole joining area.  Not sure what the lifespan on that stuff is.

The pins are also made from steel rebar, which will eventually oxidize even though it should be pretty well sealed airtight.  I wanted them to use basalt rebar, but it is very hard to come by and can only be purchased in large quantities.  That stuff never rusts, like the stones themselves.  So in a few hundred years the stones probably will come apart pretty easily.  Pretty heavy to pick up and run off with though, except for the small ones at the top.  Well, the polyhedrons also not too hard to carry.  The real prize for the grave robber of the future though is the Globe.  Embedded inside the globe and inscription stone are Secret Chambers which hold copies of my DNA, photographs on paper and a 10,000 word brief history of my life on earth on acid free paper, as well as a micro SD card with about 1.000.000 words of blogs I wrote, and a longer biography, if there are computers around to read it.  I only expect that if someday the dead earth is visited by Aliens and an alien Indiana Jones finds the stones. 

If anyone else wants to visit, 2 weeks from now on the Winter Solstice at High Noon, the SUN should fall directly between the uprights of the Stonehenge, if the whole stone was placed on the correct axis.  Still not sure about that or if I was 90 degrees off positioning the Stonehenge before pinning it.    Same true for the Summer Solstice, which is a nicer time of year to go visiting.

RE