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Hi there,
I'm starting this thread to answer a question that was in the PaizoCon thread.
But if you're tuning in late in the story- here's the gist.
Because the growth plate was messed up as a child, I literally have a smaller shoe size and small knee and so forth on one side. Literally the pelvis is not symmetrical, because half of it is smaller on the other side. And I wear this great big built-up shoe on the left foot, but I still limp because the doctor's deliberately keep me a little short on one side so I support all my weight on the longer foot.
Well, back when I broke it they didn't like to do joint replacements on kids (errr- and they still don't). Then as I became an adult, I was encouraged to wait it out as long as I could.
Thirty-one years later, the pain hasn't really gotten bad, but I'm pretty tired of being messed up. Being lame/crippled/handi-capable has just become pretty annoying. So I went to an orthopedic surgeon and the consensus was "You don't have to wait any more. That hip is horrible. Its a miracle that you're not in pain, but you waited long enough."
So I'm going bionic. They're going to give me the missing length length and the full range of motion- thanks to a new hip. And I should be all done with rehab just in time for PaizoCon.
And now you're caught up.
Congrats Jim, but I gotta ask, if you are going in for hip replacement, why the dentist?Whew, but there's a lot of hoops to stagger through. Gotta get cleared by the general practioner, gotta go to the dentist- I'm glad I started early!
Thanks guys!
Because if you have any sources of infection in your teeth they can spread to other parts of your body and cause the joint replacement to actually fail. It seemed strange to me too, but they're both bones. Bear in mind, I'm not a medical professional, I'm just explaining as I understand it.
They're not talking small superficial cavities, but if you get an infected tooth or a major bacteria source it can undermine the joint replacement.
May your recovery by swift and complication free. :) Also, I recommend a different dentist than Dr Yueh.
That's great news, Jim. <3 medical technology and cyborgs used for good not evil :)
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Well that does make a lot of sense, now that you've explained it. Being visible bone, I really did not make that connection.
Good luck with the surgery Jim, and a speedy recovery. And I hope you have a better visit with the dentist than I did two weeks ago (freaking filling still is a bit sensitive).
We can rebuild him, we have the technology...
Good luck with the procedure.
Instead of bionic, I'd ask for clockwork. Seems to be all the rage nowadays :).
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But will you be more machine than man?
Perhaps he will be more human than a human.
He'll be faster, stronger than he was before!
But will you be more machine than man?
Well, I have about a good extra fifty lbs of humanity to keep the scales from tipping too far in the mechanical direction! Sadly, they tipped too far in another direction.
Another reason for doing the hip replacement is the vicious cycle of not feeling like exercising, which makes you be unhealthy in terms of weight, which also makes you not want to exercise.
Fortunately my wife has arranged for a demonic physical therapist to walk me.
Come embrace the cyborg life Jim...we have cookies!
But will you be more machine than man?
As "The Frostfur Captives" will surely demonstrate, he's already twisted and evil. :-)
As "The Frostfur Captives" will surely demonstrate, he's already twisted and evil. :-)
Aaawww.. I'm always pleased and grateful to hear that people enjoyed Frostfur Captives. Thank you!
Not to be a shill, but in less than two weeks the The Haunting of Hinojai will be available. I'm bringing a 100% more evil and twisted, in what I hope is a challenging scenario that you'll remember for a long while after you finish it.
Barring that, I hope it doesn't suck. ;-) After I turn it over I'm never quite sure; which is why I'm always grateful for the eagle eye attention-to-detail of Mr. Mark Moreland.
Anyway, check it out! Its a very different, and very intense story!
Because if you have any sources of infection in your teeth they can spread to other parts of your body and cause the joint replacement to actually fail. It seemed strange to me too, but they're both bones. Bear in mind, I'm not a medical professional, I'm just explaining as I understand it.
Implants are foreign bodies so infection serious enough could potentially trigger human body's immune system to attack it and reject - apparently teeth-related infections are capable of causing infection serious enough.
Have a quick recovery.
Good luck man.
Chief Technical Officer
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Cyborg...yes. Whenever I think about surgery I am tempted to ask for some sort of GPS implant or homing beakon. That way when I get a little older I will never have to worry about being lost.
Ask for hands-free calling, too. Heck, maybe they can just implant OnStar and LoJack.
Cyborg...yes. Whenever I think about surgery I am tempted to ask for some sort of GPS implant or homing beakon. That way when I get a little older I will never have to worry about being lost.Ask for hands-free calling, too. Heck, maybe they can just implant OnStar and LoJack.
I'm growing concerned that Mark Moreland or SKR could arrange for a "Milestone Minder."
Or a 'Wordcount Counter'.
What a brave new world for freelancers....
Fuse the 'Wordcount Counter" with "Deadline-enforcer' that shocks the freelancer when deadline closes, with strength of shock inverse to the wordcount of article written.
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Cyborg...yes. Whenever I think about surgery I am tempted to ask for some sort of GPS implant or homing beakon. That way when I get a little older I will never have to worry about being lost.Ask for hands-free calling, too. Heck, maybe they can just implant OnStar and LoJack.I'm growing concerned that Mark Moreland or SKR could arrange for a "Milestone Minder."
Or a 'Wordcount Counter'.
What a brave new world for freelancers....
OTOH, if they do install OnStar and LoJack, just imagine how much easier it'll be to find your hip when it gets stolen or wanders off on its own!
On a related topic, my first job was in a grocery store. We had one customer that you could locate in the store because her artificial hip squeaked. As she walked, it was: "step, creak, step, creak, step, creak".
Hopefully you don't get one of those!
hope your surgery goes well.
OTOH, if they do install OnStar and LoJack, just imagine how much easier it'll be to find your hip when it gets stolen or wanders off on its own!
What a relief! These things are expensive! Warrantied for 20 years, more or less.
(Actually they tell me there is a cumulative 1% wear and tear factor, so some people are likely to need another one in 20 years = because you have a 20% of needing it to be replaced again... or it has suffered 20% wear. And it goes up 1% a year.
It's weird, because that sounds like actual game mechanics, not real artificial limbs.)
On a related topic, my first job was in a grocery store. We had one customer that you could locate in the store because her artificial hip squeaked. As she walked, it was: "step, creak, step, creak, step, creak".
Hopefully you don't get one of those!
No way?!
That's odd/funny.
Yeah, I'll listen out for the first couple weeks and make sure nothing is squeaking.
I guess there was a controversy with metal ball joints in metal sockets. Which had a long lifespan, but there were other issues (not to mention airport scanners were going nuts).
I think they're going ceramic on ceramic, or a high end plastic ball in a ceramic socket.
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Just a brief follow-up:
I successfully went bionic on April 10th. A week later I was home and writing for the Golem. No rest for the wicked!
I'm off the walker and walking with a cane now. They got me ALMOST the whole leg length back. I'm still a little short, but walking and sitting much more comfortably than I did before. (Conceding that I am still healing up)
Sorry I didn't say nuthin' but I appreciate all the well wishes leading up to it!
I should be off the cane!
But if I'm not.. I will be there anyway. I was shy last year, I'm looking forward to meeting people and talking gaming with everyone this year.
I'm a little worried that because I stayed off my day job an extra week (to heal up some more) that my day job will say I can't use my scheduled vacation time to go to PaizoCon.
But I'm not that worried. Its not like they pay me much very much, so I might go anyway. I don't love what I do (medical insurance billing), and they don't pay me much. Like a summoned outsider, that generally equates to not having very much power and control over me.
Ahhh.. I'm just making noise. I recently saw a TV interview with Stan Lee, and he was stressing about the need to do what you love as a profession, no matter what, and its sort of getting to me.
I am very happy to hear that all went well, and I wish you a speedy recovery!
Congratulations man. Good to hear all goes well.
... apparently teeth-related infections are capable of causing infection serious enough.
From first-hand experience, tooth infections are not to be treated lightly.
Mr. Groves, I am glad that things are going so well. Have fun at PaizoCon!
Thanks everyone!
:)
... apparently teeth-related infections are capable of causing infection serious enough.From first-hand experience, tooth infections are not to be treated lightly.
I concur. Oh so very much I concur.
*just had ten removed* >_<
Teeth are actually not what people think. When the body is set up, we start as three lumps: The ectoderm, the mesoderm and the endoderm. Generally speaking, the ectoderm becomes the outer surface and the brain, the endoderm becomes the inner surfaces, such as blood vessels, and the mesoderm becomes all the stuff in between, such as bones, muscles and fat. That the brain and the neural system is ectoderm is not that strange; it's not until far later in pregnancy that the skull roof covers the entire brain. Teeth are a part of the ectoderm that becomes the neural system, or the neuroectoderm. It grows its enamel and the entire structure. Tissues from the same lump are often sensitive to the same infections, thus certain parts of the heart, the brain are sensitive to tooth infections. Worse, teeth are sort of outside the body, so they can hold infections for long periods of time, and any artificial implants will risk catching those same bad news.
Thus, do take care of your teeth. Especially if you want to become bionic.
Yes, Sissyl is absolutely correct. Take care of your teeth!
As a bit of an extended version of the story.. after I had the tooth extracted I had a lymph node on my neck swell up, which is a sign of an infection. That put a halt to the surgery for a month. They put me on two weeks of powerful antibiotics and that seemed to do absolutely nothing.
So they did a CT scan, which didn't show anything remarkable at all. (Other than it was a small cluster of multiple nodes). So we waited another 2 weeks, and the swelling did absolutely nothing, and we were continuing to postpone the surgery.
So then they did a needle guided ultrasound and a biopsy on the nodes, and the pathologist ruled that it wasn't infected, that the tissue was just reactive.. or simply put- pissed off.
They ruled me fit for surgery finally and a month later the nodes are still somewhat swollen, but I spent a lot more money and had to wait wondering if when I could actually have it done. Yes, I had insurance and I pretty much hit my out-of-pocket max earlier, but nothing is free and it was stressful.
After all that I wished I had gotten in for more regular dental check-ups and cleanings.
By the way... I hope it all works out well, now and later, and that you never have to deal with prosthetic infections.