|
Raw Bytes Computer News KPBX FM 91.1 Radio National Public Radio Network Frank Delaney Producer Broadcast on Thursday Morning 7:35 AM During Morning Edition Support Public Radio ! The Theater Of the Mind |
In computer news this week 7/28/2004: |
|
|
Using the
internet for medicinal purposes when you’re facing surgery In the
Fall of last year I was told that I needed open heart surgery to replace a
faulty heart valve that I’d been born with. When I was
a boy I was kept out of PE classes in elementary school, but by the time I
got through high school it seems the treatment of such disorders had changed
radically, and I was able to enlist in the Navy and participate in the
intense physical training of boot camp just fine. I started
jogging in 1977 , although my times slowed down a
lot in recent years. I thought it was just old age but I actually had some
serious physical problems. In facing
open heart surgery for my valve replacement, I used the internet extensively
to learn about valve replacement procedures and the choices of replacement
vales and types available. There is a lot of information, just like any other
internet search you may do, and of course it is impossible to get through all
the web pages and information, and it can become more and more confusing as
you start amassing libraries of information. I was
also emailing some friends and associates of mine who work in the field. One
choice was to go with a mechanical heart valve that would require me to live
a somewhat restricted lifestyle after surgery – be careful of falling
and bruising – and then I would have to be on the blood thinning drug coumadin for the rest of my life – and to undergo
regular blood testing. This
mechanical valve made a clicking sound that some people with acute hearing
might hear. I was an intercept operator in the Naval Security group and I
still have bat hearing - this did not appeal to me. It
reminded me of the Peter Pan story about the crocodile with the clock in its
stomach that Captain Hook would hear ticking. The other
choice was to go with a biologic valve – specifically a pig valve
– which would allow me to return to a fairly active lifestyle and which
would not require me to be on blood thinning drugs for other than a few
months after surgery. There
were many differences of opinions in the internet data I collected, and in
the personal opinions of my associates as to the best type of valve, but for
me it was fairly easy – I didn’t want to live a restricted
lifestyle and I didn’t want to be on anticoagulant drugs the rest of my
life. I went
with the pig valve, and I now think I have heard about every pig joke there
is from people who know about it. I had surgery
in January of this year, and prior to it I had a heart catherization
to see the condition of my coronary arteries. The cardiologist said they were
beautiful, so I’m not sure if all the years of jogging paid off, or if its just hereditary. A pleasant
surprise for me was to meet my heart surgeon, a great guy from my own home
town of It’s
been 6 months now and I feel great. A recent echocardiogram showed that I was
back to 97% of normal heart function, and I’m walking over 100 miles a
month at a pace faster than my old jogging times. The one
negative I found of using the internet was that I would be looking forward to
an email from someone who had information for me, and instead it would be a
spam. There are thousands of internet websites with very good
medical information that you can use to gain knowledge about topics important
to you. For Raw Bytes This is Frank Delaney (C) 2004 MTA Micro
Technology Associates http://www.mtamicro.com/kpbx.html (509)624-7230 |
|