Yay me! I'm above average!!!!!!

ManglerYJ

ManglerYJ

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 20, 2005
Location
Lexington, NC
So I turned 50 this year and have had a pretty persistent wound on my cheek that I thought would heal, but hasn't. Went to the doctor and after a biopsy determined it's a basal cell carcinoma (skin cancer). I am scheduled for surgery as a result. During the physical, it was noted that at the time of my last physical I was overweight (or undertall) checking in at that time as 5'11 and 232 lbs. The Average 50 year old 5'11 male weighs 202.5 lbs so I was already above average then. It was a real wake up call to find that in the past 10 years I had gone up to 263 lbs, but hadn't grown an inch (in height anyway!).

So, this new found weight which has been the result of copious amounts of Blackstone food and very little exercise is now being replaced with a 2400 calorie a day diet, limiting sodium intake and exercising whenever I can.

Oh, my blood pressure is also way above average, so double yay me!

Super Bowl Sunday (or Junk Food Sunday as we call it at our house) will be toned down at least for me this year.

After I recover emotionally from having to drop the weight and actually live healthier, I'll make the Dr. Jellyfinger appointment. Not looking forward to that.

 
ManglerYJ said:
I'll make the Dr. Jellyfinger appointment. Not looking forward to that.
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Trust me (and there are more than a few members here that have had their own experiences that can verify), there are far worse, more modesty-robbing, and more intrusive procedures and exams they can do to a man than the ol' finger-stick. And I'm not talking about a colonoscopy, either. Bend over, take it like a man, and be thankful that's all it is.

This isn't the garage, so that's all I'll say.

Sorry about the cancer. Are they doing MOHS? Wife has had that done a couple of times. First time was a long day of cut/test/cut again. Last time was one and done, and headed home in an hour.
 
kaiser715 said:
Trust me (and there are more than a few members here that have had their own experiences that can verify), there are far worse, more modesty-robbing, and more intrusive procedures and exams they can do to a man than the ol' finger-stick. And I'm not talking about a colonoscopy, either. Bend over, take it like a man, and be thankful that's all it is.

This isn't the garage, so that's all I'll say.

Sorry about the cancer. Are they doing MOHS? Wife has had that done a couple of times. First time was a long day of cut/test/cut again. Last time was one and done, and headed home in an hour.
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Was initially going to do MOHS, but the more the plastic surgeon looked at it, the size and location meant the long day of cut/wait/test/cut/wait/test, etc. of which I don't think I could have tolerated. If he could have been sure it would be a one-and-done, I'd have gone for it, but instead, I will be put under general anesthesia and wake up with a skin graft in it's place. That is if my blood pressure is down enough to be able to do the surgery. I get a night before and morning of valium to hopefully help with that.
 
Some people don't cope well with old age, & I'm certainly one of them! I've been the same basic weight for the last 20 or more years, which Is overweight. At 5'11.5", I always claimed 6'. And for years, I've stayed around 230#. Up until the last 5-8 years, I was pretty active, both at work & home. My daily walk, is down to 3-4 days, a week, depending on weather. After 50, I believe our bodies, start settling. And you feet get Wider. I've known for some time, I was down to 5'11". But after my vertebrae operation, Dr. says I'm now 5'10"! And still 230#. I Still have a weak back, & pretty sure Arthritis, is getting much worse! Blood pressure, cholesterol, thyroid, & you name it, is controlled by meds. Damn, at 71+, I feel I'm too young to be an invalid, like my Body is telling me!
 
rodney eppes said:
Some people don't cope well with old age, & I'm certainly one of them! I've been the same basic weight for the last 20 or more years, which Is overweight. At 5'11.5", I always claimed 6'. And for years, I've stayed around 230#. Up until the last 5-8 years, I was pretty active, both at work & home. My daily walk, is down to 3-4 days, a week, depending on weather. After 50, I believe our bodies, start settling. And you feet get Wider. I've known for some time, I was down to 5'11". But after my vertebrae operation, Dr. says I'm now 5'10"! And still 230#. I Still have a weak back, & pretty sure Arthritis, is getting much worse! Blood pressure, cholesterol, thyroid, & you name it, is controlled by meds. Damn, at 71+, I feel I'm too young to be an invalid, like my Body is telling me!
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I had no idea you was 70 plus. Life just wears on the body. Blessing to live those years and a curse to decline in the doing. Seeing both sides of the fence with friends and close family I used to think dying in your prime was not so bad....you know going out doing what you love. Now the refection in the mirror tells me its more about the people you love and those who love you over the other.

A good life seems to be a darn hard balancing act.
 
Well the operation was successfull so far. They didn't end up having to the the skin graft and the surgeon seemed happy with how it will turn out. Just waiting on them to test the skin that was removed to test the margin around what was cancerous to know for sure that it was one and done.

So here's how dumb I felt. I have one hand with an IV in it and the other hand is by my side. When I came out of it, I was slow to wake up and my vision was a bit blurry. I didn't thnk to try to rub my eyes with my free hand, but the fact that I thought my vision was blurry caused them alarm and wanted to keep me longer. COme to find out they had put some kind of vaseline crap in my eyes that most people wipe out first. They didn't bother to tell me that. Once my wife came in and told me to stop telling them my vision was blurry and to wipe the goop out of my eyes instead, I was fine and cleared to go home.
 
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Hope they got it all! I see a dermatologist every year, for a check & get some old spots frozen. Two years ago, I questioned a spot near my left ear. He had missed it, until I pointed it out. He wanted a surgeon to do this one, as they needed to make a deep cut. So they /he did, & had a plastic surgeon sew it up. It was benign, & once it healed over, there is not even a scar! The cut a circle about a pencil size round. I don't know how deep it was; guessing 1/4 -3/8 ".
 
rodney eppes said:
Hope they got it all! I see a dermatologist every year, for a check & get some old spots frozen. Two years ago, I questioned a spot near my left ear. He had missed it, until I pointed it out. He wanted a surgeon to do this one, as they needed to make a deep cut. So they /he did, & had a plastic surgeon sew it up. It was benign, & once it healed over, there is not even a scar! The cut a circle about a pencil size round. I don't know how deep it was; guessing 1/4 -3/8 ".
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My wound was about a 1" by 1" hole that they biopsied. I go for my post-op appointment on Wednesday, but the office already called and said that the margins were not clear, so the doctor is trying to figure out what the next steps are. His initial thought was that if we didn't get it all to just monitor the location and see what happens. As a result of the size of the wound and the location of the repair, it's about a 3" stitching that goes up my cheek. He all but guaranteed that I will have a scar and I'm good with that. I was just tired of it bleeding all the time.
 
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