Strange Quarks

This year honestly hasn’t been the best for me health-wise. The up side was that I had to change GPs (the old one retired) and I found a good one.

Not long after 2024 started, an upper respiratory infection turned into bronchitis, and I ended up on a few rounds of antibiotics, ventolin, and steroids. Lucky it wasn’t worse.

That was followed by sinusitis and eustaschian tube dysfunction making me very cautious about flying, even taking a day long interstate train trip once instead. The last time I flew I used pressure change regulating earplugs. I still can’t clear my ears properly.

A couple of months ago I tripped on uneven paving and fell while walking to the bus interchange, a 12 minute walk from our house on a dark, wet night. I was holding an umbrella at the time and the handle impacted my ribs as I hit the ground. A fair amount of pain and anti-inflammatories for that. That’s mostly better and I’m lucky it didn’t do more damage (close to liver, my GP said).

A few weeks ago a crown-with-post fell out while I was eating. It had last been re-cemented 25 years ago, first having been implanted several years before, after root canal therapy. It could not be re-cemented this time because what was left of the root had cracked. So now I need to get the root remnant removed and an implant put in. That is not likely to be either fun or cheap.

A little over a week ago I had liquid nitrogen applied to my scalp to freeze off a seborrheic keratosis as I have had done many times in the past, then a few days later, “minor surgery” to cut out another one. The last time (different doctor, a dermatologist) I had this done, the after-care was straightforward (and explained) and the scarring was minimal.

I’m really not concerned about the biopsy result at this point, but based upon what I saw after changing the dressing a couple of days ago, I have very real concerns about how long it will take to heal, how well it will do so, and what the guy who did it (same clinic as my GP — recommended by him, so thought I’d “give him a try”) says he wants to do next.

I’m just melancholy due to being reminded of my mortality too much already this year. Even though I try to pay attention to health, problems arise when you least expect them.

It’s self-indulgent, but right now, I’m starting to feel that the future is closing in on me a bit.

But then, it helps somewhat to compare one’s situation to people in war zones like Ukraine, Gaza and Rafah, or to anyone with a life-threatening illness or injury, or to those we care about who “left the party” too soon.

EDIT: As it turns out, I should have been more concerned about my biopsy report. It was squamous cell carcinoma. My doctor appears to have removed it all according to the report. The wound has started to heal much better in the last 3 days as well. I am thankful and relieved, and I should express that more clearly to the doctor who noticed the somewhat unremarkable skin lesion and carried out the minor surgery, despite my skepticism about healing. In the end, I’m glad I “gave him a try”.

This entry was posted on July 20, 2024 at 9:45 pm and is filed under Life Musings. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.