Steve's Journal

i_love_muscle said:
OMG ... that just makes me cringe with pain.

So is your shoulder worse now because of that incident? Geez ... and here I am whining because my bicep tendon isn't healing fast enough ... I'm such a wuss.
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I would say that incident created a less severe injury than the initial injury. It is now in very bad shape (obviously) due to other events that aggravated it more. I was body slammed into a table during school and my shoulder was in a lot of pain for a long time after that, and then another aggravating injury was cliff jumping and landing with my arm straight out to my side...it was interesting trying to swim back to shore with one arm.

So yes these days it is worse. I cannot do a DB military press, I can't do chest flys, i can't do reverse flys, can't do any kind of DB exercise on a Stability ball.

Like I said money is the big factor in not getting it repaired. I know my original surgery was not entirely covered by my parents insurance back in HS and the PT was a long winded battle to get the insurance company to pay( i.e. "Why does he need PT? Does he HAVE to go see a PT or can he do these exercises by himself?")
 
firefreak said:
I would say that incident created a less severe injury than the initial injury. It is now in very bad shape (obviously) due to other events that aggravated it more. I was body slammed into a table during school and my shoulder was in a lot of pain for a long time after that, and then another aggravating injury was cliff jumping and landing with my arm straight out to my side...it was interesting trying to swim back to shore with one arm.

So yes these days it is worse. I cannot do a DB military press, I can't do chest flys, i can't do reverse flys, can't do any kind of DB exercise on a Stability ball.

Like I said money is the big factor in not getting it repaired. I know my original surgery was not entirely covered by my parents insurance back in HS and the PT was a long winded battle to get the insurance company to pay( i.e. "Why does he need PT? Does he HAVE to go see a PT or can he do these exercises by himself?")
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I'm not familiar with American health care, so bear with me here.

You're telling me you have to pay to have surgery on your shoulder to fix it? Isn't it free? It's free in Canada. But you might have to wait awhile to see a good surgeon ;)

You'd get at least $500-$1000 worth of physio here with extended benefits, and your out-of-pocket medical expenses can be written-off on your tax at the end of the year.

I'm horrified that you have to pay to get your shoulder fixed.
 
i_love_muscle said:
I'm not familiar with American health care, so bear with me here.

You're telling me you have to pay to have surgery on your shoulder to fix it? Isn't it free? It's free in Canada. But you might have to wait awhile to see a good surgeon ;)

You'd get at least $500-$1000 worth of physio here with extended benefits, and your out-of-pocket medical expenses can be written-off on your tax at the end of the year.

I'm horrified that you have to pay to get your shoulder fixed.
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Yes I know. My ex-gf had surgery to correct scoliosis a few years ago (she apparently slipped through the cracks of hs scoliosis exams all those years). Her back was at some ridiculous deviation too...so bad that he rib cage was misshapen and her sternum was inverted (i.e. bowl shaped) and her spine started to twist her torso so her left side was out further than her right. She went in for the the surgery to get the titanium rods inserted and attached to her spine and in the end the insurance picked up about $60,000 and her parents had to pay $10,000.

To put it further in perspective, my boss' wife was pregnant with their 3rd child. Their OB said "i want you to go get another ultrasound in 2 months to just check something" (don't worry the baby was fine) and when they went in the insurance company said "no we won't pay for that. it's an unnecessary procedure." Umm, excuse me? A doctor ordered ultrasound is unnecessary?

THIS is whats wrong with american health care...yet no one wants to go to a universal health care and government run system cause dang nabit all those wealthy insurance CEOs and Execs wouldn't be making millions of dollars anymore!
 
firefreak said:
Yes I know. My ex-gf had surgery to correct scoliosis a few years ago (she apparently slipped through the cracks of hs scoliosis exams all those years). Her back was at some ridiculous deviation too...so bad that he rib cage was misshapen and her sternum was inverted (i.e. bowl shaped) and her spine started to twist her torso so her left side was out further than her right. She went in for the the surgery to get the titanium rods inserted and attached to her spine and in the end the insurance picked up about $60,000 and her parents had to pay $10,000.

To put it further in perspective, my boss' wife was pregnant with their 3rd child. Their OB said "i want you to go get another ultrasound in 2 months to just check something" (don't worry the baby was fine) and when they went in the insurance company said "no we won't pay for that. it's an unnecessary procedure." Umm, excuse me? A doctor ordered ultrasound is unnecessary?

THIS is whats wrong with american health care...yet no one wants to go to a universal health care and government run system cause dang nabit all those wealthy insurance CEOs and Execs wouldn't be making millions of dollars anymore!
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It's kinda getting like that up here, too. If you don't want to wait for your procedure, you can opt to pay full price. So the rich get their medical care first because they can pay (and they also get the best doctors), and the poor stand in line and wait ...

It's so FUBAR.

We all deserve to receive the same standard of care, regardless as to how rich or poor we are. There goes one of my very few socialistic streaks ... but when it comes to health, I'm pretty socialistic ;)

I just hijacked your thread. Sorry :(
 
No worries about the highjack ILM. I completely agree that the medical system in this country is FUBAR.

Thursday 11-13-08

Breakfast: 1 bowl strawberryfields/cinnamon harvest w/fresh blueberries
Snack: Yogurt; cheese stick
Lunch: PB&J on WW; apple; granola bar; water
Snack: Apple
Dinner: Left over thanksgiving meal from Wednesday
Snack: Medium Hot Chocolate
 
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Friday 11-14-08

Had to take Theraflu last night to get to sleep. Kept coughing from a tickle in my throat. Woke up feeling not much better. Head it stuffed and sneezing a lot.

Breakfast: 1-1/2 bagels with butter
Snack: Yogurt
Lunch: 1/2 Roast Beef w/melted mozz and onions on garlic bread; apple, string cheese.
Snack: Apple; granola bar
 
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Some update photos. We are approximately 3 months into the diet/lifestyle changes and 5 weeks into hitting the gym. sorry the pics are not as high a quality as when I first started. My digital camera and I have parted ways. She died a quick painless death as she fell through the hole in the plastic bag and smashed with a dull thud into the corner of the brick, severing her "flashy" images.

body-nov17002.jpg


body-nov17007.jpg


body-nov17006.jpg



BTW...taking these kinds of pictures with an iphone is impossible!!!!!
 
Been staying on track with the diet. Had Chipotle for lunch today as I am giving blood at 6 and want to be fully loaded. I figure once in 3 months won't hurt and that maybe is an acceptable excuse. haha.

Have some lifts and cardio sessions to post up. will do so later :)
 
It'll be my 3rd time this year! Hopefully this time goes better than the last time...damn nurse put the needle in so that the bevel sat against my vein wall...took them 30 minutes to fill half the bad and to realize it was moving slow and then once the doctor came over and turned the needle slightly took 3 more minutes to finish. Ironically I said I didn't want to do the ALYX machine cause it would take too long...but took longer. lol.
 
Did you have a bruise from that?

It's always nice when the nurses actually put the needle in so far, it comes out the other side of the vein. That's always a pleasant sensation ... and it leaves a horrible mark on your arm. That happens to me a lot, and I'm not quite sure why, because I have huge veins in my arms. I honestly think phlebologists get excited when they see my arms coming ... although unfortunately, I can't give blood anymore :(
 
just checking in. got another compliment, this time from someone here at work. feels good that people are noticing my belly fat getting smaller.

Been staying consistent with the diet so I won't bore you all with the same repetitive meals.

I haven't been able to get to the gym since Tuesday last week. Was busy with blood donation, EMT exam, duke basketball game, a seminar on Saturday and fire department training on Sunday with work to my car afterwards, and got home way too late yesterday and was spent.

Will be hitting up the gym tonight after work, and tomorrow. Have a 5 miler on Thursday morning. Should make some room for Thanksgiving Dinner. :)
 
i_love_muscle said:
Good for you for giving blood.

I love blood donors. One blood donation can save up to three lives. It costs nothing and gives so much.
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Then you'll love me, ILM!:love3: Four-galloner here, been donating since 1984. Have donated at least annually, usually much more, except when I went to Costa Rica and Brazil and this year because of my open heart surgery, I had to wait 1 year before donating.
 
g8r80 said:
Then you'll love me, ILM!:love3: Four-galloner here, been donating since 1984. Have donated at least annually, usually much more, except when I went to Costa Rica and Brazil and this year because of my open heart surgery, I had to wait 1 year before donating.
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That's a lot of blood ;)

So yes, me loves you, too :mrright:

It's such a great thing to do. More people should do it. We need blood. Does the US still pay you to donate blood? Canada doesn't pay you to give blood. It's completely voluntary. The only reward we get is feeling good about doing it ;)
 
i_love_muscle said:
That's a lot of blood ;)

So yes, me loves you, too :mrright:

It's such a great thing to do. More people should do it. We need blood. Does the US still pay you to donate blood? Canada doesn't pay you to give blood. It's completely voluntary. The only reward we get is feeling good about doing it ;)
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They've been really pushing the donation points on people. Its like a credit card where you earn points...donate get points...eventually you get a gift certificate for x amount of $s. they do that for platelets too, so you can really rake in the $$ since you can donate every few days.

I'll stick with whole blood donations every 8 weeks. 4 more trips and I've joined the 1 gallon club :)
 
That's 16 pints -- again, lots of blood :) I do like blood :D

Point system? That's cute. Whatever works ;)

Thanks for giving the gift of life, firefreak! Me loves you, too :mrright:
 
I haven't seen a whole lot of "cash for blood" but a lot of free t-shirts as well as the points card type things that Firefreak already mentioned. We have blood drives at work and most times there is a drawing for a free gift basket or something similar. I'm not sure how many new donors it brings in but it's a nice concept.

Each time I give blood they do some basic lab work and send you the results. Total cholesterol, liver enzymes and a few other tests. So, it's kind of a beneficial thing. Give blood, get free bloodwork!

Next blood drive for me, December 18th!
 
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