As most of you know, I stand on the precipice of setting aside my pure human status and taking my first step to being a cyborg. I will not start off a $7 million dollar man, but at least a tens of thousands dollar man… I have been waiting for awhile to get my full hip replacement because I wanted a specific doctor – Doctor Jimmy Chow. Here is a video about him:
He has a new method of doing hip replacements that is much more difficult for the surgeon, but easier for the patient. Instead of making a huge incision so things can slide in and out – old dead bones out, new cyborg components in – he makes a smaller incision and does the work inside you. Here is what the difference is supposed to be:
As you can see, the last column, the way he does it, seems like a better way to go. Not that many folks do this new procedure, so he is always booked way in advance. As afraid as I am to get this done, the pain is so bad now that I have little choice. Those of you who are believers, please pray for me. Those who are not, spread some good vibes my way. I know tons of these procedures are done every day and the risk is low, but I almost died during my last heart cath, so I am still kind of freakin out.
Also, it did not help seeing the size of these things when I visited my great friend Ted Carpenter in the hospital after his accident. This is what it will look like:
It means invasive searches by TSA if I take a plane. If only I could get female super models to work there on my days… Here is what it looks like now. This is not MY personal MRI, mines actually looks worse. The dark spots are where bone is dead and there is no blood flow:
Unfortunately, in the MRI above, all the greyish area is completely black on mine…sigh. It really sucks, especially since it wasn’t my unhealthy living choices that led to this, but taking predisone and methylprednilisone for asthma off and on for 15 years. No one ever told me it could kill off my bones…sigh.
I will try not to whine about my problems anymore for awhile. Don’t want to be that old person who just talks about their aches and pains.
Last night at our Central Valley Writers’ Group, one of my good friends there told me his son-in-law is dying of incurable cancer. His daughter and his son-in-law are newlyweds.
God always has a way of making you feel petty about your own selfish concerns. My heart and prayers goes out to him and his family.
Michael Bradley - Time Traveler 