DrDenim

I don't know where to start with a reply like that. I don't want to write a novel here, but I also hate to say what I'm gonna say because I always hate hearing this kind of shite when I hear others say it....but here goes, If you were a bedside nurse and had done colonoscopy prep for your patients, you could understand what I'm trying to say.

Did you really think that the frustrating part was that I somehow objected to the objective of a purged gastrointestinal tract as a requirement for being considered "prepared" for a colonoscopy? No, it's the method, it's the faulty means of accomplishing that objective that frustrates me.

Sorry for being a day late, yesterday was May 11th, the 39th anniversary of the all time best wrestling promo ever recorded.

I don't know what help this message board can be, but if you're here asking this question.....that answers my first question for you without me needing to ask it (I think?).

Look through any of the discharge paperwork (or your wife and/or you may also have emails from MDACC), and look for your discharge instructions or look for anything labeled "discharge planning" or "What to do Next?" "Next Steps"....that is her instructions for what to do next. There may be contact information in this packet/folder of papers or emails, the email may just be links to click on and go set up an account at the MDACC patient portal. In fact, let's start there, I would hope this has already been done (it should have been), but have she (or you) set up her MyChart? If not, go to their website and do it!!!!


------------VERY LONG RANT FOLLOWS, FEEL FREE TO IGNORE....UNLESS YOU'RE INTO THIS KIND OF THING--------------------------------------

I know that sounds braindead simple and of course you have already done all of that, which is why you're here now asking the tigerdroppings.biz health and fitness board, but you have to understand that I've discharged a few patients in my time and I've been the one who went over the discharge paperwork with patients and their significant others and I've explained everything, answered every question, gone over every page and highlighted things I think need the extra emphasis or I've crossed out whole pages of things because it's unnecessary (usually just a page of medical lingo of no value to the patient), and I've seen patients then throw that packet in the trash before they leave, or they just leave it on the bedside table in exactly the same place it was when we signed it together. ( In defense of some people, some folks have confusion and/or bad hearing or there's some kind of barrier to them getting the message that this packet of papers is FOR YOU TO TAKE AND KEEP WITH YOU and sometimes we aren't careful enough to make sure people understand that). My point is, I've seen plenty of examples of people who were well cared for and given everything they were required to be given(teaching, instructions, equipment, medications, etc) and I've seen them later on claim to be oblivious as to what they were supposed to do next because "No one told me"....well, I often know that that is a lie, they were told and for some reason they didn't do anything with the information, but they will loudly claim otherwise. I also know that doctors and nurses are humans and they forget shite, don't do shite, lie about shite, etc, so I'm not completely absolving anyone here. I don't care to place blame here, too late for that to do any good, let's just move forward to get her hooked up with what she needs. The reason I'm typing all these damn words is to try to be very firm towards how I explain this to people. If you or someone you care about are a patient with serious medical issues, YOU HAVE TO TAKE CHARGE AND MAKE shite HAPPEN! I know it's not right, I know it's not fair. I know that the "people at the hospital/doctor's office/clinic/etc" should have done their job, but I know as well as anyone that that is not happening 100% of the time, hell maybe not 50% of the time. It shouldn't be like that but it is, so just resolve to be her best advocate because you have to be. It's like defensive driving tactics are often the only way to drive safely, it sounds counterintuitive but it works. I just want your wife to get what she needs, and you just sound like the kind of person who needs to hear this. Be more aggressive about getting all the answers as soon as possible and don't be afraid to be a pest and call quicker than you think you should, or call more times than you think you should. You can't risk falling through the cracks because you trusted other people to do what they said they would do, but didn't, and you wait too long to act or you(her)miss out on things that are essential. If you don't need to hear this, if it doesn't apply to you and her, I'm sorry, this wasn't intended to be an accusation.

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For a cancer patient, this kind of thing should have been done already(for every damn patient, obviously, but cancer patients are extra-special, (sorry I'm not sorry), that's what is aggravating me right now. I don't want to take it out on the wrong person, but I've been a nurse for a long while and this is our job. So either someone(s) at MDACC dropped the ball by not doing their job, or your wife (and/or you) were not listening. :wha: Sorry, I'm not trying to be a dick and accuse you and your wife being the issue here. I'm just saying it's possible. I can't relate to the stress you or her are in related to all of this because I've never been through it, so all I can do is try my best to imagine that's it all really confusing and overwhelming so I try extra hard to be patient at all times.

Here's the point:

If you don't find any information in her discharge paperwork, or don't have access to it anymore, contact CASE MANAGEMENT at MD Anderson directly and explain the situation to them. She is still their patient and it is their job to make sure she is set up to proceed with her care, they will help you.

MD Anderson Cancer Center - Case Management Navigators

If you have anyone's card and phone number/email from her time there, call them and ask for help getting in touch with case management, but otherwise call their main number.
Phone# 1-877-632-6789
I still think your best source of contact info is in the actual physical discharge papers, or looking on Mychart patient portal.

First link (Simple Peptides) wants "customers" to register before even looking at the catalog. I hate that, but I did it out of curiosity.
Second link, (Westend Medical) all the bacteriostatic water is listed "OUT OF STOCK"

Listen folks, right now, it's a desert out there for bacteriostatic water. At least, compared to how it has been in the past. I used to order it by the case, hopefully my supply holds out until things change again. If it doesn't, I will simply make my own at home again, it's not hard to do.

I've been buying medical equipment off the internet for a long time, always for personal use, and while my purposes are entirely legitimate, I am not following the prescribed pathway for obtaining my medical equipment because I hate being shackled to "what does my insurance pay for" bullshite scenarios. This does make the entire endeavor more of a pain in the arse, but it is what it is.

If I can find legitimate supplies on Amazon, I'll use them, but sometimes you have to go to other vendors that don't sell on Amazon. I'm not even talking about shady, black market bullshite vendors either, it's just a fact, Amazon doesn't sell everything that can be sold legally. Amazon goes back and forth on what they will sell you based on what the laws are in your state (or, more specifically, what is the shipping address that they are going to be mailing these syringes (or whatever) to?) I've often times had issues finding sellers that will sell me syringes that ship to my state/address, but usually this gets straightened out with the quickness because the sellers will reclassify their listing as something else that's not restricted. All of a sudden, syringes and hypodermic needles are being sold to "refill printer cartridges with ink" and shite like that. Or the classic, "it's for my diabetic cat" :lol:

1)buy sterile water for injection or distilled water if you like,(SWFI is available widely, but not on Amazon, distilled water you can make at home or buy a jug at the grocery store)
2)buy benzyl alcohol (Amazon actually has this, but is it legit? or is it like all the old "bacteriostatic waters" that Amazon used to sell? Which was total garbage.)
3)buy sterile, empty vials, syringes, needles and syringe filters (appears to me to all be available on Amazon, but if not, this stuff is easily ordered through medical supply websites or semi-underground vendors)
4)find the correct recipe/ratio of water to benzyl and squirt it all through a syringe filter into a fresh, sterile vial and voila! you have your own homemade bacteriostatic water now, which you will only use in a legal manner. Personally, I do a lot of cleaning of vintage electronics, stereo components and such. :thup: That's all I'm doing, I'M CLEANING STEREO EQUIPMENT OKAY, BACK OFF!

Oh, I see. Well, I never did it any other way than ordering it straight outta China, I've become accustomed to not letting rules stand in the way of me putting drugs into my body. I know, this is bad and dangerous and horrible. I'll pay for it dearly.

What kind of intense workouts? All cardio? All resistance? A mixture?

I'm not saying you have nothing to worry about in regards to your kidneys, but creatine supplementation will make your blood creatinine levels higher in most cases. (I say most cases because of this, I personally seem to be able to take up to 5 grams of creatine daily while doing at least 3 sessions a week with heavy barbell training and my creatinine levels remain stable at their baseline, but if I keep taking the same amount of creatine and back off on the intensity or frequency of weight training, my creatinine will rise a little, about 0.1. Or, when I upped my creatine intake to 10 grams daily, it has remained elevated. It could also be that you just need to drink more water, but sometimes it's just inevitable. Creatinine levels will rise if you take creatine.)

The main point I want to make is that the elevated creatinine levels (I'm assuming that is what your doctors are looking at, as well as a reduced eGFR) are caused by the creatine supplementation, not reduced kidney function. If you're worried about it, stop taking creatine and get a BMP or CMP tested and see for yourself. Or you could ask your doctors to order a cystatin-C test to get a different kind of kidney function test performed. If you truly have reduced kidney function, that test will show it.

That's where I'm at, my garage was great until it wasn't. It just got too damn cold, and I have a spare bedroom so I just moved my stuff in there for now. I want to do a insulation job in the garage and install either a 240V outlet for a heater or run a T-piece off my LP line so I can use a gas heater in there. I have to do something because I can't work out in that cold. I can swing the heat no problem, just open the garage door and blast fans.

But I've also decided that I want to build a shop and eventually I'll move all the gym gear out there as well as build a sauna and install a hot tub. I'll have all the space I need for all the equipment I could ever want and it should be quite a nice place to train and relax. I'm sure I'll manage to crowd it up though, that's how home gyms go, they start out simple and small, but just like anything, you expand into the space and before you know it you're thinking about expanding. :lol: :lol: :lol: I'm kinda lucky in that the fiance is 100% in support, but I think she doesn't realize that whatever goes into the shop/home gym, is going to take away from other things. If she realizes it's a "this or that" situation she may have different feelings. :rotflmao:

That's really cool, my 7th grade algebra teacher was this tiny tiny woman, and she ran the Boston several times back in the late 80s and through the 90s, that always impressed me so much because to me the Boston Marathon is THE marathon in the US. Is the entire course hilly or just some sections? I've never been to Boston in any way, for some reason I never pictured it as hilly.

I know that that is an idea I got from Rippetoe. It's an old Starting Strength video from long ago, where he was showing people how to make their protein shakes and I just thought it was so simple and tasty to me I really haven't done much else over the years.

In that sense, I'm the worst guy to ask about flavors when it comes to protein powders and protein shakes because I like to do it the Rip way. But it works, I don't do flavors, well, I do, but it's the flavor of whatever soda I use.

His "recipe" if you want to call it that is stupid simple, at the core you have the un-flavored protein powder (99.9% of the time I'm using whey isolate, but I think you can use anything as long as it's unflavored, hell...you can probably use flavors too), and instead of milk or water you use diet soda. Rip's old video was using diet root beer or diet orange soda.

1)diet root beer or diet orange soda poured into a blender and left to off gas the CO2 for several minutes

2)add un-flavored protein powder

3)add a splash of fat free coffee creamer(if I had to guess, this is about a teaspoon from watching him do it) (I've done this, but over the years I've dropped it because I don't feel it adds anything I want, I don't use fat free coffee creamer for anything else, so I can't justify buying it just to have it go bad in the fridge. I think his rationale was that it gave the final shake a creamier texture and it helped keep the protein powder mixed up in solution, this may have been true with older powder that mixed not so great, but I think it's superfluous)

4)With either the lid off the blender, or the center cap thingy removed from the lid, just hit that pulse button 5 or 6 times and mix up the shake, it'll foam up and fizz, especially if it's root beer, but it won't splash around too much or overflow, not if you let it off gas (go flat) enough, 5 minutes is enough)

That's it. Diet root beer/diet orange (zero calories, so....nothing) + whey isolate, so you end up with a whole bunch of protein (I do 2 scoops, so probably about 50g of protein), 1-ish grams of carbs, maybe 1-ish grams of fat, pretty flavorful, pretty "filling" and it's only 100-200 calories, depending on how many scoops you put in. I don't get really fancy with these things, it's just a vehicle to boost protein intake when needed, if I can't eat it all.

I've never used PYUSD, but that's just the coin, what wallet do you use, you mentioned Exodus. Are you trying to send it directly to someone's wallet from your Paypal account? Is there a crypto wallet app for Paypal? Like Coinbase has their own Coinbase wallet? Even if it did, I wouldn't send it that way. Send your PYUSD to a different wallet, such as Exodus, first, then send it.

I know this shite is confusing, I can remember (faintly) being very cautious with the whole process at the beginning and having a few hiccups sending. I eventually just decided to "practice" by sending small amounts of different coins to myself until I figured out a workflow. I have a paypal account, and it definitely plays a role in how I use crypto for purchasing (I buy coins from inside my Exodus wallet using my bank account that is linked to my paypal account), but I've not spoken to anyone who has done what you are asking. Sorry, this probably isn't that helpful.

QSC has a website?

Damn..I have not dealt with them in so long, I follow them on Telegram, see they are still active through reading threads at Meso-rx, but I never seriously considered using them again after they were busted and then resurrected. But as I've seen over and over....things change and change and keep changing. Vendors come, Vendors go, they lose discord servers, start websites, lose websites, change Telegram, get busted, disappear, come back like a Phoenix, etc, etc...It can feel like quite the saga, just paying attention to the histories of these different companies. I remember when it seemed like QSC was the only game in town, they had everybody else beat so damn bad on prices it was great! It's been an interesting learning process over the last 4 years for me.

Anyway, glad you got what you wanted at a price you're cool with(I'll assume). This comment I'm about to make may sound judgemental towards you or anyone else, it is not, it's just my opinion based off of what works for me. I hope everybody is able to find what they want/need in a way that they feel comfortable with.

There's nothing wrong with utilizing websites, if that's all a person is comfortable with, then that's how it has to be, right? (The shopping world of peptides, "research chemicals", anabolics, medications, supplements, etc, just gets waaaay bigger when you consider vendors who don't use websites, the risk kinda ratchets up a bit I feel as well. But I also feel that websites are utilized to create a greater sense of comfort/security for the buyers that isn't necessarily there in reality.)

Some folks are only comfortable buying things from domestic (US) sources, etc. That's cool too, it's just a little pricier(but it's also usually faster). I've had no bad outcomes buying things that have come to me from China or India.

Whatever a person is comfortable with and works for them so they can get what they want/need at a price they are comfortable with is "right" for all intents and purposes.

The best thing I've done for my health/fitness, and athletic performance in recent years was learn how to extend trust to "vendors" that do not operate through websites and do not parlay in USD transactions using credit cards and the like.

I learned how to find trustworthy sources through other channels and communicate with them through email or other chat apps, and finally... send them crypto!!! and then wait patiently until my little brown boxed surprises show up on the doorstep. If 2026 Dr. Denim could go back in time and tell 2022 Dr. Denim that he will someday be sending BTC to some stranger, that another internet stranger told me about on Telegram, I'd slap myself silly. But I've done it many times and had no problems, personally(although, FYI, shite does happen, I've just been fortunate I guess, I'm also patient, and I do a lot of research before I decide to deal with anyone, so I'm proactive about performing my due process)

As a result, I've been able to buy all that I need, including prescription drugs (branded or generic, but mostly generic for me), peptides, herbal supplements, you name it, and I've been able to get healthier, feel better, perform better, maybe fight back against the Unstoppable Clock of Life just a little bit better than I would have been able to had I not learned how to do this for myself. I've also saved a boatload of money in the process.

In the grand scheme of things, it seems like this should be "No big deal" but it has been quite empowering to me, I hesitate to say "life changing" but so far it's been all positives. I did what I HAD TO DO for myself and I have no regrets.