In the last few weeks, there’s been multiple media reports on the increased risk of cancer with common radiological tests due to radiation exposure, however minimal it may be.

Due to this concern, a website called “X-Ray Risk.com” was developed that calculates your increased cancer risk based on type of test, age, and gender.

For example, a CT Neck (a common CT test ordered by ENTs) on a 35 year-old male increases cancer risk by 0.046%. A chest x-ray? Only 0.001%.

Check out the website here.

Well, I’ve gone and done it now haven’t I?

Does this look like a hospital bracelet? Why YES! Yes it is, and see that’s my keyboard. I’m actually at work. I ESCAPED, Mwahahahahah!

Well, truth of it is, I was at the hospital this morning bright and early (730am). I got to register, and find out how much my Christmas present to myself was going to be. It is way, way, way too much. Basically, I get a diagnosis, and a treatment. Which in the end will make me feel better, right? You can’t beat a present like that. A radiology test. I’m just too good to myself. Thanks self!

Allow me to explain, a week ago when I found out about my dad. I had an appointment at the endocrinologist where I found out I have hyperthyroidism. See my foodie-ism has a name after all.  Along with my hot flashes, rashes, moods swings, appetite and heart pounding stress. It was not just my age (aka getting old). It was actually a thyroid going berserk (phew!).

The Doctor scheduled a radioactive iodine image test to determine which thyroid ailment I have. Apparently, the dye goes through the thyroid and leaves it’s tell-tale signature (so I hope). They read it, then the doc can treat it. But first, I have to SWALLOW radioactive iodine (ahhhh!).

Yeah. That’s a little scary. The instructions were no food or drink after midnight (I had a TINY sip of water at 1205am-Sorry!).  They did NOT say no Mexican food, nor one lil ol’ margarita for dinner (gee, I hope I don’t mess this up). Then, come in at o dark thirty (NO COFFEE) to the hospital. So I do so, begrudgedly.

And I get pulled over by the hospital police.  Yeppers, I did. I am very sorry officer. I was just looking for where to park and didn’t really notice the people trying to cross at the crosswalk. I mean, obviously, I stopped at the stop sign cross walks, but not the other four in between (that’s a lot of cross walks). Ooops. Thank you for taking pity on me. It was very sweet of you to think I was a new hire. 

I get inside and  fill out a mountain of paperwork. This is the same hospital I had my daughter in. They still had my records (15yrs ago!). Then, they send me to the basement (never a good thing), where they take me to a room (padded cell). They ask me a zillion times if I’m pregnant or could be pregnant.

I answered a ZILLION times, NO, not possible. I have no fallopian tubes. But I am glad they are thorough. Can you imagine if that happened to someone? (shudder) The nurse explains everything about the procedure. Then, she asked the other zillion dollar question. Have I had ANY fish or shellfish in the last seven days. I have not, and I really missed my Sushi night (pout).

The nurse gingerly holds a tube (lead encased-I’m sure) with gloves on. She ever so lightly taps a pill into a medicine cup. I am having the hardest time not squirming away. The pill was ORANGE (aahhhh!). She tells me to throw it back in my throat and swallow. DO NOT TOUCH THE PILL (whimper). Like a Champ,  I toss that sucker back, and OH YES IT DID GET STUCK, right on the back of my tongue. I take a drink, STILL STUCK, then it moves to the roof of my mouth, and FINALLY down the hatch.

Crap! How is it supposed to go down your throat when your mouth is like sandpaper after no food or drink? I just radioactivated my brain and my teeth. Wonderful. The second pill went down much easier, thank goodness.

Then I waited to start glowing or something. Seriously, my vision is a little hazy (that could be the 4 hours sleep). For today and tonight, I am not allowed any dairy products, fish, nor can foods. I am supposed to eat “fresh”.  For me, that’s worse than eating nuclear pills.  A veggie fresh diet? Well, maybe it will start something good. I go back tomorrow and they will do images of my neck. Weee!

As for blogging, I am trying to get back in the swing of things, after a week away. Sydney leaves for Mississippi on December 19 until January 4. Our Christmas with Jason, the girls, and Kyle is December 18. FOUR days! I have four days to shop and that’s all. We know what gifts we are getting her. It’s just getting it. Yeah, that.

It’s also Jason’s birthday month. He is a New Year’s Eve baby. Isn’t that the sweetest? I decided to gift him a present every day for his birthday month. They are not big presents, but I attach a little note to each one, to let him know how special he is. It’s not easy to have a gift EVERY day. I really am putting thought into them (well…some are thoughts of HIM sharing, HEH). His birthday is so close to Christmas that I concluded- what better way to make it special and unique – at least I’m trying to. I think I have up to day #18 packaged. I have another weeks worth ready to be wrapped. It has been soooo fun. I have loved doing this.

I have some wonderful blog posts in the drafts that I haven’t had time to write.  Another timeless one, a bloggy bling parade, and a gift of Christmas that will touch your heart. As well as, a few pictures from our outing to Bethlehem Revisited on Saturday night with the kids.  As soon as all the hospital visits, shopping,  and gifting slow down, I will happily get them done. 

 In the meantime, don’t turn down your screen. It’s just me pulsating with my radioactive self.

Weird. My previous post of bdata.grf mysteriously disappeared o_o;

So, I encountered this problem on my test server wherein the characters’ palettes is all weird and funky. I really hated those palettes… Anyway, they were from Skotlex’s awesome but outdated bdata.grf. What I basically did was merge someone’s (forgot the name but it should be in the credits.txt that comes with the download) .grf and Skotlex’s so that it’d work for newer clients (normal and Xray) and voila, I got the normal, cool palettes.

This works for Xray 11.0.0.1, 12.0.0.1, 12.0.0.2. Feel free to mirror. Enjoy!

[ Download ]

Diagnostic equipment includes medical imaging machines, used to aid in diagnosis. Examples are ultrasound and MRI machines, PET and CT scanners, and x-ray machines.

(ULTRASOUND SCANNER)

(MRI SCANNER)

(PET MACHINE)

(CT SCANNER)

(DIGITAL X-RAY MACHINE)

2.)THERAPEUTIC EQUIPMENTS

Therapeutic equipment includes infusion pumps, medical lasers and LASIK surgical machines.

(INFUSION PUMPS)

(SYRINGE PUMPS)

(MEDICAL LASER)

(LASIK SURGERY)

3.)LIFE SAVING EQUIPMENTS

Life support equipment is used maintain a patient’s bodily function. These include medical ventilators, heart-lung machines, ECMO, and dialysis machines.

(PATIENT VENTILATORS)

(HEART LUNG MACHINE)

(HEMODIALYSIS MACHINE)

4.)MEDICAL MONITORS

Medical monitors allow medical staff to measure a patient’s medical state. Monitors may measure patient vital signs and other parameters including ECG, EEG, blood pressure, and dissolved gases in the blood.

(VITAL SIGNS MONITOR)

5.)MEDICAL/CLINICAL LAB EQUIPMENTS

Medical laboratory equipment automates or help analyze blood, urine and genes.

(CLINICAL CHEMISTRY ANALYZERS)

(URINE ANALYZER)

Well, as I sit here and write this post so much goes through my head. We headed to the hospital yesterday to see A’s respirologist. As I have said in previous posts, I truly wish we had met this man sooner. He is amazing in every single way and really knows his stuff. And he is the ONLY doctor that has taken what A does VERY VERY seriously and is very confused as to why his issues have not already been dealt with.

So, as it sits right now we are waiting for “the call”. A is going to be admitted to the PICU for a period of time and will not be able to come home until he has some sort of ventilation.

His issues at night have continued and this use of oxygen has been very concerning to me as this is not something that he *needed* in the past. Yes, he has always had issues with desats, but not like it has been lately. I have been saying that I feel like he is going downhill and that is the same thing that his resp. doctor thinks. He told me that kids with issues that A has get worse, not better.

So the plan is going to be to try to get A used to wearing Bi-PAP at night while he sleeps. “Bi-level Positive Airway Pressure; Used to treat sleep apnea, and other sleep related breathing disorders; Delivers alternating levels of inspiratory pressure (IPAP), or higher pressure, to keep the airway open as a patient breathes in, and the expiratory pressure (EPAP) is lower to reduce the work of exhaling; the BiPAP can be set to drop the level at specific intervals, or upon demand.”

Children usually take some time to get used to this, so depending on how well A does with it will depend on the length of our stay. The good thing is that he has not had his soother since he was ill in October. This would definitely be an issue as the Bi-PAP mask goes around his nose and over his head. And with him only taking his soother upside down and sleeping on his belly, it would have been next to impossible.

The other added bonus is that he really really wants to sleep on his back now, however I have not been able to allow him as his saturations are always lower and he just doesn’t breathe well. Bi-PAP will be MUCH easier if he is sleeping on his back.

*IF* the Bi-PAP does not work then we will have to talk deeper about a tracheostomy. When he mentioned it to me yesterday I said that I didn’t know if I could do a trach to A. His exact words were “well here is the question to answer it for you. Do you want your son to live or die?” I started to cry. Of course I want A to live, but a trach is a HUGE deal. It is a major surgery. It would change his life completely and ours. It is not something I take lightly.

Now with all that has been going on, he is very concerned about A having issues with his heart because of how much harder it has to work for him with all of his breathing issues. So they will doing another echo to check on things. One of the big issues that can happen with severe sleep apnea and the apnea that A has daily is right heart failure.

Another thing that was talked about was these big “spells” that A has. He thinks that they *could* be sudden pulmonary hypertension spells where the vessels all clamp down which cause him to go very blue and not breathe. I sit here wondering why on earth no other doctor has even suggested this could be the problem????

So it looks like we are in for another hospital stay. I feel more comfort in the fact that this is being done in the ICU but I am still very scared of what the future holds yet again.

The other issue that we have to deal with is A’s night feeds. His respirologist wants him off night feeds, no ifs ands or buts. This is proving to be VERY difficult and for now I just can’t make it happen. I didn’t do a feed last night but today just did not work out to give him more feed. He was refluxing like crazy with his second feed and that was only at noon. I will be lowering the night feed by 10mls/hour but that is the best I can do for now.

A’s x-ray from our last appointment did show that he does have interstitial lung disease. I specifically asked A’s chest team at Sick Kids *if* he could have this and they said no. Yet again, another question in my mind.

This is day two of no beds being available. I just pray that we get one soon because I am so afraid that my little man is going to be spending Christmas in the PICU.

- Κάποτε, μπορούσαμε να στείλουμε mail μέσω του sendmail που έτρεχε κάποιος άλλος, μόνο και μόνο για να παρακάμψουμε routing problems, πχ. dimitris%hypernet.hyper.gr@info.forthnet.gr.
- Τώρα δε μπορούμε, οι mail servers αυτοί ονομάστηκαν open relays και χρησιμοποιήθηκαν για να στέλνουν spam..

- Κάποτε, μπορούσαμε να χρησιμοποιήσουμε το DNS που έτρεχε κάποιος άλλος, ακόμα κι αλλάζαμε providers..
- Τώρα δε μπορούμε, γιατί χρησιμοποιήθηκαν σε “reflector attacks” και όχι μόνο recursion, αλλά ούτε καν την cache τους δε μας δείχνουν..

- Κάποτε, μπορούσαμε να κάνουμε zone tranfers ελεύθερα, και να βγάλουμε στατιστικά με το Xray που έκανε ο @kangelos για το .GR domain και τους top hosting providers.
- Τώρα πια δε μπορούμε, και το μόνο που μπορούμε να γνωρίζουμε για το .GR TLD είναι ότι πλέον έχει ξεπεράσει τα 290.000 domains (από επιστολή της ΕΕΤΤ προς το @papaki).

(triggered-by)

Ενδιαφέροντα στατιστικά για το DNS σήμερα, εμφανίζονται στο October 2009 DNS Survey (sponsored by Infoblox).

….knowing you..

It turns out that we have to go separate ways..

I (really dont) hope to see you again..

bye..

this thing had stuck in my foot for almost 3 weeks and i just got it out this morning..Its a 1,75cm broken sewing needle..damn..

rcMart 2009 Pre X’mas Sale 2nd Wave
Hottest RC Car Kits!! Great Prices!! Fast Shipping!!
Dear rcMart Valued Customers,
The 2nd Wave of rcMart 2009 Pre X’mas Sale has come.
Now you may start to ponder what kinds of X’mas gifts your family or friends desire.
Here, we have the best choices for you — the valuable & hottest R/C vehicles with the best prices ever. Click the following links to check the product details, please.
The X’mas sale will last until Nov 30, 2009. However, prompt action is highly recommended as the X’mas air mail deadline approaches.

Pleae click HERE for the last dates to post Christmas airmail 2009

*Click here to enlarge the newsletter

Just keep watching it!

No exaggeration BUT only satisfaction!

The Hottest RC Products, All in rcMart!

Best regards,

rcMart.com

2009 November

Xray always bring the most brilliant design to RC racers.  With the most advanced design, the Xray T3 EU Rubber Spec 6-cell Edition has arrived rcMart.  Becuase of the fast-paced rule changes in the electric touring car class, the main focus of the T3 was to design the car for brushless motors and especially for LiPo technology… to take on what the world can offer and outperform all others under any racing conditions or rules.  Take your pick — NiMH or high-performance LiPo batteries, cutting-edge brushed or brushless motors — the T3 can handle them all and still dominate the competition in the process. No extras needed… just a desire to win.

Where to buy:
http://www.rcmart.com/catalog/rc-xray-300015-rubber-spec-6cell-edition-p-30294.html

Today we went to swimming and the problem was I slipped and bashed my arm ouch!  My mom thought my arm was broken so we went to the hospital.  I had to have an xray. I can even show  you the films but luckily nothing is broken. Here is a picture of my arm without any meat on.

And then I was bouncing on the trampoline and I did a flip and bashed my teeth into my lip and my lip into my knee ouch! My lip is very sore for the rest of the day. Here is a picture of my fat lip.

Oh dearie me, a German man who weighed a whopping 230 kg (507lb) has died after refusing to pop down to the nearby zoo for an x-ray. Evidently Thomas Lessmann was a tad too fat to fit into a normal x-ray machine so his doctor referred him to the Hagenbeck Zoo. Humiliated, he refused to go and died 13 days later. That’s all kind of ugly really!

I’ve had “back pain” since I was about 13… I’m now 22. I’ve gone to doctors to try and find out what’s wrong with me, why I’m having migraines, spine, and joint pain but none of them have been able to help. I’ve been told I have lupus, multiple forms of arthritis, it’s anxiety caused, it’s all in my head, it’s because I’m obese (trust me, I would LOVE to be active again!)… I’ve heard just about every answer and tried a great many things but finally was accepting that Excedrine Migraine© was just going to be how I’d get through life and that I’d just need to suck it up.

Then my Mom suggested I go visit her chiropractor, just see what they had to say and what I thought. I was hurting, I’d try anything at that point. I’d seen the difference that the Chiropractors had made in her life, and I did like that they used weights so it was a bit more like physical therapy.

Around the end of September, first of October I went in to see Doctor Chris for an evaluation, meeting, xrays, etc. He asked what kind of pain I’d been having, he’d gotten a brief version from my Mom, so I rattled off my list of pains, possible diagnosis, family history of MS and severe arthritis… “22 going on 85″ is what he wrote down on his paper after the evaluation was over.

The next morning I met Dr Chris again to review my xrays and get my first adjustment. I saw the set of xrays up in the little room and thought- there’s no way that’s my c-spine.

Here is a normal Cervical Spine xray:

Note the curve, the stacked vertebrae, the space in between the bones….

Now, here’s mine:

Yup, that’s my cervical spine. Note the lack of curve (it’s actually a 110% loss), the vertebre that begin stacked correctly go out of alignment and then stack again… Oh and here’s the second picture that shows my 8mm head tilt to the right:  No, I didn’t scan it funny, that’s really my head, it’s really tilted that much.

I’ll try and work on the quality of the photos and putting some bright red lines and arrows into the pictures so it’s easier to see.

So as you know I had to take Jono up to Crumlin for his pre-op assessment. We got the 1pm train from Sligo on Sunday. It was really busy, there were some musicians sitting opposite us and we were wondering if they were famous. Also on the train was a Harry Hill lookalike and even a man the spitting image of Alf Garnett. The worst thing was that there was a man sitting opposite us who was coughing and never put his hand up once…..isn’t that awful. So I’m not surprised that I now have a cold.

When we got to Connolly Station we caught the Luas to the hotel, we had enough time for a quick swim and a dip in the jacuzzi which was nice. We didn’t have a very good nights sleep in the hotel. First of all the kettle, tv and hairdryer wasn’t working so we had to change rooms and then we were put right above the bar which had a band playing. Blimey O’Reilly if it was Magnum, Marillion or The Feeling I’d have been delighted but it was pub singers singing a whole range of songs including hits by Neil Diamond, Bonnie Tyler and a load of 60’s hits. I’m just glad they didn’t play Michael Buble because I would probably have thrown something out of the window
When the band finished then the fireworks started….nothing to do with the hotel but they went on for most of the night and there was me thinking fireworks were banned here.

On Monday we were up bright and early and got to Our Ladys Hospital just before 8am. We had to wait for a while in a little waiting room. I was starting to worry when a little boy started pointing at me and saying Barney. I was convinced I was turning purple and growing a tail until I turned around and saw a painting of Barney the dinosaur behind me….phew.

When Jonathan was called things started moving fairly quickly. First of all the nurses took his blood pressure, weight, height etc. Then he had to go off for blood tests, followed by xrays. After we’d had a cuppa he was off to have his photo taken. The photographer had a lovely canon camera (not that I’m jealous). Jono had to have his photos taken from every angle. Then it was time for the lung function tests which were really tough for Jono, he hated having the plastic tube in his mouth and started to feel really sick. So they did what they could with him.
After a couple of drinks of water he was well enough to go for physiotherapy. He had his muscles tested and the physiotherapist was going to give him some exercises to help his muscles but he is in so much pain she said that she couldn’t give him any to do. Then swabs were taken by the nurses back on the day ward, they were all fine except for the mouth one which made Jono feel ill again, it’s to do with the Asperger’s syndrome he just hates anything like that.
Finally he had a ecg/echo and thought it was cool to see his heart on the screen and then we got to talk to the spinal nurse who explained all about the operation to us.

We won’t know if the surgery is to be carried out on the 27th until Thursday, which I think is mad, but it seems that’s how it’s done.

• Back on the school run, I love my 5:30 alarm call….NOT
• OMG   Just opened MSN Messenger and every contact has vanished…not 1 left !!!!…aghhhhhhh…rebooted…tried again…all gone…Wtf !!!!
• Wonder what this weekend will bring, I have just discovered im a child free zone on Friday evening until Saturday noon…Plans must be made !!!

How Scarey Is This !!!!!

A human X-ray machine that produces “naked” images of passengers has started a trial at Manchester Airport. The authorities say it will speed up security checks by quickly revealing any concealed weapons or explosives.But the full body scans will also show up breast enlargements, body piercings and a clear black-and-white outline of passengers’ private parts.The airport has stressed that the images are not pornographic and will be destroyed straight away.Sarah Barrett, head of customer experience at the airport, said most passengers did not like the traditional “pat down” search.At Manchester Airport’s Terminal 2, where the machine has been introduced, passengers will no longer have to remove their coats, shoes and belts as they go through security checks.Ms Barrett said: “This scanner completely takes away the hassle of needing to undress. Ms Barrett said the black and white image would only be seen by one officer in a remote location before it is deleted.She said: “The images are not erotic or pornographic and they cannot be stored or captured in any way.” Passengers can refuse to be scanned, she said.

For anyone not involved in the health care field, it can be very easy to become confused or even completely clueless to know the difference between getting an XRay or MRI. The only thing that most people seem to know is that an MRI usually costs more. With the way many insurance companies work, forcing their clients to get an XRay before allowing them to get and MRI, many individuals are led to believe the common misconception that they both are used to view the same thing. WRONG. XRay Imaging and MRI are two different processes used to visualize different structures, with very different details. In short here’s what they SHOULD be used for:

X-Rays: Primarily used to view changes or abnormalities of bones. (Fractures, arthritis, tumors, dislocations, scoliosis, etc.) They can also be used to see some abnormalities in the lungs, heart, or areas where calcification might be take place such as the gall bladder or kidney. XRay do NOT visualize the Spinal Discs, only the spaces where the disc should be. Depending on the view, an X-Ray may be helpful to a practitioner in ruling out certain bony conditions, and give them clues as to weather or not a patients condition warrants further imaging of the soft tissues surrounding an area.

MRI: Used to view soft tissue structures such as the Spinal Disc, Meniscus, Labrum, Ligaments and Tendons and muscle, etc. Depending on the pathology suspected, a radiologist may inject certain fluids into an area to improve the contrast between structures that are being viewed.

There are several other methods used to visualize bony changes and soft tissue changes such as CT Scans and Bone Scans, but these are the most common. If a practitioner suggests sending you for Xray or an MRI, make sure that you always ask them to explain why. I feel that it is an unfortunate state of many clinics (chiropractic, orthopedic, whatever) that Xrays are overused, often unneccessary, and often a misuse of healthcare dollars. I’ve even heard some chiropractors tell patients that everyone needs to get an xray before they can be treated to “really see” whats going on, which is quite bluntly, untrue.  The exam and details of a patients history should determine whether or not imaging of any kind is needed. I would not reccommend subjecting yourself to getting radiated just because its part of a “new patient package deal” or you think it would be cool to see your spine.

As far as my own practice, if I suspect that a patient has a disc or soft tissue related problem such as a shoulder labrum or meniscal tear, and don’t suspect damage to the bone, I’ll often refer them out for an MRI. Why? This will be able to show me disruptions of both the soft tissue and bone, and eliminates the time and cost of getting an xray which probably wont show me much, if anything, anyhow. A patients history, orthopedic tests and physical examination can provide a great amount of information as to what a patients problem is, but with out the eyes of Superman, it is my opinion that an MRI is many times, (not all), the better way to go if what the images show may determine a change in my treatment or referral protocal. And for those wondering the bottom line on $$, it may help to know that as technology improves, all imaging forms are getting easier they are on the pocketbook, as well.

Key to the mind. Xray vision.

Part two and final installment of my Xray Vision series.  It was fun while it lasted!