It's done, now we wait

I went to see Dr S as scheduled to see about my knee.  It was still swollen, even with the anti-inflammatory. I told Dr S wanted to go with the SYNVISC asap. He told me it takes a week for it to arrived, and he was scheduled to be elsewhere in a week. I asked if the company that makes SYNVISC has express shipping, but they don't.  Dr S said they had one treatment at the practice (one is all that is needed) and I asked "Can I call and have them ship you a replacement and we get this done today?"

The answer was yes. Called and ordered it, and had shipping address as Dr S.

Then it came time for me to get it injected into my knee.  Swab the knee, inject local anesthetic deep in. Before the needle was taken out, a syringe was used to drain almost 25ml of seroma like fluid from the knee. No wonder if felt like I had a sponge in the joint.  Too much 'hydrolic fluid'.

Synvisc injected, barely felt a thing.  Here's hoping that I am in the 80% success rate section. (Then I had a day of blessed NO pain in my knee for most of the day.)

Then off to see Hadyn. Told him about how my right calf was stiff. Too many 'dip heels below stair level, then go up onto toes'.  He really worked the huge knot I had in it.  The he saw my flexor and glutes were locked/stiff, and he REALLY worked on that. Umm ow?  I have said before, and I say again, that physiotherapists have to be a touch sadistic.

Battlestar Galactica - Season 2

Admiral Cain and the Battlestar Pegasus.. very disturbing story arc.

When she and the Pegasus first showed up, we all breathed a sigh of relief.. for a while.

Then the shine started rubbing off. When one of her officers is killed while trying to gang rape a prisoner (Caprica Sharon Cylon) by to Galactica crew members, then summarily sentences them to be executed with no trial.

President Roslin sees where Cain is headed, and tells Adama that he needs to kill her.

Then they learn even more, how Cain's single-mindedness resulted in thousands of civilians dead, families slaughtered, stranded.  And then she starts plotting to assassinated Commander Adama.

Yes, they are at war, but there are rules of war. And she broke them, and encouraged her subordinates to do the same thing.

The outcome was inevitable.

Once more into the breach!

But will wait until Friday.

After 6 hours with Microsoft support working on my laptop with little or no success,  my problematic computer has been punted up to Tech Tier 2.  More things will be tried, but I have sinking feeling that Alan is right, that it would take less time for me to just reinstall windows, and then the rest of the programs.

The ongoing saga of Win 8 roll back

After hours online with MS Support, three different techs regarding doing a "repair install" on my Window 8.1 laptop that the 'free' upgrade to Windows 10 screwed up, and I managed to roll it back to 8.1, but had persistent problems, hardlocks, things not working, I got told TODAY that I can't do a repair install, I have to do a full reinstall, which means reinstalling all the programs currently on it.

I know that Microsoft TOS/EULA says they can't be held liable for damages caused even when caused by their own products, but the MS Windows 10 assessment tool erroneously said my laptop was Windows 10 ready.  That turned out to be wrong.  But had the Win 10 update had said "If you install this and it doesn't work, you have to wipe your drive and reinstall everything again", instead of "All you have to do is roll back to previous OS", I never would have updated it.

Error 0x80073712.. whatever the hell THAT means.

All I want to do is listen to my audio books on specific devices

As much as I understand copyright, intellectual property etc etc, I should be able to play my audio books on whatever device I so choose, not just on 'approved devices'.

I have a few programs that 'convinces' a certain format to play on a generic MP3 player. But there's always a catch. The problem is it makes it into a bunch of 7 minute MP3 files, so instead of 3 part "Approved device" format, I have 70 some odd mp3 files.  So, I have to get an MP3 joining program to make "Part One" etc etc.

Another way to not be forced to rent Adobe CC

Or be forced to double up on HD space by converting everything to DNGs.

Alienskin Exposure X2

After installation, go to Edit/Preferences and select what photo editor you want to punt the Raw edited image to. (Used CS5 for this example) And you can select what format to export. PSD, TIFF or JPG.

It does non-destructive edits to your images, and has a wider library of available editing tools than Adobe Camera Raw.  Here's one image, that I adjusted clarity, brightness, whites,  and am applying a 'Bokeh' edit. 

Right click on image, and click on editor you configured X2 to use

Since I had done all my RAW edits in X2, I chose "Save Image" option in the bottom left corner, saved it as a JPG, then opened it in CS5 to continue.

 

 

EDIT: It seems with CS5 you have to EDIT IT and have preferences set to TIFF file. It will open up Adobe Camera Raw 6.7.1, then you have to select SAVE IMAGE on bottom left corner and save it as a high res JPG, as it's Photoshop itself that won't open the TIFF/PSD/JPG directly from X2. 

However if you're using CS6, this doesn't seem to be an issue.

Had to resort to pain meds

Knee was kicking up a fuss yesterday. I tried to take it easy, not walk too fast, or do too many deep knee bending things, but none of that helped. 

Going to bed last night, it didn't matter what position I put my leg in, even the tried in true to 'relieve joint stress' position, just didn't help, so I resorted to "Better living through chemistry". The LOWER dosage variety.

I managed to sleep, but feel a bit fuzzy headed, as is usual with pain medications.  Knee is a bit swollen today, too.  Have compression bandage on it for now, and will switch to the "Device of Torturous Comfort" aka mid-thigh to calf knee brace when there is a reduction in the swelling.

Keito continues not just improve, but thrive

It's been about a month since we almost lost Keito to diabetes, and with only minor changes in his daily life, he is back to normal.  He has a feeding schedule to make sure his blood glucose levels don't go too high, or too low. 

1st feed between 6 and 7am.  Insulin injection 30 minutes afterward.
2nd Feed between 11am and Noon.
3rd feed between 3 and 4pm
4th feed 7pm or later.
One small bowl of kibble.

Funny thing is that Keito lets us know when he is due for another feed.

He has put on obvious weight, which is good.

 

So, our "Old Man" will be around for a while longer. :)

A trip down Memory Lane

Watching "Battlestar Galactica - Last Fracking Special". Really enjoying listening to the actors describe what it was like on the show.

Wing didn't really like the reboot, that it was too dark. Yes, it was, but the struggle for survival was more realistic.

I remember talking to Richard Hatch about the show at SupaNova 2009, about the 'prophecy' about the dying leader bringing them to the 13th colony. I told him I never thought it was Roslin, that the Galactica itself was the dying leader. That was a fun conversation, one I will treasure.

I think I’m going to break out the DVDs and have a marathon.

Keito Update

Today Keito spent the day at the vet for a Blood Glucose Levels curve test to make sure the insulin amount he is given is enough, and not too little or too much.

At the start of the day after his first feed, his BGL was 20.  After insulin, it dropped to 15, then to 12, then to 8.3, then the last test was 7.6.

The 20 is normal after overnight and first feed. It would only be dangerous if that level was sustained for days or weeks. That he responds so well to Glargine (feline insulin) is a good thing. Also, how low it goes could mean his pancreas is making SOME insulin on its own.

When we brought him in on Feb 27, he weighed 4.92kgs.  He now weighs 5.22kgs. This is a very good thing. I asked Dr D about Keito demanding a slightly larger feed in the afternoon. He said that with Keito's good BGL numbers, that would be fine. 

As long as nothing untoward happens, he doesn't have to go back for 3 months. And that will be for a blood sample to go to the lab.

Keito enjoying his last feed for the day.

Keito Update

All seems to be going well. Keito is slowly putting on weight, which is a good thing. He is also quick stepping and jogging, rather than being shaky and tottering when walking.  He is once again, very interactive, occasionally mooching a bit of chicken from one of us. We are careful about the amount given him, as he is on a feeding schedule.  Well, as much as you can schedule a cat to do anything.

No more having to haul him out from under Alan's bed insulin shot, or hunt him up for his next feed. 

Routine is as follows:

Let Loki out into back yard.
Feed Keito, set timer for 30 minutes. Prep 1 UI injection.
Feed Trance and Ziggy.
Keito's done eating, let Loki in and feed him, letting Keito into back yard or into the enclosure.
30 minutes later DING. Let Keito in, pick him up, put him on the washing machine, pat pat, pet pet, tent skin, put needle in, draw plunger out, no blood, inject. Pat pat pet pet, let Keito go where he wants.  Takes all of 30 seconds, if that.

Also, all we have to do is say "Keito, time to eat!" and he comes out from where ever he was sleeping.

So, is Feline Diabetes a bit scary?  Yes, but it's manageable.

Keito took over Wing 's side of the bed last night. The bald patch from his recent vet visit.  He was supposed to get a BGL curve test, but because there was a goof up on his morning injecting (new vet nurse didn't get the insulin in the syringe, but in her defense, getting that one IU in there, and it NOT being just an air bubble is damned tricky), so he's going back again this upcoming Wednesday.  I have the mop at the ready.  A Mop?  Because whenever he sees the pet carrier, he gets scared and 'panic pees'. 

*insert a string of very naughty words here*

My right knee doesn't just have a meniscus tear. The meniscus is shredded. I also have bone on bone grinding going on.  Dr S was impressed that I was well versed in family medical history, and that I was getting around with only OTC ibuprofen, and paracetamol with low dose of codeine.

He told me that I will be facing knee replacement surgery.  Not right now, as it would take me up to 6 months to recover, and we have non-refundable plans in June.  And as the left knee is showing some signs of arthritis, chances are sometime down the road that one will be necessary to have replaced, too. 

Physio said that all the ligaments and tendons are in fantastic shape, so it's just the knee joint itself.  He ultra sounded my knee, and it turns out the swelling in it is caused by blood pooling up from the injury. Hooked up to electro-therapy to break it up, and reduce swelling.

So, current plan of action:  fitted hinged knee brace. A course of muscle strengthening exercises for the quads.  see physio again in 2 weeks.

Anti-noninflammatory meds for a month.  Check to see if that helps.  There is something called "SYNVISC".  It's injected directly into the affected joint, and if it works (80% success rate) it will withing 3 to 8 weeks give me me 50% relief, forestalling the knee surgery.

But it's so freaking expensive, either way.

On an aside, Dr S was rather impressed that with the level of .. umm.. discomfort, I stayed as active as I did.