Follow-up Appointments

John is having his five week follow-up appointment with the surgeon who fixed his broken ankle. He is anxious about this appointment as he is hoping to get out of the boot he has had to wear since the surgery. Five weeks ago he needed crutches, and he got rid of them at that appointment.

He was told to not ride motorcycle or bicycle. He bought a tricycle and is riding his Ryker daily. He will say, "I have to get my 600 break-in miles on the bike to have an oil change and general maintenance check-up".

His hope is that he will minimally not have to wear the boot in the house, and he would love to not have to wear the boot at all. He is anxious to get back to riding his 1900. He is determined to ride it no matter what the verdict is today, "At least to get it ridden as it has been sitting too long now," he says.

I can't ride it as it is a 1900, which means it is too heavy and too wide for me to ride unless I absolutely have to. I have ridden it before, but it has been years and it was too big for me back then. My 1300 is getting to be too much. Still doable, however I need to pay close attention to that to continue to ride.

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My follow-up sleep apnea appointment is tomorrow. It is an on-line appointment, where I see the doctor on screen, and a pet or too. They care for strays and then re-home them.

I was listening to a doctor talk about changing his diet that led to getting rid of health conditions of his. The ones that were interesting to me were sleep apnea (for me), and an enlarged prostate and going to the bathroom several times during the night (my husband).

He also talked about getting rid of the beginnings of impotence in his 40s. My husband hasn't had that trouble and he is 76, until recently. It isn't complete, it is limiting.

Okay, I am clearly off topic. TMI my children and grandchildren would say.

Back to sleep apnea. Last appointment the flow was decreased as it was too much noise for the hubby. The air flow was too strong to keep the mask tight. He decreased the oxygen flow and will recheck earlier than usual. That is what this appointment is about.

The doctor in the interview I listened to said that using the machine for sleep apnea means that I do not get rem sleep. That is important as that is where the brain fogginess, and tiredness I experience can come from. He said it is during rem sleep that the brain is cleaned.

I have been on that machine for almost two years now and I guess that means my brain is not clean. I definitely have the fogginess and am tired, even when I sleep 7 hours most nights and 8 hours on occasion. I very seldom sleep less than that.

Some would say it is my age. I am 72, while others may say I work too much. Okay, maybe. But until there is proof that it isn't the sleep apnea machine then I don't by the age or work. I take breaks. I have to.

~~

Sleep apnea is the condition

An air machine is the prescription

Give a better description

of what can be done

as this is no fun

Tomorrow, I will say,

let's fix this Hon? Okay?

~~

The ankle appointment went well. Hubby told on himself. He let them know he was riding his Ryker. They x-rayed and recommended he come back in a month. That appointment was scheduled. In the meantime, he scheduled physical therapy. He is hopeful that he will only need a couple visits.

They are recommending four appointments to start. He can take the boot off. He still needs to wear a brace. He attempted to get out of that as it doesn't fit in his shoes/boots. She described stretching a tennis shoe to fit or a hiking boot. We shall see.

His plan yet for today is to give his 1900 a ride around a few blocks, probably a couple miles. He invited me to try the Ryker.