Tag: mri

Reasons to be Cheerful – Iron Two and Three

~ quantumdreamer ~ Leave a comment

We heard on the news today that Netanyahu had a colonoscopy this morning. This means that he would have been on an industrial grade laxative protocol last night and this morning. He will have a sore sphincter and maybe, just maybe, he is now less full of shit. He has quite a few comorbidities. He is not renown for joviality, good will or a good sense of humour so the indignity of shitting his entire arse off may not have appealed to him. Laid out on a table with a metre long endoscope up your arse it is hard to be tough, macho and aggressive spouting bellicose propaganda.

Did you know that a single article in the Lancet can cost you forty quid!!

It turns out there is specialist research interest in excess bodily Iron in Rennes, particularly for rare Fe related genetic diseases. We just took the car to the garage and there was an advertising card “Jardin du Fer” so we are back roaming the streets and chanting “any old Iron” like pikeys in a white flatbed truck.

One of the guys from Rennes is a co-author:

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One of the problems and benefits of having been a researcher in a previous incarnation is the ability to scan-read to spot gaps in knowledge and then zoom in, on the off chance there may be a research proposal lurking. The primer paper suggests the following diagnosis flow chart. I am on the far right pathway. All genetic testing is expensive.

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On the basis of this I am possibly due an Iron MRI. Apparently, the presence of Fe changes the T2 nuclear relaxation time and by using various pulse echo sequences one can measure Fe content in the liver. One can also image Fe content relative to the spleen. The latter is more widely used.

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The Fe build up could be genetic, alcohol related or caused by primary or metastatic cancers. The gastroenterologist said they stopped following liver for metastatic disease five years after colon cancer. This being the most likely hang out for colon metastatic disease.

The corporeal symptom of hemochromatosis are given below.

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Hepatomegaly (Enlarged Liver) An enlarged liver is a symptom of underlying disease. It means that your liver is larger than normal. This may happen in response to an infection, advanced liver disease or cancer. Healthcare providers treat an enlarged liver by treating what’s causing it.

I have joint pain and have just added Osteoporosis to the fun list.

The default cause will be ethanolic, followed my smoking with my being a lard-arse a close third.

Maybe I am not special…maybe it really is that simple…

My research instincts say there may be something we are missing and have yet to find out about.

Reasons to be cheerful… Iron two and three.

Well, That Was a Waste of Time

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This morning, we got out of bed early, having set an alarm. We drove for 40 minutes for an appointment with an orthopaedic spine surgeon. We paid €90 before we even went in for a consultation. Pay first…

The hip surgeon had prescribed an MRI to check if there was a spinal problem. The results had been sent to the spine surgeon. The hip guy had intimated that there may be a back problem.

The hip man sent us to the spine man.

I saw the MRI image on screen. I have yet to see the full results or the write -up. The spine surgeon said that there was not a lumbar problem and said to go back to the hip surgeon. My hips are causing my back pain according to him. He was disinterested in the huge bony growth on my thoracic spine. A few minutes later we were back in the car with a chit to send back to the health people to claim for a part of the €90 fee. We drove 40 minutes back.

The spine man said go back and see the hip man for your operations, if you want.

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There was absolutely no need for a face to face based on that experience. I knew there was no neuropathy. We may get a referral to a rheumatologist. It seems so inefficient.

Back to square one methinks.

I don’t know if I am being pig headed, if there is some huge cultural mismatch or what. This yo-yo stuff is doing nothing for my confidence. Pass the hot potato…

I really don’t appreciate being dismissed and told there is nothing we can do. I already knew this but it is not exactly good bedside manner. I found out two days ago…about the bony growth.

I can see this all going badly tits up…

In the past I have seen this kind of thing and there is nothing you can do; it just has to play out…

What must be, must be.

Well, that was a waste of time.

Emily – Potions – Estate Agent Dream 06-04-2025

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Here is this morning’s dream.

The dream is set in a slightly hectic environment. I am talking with various people and they keep mentioning someone whose remedies are good for the back and back pain. Her name is Emily Brouard {sounding brew – yard in the dream.} I am unsure if there is a Y in they name Brouyard. A number is associated with her 354321,{18} it is a partial telephone number. I see three recipes for potions / supplement / meals. One of which has small cubes of beetroot. From the internet I can download two full recipes from her and one for a snack. I am a bit sceptical but the people are insistent that she is good.

The scene changes and we are outside an estate agent in an English speaking town. The shop front is painted in a dark green colour and there are properties on display in the window. We look to go inside. It is locked. The wife notices on the door that it does not open until 2:30 in the afternoon. We are early. We think this odd as we are not in France with its lunchtime witching hour. We decide to go for a tour around the block in our car. The office is situated in / near an urban market hall with dark green painted bollards. In the dream one can feel the hubbub of market days and stalls being set up early in the morning. We drive around the one way system and find a small square the other side of the agency, in order to get through I drive the car over some of the small features designed to deter cars. There is a small clunk but no damage. We park up on the edge of the square under the dark green overhanging roof of the market area.

We go back into the agency and it is now crowded with a few staff at a serving counter and each is occupied with customers. There is a lot of noise. Finally, one of the agents gets free. A woman pushes in front of us to return her sterling cash deposit and key. A new agent comes to the desk,

She is middle aged and with dyed bleach-blonde hair. I put our folder of documents on the desk and immediately she is well disposed towards us because we are highly organised. I thumb through a number of property fliers with a dark green border on, the agency branding, and stop at one for a property which is just on the square to the back of the market. It is a town house. The woman says, “Ah, that is a good choice. Not to everyone’s taste but ideal for the right dwellers.” The word dweller stands out in the dream. I ask if we could visit the property. “Yes”. She picks up a massive bunch of keys.

The dream ends

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Notes:

On waking I do a Google search on the name in the dream and it points at a female Breton athlete who looks quite similar to a young woman who shared the waiting room for the MRI on Friday afternoon. They are not the same person. The feel is similar.

Summer Job and Patent Decision

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I saw a summer job advertised for someone to help do tours of the local distillery. They wanted a trilingual person for two months over summer. Seems a bit of an ask…They are probably not all that common.

I have said hi and that I am interested. The demographic who might visit a distillery are probably not rabid smart ‘phone users or teeny gamers. There may even be the odd grey hair. Having said that, I am probably compatible. I have offered to help with the “franglais” translation into English for the web site. I could be DR X who gives the tour.

I’ll not hold my breath for a reply.

The quantum optics patent comes up for renewal in May. I have to decide if it is worth another ~£150 to keep it live. I could simply let it expire, fadeaway. I can’t really see a way of taking it forward to any kind of commercialisation.

I have had my MRI yesterday. Hopefully they can get the results to the spine surgeon for the appointment next week. Otherwise, there will be an iteration. Getting an appointment with a rheumatologist here is not facile. I need a referral. I am 90% convinced that there is some immune implication in my joint pains. It is not well received to suggest to an “expert” that they may have overlooked something. We may have to let them do their round(s) or inquiries before we get any meaningful traction. People have processes which you cannot always accelerate.

Failing that I could do a Zoom consultation with some private Harley Street type geezer in London for a few hundred quid. I have imagery which I could send electronically.

I’ll will be surprised if there is no immune component. When you put your arse in an MRI scanner you do not know what if anything they will find. There is an entirely new branch of medicine based upon instrumentation and not symptoms.

You never know what is around the corner.

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For some reason over the last day or so people from my undergraduate degree course have been popping into consciousness. I did briefly touch base on LinkedIn and then deleted my account, disappeared back into the aether.

The whole house move situation has been given added uncertainly thanks to Uncle Donny and his game-show tariff board. He missed his vocation as a corny game show host. The scores on the doors…

We will visit Jersey just to see how being surrounded by people speaking English feels. It will add a feeling to the variables. The bank in Paris want to touch base. Last year I asked about a bridging loan. We shall see what he wants / advises.

It is sunny here today…time to feed the stray cats soon…

CT scan of my lungs on Monday…looking for the evolution of COPD and possibly some kind of fungal aspergillus feature? Farmer’s lung would be another factor in the must move house equation.

I wonder how many people are sighing at the folly inflicted upon the world from the USA…It is a bit sad really…so unnecessary.

Is the great USA afraid of fair competition? Perhaps it needs to fill cauldrons with boiling oil and man the ramparts of fortress USA.

Make America Paranoid Again…

Replacement Hip CAD – Prostate Exam Dream – 21-02-2025

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Here is last night’s dream it has contextual relevance to life circumstance.

The dream starts with people discussing me behind my back. They are concerned about my health and longevity. They are trying to figure out if I can have a replacement hip fitted on the left hand side of my body. They are looking at X-rays and various, multiple, auto-CAD designs which may be possible without extracting the Titanium nail which is in it.

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They are calling up various designs and the discussion continues without my involvement. They are unsure as to whether it is possible and suggest that if they are going to do a staged bilateral hip replacement it might be better to start with the difficult one first.

Finally, someone comes to talk with me about it. They are unaware that I have been privy to their discussions behind my back.

My principle concern is that if both hips have severe osteo-arthritis it seems unbalancing to do only one hip. If they fix one hip the other one will only get worse and the wear on the fixed hip will be accelerated.

I awake.

I drift back off.

I know that there are widespread concerns about my health and longevity. I am being taken for a “compulsory” prostate exam even though I have had one recently. They are doing a Bilan or full blown health screen.

I am dressed in a blue hospital gown laid on my back and a woman is between my legs about to do a sneak sudden prostate exam. I say that would be stupid. Let me know and I will relax. I say to her that this is unnecessary as I already know it to be gonflé enlarged. They have made detailed high resolution MRI measurements of it.

Nevertheless, they want to press ahead and do their own full health audit. I relax. She proceeds to do a prostate exam and concludes “enlarged”.

I say, “I told you so!

The dream ends.

Having One of My Clumsy Days

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I have started with the manufacture of my dice. I have cut a cross section of walnut root with the chainsaw so that it is about 15mm thick. Today I made it into rough cuboids using my hatchet. I quickly realised when chopping kindling that I am having one of my clumsy days. It is probably not wise to play with a sharp knife. It will wait for another day.

Last autumn I was getting nerve tingling in my left hand, two fingers and the thumb. In 2007 I lost nearly all the strength in my left arm due to a herniated cervical spine disc in the c7-c6-c5 region. I got this as a result of an ippon seio nage judo throw at a sports dojo. On and off some symptoms return nearly twenty years later.

I had an MRI scan September 2023.

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There is clear narrowing around my spinal cord. There is osteo-arthritis. The MRI showed I also have a right sided cervical herniated disc c6-c5. When I drive for more than half an hour I get tingling in my right fingers. It is present now.

Most of the time it is non symptomatic.

Last autumn I visited a brain surgeon / neurosurgeon. It was bizarre. He prescribed be a tapered dose of prednisolone starting at 100mg per day for a week!! That tapered off over a month and I would have had no sleep and been a right royal pain in the arse for a month. He also prescribed an injection of steroid into my cervical spine. From what I have read this is no longer best practice. I did not have any of these interventions.

On my clumsy days the gravitational pull of the earth is somehow enhanced. Everything which can drop to the floor does. There was a bit of left sided tremor too, today. These are probably symptoms on the cervical pathology.

If these symptoms don’t go in the next few days, I may go and see the GP. The one thing I have been doing more of, of late, is screen time on this computer. I can easily stop that….