MTFCA Forum

Had a very strange medical emergency a week ago and wanted to share as it might help another.

Been doing a lot of outside hard physical work on our property for the last three weeks. Love a good physical workout at my age as it makes you sleep good at night. The bride made lunch last Friday, went to take a short nap as usual, then it hit....., Un-Godly abdominal pain like nothing every felt before (That includes broken bones, compound fracture). Sweating like a sponge being stepped on..., off to the hospital. Three liters of saline gone in no time, 2 shots morphine with no relieve, tube down my nose to stomach..., slight relieve. Then it finally subsided on the ambulance ride to Chattanooga's big hospital. 3 days in the hospital, test, after test.

We might be fit and in good health here and there, but the mind tells us to work thru minor ailments, etc as we age. My electrolytes/potassium levels dropped out causing my small intestines to twist, kink, spiral with spasms and craps. Pain level from 1 to 10..., 12!

Keep yourselves hydrated with electrolytes with plenty of rest breaks! Water is good but will purge your body too. If you still have a fast metabolism, slim build (165 lbs), no body fat.., be careful. DO NOT BE A HANK!

Hope this Helps Some of You!

Hank

Hank,
Very good advice!
So glad you're feeling better.
If I don't pass a mirror, on some days, I still think I'm the 22-year-old high school wrestling coach that I was 40 years and 40 pounds ago.

Stay well!
Gene

I told you sweet Tea aint right ! Glad to hear your doing better Hank. If you are hydrated well, I am tearing shingles off next week.
That will make you feel your age buddy.

It's been thirty years now but I had a similar surprise in the July heat. Intense abdominal pain hit one evening and we finally went to the hospital. It stumped the doctors and after a battery of tests and several days they decided it was an abscessed appendix. One of the tests revealed that I had very early stages of Hodgkin's disease. Catching it early made it treatable and I survived it and the treatments with few problems. If they had diagnosed the problem without the additional tests the Hodgkin's probably would have progressed to a much more serious stage.
Do what you can for your health but be prepared for surprises.
Thanks for mentioning this Hank. It's been a hot summer for many of us.
Rich

Thank You all, Gene, Dallas, Mario, Rich.., and others thru emails! I am normally very active physically and this taking it easy is driving me nuts! LOL! Age teaches us our limitations and how to adjust.

Folks.., you are the GREATEST!

All the Very Best,

Humbled Hank

Glad you are still with us and also glad you are improving.

I had an injury back in January and have not done much on the T since, still doing physical therapy.

Since my wife and I both had the Covid a few months ago we drink Powerade a lot when working or getting hot. We are both in our 70’s and staying hydrated is a must. Our Dr encouraged us to drink it since its the cheapest thing out there for electrolytes and potassium. It’s pretty much the same as Gatorade or Pedalyte.
You can get with no sugar or with sugar.
Take frequent breaks and stay hydrated!!

Hank, you sure you didn’t have too much Ten O See Hills fire water ??
Glad it wasn’t anything worse !!

Hank - sorry to hear of your troubles --- I cringe just thinking about what you experienced. I've been told more than once to drink something like gatorade to stay properly hydrated with balanced electrolytes..... I tend to forget so thanks for the reminder.

I have various scars, aches, limps and the like that remind be that I'm an old codger, not the young guy I see in my head.

I have always heard "Don't be a Hank", but never knew a Hank
to really have something to avoid. Thanks for filling in the blank.

Hope you are feeling better.

We had a crazy strict regimen of hydration in AFG. We were required
keep a spiral notebook in our blouse pocket, recording all intake of
liquids.

As someone famously said a few years ago “ you can’t be Superman forever! “.

Hank thanks for posting and glad all is well now. The heat can sneak up on you quickly, I'm in this daily with A.C service/repais up on the roof most days.

Now that things are better Hank sit down and watch Waterboy with Adam Sandler, some pretty funny parts for sure you will like

I did the same thing years ago, not enough water, and hard work, got twisted gut. The pain was like a knife in the gut, being twisted for effect, not pleasant. It is easy to become dehydrated when you only drink when you are thirsty. I’d wager most people on here are not drinking the 2 liters of water per day we need to. I do now.

Sounds like you are on the mend! That is great news.
Growing up, I remember taking salt tablets before working out in the hot sun. Guess they did the same things as the fancy drinks, except didn't have big ad's splashed all over the place.

A good cautionary warning that we're not as stout and invincible forever as we would like to believe. Good to hear you're recovering well.

How terribly strange to be eighty. I've been incredibly lucky physically. Since surgery several years ago the cancer hasn't returned, and the hip going south doesn't hurt if I don't run. The infuriating part is being so d--n fumble-fingered clumsy. I used to start a nut on a bolt without looking. Now even if I'm looking right at it sometimes it gives me trouble. Oh well, if that's the worst of it I guess I'm doing OK.

Thanks for the warning and reminder Hank. I, too, have been remiss in not properly hydrating. In my case it led to dizziness, loss of stamina and early onset fatigue. A recent habit of consuming water -even when not thirsty - has precluded a few of those symptoms. And sweet tea AINT THE ANSWER. It’s a diuretic. Now I’m gonna get some of that Powerade.

I wish I felt as good as I did at 80! I told the doctor that, and all I got from him was, "You can do more than most men your age". I would like to stay the same, however, I see the walkers, wheel chairs, canes, and crutches or just bed ridden, and I do thank God that I can do as much.
To me, however, it takes all week working some, every day to do what I used to do in my spare time after putting in 40 hours a week at my job. I can do from 2 to 3 hours yard work or Model T work and then am tired. I usually walk out to the mail box and back every day which is 1180' one way.
Actually, I usually sleep better the night after putting in some work than I do when I sit around all day!
Glad your doctor found out your problem and hope it doesn't happen again.
Norm

Steve J. said: "The infuriating part is being so d--n fumble-fingered clumsy. I used to start a nut on a bolt without looking. Now even if I'm looking right at it sometimes it gives me trouble."

Dang, Steve, I've been blaming it on the low quality threads on those cheap imported nuts & bolts. Now you've got me wondering if it's just me. For now, I think I like my explanation better.

Dick

Henry K. Lee wrote: ↑

Fri Jul 16, 2021 1:46 pm

.....
We might be fit and in good health here and there, but the mind tells us to work thru minor ailments, etc as we age. My electrolytes/potassium levels dropped out causing my small intestines to twist, kink, spiral with spasms and craps. Pain level from 1 to 10..., 12!
Keep yourselves hydrated with electrolytes with plenty of rest breaks! Water is good but will purge your body too. If you still have a fast metabolism, slim build (165 lbs), no body fat.., be careful. DO NOT BE A HANK!
Hank

Too much of a good thing isn't good too. As we get older our bodies don't process anything they way they used to. So be careful on what you eat and drink and in what quantities. To stay properly hydrated, you need to start drinking, water/sport drinks, 1/2 to 1 hour before the activity.
You should drink water every day. Most people have been told they should drink 6 to 8, 8-ounce glasses of water each day (I do). That’s a reasonable goal. However, different people need different amounts of water to stay hydrated. Most healthy people can stay well hydrated by drinking water and other fluids whenever they feel thirsty. For some people, fewer than 8 glasses may be enough. Other people may need more than 8 glasses each day. See chart below
Sport Drinks
The main ingredients in both Powerade and Gatorade are water, a type of sugar, citric acid, and salt.
Powerade is sweetened with high-fructose corn syrup, while Gatorade contains dextrose. Dextrose is chemically identical to regular sugar. High-fructose corn syrup and dextrose are nutritionally similar, which means that Powerade and Gatorade provide comparable amounts of carbs and nutrients. Multiple studies indicate that high-fructose corn syrup and regular sugar have similar negative effects on insulin levels, appetite response, and obesity risk.
Read the label and what the sodium levels, in the drink when added to other foods and table salt you use.
From WEBMD
"Potassium is a key nutrient that you can get from eating foods that have it, such as bananas, oranges, and broccoli. This nutrient is also called an "electrolyte" -- a mineral that helps your muscles and nerves communicate with each other. It keeps your heart beating regularly and your blood pressure stable. When your body is working right, you'll get all the potassium you need from your diet. Your kidneys send any extra potassium out of your body when you pee. When your kidneys aren't doing their job as they should, you can end up with too much potassium in your blood.
What your pee can tell you!
According to the Cleveland Clinic, the average person should urinate somewhere between between six and eight times in a 24-hour period. While an individual is occasionally likely go more frequently than that, daily incidences of urinating more than eight times may signal a concern for too-frequent urination.

Wow Hank,

I am sorry to read of your harrowing experience, but am relieved that you are better now. Thank you for the Public Service Announcement.

And as wise old Clint advised us;

Glad all is well, Hank, but on another medical issue and advice; Even If You Have No History Of Heart Problems in Your Family, Everyone over 65 (and certainly over 70) Should See A Cardiologist, Probably At Least Once A Year. I have lost two classmates that I graduated from High School with, 55 years ago, to Heart Attacks, the most recent one only a week or two ago. Another man, who I grew up with and was one year younger than me, died from a heart attack, the same week as my classmate. I myself, have had a heart murmur since birth, and developed detectable heart problems over 30 years ago. A heart stress test showed scarring on my heart indicting I had a heart attack at some time. I didn't even know or feel it. I was told there is something called a "silent heart attack". In the last 30 years, I've had so many heart catherizations that I can't count them and in 2009, I had a quadruple bypass, so I consider myself to be living on "borrowed time".

Yes, every so often many of us get that little tap on the shoulder, our own memento mori. Last month I was working in my shop as usual when I had what amounted to a stroke in my left eye. Luckily I was able to get right in to my opthamologist who injected a steroid directly into the eyeball which stopped the bleeding and dried up the blood over a period of a few weeks. I'm doing better now and have most of my good vision back but that sure shook me up pretty good and slowed me down for a few weeks.

Recently in the heat, I thought I was having a major heart problem coming on strong. The doc discovered I was low on sodium. When I worked in the steel mill, we all took salt tablets to replenish sodium lost through perspiration. The mill had boxes of them scattered all through the production bays. If you are doing hard, hot work and start to feel weak or strange, try popping a couple salt tablets and take a big drink of water. I am not a doctor, but it is amazing how much better I feel and how my energy returns after just a few minutes when I manage to remember this trick! Easy does it, Bill

Inside every old man, there's a joung man yelling : 'what the heck happened?'

One thing I learned early on in the Marine Corps. Drink water!!!! If you drink water when you're thirsty you're already dehydrated. If you are going to be out in the sun all day drinking (water) the night before will allow it to get into your system by the morning. If you're peeing clear you're good. Then continue drinking.......... Glad you're ok

Buy a six pack of regular V-6 vegetable juice. Read the label and note the levels of vitamin C and potassium, etc. A 12 oz can or two a day won't hurt a normal person, and will likely help maintain vitamin and mineral levels. It's not a substitute for WATER, but is a good source of vitamins and minerals. It does not contain added sugars, fructose, or chemical sugar substitutes. If you need to restrict sodium, a low sodium version is available.