h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

You will of course all be delighted to learn that my navel has been knocked back in its proper place

Everything went as planned (except that I accidentally drank a third of a mug of *with * (and is very forbidden!) during the fasting period monday morning, so the operation had to be delayed an hour ...)

The surgery (under general anesthesia) was done by the surgeon cutting three small holes in my belly skin. Through one of these holes air was pumped in between the skin and the intestines thus creating space to operate in. Through the other holes the surgeon inserted a telescope with Spotlight and assorted instruments as well as a network of carbon fiber that was attached to the inside of the belly skin with a special kind of screws. After that the holes were closed with clips that are to be removed again in 10 or 12 days.

The operation only took one hour and I was served a nice sandwich and a glass of at 5pm after awakening at 4pm. Later there were a number of cold cuts and with for dinner. There was also a glass of with the midnight snack.

The was admittedly not the best, but in turn the morphine was from the top shelf , so I wasn't complaining. Laid in my bed, listened to a lot of great music (my own selection), read a good Terry Pratchett . studied the and had an extremely nice time.

Was picked up by my daughter the next morning, took and train home where I met with a couple of old friends and had two glasses of white wine at our regular café.

Later my daughter and I shared a couple of pork chops with assorted veggies, rice, curry sauce and and watched "The Dark Knight Rises" on the telly.

So now you have a fairly accurate account of two days well spent. Let me put it this way: I've known worse

They serve in your hospitals?

I'm sure the milk in the tea wouldn't have done any real* problems... - I accidentialy ate a large filled baguette, when I was nil by mouth, two or so hours before a general anasetic and a four or so hour opperation on my brain back in 93 or 94 and didn' tsuffer any bad consequences - w they give you wine?! - I'm still considering sponsoring a "2legs memorial drinks cabinate" for my chemotherapy day unit where I was treated... - I kep asking the nurses for a G&T whilst I was on chemo,- I don't think they realised I was actually being serious glad the op went well

Glad the operation went well, Pierce.

Good to hear that all went well with the hernia Op Pierce. cold cuts and sounds my perfect meal. I am not much of a drinker (as it goes to my head and I become very sleepy) but I am very fond of port which I have on rare occasions but tend to spill it out of excitement. In some countries is classed a superfood if taken in moderation, one glass a day.

I have never had a G and T but I have had Martini aperitif but too me it tasted like medicine, and there is another drink which tastes like a cross between toothpaste and liquorice and looks like cloudy lemonade.

That would be pastis.

Anyway - here's to Pierce's bellybutton!

All my memories of hospital stays (except one) are of pleasant restful days and feeling fine. If an op goes well, and you are reasonably comfortable and there are a couple of nice carers around, there's no reason why it should be stressful or unpleasant.

Of course our hospitals serve Baron and 2legs. Why wouldn't they? It's very healthy

G&T? Yeah, I wouldn't mind a few of those as well. Kept the Queen Mum healthy (she never got Malaria) till she died at 101.

I should add that the internal communication at hospitals here is as bad as everywhere on this planet. But it has its upsides: Two made sure I didn't leave without enough medicine. Which means I now have enough morphine to sedate a smallish village

I don't intend to neither use nor sell it on the black market, though. It may come in handy the next time I experience a gout attack

ooo! liquid morhpine?! how cool.... They didn't give me any decent pain meds... mind, I did kinda refuse them and my explaining to one or two nurses about the nicer pains that some injections etc., bring compaired to others, kinda freaked them out a bit but morphine is cool though I've heard coming off it can be horrible, so no going getting yourself addicted to it, you hear... actually... best play safe... give it all to me

Usually run to lime margaritas myself.

Finally got tired of them and switched to pina coladas this past month.

May have something to do with the changing season.

Autumn is finally here, for the first time since 2013, temperatures no worse than around 90F/32C the past few weeks.




Glad your surgery went well, Pierce.

Found my own last 3 hospitalizations (back in 2012) very pleasant myself.

Nice to be able, once in a while, to lay back and let some someone else take care of me rather than always having to do it all myself.

All things considered, I'd rather not need hospitalization.

I hear you, paulh, but sometimes needs must

When that is the case you will prefer this hospital to others I have frequented. The staff was very friendly and smiling and just a few minutes ago a actually called me on the phone to hear how I was doing and if there was anything she or her colleagues could do for me. That was a first!

2legs, I've known enough junkies to scare me off experimenting with stuff like morphine

Known, I tell you - as in past tense

I coudln't possibly comment, say, for a random example, on how it might affect one, if taken with a fellow HooTooian with whisky... Hmm. I'd say that was my mispent youth, but I'm fairly sure I was in my thirtys even then but I'm a good girl now... I don't get to have any fun drugs, just boring medical keep me alive kinda ones

I don't plan to take any of the scary stuff [morphine, etc.] until I'm so far gone that "fun" is no longer part of the equation.

Somebody tried to do a followup study on junkies and had a hard time finding any of them, as most of them were dead.

I knew a heroin junkie who survived. He became an AA sponsor to a lot of younger folks. (He told them they could call any time of day except from 10:35-11:05pm as that was during reruns of MASH.)

He was a heroin junkie while in the Navy and shortly after that before sobriety. But he confessed to me that if he ever wanted to kill himself he would absolutely OD on heroin. He still missed the high.

Oh.... absolutely... I figured out an heroin OD, easily delivered now, into my port in my chest, hence directly injected in effect, into my heart, would be about the best option... err... were of course one to think suicide a 'best option' as it were well... ya know... keep all avenues open just in case at various points in time, innit.

Despite all the ... legal and illegal drugs I've done, the only actual 'addictions' I've ever had, were to nicotine (now I'm 9 monhts quit), and caffine, and, now of course, to tea as well I like alcohol, though, actually, a lot more specifically, I like beer... but I've happily gone months without it, at various times heroin cocaine, extasty, cannibus, amphetamines, LSD, ketamine, morphine, tranquilisers, /uppers/downers etc., etc., were... OK at the time, but... ya know... I would say I grew out of them, but really I just got boared of them... and perhaps got a bit too old for such things

all part of life's great rich tapisty I' like to think... I mean... same old same old, can get boring after a while. hence I'm now reinventing myself ufll-time as a female, just... for the hell of it... and mainly to make nurses and other staff at the hospital cry in dispair when they see me, or with joy, dependaning

heck, even more strangely my bacon addiction doesn't seem as solid an addiction as I thought... I've not had any bacon now, since... err, about the start of this month gona wait a week or so more (have to chek the date), then I'll have been a whole month, without bacon! not gona give up my addiction to luxurious baths though life's too short for boring bathtimes, and a void of rubberducks

"and caffine, and, now of course, to tea as well" [2Legs]

Tea has caffeine, so would you have needed to mention it alongside caffeine?

or did you mean that the types of caffeine in coffee, tea, and chocolate are different enough to need mentioning separately?

Structural formulae, molecular diagrams, for 'theine', the active component of tea, and caffeine.

http://www.google.com/search?q=structural+chemical+formulae%2C+%27theine%27%2C+%27caffeine%27%2C+images&oq=structural+chemical+formulae%2C+%27theine%27%2C+%27caffeine%27%2C+images&aqs=chrome..69i57.86007j0j4&client=tablet-android-verizon&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8

The two molecules have identical chemical components, but differ in steroisomerism.

One of the ways stereoisomerism of a substance is determined is by means of determining the direction in which it polarizes light.

Another is by means of study of the phyical dimensions of crystals of substances with the same quantitative chemical formula and their respective orientations.

The amount of theine in tea, weight for weight, tea leaves and coffee beans, is about 1/5 that of caffeine in coffee.

I was told by a college chemistry teacher that tea had theophylline rather than caffeine. He was wrong. While some teas have trace amounts of theophylline (below therapeutic dosage) caffeine is indeed in tea in amounts up to 3% by weight.

That said, I think my teacher was thinking of theobromine. One of the differences he mentioned between caffeine from coffee and "theophylline" from tea was that while the stimulant effect was stronger from coffee, the effects lasted longer from tea. Theobromine does indeed have a longer effect. Caffeine has a "half life" in the blood of 3-7 hours and theobromine has a "half life" of 6-10 hours.


Hmmm....


I wonder... I've been experiencing PVCs again recently. When I had them before I determined that they were brought on by caffeine. I cut out all sodas and caffeinated tea (I rarely drink coffee). I just wonder if my "decaf" tea has enough theobromine to have a similar effect.




http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/premature-ventricular-contractions/basics/definition/con-20030205

A number of years ago, there were media reports that the caffeines in coffee, tea, and cocoa were difrerent. Now it seems that somebody misunderstood something somewhere along the way:

http://askville.amazon.com/differences-caffeine-tea-coffee/AnswerViewer.do?requestId=1846516

The media have a lot to answer for in terms of confusing the public by conveying imperfectly understood "facts."