So I devised a Plan B (continued).

My goal was twofold: to reduce the pain that was centered around the repairwork and to loosen the muscle stiffness/tightness in the surrounding area. I found those muscles would tighten up whenever I stayed in one position for a while and went to move or stand up.

Plan B in action…

This is where I’d like to interject that I really like being with my HMO. Yes it took almost three months to have my hernia repaired, but it’s done and the outpatient procedure deductible was very reasonable.

Now back to the pain and muscle tightness. The money I saved by ‘jumping through my HMO’s medical hoops’ enabled me to afford a DAVID Delight Pro with Multi-color eyeset by Mind Alive, Inc. A couple of friends who went through similar procedures used a Delight Pro and found the light, sound and cranio-electro stimulation sessions in their DAVID mind machine helped deal with the ‘stabbing’ pain and also helped with the muscle tightness by guiding their brainwaves to a more relaxed and comfortable state of mind.

DAVID Delight Pro w/ CES

They were right. I didn’t realize how tense my body was, even while laying prone. Once I was able to relax, my attitude changed. I do believe I might have been whining a bit. So I went to Mindmachines.com and they sent my Delight Pro by Fedex 2 Day for free. There are seven sessions on my Delight Pro that have helped me: the Alpha Relaxer, Schumann Resonance and Theta sessions under the ‘Meditate’ category; the Schumann for Sleep, Alpha and Theta for Sleep, and Delta sessions under the ‘Sleep’ category and session two Mood Booster 2 in the ‘Feeling Better’ category. That last session really helped with the pain.

Being skeptical by nature, yet becoming more and more leery of the adverse effects prescribed medications have been known to produce, I am glad I took my friends advice and purchased a DAVID light and sound machine. The left/right independently controlled colors for light stimulation, being able to use the Delight Pro’s really nice and soft fitting headphones (or for sleeping I went to Best Buy and bought a cheap pair of laptop speakers and plugged those into the Delight Pro’s audio port for entire bedroom delta entrainment), and having my choice of using any combination of light, sound and/or CES stimulation along with all the various color choices is going to last me for years.

Stuff happens, most of you have experienced outpatient procedures or have helped care for someone who has. I recommend adding the DAVID Delight Pro to your post-op treatment routine. It has helped me feel better faster, my friends have felt better faster and my three fairly-recent transplanted Kahili Ginger plants are happy and healthy with plenty more room to grow…

Copyright: Mindmachines.com (2014) CA. All right reserved.

Dealing with a Hernia

A few years back I brought home a Kahili Ginger root from Hilo, Hawaii. Told it would never grow in the ‘burbs of San Fernando Valley, I thought what a great challenge. I’d give it my best shot. It was planted in a very large pot filled with soil similar to where they grow in Hawaii. The back porch proved ideal for lighting. My only concern was the humidity difference.

Backyard Kahili Blossom

Fast foreword five years and several incredible blossoms later, That very large pot began to split along one side. The ginger had reproduced, more shoots sprang up and it was now time to separate my original to make three different Kahili gingers. I’ve pulled countless plants from large pots for years. With gentle coaxing and a few expletives most transplanted experience’d very little shock and thrive in their new environments.

Having completed my newest gardening experiment, a dip in the pool seemed refreshing. That’s when I noticed what looked like a hard-boiled egg protruding from my lower right side. I didn’t feel any discomfort, didn’t even knew it happened yet there it was. WTF?

That was in late May. It never really hurt but was annoying as heck. It had to go. My doctors were great – answered all my questions and told me what to expect. Still, it took two and a half months for all the pre-op requirements to be fulfilled. It’s an outpatient procedure where for the next few days is much more uncomfortable and painful. I was warned this is what happens, and to be rather useless for four to six weeks, but having my hernia repaired is so worth it.

There was a problem though. Those first few post-op days. I don’t like having to sleep on my back throughout the night, having to hold my side every time I coughed or sneezed or laughed didn’t always happen fast enough, and I was really let down by the pain medication I was prescribed. I am not a fan of opiates as they can be addictive, so I found myself taking a glorified aspirin with codeine. My 60+ year old body detests codeine. Simply put, and please pardon my vernacular, but it plugs me for days. Like a miracle, my second prescription was stool softener pills. Of course! Prescribe an ineffective pain medication that plugs and a pill that unplugs. I couldn’t help but think it was some kind of a pharm-plot to sell more meds.

Medications can have side effects.

So I devised a Plan B.

(continued tomorrow)