scheduled surgery

I’ll be undergoing surgery on July 11, 2009, 7AM at the UST hospital.  The lipoma (a cyst composed of fatty cells) that formed on my front lower neck/shoulder  around the collar area is currently harmless, but the doctor said that if it is left alone, it could grow dangerously close to a major vein, and even constrict the throat area. Right now it’s around 6 inches long and 2 inches thick.

So where did it come from? I don’t know. I swear it wasn’t there last month.  The doctor said that unlike cancer, things like this seem to just appear out of nowhere — it has nothing to do with the food you eat or lack of exercise.  You could be perfectly healthy and still develop it.  So I guess I’m just unlucky. O_o

I’ll be admitted on July 10th, Friday around noon, since there are preparations that need to be done before the surgery.  They’ll give me general anesthesia, which is great since I don’t want to be awake while they cut me up.  I’m just apprehensive about falling unconscious and then waking up in pain in a different room.  If all things go well, I could be discharged as early as the next day, but will need at least two weeks of rest to fully recover.

Meanwhile I have to take care of paperwork and stuff to make sure I don’t have to spend much for all this.  Thank God for good medical plans!

Unwell

Thanks to www.cartoonstock.com for the image.

This has not been a very good month for my health.

Three weeks ago, I ate and drank too much at a party, which resulted to vicious stomach and intestinal action for two days.

The following day, while taking a shower I noticed a strange soft lump at the base of my neck around the collar area. It didn’t hurt or anything. In fact I wouldn’t have noticed it was there if I hadn’t touched it  (And thank goodness it’s not disfiguring). Worried by this weird mass I had an ENT doctor look at it, and he told me to go get a CT scan.  Since I was not really sick, it would take two days for me to get the results, which means Monday because I took the CT scan on a Thursday.

On Saturday of the same week, I had high fever, body pains and fatigue.  We got worried so my fiancee took me to the hospital, where I was confined for 4 days.  It was my first time to live with an IV.

Since the hospital was not a high-end one, my health insurance was able to afford me a private airconditioned room with its own toilet and shower and cable TV.  The nurses were nice and caring too and the meals weren’t too shabby.  But the good things about that hospital ended at that.

I guess the biggest complaint of mine was that the doctor mostly kept me in the dark about my condition. All I knew was that it wasn’t dengue (thank God), flu, diarrhea or typhoid fever.  Only when asking for the medical certificate did I find out that I had an “acute systemic viral infection”.  Later on a friend of mine who is a nurse told me that usually that’s what they diagnose when they don’t know what to diagnose.  But well, at least I’m cured of it, whatever it was.

So, back to the weird lump. The CT scan says it’s a benign lipoma.  Due to its size, the doctor recommended that I have it removed via surgery, but told me to see a general surgeon since the lump is mostly on the shoulder area, which is outside the ENT’s area of expertise.

I’m going to see the general surgeon later. Wish me luck.

UPDATE (July 1, 2009): I’m scheduled for surgery on July 11 at the UST hospital. More details later on a new post.

2nd Blogoversary!

Wow, this blog is two years old! So I guess I’m obliged to post something. Hmm…

In the past few weeks, I’ve been listening to only one album on my iPod — A Different Light by Sherwood.  And so far I’m still addicted!  It’s interesting how their lyrics would speak of themes that are sad, but instead of the music highlighting the sadness (like Dashboard Confessional, for example), the music is upbeat and  larger-than-life.  The refreshing musical take truly puts the themes under a different light, that sometimes you’d find it makes your heart smile.  The album is well-made so it’s best to listen to it from the first to the last track, but my favorites are Alive and I’m Asking Her To Stay.  If you like Mae (Suspension and Ready And Waiting To Fall) and Jack’s Mannequin (Dark Blue and Resolution), I highly recommend this album.

You know you’re a nerd when..

In our office it is customary to bring packed lunch, which you usually have to heat up in the microwave oven first before eating.  Naturally sometimes you have to queue up to use the microwave. So sometimes people share.

And each and every time I see this, I wonder: Does the food heat less if there’s other food inside the oven?

Come to think of it, yes! I would assume that given the same power and time setting, the microwave oven will output the same amount of energy regardless of the load (that is, the amount of food inside), so by the law of conservation of energy, the larger amount of food would heat less because it needs more energy to heat up!

Well, that’s unless the microwave is intelligent enough to measure the amount of load first, and then adjust its output energy accordingly..hmm..

Geek, Nerd or Dork?

(thanks to John Deeth for the image)

I’ve seen these three terms used interchangeably, and while I’ve always known at the back of my mind that they have differences in meaning, only now did I go out of my way (read: Google) to find out exactly what they mean.

Well, not exactly.  As they are slang terms, there’s no formal official definition. There are variations in the meanings depending on the source and usage (see below).

Nerds - in general, technically bright but socially inept (Whatis.com).  A nerd per se likes knowledge more than the average person, but has difficulty dealing with people. When used in this sense it tends to mean a way of life and a love for knowing things.
_____  nerd –  Means a specific kind of nerd. For example, band nerds (as in marching bands) and word nerds (like David Cook).  But when used in this way, using “_____  geek” instead of _____  nerd” would usually result in the same meaning, whereas the prefixless usage would usually be more distinguishable.

Geeks – In computers and the Internet, a person who is inordinately dedicated to and involved with technology (Whatis.com). Some would say these are simply nerds specialized in technology, but then in this usage the term “geek” does not carry the “socially inept” connotation as much as the term “nerd” does.  And lately it seems there’s more respect for geeks than for nerds, and it’s more of a compliment to be called the former than the latter.
_____  geek – When used in this way, the meaning changes considerably, and usually becomes indistingiushable from “_____  nerds.”  For instance, Star Wars geeks know everything there is to know about the franchise that sometimes it affects their way of life, and this results to them being outside the mainstream.

Dorks - It seems there is much less uncertainty in what this term means. Aside from the rare instances where it could be an endearing term, it’s generally an insult to be called a dork.  Dictionaries say dorks are stupid and dull, and some sources add that dorks actually think they are cool.  However sometimes it’s fun being around a dork because they don’t take themselves too seriously, and it’s common to see people act like dorks just for the laughs.  But then some dorks have so low EQ (aka Emotional Intelligence) that it’s hard to not be irritated by them.