LAPAROSCOPIC HERNIA SURGERY

Apparently I was very mixed up about when my initial visit with my hernia doctor was going to be. First I thought that the appointment was on Friday April 22nd, then I thought it wasn't and then I found out that it was just as I had originally thought. Apparently hernias affect the ability to think clearly.

I did visit with my surgeon on Friday. The appointment was very short. He quickly confirmed that I had a hernia after a couple of quick coughs.  He quickly explained how the repair is done with a mesh placed over the hole in the muscles. He sent me on my way to schedule the procedure with the receptionist and that was that. The bottom line is that I will be starting my recovery on Friday Morning April 29th, at 7:00AM.

During Week 1: rest/walking
During Weeks 2-3: light activity
After Week 3: normal activity
Recurrence rate: <5%
Pain: 3-6 days

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Anyone can purchase this book at amazon.com for  $272.95. I am under the impression that my doctor will have studied from this book or others like it.  This is the description of the book on the amazon.com website:

Repair of simple and complex abdominal hernias by the laparoscopic technique is now the method of choice in many centres. Laparoscopic repair offers equivalent outcomes to open repair, with the additional benefits of greater patient satisfaction and reduced hospitalization. For some hernias, notably incisional and hiatal, the outcome appears to be superior using the minimally invasive technique.

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Your Food Diary For:

Saturday, April 23, 2016

BREAKFAST	Calories	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Sodium	Sugar
Instant Oatmeal Apples & Cinnamon	640	132	8	16	800	48
Mcintosh - Apple, 2 medium apple	160	44	0	0	0	34
	800	176	8	16	800	82
L U N C H
Chicken Breast - Chicken Breast Cooked	374	0	8	70	200	0
Traditional Sage Stuffing	400	43	21	7	1,133	7
Potatoes, red, flesh and skin, baked	200	44	0	5	27	3
	974	87	30	82	1,360	10
D I N N E R
Beef, cured, corned beef, brisket, cooked	500	1	38	36	1,939	0
	500	1	38	36	1,939	0
S N A C K S
Vanilla Cupcake With Frosting and Sprinkles	485	63	24	4	95	49
Sage - Red Delicious Apple, 2 medium apple	190	50	1	1	4	38
	675	113	25	5	99	86
Totals	2,949	377	101	139	4,198	179
Your Daily Goal	2,463	308	82	124	2,300	92
Remaining	-486	-68	-18	-15	-1,897	-86
	Calories	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Sodium	Sugar
	*You've earned 533 extra calories from exercise today

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HAPPY PASSOVER

Last night was the first night of Passover. Our family of three, enjoyed a Seder, as Jews around the world have been having for 3000+ years. During the Seder we tell the story about how the Israelites were given their freedom by God (with an assist from Moses) from their 200 years of slavery under the rule of the Egyptian Pharaohs.  During the retelling of this story, it is hard not to be in awe of God who revealed himself to the Jewish people and gave them the Torah. One definition of the Torah is that it is life's instruction book which guides one to lead a moral and meaningful life. It is where The Ten Commandments were revealed for the first time.  These rules have served as the foundation of a moral lifestyle for the Western world. 

There is one part of this story that has always troubled me. It is this: While it is impossible not to be thankful to God for releasing the Jews from the bondage in Egypt - we learn too, that sometimes God works at a pace that we may not completely understand. 200 years is a long time. I sometimes do wonder if America must descend into a further darkness, before the guiding hand of God sets our country on a better path. I do not know the answer, I can only ask the questions. That being said, I would like to wish a meaningful Pesach (Passover) to all my fellow Jews around the world. And since today is also a Saturday, let me add: Shabbat Shalom. 

My wife Jennifer, prepared the traditional Passover Seder Plate on a plate that was owned by my Grandparents.

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Your Food Diary For:

Friday, April 22, 2016

BREAKFAST	Calories	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Sodium	Sugar
Quaker Oats - Instant Oatmeal Apples & Cinnamon	640	132	8	16	800	48
Red Delicious Apple, 2 medium apple	190	50	1	1	4	38
	830	182	9	17	804	86
L U N C H
Jamwich - Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich	520	70	30	18	700	26
CHERRY VANILLA GRANOLA, 1.5 CUP	480	80	14	10	120	30
Campbell's - New England Clam Chowder	360	36	20	10	1,780	2
	1,360	186	64	38	2,600	58
D I N N E R
Potatoes, red, flesh and skin, baked, 0.5 potato large	132	29	0	3	18	2
Home Made - Matzah Ball Soup, 1 cup	118	10	6	0	450	0
Homemade. - Roasted Stuffed Tomato	100	9	7	2	593	0
Beef, cured, corned beef, brisket, cooked, 3 oz	213	0	16	15	827	0
Manischewitz - Matzah, 1 Matzah	100	21	0	3	0	0
	663	69	29	24	1,888	2
S N A C K S
GIN GINS ORIGINAL CHEWY GINGER	120	30	0	0	0	30
	120	30	0	0	0	30
Totals	2,973	468	102	79	5,291	176
Your Daily Goal	1,977	247	66	99	2,300	74
Remaining	-996	-220	-35	20	-2,991	-101
	Calories	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Sodium	Sugar
	*You've earned 47 extra calories from exercise today

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I was already having difficulty keeping my weight stable before I injured myself with the hernia. It has now been three weeks since I have had any meaningful exercise - this is reflected in my weight this morning: 235.5 lbs.

ALL GOOD THINGS MUST COME TO AN END

"all good things (must) come to an end" in British English all good things (must) come to an endsaying› said when you ​accept that ​even ​enjoyable ​experiences cannot last for ​ever:It's been a ​fantastic ​couple of ​weeks but all good things must come to an end.(Definition of all good things (must) come to an end from the Cambridge Advanced Learners Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press).

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My five day/four night road trip with my 14 year old daughter came to an end last evening. It was a combination work and vacation trip. We did visit some customers in Minnesota and sold some buttons, trims and fabrics. We also made time to spend two full days sightseeing in Minneapolis and Duluth. This was the longest of four overnight trips I have taken with my daughter while working. It was a memorable trip and we had great fun. Sometimes it is not so easy to get my daughter to wake up to start her day - but when I had an appointment at 8:00AM in Duluth on Thursday morning - my daughter cheerfully woke at 6:30AM and we arrived to my appointment a few minutes early - just as I like...

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Your Food Diary For:

Thursday, April 21, 2016

BREAKFAST	Calories	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Sodium	Sugar
Nature Valley Crunchy Granola Bar - Oats'n Honey	190	29	7	3	180	11
Quaker Oats - Instant Oatmeal Apples & Cinnamon	640	132	8	16	800	48
	830	161	15	19	980	59
L U N C H
Culvers - Butterburger "the Original"	360	39	16	20	510	6
Culver's - French Fries	385	53	17	5	56	0
	745	92	33	25	566	6
D I N N E R
Generic - Milanese Chicken Breast	500	37	26	28	520	3
Trader Joes - Orecchiette Pasta, 0.75 cup	300	62	2	11	0	3
Coconut Quinoa Salad	300	27	18	9	334	4
	1,100	126	45	47	854	10
S N A C K S
Candy Farm (Cracker Barrel) Coconut, Neopolitan	290	38	15	2	190	22
Oscar Mayer Lunchables - Turkey & Cheddar With Crackers Withtout Cookies, 1 package (3.2oz)	260	22	13	12	670	5
	550	60	28	14	860	27
Totals	3,225	439	121	105	3,260	102
Your Daily Goal	2,060	257	68	104	2,300	77
Remaining	-1,165	-181	-53	-1	-960	-25
	Calories	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Sodium	Sugar
	*You've earned 130 extra calories from exercise today

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DULUTH, MINNESOTA

Yesterday, my daughter and I spent a day off in Duluth, Minnesota. We arrived Duluth right before 1:00PM yesterday.  We checked into our room at the Radisson Hotel and promptly set out to explore the lakefront. We discovered a beautiful paved path that runs about 6 miles long along the Lake Superior coastline. We saw the famous (famous for Duluth) Lift Bridge and we walked about 3 miles north on the path. We stopped to explore some of the very rocky beaches and we stopped to take a bunch of photos. The most interesting thing we saw was Leif Erikson Park which looked like part of a medieval castle. There was only one time during the day, when my hernia was causing me trouble. After a rest while eating lunch, the pain completely subsided and I was able to thoroughly enjoy the day. My fitbit recorded nearly 20,000 steps which means that I walked nearly 10 miles.  After three weeks of inactivity this was a major achievement. The day ended with dinner at the restaurant atop our hotel -  JJ Astor.  This is the only revolving restaurant in Minnesota and it affords its patrons 360 degree views of the city of Duluth and Lake Superior. We made sure that our dinner included at least one complete revolution.  We were told that the restaurant goes around in a complete circle once every 72 minutes. Yesterday was a simply fabulous day.

Dad and Daughter enjoying the sunshine of spring day in Duluth

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Your Food Diary For:

Wednesday, April 20, 2016

BREAKFAST	Calories	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Sodium	Sugar
Instant Oatmeal Apples & Cinnamon	640	132	8	16	800	48
	640	132	8	16	800	48
L U N C H
Dairy Queen - Mushroom Swiss Grill Burger	570	39	35	24	820	8
Dairy Queen fries - French Fries, 3 cup	310	43	13	4	640	0
	880	82	48	28	1,460	8
D I N N E R
Prosciutto Pear Flatbread	435	39	23	18	975	5
Pan Seared Walleye	210	2	2	44	120	0
Grilled Brussel Sprouts	130	26	5	11	46	0
Fettuccini	270	39	6	12	580	1
	1,045	106	36	85	1,721	6
S N A C K S
Starbucks - Dark Chocolate Covered Grahams	280	34	16	4	100	24
	280	34	16	4	100	24
Totals	2,845	354	108	133	4,081	86
Your Daily Goal	2,964	370	98	149	2,300	111
Remaining	119	16	-9	15	-1,781	25
	Calories	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Sodium	Sugar
	*You've earned 1,034 extra calories from exercise today

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Aerial Lift Bridge

Rocky Beach at Lake Place Park

Leif Erikson Park

Leif Erikson Park

That's not a bug on my head, that's my daughter on a bridge in the background

Duluth Cakewalk

Duluth Lakewalk

Checking out Lake Superior

Bridge from Lakewalk back to Downtown Duluth

Revolving restaurant Radisson Hotel (built 1970)

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VISIT TO DOCTOR DELAYED

Yesterday after all my activity on Monday, I struggled a bit. There were a few times during the day when I felt some twangs of discomfort. Late in the day, I received a phone call confirming an appointment for today which I thought was not until Friday. Obviously, I made some error in recording my appointment. Now my appointment is scheduled for Tuesday, six days more from now. I am looking forward to that, so that I can start looking forward to a surgery date. I am really not enjoying being sidelined. And when I think about what an inguinal hernia actually is - I only get more nervous about walking around with this condition, even though I was told I could do so indefinitely.

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Your Food Diary For:

Tuesday, April 19, 2016

BREAKFAST	Calories	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Sodium	Sugar
Instant Oatmeal Apples & Cinnamon	480	99	6	12	600	36
Hotel - Scrambled Eggs Sausages	499	0	0	0	0	0
	979	99	6	12	600	36
L U N C H
Culvers - Butterburger "the Original"	360	39	16	20	510	6
TOASTED COCONUT ALMONDS	240	11	20	8	0	5
	600	50	36	28	510	11
D I N N E R
Panera Bread - French Baguette	360	72	2	8	880	0
PANERA BREAD - BISTRO ONION SOUP	320	34	0	12	1,780	14
Panera - Roasted Turkey & Avocado Blt, 1/2 sandwich	260	24	11	16	470	1
	940	130	13	36	3,130	15
S N A C K S
Banana Chips	200	23	13	1	0	13
	200	23	13	1	0	13
Totals	2,719	301	68	77	4,240	75
Your Daily Goal	2,123	265	70	107	2,300	79
Remaining	-596	-36	2	30	-1,940	4
	Calories	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Sodium	Sugar
	*You've earned 193 extra calories from exercise today

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SURVIVED MY VISIT TO THE MALL OF AMERICA

There is nothing inherently dangerous about walking about in the Mall of America. My concern was that I would physically hold up as I am gingerly walking these days as I get used to my inguinal hernia. Since I did not push myself, just walking, I was fine. My fitbit recorded more than 16000 steps for the day, which was nearly 4 times the amount of walking I have been recently accomplishing. After the visit to the Mall of America, my daughter and I visited the Minnehaha Waterfalls and after that we jumped back in the car one last time to visit the sculpture garden at Walker Gardens. Aside from the fact that we had a great time today, my day was greatly enhanced simply by avoiding pain. Three more days until I have my initial visit with my surgeon.

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Your Food Diary For:

Monday, April 18, 2016

BREAKFAST	Calories	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Sodium	Sugar
Hyvee - Apples & Cinnamon Instant Oatmeal	520	108	6	12	640	36
Sage - Red Delicious Apple, 1 medium apple	95	25	0	1	2	19
	615	133	6	13	642	55
L U N C H
Panda Express - Mixed Vegetable	80	16	1	4	540	5
Panda Express - Mushrooms Chicken, 1 entree	170	11	9	12	750	4
Panda Express - Broccoli Beef Entree	150	13	7	9	520	7
	400	40	17	25	1,810	16
D I N N E R
Generic - Whitefish, Lightly Blackened, 20 z filet	610	0	6	133	5,780	0
Generic - Grilled Brussel Sprouts, 2 cup	130	26	5	11	46	0
Whole Foods - Chicken Breast, Baked	500	0	11	94	1,208	0
	1,240	26	21	237	7,034	0
S N A C K S
Whole Foods - Banana Chips, 0.33 cup	200	23	13	1	0	13
WHOLE FOODS - NATURAL WASABI GREEN PEAS, 2/3 cup (30 grams)	240	38	6	8	480	4
	440	61	19	9	480	17
Totals	2,695	260	64	284	9,965	88
Your Daily Goal	2,716	339	90	136	2,300	101
Remaining	21	79	26	-148	-7,665	12
	Calories	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Sodium	Sugar
	*You've earned 786 extra calories from exercise today

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Our day started at 10:15AM and we practically had the Mall of America to ourselves
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After our visit at Mall of America we ventured outside and drove to Minnehaha Park to see the  falls.

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Our last stop of the day was the Walker Sculpture Garden

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from the walkerart.org website....

SPOON BRIDGE AND CHERRY

Artist

Claes Oldenburg, Coosje van Bruggen

Date

1985-1988

Dimensions

overall 354 × 618 × 162 inches

Materials

aluminum, stainless steel, paint

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Claes Oldenburg is best known for his ingenious, oversized renditions of ordinary objects, like the giant “soft” three-way plug and overturned bag of french fries in the Walker’s own collection. He and Coosje van Bruggen, his wife and collaborator, had already created a number of large-scale public sculptures, including the Batcolumn in Chicago, when they were asked to design a fountain-sculpture for the planned Minneapolis Sculpture Garden. The spoon had appeared as a motif in a number of Oldenburg’s drawings and plans over the years, inspired by a novelty item (a spoon resting on a glob of fake chocolate) he had acquired in 1962. Eventually the utensil emerged—in humorously gigantic scale—as the theme of the Minneapolis project. Van Bruggen contributed the cherry as a playful reference to the Garden’s formal geometry, which reminded her of Versailles and the exaggerated dining etiquette Louis XIV imposed there. She also conceived the pond’s shape in the form of linden seed. (Linden trees are planted along the allées that stretch before the fountain.) The complex fabrication of the 5,800 pound spoon and 1,200 pound cherry was carried out at two shipbuilding yards in New England. The sculpture has become a beloved icon in the Garden, whether glaceed with snow in the Minnesota winters or gleaming in the warmer months, with water flowing over the surface of the cherry and a fine mist rising from its stem.