San Francisco has always been a haven for misfits and weirdos. I’m both of those, which is why I came here. ~ Michael Franti
A Walking Day in San Francisco
Prior to my surgery, I often walked San Francisco at least one day every weekend. It’s such an amazing city with so many different neighborhoods, tons of parks, lots of museums and of course amazing food everywhere. Also, it’s a place where you never know what you might see.
Since my surgery I’ve been a bit limited, initially to the distance I could walk, then and continuing, the healing process for my breastbone and the inability to wear a backpack. Finally, I am up to walking significant distances, my breastbone is still healing but is at least fused together and I can handle a backpack as long as it only has a jacket and a hat in it.
So today I went for a small walk along the Embarcadero, took BART down, and walked from the Ferry Building over to Pier 39 in order to get a pizza.
Then after my pizza I did a walk back up along the Embarcadero but detoured just a bit to hang out in Levi Plaza, a lovely little park outside the headquarters of the Levi corporation. While there, I got to see some really happy bees working the flowers in the park.
As always, there were interesting sights all around.
It was a lovely day and a nice little test walk. I have to admit a bit of anxiety as I ended up in a huge crowd for Bastille Day, but I came through without getting bumped or jostled in any way and felt pretty good about the experience. As with all of my walks I got a few pictures of flowers and that’s how I will leave you tonight, have a happy day my friends. ~ Rev Kane
To travel, to experience and learn: that is to live. – Tenzing Norgay
My New Hiking Audiobook is Live
Ten years ago I hiked a thousand miles on the Appalachian Trail, after coming off of the trail I spent three months living in Pensacola, Florida working on this book. I put the book out as both a physical copy and an E-book and it actually did ok and is well reviewed on Amazon.
I wanted to do an audiobook but the time and set up needed to do that was just something I couldn’t find the time or the energy needed to do. So the idea languished and then it became too far after the original publication to really do anything about it.
Enter technology, the advances made by AI have now allowed for the possibility that AI can narrate from text. Amazon is running a beta test on their new AI narration system and gave me the opportunity to use it to create an audiobook for Appalachian Trail Happiness.
The process was a bit complicated, but once I got the hang of the system the editing process only took me about three days to complete. It even allowed me, once I figured things out, to cover over some editing errors in the text version.
So, if you, or someone you know is into hiking and want to listen to a fun and interesting book about a wonderful hiking adventure, grab a copy and give it a listen and reviews are always welcome.
If you carry joy in your heart, you can heal any moment. ~ Carlos Santana
Rev Kane’s Wild Ride: Heart Surgery Tips
First, the general disclaimer. I’m not a doctor, this post is not medical advice in any way. These are just suggestions from my own experience that may or may not work for you. If you are about to, or have just had open heart surgery, ALWAYS, clear any plans you have with your care team.
Recently I had open heart surgery to replace a bicuspid aortic valve and two aneurysms, an ascending aortic as well as a root aneurysm. When I was in the hospital, one of my doctors said to me, that I was the most prepared and mobile heart patient she’d ever had and asked me what I had done. That, with some pointers about making recovery easier, is what I’ll be answering with this post. I’ve done a previous post where I laid out exactly what procedure I had, and what the experience was like.
Another little disclaimer, I’m 60, which is pretty young for this type of surgery. As you bang around on the net looking at information about preparing and recovering from heart surgery, and you’re in decent health like I was, the information seems a little off. It took me some time to realize, that the average patient getting this surgery is typically in their 70’s and have symptoms and are not likely very mobile or in great physical condition. If you’re reading this, my biggest recommendation is to tailor the advice to your own current level of fitness and ability.
The biggest thing I did prior to the surgery was to make sure I was in the best possible cardio-vascular health I could reasonably be in given I work and have a life. So no, I wasn’t out running five miles a day (I actually hate running) or doing ridiculous workouts in the gym. What I started doing was walking a minimum of two miles a day. My goal was every day to do between two and four miles with the occasional weekend walk of six or eight miles. For me, that meant a long day walking around San Francisco and eating good food. So effectively, the minimum was forty minutes to an hour of walking each day and I didn’t always do it in one walk, my busy life and job didn’t always allow for that. So sometimes it was one forty minute walk, and other days it was four ten minute walks in between meetings. Also remember rest is important, I did minimal walking or exercising every Monday, you need to give your body time to rest and recover. The big thing is consistency, you don’t have to walk fast, but doing this every day will absolutely improve your cardiovascular fitness, and you don’t need a gym, special equipment or anything else, you can walk anywhere. Seriously, your neighborhood, your apartment complex, parking lots, the mall, it doesn’t matter where, just that your walking. Now, the longer the continuous walk the higher the impact, but if you’re consistent, you’ll see benefits. There are lots of articles on the benefits of walking, here’s a link to one that also includes a 12-week walking plan.
So that’s my first and maybe my most important recommendation. Walking will both get you in better cardiovascular shape and strengthen your legs and core. This will be important in recovery as you begin walking after surgery. Which leads to my second recommendation, core exercises. Again, do these at whatever level you are comfortable working at but they are important. You see, post open heart surgery, you will not only be recovering from a damaged heart, but you will also be recovering from a broken (cut in half) sternum (breastbone) the sternum injury, of the two, takes the absolute longest to heal for most people. Your breastbone will fuse in six to eight weeks, but won’t be functionally healed for twelve weeks, this is why most people get twelve weeks of medical leave. It’s at that point, I’ve been told I can start resistance training (weight lifting) again. However, last week I talked to an EMT who broke his sternum and he said it was a full six months before he really felt like he was near normal and could start training again. The sternum injury recovery is a long process requiring patience, but it also means that a lot of things you normally do with your arms, will not be available to you, particular pushing and pulling with any force. I learned this shortly after returning home, the details don’t matter but I had a shotgun I needed to unload, I quickly realized I did not have the strength to rack a shotgun. Something I’d been doing since I was fourteen years-old.
Probably the biggest place this kicks in is getting up and down out of bed and chairs. We typically use our arms to push up out of a chair, that is no longer available to you for at least three months. It is one of the reasons, most people sleep in a recliner for the first week or two at home, they don’t have the ability otherwise to get out of bed unassisted. Now, if you have a constant caretaker it’s a bit different they can certainly assist you. For this reason core exercises become really important, it will be by the strength of your core muscles that you will need to get up and down out of chairs and beds. Even when being assisted, you’ll need these muscles to help you up. I was doing core workouts for six months prior to surgery to be in a better mobility position after surgery, I’m really glad I did them. Here’s a link to a set of core exercises for absolute beginners that you can do. Again, you don’t need a gym or equipment, just a little space at home. And here is a link to exercises that are a little more advanced for those of you who are already in good walking shape.
Another part of the preparation that I did, which is just common sense but sometimes escapes people, is that I practiced everything I normally do without using my arms. Or, without using my arms outside the core of my body. You’ll get information on doing things in the core, here’s an image to give you an idea of what keep your moves in the tube means:
So one of the things I did pre-surgery was to practice getting in and out of every seating surface in my apartment and my deck. Additionally, I practiced getting out of bed, which is when I found out, I was not going to be able to sleep in my bed for at least a few weeks after surgery. It’s not unusual for folks to spend a couple of weeks in a recliner after surgery so I wasn’t too upset. I do live alone, so one other factor for me was that I had to be able to do all of this with no support from anyone else. If I couldn’t do that, I was going to either need to go into a rehab facility for a time (not paid for by my insurance) or bring in a nurse at night (also not paid for by insurance). What I found out was that certain chairs were easier than others to get in and out of, my deck chairs needed a cushion on them so that I could easily get in and out. My couch worked well, the recliner was a breeze, like I said however my bed was out.
Sleep is incredibly important to recovery, it helps you heal faster and with less pain. My first couple of nights alternating between the recliner and the couch taught me immediately this was not the right option. I’d get maybe three hours and then wake up with stiff muscles or joints because I could never find a great position to sleep in all night. While this wasn’t terrible, it was about the equivalent to the way they wake you up in the hospital, it also wasn’t great. That’s when I broke down and bought a head adjustable bed frame. I got incredibly lucky, I’d found a good frame and mattress set online for a not insane price about $1700. But that also involved it being shipped, needing help to set it up and having my current bed removed which meant calling the junk guys to come and remove it which was another cost. At the last minute it hit me, local places often advertised installation and removal of your old bed. So I went online and found an adjustable frame that looked like it would support my current mattress. The next morning, a Saturday, I made a call to Bedroom Express. I asked about the frame, it was on the web as $499, I asked about fitting my mattress, and installation and removal of the old bed. Turned out the store was two miles from my home so 50% off the delivery fee, installation was free, the frame was on sale for $399, I had mentioned I was recovering from heart surgery and so he waived the removal fee. Oh, this was 10:30AM, they had it delivered and set up by 2:30. All in all $500 and I had the bed in hours. Having the head up bed was a game changer. It meant I could easily get in and out of bed and most importantly, I was sleeping in my own bed.
It’s important to really analyze your home with the limitations you’ll have in mind. You’ll have no upper body strength, won’t be able to carry but a few pounds. How will you do laundry, what things are on high shelves that should be re-positioned? You may be on heavy pain medications, how is your house set up for movement if you’re unstable? Are there clear paths around your home? Do you need a shower stool? One thing I did was to install some handholds in my shower. They weren’t the same as handicap bars but they gave me something to grab on to and feel more confident the first few days home. I also for the first week, only showered when someone else was in the apartment.
Next is the thing I did that I was most happy about. No, not the bed, the hand holds in the shower, moving food and pots and pans to my kitchen counter, nope, my most genius decision was in response to the inability to be able to bend over after surgery, I bought a grabber.
Then, and Watchmen fans will appreciate this, it hit me, who grabs the grabber if it falls to the ground. So I bought a second one. It’s been so amazingly helpful and is able to pick up far smaller things than I imagines, I have often picked up pills I’ve dropped on the floor. This has been so incredibly useful, I may never bend over again.
Finally, and for most people this will be easy, but I’m a loner, who lives alone and is a bit anti-social. Get your support team in place. Make sure you have at least a handful of people you can really count on. I was surprised how many people volunteered to do this without being asked. Especially if you live alone, I recommend two visitors a day the first two weeks and then you can start to tail off. By week six I was only calling people to move stuff around the apartment. At that point I was also cleared to drive so I didn’t need to rely on people for rides.
The final piece of advice really comes from my long-distance hiking experience. I’ve hiked a thousand miles on the Appalachian Trail. I’ve hiked across Scotland three times, part of the Camino in Spain and spent thirty days hiking in the high passes of the Himalayan Mountains including Everest Base Camp. What everyone expects is that the physical exertion will be a test and of course it is. But with these types of hikes, like the surgery, people often fail to prepare for the mental aspects. You’re going through a trauma, there is a lot of fear and anxiety going in and even after. That first week or so, every weird heartbeat feels like imminent death, every crack your sternum falling out of place and every weird blood pressure reading is a problem. I had night sweats one night and was convinced it was a symptom of Afib. It’s really stressful and scary, that’s ok, you’ve had one of the most major surgeries anyone can have, they stopped your damn heart. In doing my own research a lot of people react weirdly, some get a new purpose in life, some get incredibly depressed. So be prepared for this. Avoid boredom, get your Netflix and other streaming ques ready, have a stack of books or a subscription to an audio book service. Do you have hobbies you can still engage? Make sure you have everything you need to do them. Also, remember that you’re healing mentally as well as physically. So do the things that support and lift your spirits. Does watching birds make you happy, buy a bird feeder you can watch. Make contact with the best people in your life, the ones that support and lift your mood. Avoid whenever possible the people who bring you down. Do you love chocolate or a type of candy, make sure to have some in the house. One of the things I did was to make sure I had some of my craving foods available in case I had a craving. Silly things, top ramen, Spaghettios, ice cream and yes, dark chocolate.
Don’t be afraid to ask for help as you go through this. People understand and will be there to help you, but help means mood lifting as well. Need to get out of the house, ask for someone to just take you for a drive. Go to movie mattinees, walk in the park or by the river or the ocean. Most mornings I take a half hour and just sit in the sun on my deck and listen to a podcast. Once I’m back to work, that’s a pleasure I won’t be able to engage in.
So my friends, take care of yourself, be prepared. Get in better shape by walking, do your core exercises, practice the movements you’ll do post surgery, make sure you can get good sleep, take care of your mood and mental health, ask for help, ask your care team lots of questions and of course BUY A GRABBER!
Finally, good luck and I hope your experience turns out to be a good one. ~ Rev Kane
The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched – they must be felt with the heart. ~ Helen Keller
Rev Kane’s Wild Ride: What Open Heart Surgery is Like
Today I wanted to write about my experience of going through open-heart surgery. The exact surgery I had was a biological replacement valve implanted to replace my aortic valve. I was born with a birth defect, a bicuspid aortic valve. Essentially your aorta should have three leaves, two of mine had fused together leaving me with two instead of three and this narrows the opening and causes problems with the heart. Additionally, this condition, along with my high blood pressure caused additional pressure on my arterial walls leading to both an ascending aortic aneurysm and a smaller root aneurysm on top of the aorta. The video below explains the conditions, details of survivability etc… and the procedure to repair them. The repair I had, will hopefully last ten to fifteen years before I would need another procedure.
I’ll be honest, the procedure is a bit terrifying. The idea that they would be stopping my heart for a couple of hours. The idea of having my chest opened, my breastbone cut in half and being essentially split open like a lobster is not something I was looking forward to having done to me. However, it was a necessary procedure that should give me a better quality of life.
One of the things I didn’t completely expect, I hadn’t had major surgery before, were all of the pre-surgery tests and appointments, and man there are a lot of them. You of course meet with your cardiologist and the surgeon, but you also meet with an anesthesiologist, a surgical scheduler, a surgical nurse and a nurse practitioner. And it seems like just about everyone has a different set of questions and blood tests that need to be done. You also have to have a procedure, a heart catheterization where they feed a small wire up through an artery in your wrist or leg and into your heart to check for any blocked arteries, which determines whether or not you’ll need any bypasses during your procedure. Happily, I had no issues and no bypasses needed to be done.
In my case, my surgery almost got cancelled because my blood sugar numbers were too high, happily I was able to work with my general practitioner to get them into an acceptable range before surgery. Then, because there were two emergency admissions who needed surgery, my surgery was pushed back three weeks. It’s an odd thing I didn’t expect, they don’t absolutely confirm your surgery until the evening before. Which is crazy considering the night before you have eating restrictions and have to shower with specific surgical soap and wipe down your body with disinfectant wipes.
Happily, the night before they called about 6PM and confirmed me for the next morning. I of course had to arrive at the hospital at 6AM. The morning of surgery flies by pretty fast, you go through admitting and then walk up to the surgical floor waiting room. Once they pull you in they put you in a bed, strip you down to the lovely hospital gown, take your vital signs, ask you a bunch of questions, have you sign away your life (you hope not literally) and then stick an IV into your arm. They pretty quickly roll you down to the operating room staging area, here a person comes in and shaves any areas that need to be shaved. Then a little while later they roll you out into the hall, your doctor and team make a quick appearance and then you’re rolled into the operating room. The anesthesiologist says good morning, drops a mask on you and says take deep breaths, I remember taking two. Then, what feels like ten seconds later you hear the voice of a nurse saying, “Mr. Kane, you had heart surgery, it’s 3:30PM on the day of your surgery, you have a breathing tube in, when you wake up a little more we’ll get it out.”
A couple of quick things, what added to my level of trepidation prior to surgery was the experience some others have had. As a healthy person, survival rates for this surgery are near 99% but there’s always that 1%. I know three people who’ve had this surgery. A friend a couple of years ago who had the surgery and had multiple complications. My closest friend growing up, who had the surgery a year ago and died. And a colleague, who six months ago had the surgery came out and a few days later went into a coma for a time, he’s happily ok now. So I was afraid of dying of course and also of ending up in a coma. So one of the things I did was shave my beard real short, I was planning to touch my face when I woke up. If my beard was gone, or really long, I would know I’d been in a coma. But my magnificent nurse took that anxiety away by saying it was the day of my surgery, I was very grateful for that.
My second fear was the breathing tube. First, I was an asthmatic growing up, so one of my biggest fears is not being able to breathe, I’m also my grandfather’s grandson and at 90 he woke up from being unresponsive and ripped out his breathing tube, IV’s and catheter. I was really afraid of waking up with the breathing tube in my throat and had warned my team I might freak and rip it out. The anesthesiologist I met with pre-surgery had told me not to worry, most people didn’t even remember it coming out, a combination of all of the pain meds and sleep drugs. And in fact, later that night when I started to be a bit clear headed I really didn’t remember it.
Until the next day, you see the next night, in the next room another patient was going through the process, with the nurse I’d had the day before. Hearing her talk that patient through the process brought the full memory screaming back to me. It wasn’t as horrible as I had imagined, but it wasn’t pleasant. When I first woke up and could feel the tube I started to freak, the nurse put me at ease. I really didn’t like having the tube in, I bit down on it a couple of times and a couple of times gagged a little. But I was also still fading in and out of consciousness and they were instructing me to breathe deeply. I was concentrating on doing that and I think it took about a half hour before I heard my nurse say, “I think he’s ready.” They made the call to the respiratory person and then it was a process of breathing deeply then exhaling hard as they pulled it, unpleasant but it made me really happy. I fell in and out of consciousness for the rest of the night. Often listening to everyone but for some reason it was a couple of hours before I opened my eyes for the first time.
While you may anticipate some down time of just laying there recovering, they warn you in advance this will not be the case, they will have you up and walking the next day, and they do. The next morning I woke up with an IV in my arm, an IV in my neck, two drainage tubes coming out of my chest, two wires coming out of my chest hooked up to a portable, external pacemaker and of course the catheter. I actually didn’t mind the catheter, it was nice not to have to get up to go to the bathroom and there are a lot of fluids introduced into the body during surgery so the drainage tubes and catheter initially stay very busy. Then they pump you up with Lasix and the fluids rain out of you like a waterfall. But that first day, they did indeed get me out of bed for a short walk with a walker, while six different sets of tubes and wires hung from my body and we dragged an IV tree and a vital monitor around with us.
The biggest issue those first two days are the chest tubes, they hurt like hell. Every breath is a little pain, every big breath a lot of pain and when you cough it’s like people are stabbing you with serrated knives. I was on a lot of pain meds the first couple of days and it still hurt like hell, not to mention your chest isn’t all that comfortable either, and I have a pretty high pain tolerance. They tell you again and again, it will get better once the chest tubes come out, I would smile and say ok. Inside I was thinking you’re a bunch of lying bastards give me drugs.
I didn’t have much of an appetite at first, my first breakfast all I could eat was a small yogurt. I would eat about a third of my meals the first couple of days and experienced a really weird thing. I would in an instant get super hungry, but if i didn’t eat within about five minutes, I’d suddenly get nauseous and not want to eat anything. Eventually I learned to save a piece of fruit from each meal, so when my hunger hit, I could eat immediately.
On day three in the ICU they came to take out my chest tubes, it was the weirdest damn sound and feeling when they pulled them out. They pulled them out simultaneously and it made a weird squishy sound. The image I had was them pulling two large squid through a puddle of Vaseline with all the assorted squishiness that would command. But the nurses and doctors had not lied, literally the first breath after the tubes were out was pain free, it was an unbelievable and amazing difference. While it still hurt a bit to cough, I immediately was able to cut back on almost all of the pain drugs save the max dose of Tylenol that I was on. After the chest tubes I actually never took anything other than Tylenol for the next four days, nor since coming home.
The next two days in the ICU were the same routine wake up, eat, walk, nap, eat, walk, nap, eat walk sleep. I would have left the ICU a day sooner, but they didn’t have a bed for me downstairs on the step down floor. We dealt with lots of little things, BP at times too low, discovering I had sleep apnea, I don’t normally sleep on my back. They would as the days progressed pull the catheter and the neck IV and eventually pulling the pacemaker wires which was a really wild sensation. I think the idea that they were literally pulling these off my beating heart added to the exhilaration of the moment. When they do, your heart does this weird fluttery thing, I didn’t like it. I was lucky, they never needed to pace my heart, I didn’t have any complications like Afib, and there were no infections. The one big thing I had to overcome to get out of ICU was making a bowel movement. That happened on day three and when it did, it really did, I’ll spare you the details but it matched the name of a Robert Plant solo album.
While you’re in ICU you get visits from all sorts of specialized folks, social workers, rehab folks and physical therapy who assess your mobility and strength. They teach you out to get out of bed without using your arms and give you tips for recovery. They also take you on walks, happily I did well enough that they cleared me before I left the ICU which was great, but it also meant once I moved floors there was no way for me to walk stairs and I have twelve steps leading up to my apartment.
The step down floor was a very typical hospital stay, I got to take my first shower. Each day is routine which of course means they wake you up two or three times a night and you have a lot less attention than you did in ICU. I was happy to have good nurses, and this time is really all about them making sure there are no complications, you’re mobile and your vital signs are good. I left there in three days and my cardiologist told me I left the hospital faster than any of her other patients had before. I credit that to how much I prepared for the surgery, which I address in another post.
Finally, going home was stressful and exciting, I did the stairs easily. I did well, I expected the first week to be hell. The first couple of nights, sleeping in a recliner and on the couch weren’t great. I broke down and bought an adjustable bed on day 4, being able to sleep in my bed made everything better. Being home is mostly about patience. You need help the first couple of weeks (this assumes you were healthy and fully mobile and independent before surgery) there are just some things you can’t do. By week four it’s a lot better, it’s week nine for me right now and I’m finally feeling close to normal.
So, if you’re about to go through this, I hope this gave you some info and peace of mind, and good luck on your surgery and recovery. ~ Rev Kane
Cooking is a philosophy; not a recipe. ~ Marco Pierre White
Happiness and Making Sauce
So there comes a time in the garden where you don’t have any ripe tomatoes but the basil is still growing like crazy. At that point, you only have two choices, make pesto or make sauce. While I do like pesto, I’m not a massive fan and it’s a bit of work and just doesn’t hit like sauce does. So today, I found myself with one only one ripe tomato and a ton of basil. So I decided to make make sauce today.
I decided to do it right, so while not fully from scratch, I worked pretty close. I love cooking and the whole process, cutting and sauteing the vegetables, frying up the sausage, making the meatballs and cooking down the sauce is all an act of love for me. The smell of a pot of sauce on the stove always takes me back to one place, my Uncle Mikey’s cabin.
That’s Uncle Mikey in the picture above busting through the screen door. His cabin was the center piece of our extended family’s summer. You see Uncle Mikey’s cabin had a pool, a big damn above ground pool and it was the place to be every summer. Every summer you’d find people in the pool, sitting on the deck at the cabin, inside the kitchen eating pasta and always, there was a pot of sauce on the stove. There was always pasta on request and of course, a loaf of Italian bread on counter so you could rip off a piece of bread and dunk it in the sauce.
So sitting here today, smelling the pot of sauce on the stove, on a quiet Sunday afternoon is about as happy as I get, remembering the man I was named at and all the happy times at his cabin. Well, as happy as I get until I make those ravioli’s later and drown them in the sauce.
Every walk of life falls under the Testicular Imperative: Either you have the world by them, or it has you. ~ Colin Fletcher
Remembering My Appalachian Trail Hike
So I had a goal for my time off for medical leave, I wanted to do another book. Unfortunately that fell off, but another opportunity presented itself. So to celebrate the 10th anniversary of publishing my book Appalachian Trail Happiness I’m publishing an audio version of the book. Amazon is beta testing an AI conversion of your print book. So I’ve just spent the last three days learning that system and editing the audio book, it’s a computer generated narrator not my voice. I just hit publish and so it will go live in the next three days. Listening and editing my book brought a lot of things to mind.
I need to first apologize to my friend Rich who hounded me for this for years, sorry it took so long.
Most of all, holy shit I miss the guys pictured above and my time on the trail. Reliving my months on the trail was wonderful, every fiber of me is screaming right now to get back on the trail, but that will have to wait given current realities.
Something that always happens when you re-edit a published text is you see all of the errors. I mean hell, me, six other readers and an edit by an editor and there’s still so many little errors.
Finally, man am I proud of this book. It’s a really good book, well written, interesting and there’s some great advice in it. I also, going through it, know all of the great stories that aren’t in there and you really should be buying me a pizza and asking for those stories.
Have a happy day my friends, I’ll put out another post after the audio book is published, listed and available. It will be available both on Amazon and Audible.
The real problem is not whether machines think but whether men do. ~ BF Skinner
Happiness and Technology
I think technology in general gets a bad rap. Sure, there are lots of problems with the predominant technology in our lives, social media. In the online environment we get plenty of hate spewing keyboard warriors, misinformation, conspiracy theories and media like Instagram has even been proven to have significant negative impacts on the self-image of teens, particularly girls. We see negative impacts from doom scrolling, online porn and gaming addictions and lots of lost productivity from people wasting their time online watching videos, etc… None of this is surprising, the entire environment is run by big corporations and big corporations are essentially evil for one reason, the only thing they care about is profits for shareholders. So if there are negative impacts on their product users oh well, hell in some cases, because it will drive profits, it’s actually the goal. This is not new, think back to all the lawsuits that have been filed against tobacco companies over the years and all the evidence that showed that they fully understood the negative health impacts and hid them. It continues, just recently there was a huge class action settlement around opioid pain killers with big pharma doing exactly what big tobacco did. So it’s no shock that big tech is doing the exact same thing.
However, technology itself is not evil, it’s all about how you decide, or how you are manipulated into using it. You know, some crazy minister in California might lure you in by writing a blog on happiness and publishing every Sunday night. And while there are lots of negative uses and abuses of technology, tonight I want to talk about the wonderful side of technology.
I think back on my grandfather’s life, he was born in 1910 and died in 2000. When he was a kid in New York City, no one had telephones or radios or cars. No ordinary person ever flew on an airplane. By time his life ended, we had supersonic jets that flew NY to Europe in a couple of hours, men had walked on the moon, probes had sent back images of Mars. We had phones in our pockets that could pull up damn near every bit of knowledge known to man. Technology has moved at an amazing pace. And while I’m focusing on computer technology, medical technology has been equally incredible. My other grandfather died in 1969 effectively from chronic high blood pressure, a condition I and much of my family have inherited from him. The difference, we take a few pills and go on with our lives, he died at 49.
This discussion around technology has a particular meaning to nomads like me. When you move around a lot, you have people scattered everywhere. Hell, some of my fellow nomads are actually able to be truly nomadic working as digital nomads. But being so far from the people I care about would be so much harder if it wasn’t for technology. We’re no longer dependent on a letter that can take days or weeks to reach these people and then and equally long wait for a response. We can literally via email or chat have quick or even immediate conversations with people all over the planet. When I was a kid, one of the technologies I saw in movies and on TV that I always wanted was the video call. Now that can be done on our phones. It allows me to interact with my little niece and nephews three-thousand miles away. I can see how they are growing and changing and we get a better window into each other’s lives. Just over the last year technology has allowed me to do some amazing things. I got to sit in on a friend’s PhD defense in Georgia, had a three-way video call with people in three different countries, watched sporting events not on TV from across the country and this weekend I got to watch my nephew graduate from high school in NY. Just like I did with one of my nieces several years ago and also another nephew’s graduation from trade school in Georgia.
The level of interconnection and information is truly amazing. I have one younger niece who tracks my flights whenever I’m on airplanes so she knows exactly when I’ll be arriving. I’m able to shop online and have a gift delivered the next day across the country. Recently I even found one of my nieces fielding percentage on her high school softball team. Without this amazing science based miracle, I would have missed out on many or all of these things, so I’m truly grateful for the technology we have. Without a doubt it has helped this nomad have happier days my friends. ~ Rev Kane
He was a dreamer, a thinker, a speculative philosopher… or, as his wife would have it, an idiot.~ Douglas Adams
Rev Kane’s Wild Ride: 42 Days!
As I went into surgery I had some particular milestones in mind, particularly associated with numbers of weeks. So, Week 1, survive and one I hadn’t envisioned, have a bowel movement. Weeks 2-3, the first two weeks home, try to find ways to be as comfortable as possible, understand and accept help from others. Weeks 4-6, get into a healing routine, enough sleep, eating well, walking and accept but reduce the amount of help I needed. Week 6, start to drive. Weeks 6-8 is about the time most people’s breast bone has fully fused back together, not completely healed but fused together, so I picked the end of Week 7 and the holy number of 42 to really celebrate the first major milestone on my way to normality.
Week 1 was about survival and getting out of the hospital and I left on day 6. The first two weeks at home were far more comfortable than expected, especially after I got the head adjustable bed frame and was able to start sleeping in my own bed again. Weeks 4-6 have been exactly as expected, it’s become pretty routine, get up, do my vital signs, record them for the doctor, eat, take my meds, go for a walk, do some social media, eat, go for a walk, nap or listen to a podcast. Eat dinner, go for a walk, take my meds, shower, make my bed, watch some TV, go to bed. Other than expanding the distance of my walk each day, it’s been pretty much groundhog day for the last few weeks, you know, minus a couple of visitors and doctor’s visits.
Week 7 has been about starting to getting back to feeling close to normal. Week 8 will be much the same, and after Week 8 we change gears from recover to preparation and training. After Week 8 I’ll get a little more adventurous, my cardiologist has cleared me to travel after Week 8. There are already signs of this, I took my last dose of a heart medicine today, one I should have finished a couple of weeks ago but had to slow the dose because it was liquefying my intestines if I took both doses each day. I have five weeks left to be on my blood thinners and hopefully at that point I go off of that drug as well as the drug I take to protect my stomach from the impacts of the blood thinners.
One of the things that I read a lot about but hadn’t really experienced during this recovery are the emotional impacts. There was a lot about people being more emotional and often becoming depressed after the surgery. I was a little emotional in Week 2, but honestly, I feel a bit colder instead of more emotional. I’ve also been in really good spirits, the last two days have been the exception. My mood took a gnarly dive yesterday and I’m trying to fight my way out of that. I think a bit part of it, is the realization of how long the limitations on me will extend. While I can travel after week 8, I can’t really wear a weighted backpack, so no real hiking options. I can swim or soak in a hot tub or hot spring, so resorts and beaches are off the table. Honestly it really only leaves me casinos, eating and shows and I’m not really excited about Reno, Tahoe or Vegas right now. So I think a big part of my tanking mood is that I’ll have four pretty open weeks and I really have nothing all that exciting I can do. Don’t get me wrong, I’m enjoying my quiet, mostly stress free life right now but I kind of wanted to do something fun. I’m working on it. One other small piece of information that has bummed me out, I’ve always wanted to jump out of a plane. I had hoped to celebrate a year post surgery by jumping out of a plane, unfortunately it’s really not recommended without previous experience and a ton of cardiac rehab training focused on jumping. A little good news however, I can scuba dive, so I may have to get certified and start diving.
The big gear change in Weeks 8-12 is to push my legs and do a lot of walking. I’m currently walking 4 miles a day most days. I’ll push that up to 6 miles a day as we progress, I’m already picking up my walking speed and doing more hills. I also start my cardiac rehab program right after the Fourth of July and that will also add some things into the mix I’m sure. I will also be starting to apply for jobs very selectively. I’m stuck in a bit of a quandary between leaving my incredible health care before my six month recovery mark and not being physically able enough to do a move without a lot of help and getting the hell out of a truly awful job. So some heavy shit on my shoulders right now as my job sucks and every little conversation I have about work makes me less interested in returning to that place.
But today we celebrate, there was pizza, a big Coke and a tiny bowl of ice cream with chocolate sauce and they were magnificent. This is my first pizza in seven weeks, outside of my three months living in Oaxaca, this is probably the longest I’ve ever gone without a pizza.
This week I even bought myself a present I’m sporting below in the image and my hair is perfect!
So all I can say tonight friends, is do the best you can to have a happy day and I’ll do the same. One last thing, happy sixth birthday to The Tiny Boss, my littlest niece. ~ Rev Kane
When authority is total, so too is the madness of the man who declares it, and the potential for abuse of power. ~ Rick Wilson
Happiness is Times of Madness
The world has gone mad in so many ways. We all live with daily stress and some level of madness in our lives, but right now, things outside our individual control seem to be ramping up at an extraordinary level. A lot of people will tell you to ignore it, shut off the news, shut off your social media and stick your head in the sand. I am not one of those people.
I’m someone who truly believes that knowledge is power and so to deny yourself an understanding of what is going on in the world around you seems quite ridiculous to me. But of course, as with all things, moderation is the key. So staying informed is one thing and advisable, but doom scrolling social media for hours at a time is not advisable at all.
So when things go insane what should you do? Tonight I’ll give you my take on how to remain happy during this shambling apocalypse we’re dancing through. First of all, stay informed, know what’s happening and legitimately how it might impact you. Second, always be reasonably prepared, if, like me, you live in earthquake country, have an earthquake kit. Know how to do the basic things around your home, turn off the breakers, the gas, the water. Always have some idea, if something goes wrong, what your options might be. Once you’ve done that, don’t obsess about things, know you’ve done what you can do and move on with your life.
Then, do all of the things we have talked about on this block for the last fifteen years. Enjoy your friends and your family, practice self-care, find times to enjoy the simple things in life like nature and finally have some fun. It’s important, particularly if you’re a parent, that you keep yourself as calm and happy as possible. Your children, your pets and others will intuit the energy you’re putting out, if you’re nervous and anxious you’ll feed that into them.
It’s always important to remember to control what you can, be aware but not overly worried about what you can’t, and finally find ways to de-stress and make yourself happy, happy days are the best we can hope for my friends, and it’s up to us to make them ourselves. ~ Rev Kane
Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats. ~ H L Mencken
Rev Kane’s Wild Ride:Normalish
It’s been 6 full weeks since my surgery, which is the half-way point between surgery and returning to my god awful job. I really targeted 8 weeks after surgery as a major milestone for a couple of reasons. First, it was when my doctor said I could travel, and second the first stage of healing for your breast bone is 6-8 weeks. Think of this as the point they would cut the cast off of a broken arm. Your arm isn’t fully healed but the bone is knit back together and you can gradually begin to use your arm nearly normal or as I prefer, normalish.
The 8 week mark is when I’ll feel comfortable making some changes, sleeping a little less, head up, expanding my mobility and stretching. I can’t do any resistance work until after 12 weeks and it will be 4 – 6 months before my chest will be back to what I’ll feel comfortable calling normal. I’ll get a lot more details on this when I start my cardiovascular rehab class and program in July.
But here in week 6 we’ve entered the dangerous land of normalish. Meaning that I feel really good and at times feel completely normal. At other moments I am reminded my chest was recently sliced open and then cracked open like a lobster, mmm lobster, I really need to get some lobster soon. For instance, I woke up to go to the bathroom the other night and normally got up out of bed. As soon as I stood up I thought, “shit, I’m not supposed to do that.” I had used my arms, just slightly to get up.
So, I’m doing a few things to remind myself I’m not back to normal yet. As you can see in the picture, I still have my hospital bracelet on, it’s just a subtle way to remind myself I’m not that far out from surgery. It’s easy to remember in the bathroom or shower or any other time I’m parading around topless (you’re welcome for the visual), as there’s this very noticeable scalpel line that runs down the center of my chest. They’ve done a great job with the wound, to the point that it looks like I’ve been freshly cut and just haven’t started to bleed yet. Without the blood it kind of looks like what you’d see if you sliced an android’s skin and that absolutely fucks with my mind a bit.
My days have gotten much more normal, there are far fewer people visiting, by design. I will say again I’ve been humbled by the help and support people have provided. Although it’s interesting, not a single one of my bosses has reached out to see how I’m doing. But this week I did a magazine interview on Monday and coordinated some others to be part of the piece. Tuesday a friend came over and helped me get the tiny patio garden back into shape.
On Wednesday I had an appointment to get equipment to do a sleep study, today I had to return the equipment and had an diabetic retinopathy exam. Then I treated myself to a Jersey Mike’s sub and some chips, they’re the only chain that does a decent approximation of an east coast Italian sub. Tomorrow I have a home nursing appointment and have to pick up packages at the package locker and basically every time I’m out I do a little grocery shopping. It’s been a busy week, I’ve even started looking at job opportunities and am exploring a couple of positions. On top of things I continue to increase my walks, today I did my first continuous two mile walk, about a third of it uphill, I do a little over three miles a day, but I’m closing in on four miles.
In terms of the vitals that I record each day things have been generally good, the only thing I’m not thrilled with is that my resting heart rate has remained high, this is neither unusual or unexpected but it bugs me. It was quite high for a week, over 100, but happily over the last five days has been trending downward and this morning was 91. If I can get that back into the 80 beat per minute range, I’ll be really happy.
So it’s easy right now to forget things aren’t normal, at least until I drop something on the floor. My great fear is dropping my car keys while I’m out and having to stand around like a dope until someone walks by who I can ask for help, so far that hasn’t happened. When I go for my walks I carry a cane, I don’t really use it, but it signals to people that there’s an issue and to give me some space, because without the cane, I look exactly as I did pre-surgery just with a more raggedy beard and a lot less stressed.
So, 6 weeks out, 6 weeks of easing back into semi-normality and work to go. ~ Rev Kane
The Ministry of Happiness 