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Tag: health

Taking one for the team

By The Bloke In The Shed

So eight weeks has gone since “the snip” and the next step in the process has arrived. Throughout this process I’ve decided to document my experiences as a way of helping out other dads who may be preparing to go through or contemplate the same thing.

Really, after the operation, there’s not a lot to be done apart from let things heal. Initially I was a little perturbed there were no stitches and wounds were left open to heal but in the end it worked out well. It’s designed to let things “leak out” as they need to allow natural healing – again, someone pick Princess Kel off the floor, please – and that proved true.

Other than that all you need is to try and, ahem, get “the squigglies” out of your system.

Then comes the time – no pun intended – for proving that the procedure has worked. For that, there is a plastic jar and the rest I’ll leave to your imagination.

The simple instructions from the surgeon were “take sample” and “deliver to pathology within an hour” at least “10 days before our next appointment”. Okay. I can do that. Simple.

Work day. Drop Ella off at school. Head home. Kellie smirks. Take sample (in private). Kellie smirks, Head to pathology. Drop it off. Simple. Right?

Wrong.

I walk into where I’ve been told to drop it off with all I have been given to drop it off with – a clear container in a clear plastic bag. The pathology centre is packed, wall-to-wall, with what looks to be the local senior citizens club.

The lady behind the counter looks at me with a concerned look on her face. “Um, we can’t process that here, we’re not a lab?’’ she says, “You’ll need to take it to the Mersey Hospital (15 minutes away)”.

Then in open conversation in full voice she proceeds to ask:

“Have you kept it warm?”

“What time did you take it?”

“Is it the full sample?”

“Hang on I’ll just get a warmer for it.’’

At which point she grabs a mug you’d usually use to travel with your coffee and puts the jar inside. She then tells me to hightail it out the door to the Mersey hospital.

Fifteen minutes later, in another pathology room at the hospital, the lady behind the counter in the jam-packed facility asks me the same questions as the other lady at the top of her voice. She looks concerned.

She takes out the jar and looks closely at it as if a pawn shop dealer trying to determine whether it is Kate Middleton’s engagement ring or one of those rings you get out of the $2 lucky dips at the show. “I’m sorry, I’ll just need to get this to the incubator,’’ she says taking it from the coffee cup which I’m sure once proudly housed someone’s blend of Robert Timms.

She hands me a survey to fill out, which again includes about how “the sample” was taken, when it was taken, how long had you abstained before the last sample was taken etc She reads the survey and I feel like I am being analysed by Judge Judy.

I started the day feeling 10-foot tall. Less than an hour into the day I feel about three inches tall …. and no, don’t read anything into that.

So was all that worth it? We’ll find out in a couple of weeks…

What embarrassing moment have you had this week?

April 27, 2012
The idea of a little brother given the chop: The aftermath

If you have a husband/partner/boyfriend contemplating having a vasectomy, this post may help answer some questions and shed some of those fears. WARNING: If operations make you squirmish, probably best not to read this one.

By Julian O’Brien

The anaesthetist peered down at me as I lay on the table. “You’re lucky it’s a hot day,’’ he said. Puzzled, I shot him a questioning look. “Well, it makes the operation go quicker if things are hanging low and not retreating,’’ he said. And that was the last thing I remember.

Waking up what seemed like hours later after my vasectomy, which happened on the morning of the Labor leadership challenge, I was ashamed my first slurred words on waking were … “so, is it Julia or Kevin?’’. Yep, weird I know – not entirely relevant to the situation I found myself in.

Sitting in my robe awaiting the surgery, it had seemed like an eternity to get to that point. Truth be told, it was. You see, Princess Kel and I had talked about this a long time ago (even pre-marriage) and decided, should we be lucky enough to get our two children, I would bear the burden of birth control. It’s an incredibly personal choice and not for everyone.

One thing is reinforced through the whole process and that is: While there is an outside chance of reversal once done, the operation should be considered terminal for your “little squigglies’’. It’s not a decision we’d taken lightly and we’d received good advice to take our time with it as I’d spoken about in my first post on the topic.

Strangely, I went in to the operation with very few nerves at all. It was a relatively straight-forward procedure. Post op I sat enjoying a sandwich and a coffee when the nurse said to me, “he (my surgeon) doesn’t usually give you any stitches, he just leaves a hole’’. At my first opportunity, I grabbed a sneaky look and, sure enough, there was just one single hole. (Can someone pick my wife up off the floor please, she gets a bit queasy).

Anyways, the post-op pain was OK, but I did decide to take a couple of the prescribed painkillers. That feeling was worse than the operation. For the next few hours I laid on the couch watching the roof spin before they wore off and I pledged to stick to nothing but Nurofen from that point.

I’ve taken the medical advice and taken it relatively easy since. Thing seems to be going OK. The process now? Well, I’ve got eight weeks to work the remaining “little squigglies” out of the system fully (vasectomy bonus!) before I book a date with a specimen jar and pathology. That’s one story I’ll leave well alone.

If you have any questions at all, I’m more than happy to answer them.

March 2, 2012
The idea of a little brother given the chop

By Julian O’Brien

Princess Ella must have a sixth sense. Lately she’s been asking constantly for a “little brother”. Now that Baby Holly is no longer a “baby” and can more than hold her own, Princess Ella is after someone else to boss around. Every time Ella asks, I struggle to find the words to explain, but there will be no little baby brothers, or sisters, for that matter.

You see, today is the day of “The Snip”. I posted a little while ago when the vasectomy was first booked in and it seems like time has flown towards the operation day. Princess Kel and I had always planned only two children and the snip was always the preferred option for us, but everyone is different.

Strangely, I’m not at all concerned about it to be honest. I’ve read all the provided material, I’m in the hands of a very good surgeon and I’ve spoken to others who have gone through it. Princess Kel is far more squeamish than I am about it and couldn’t even bare to look at the diagrams in the information booklets posted from the hospital.

In another twist of fate I saw on Twitter ABC personality Adam Spencer tweet last week that he’d undergone “the snip’’ and had posted a pic of himself with his “best friend” … a bag of frozen peas.

I tweeted Adam and was surprised to get this message back:

“It’s not that bad actually mate – I went the big freeze as a precaution but am pea-free today – cheers’’.

Here’s hoping on a pea-led, quick recovery.

How did you (or your hubby) cope post “the snip”?

February 27, 2012
Chewy chocolate mousse surprise with #AllBran Fibre Toppers

Just like some people are folders and some are scrunchers (we’re talking fibre, right?), others like foods that are chewy and others like crunch. Maybe the real beauty of Kelloggs’ newly released All Bran Fibre Toppers is that it’s pretty versatile in its ability to provide recipes that are sweet, savoury, crunchy or chewy.

So, since we’ve covered savoury and crunchy, my second attempt at what I’m calling the All Bran Mystery Box Challenge is to create something that’s sweet and chewy.

We’re again pulling out the Tasmanian foods as part of our new Tasmanian food series (inspired by Kelloggs itself) and have created a Chewy Chocolate Mousse Surprise. The chewiness comes from the addition of a cup of Kelloggs All Bran Fibre Toppers (providing 66% of your daily fibre requirements) and the surprise is in one cup of juicy craisins. There’s also the little addition of Fibre Toppers sprinkled atop the decadence.

While there are a few ingredients in here likely to rule me out of the trip to BlogHer in New York as part of the Kelloggs cooking competition – the brief was for “healthy’’ recipes – this still at least shows you what’s possible. Plus we all need a “well rounded’’ diet, right? Right?

Chewy chocolate mousse surprise with #AllBran Fibre Toppers

Ingredients:

300g Cadbury cooking chocolate (dark chocolate is the healthier option, lowering blood pressure and fighting disease), broken into pieces

3 eggs

1/4 cup (55g) caster sugar

1 tbs good-quality cocoa powder, sifted

1 cups of Kelloggs All Bran Fibre Toppers

1 cup of craisins (original flavour)

300ml thickened cream

Extra whipped cream, All Bran Fibre Toppers and craisins to serve

Method:

Place the chocolate in a bowl over a saucepan of simmering water making sure the bowl isn’t touching the water. Stir as it is melting, it won’t take long. Set aside to cool.

Place eggs and sugar in a large bowl and beat with electric beaters for 5 minutes or until mixture is pale and a thick volume. Fold in cooled chocolate and cocoa powder until combined.

In a separate bowl, whip cream until thickened (be careful not to overdo it).

Sprinkle in the All Bran Fibre Toppers and craisins into the chocolate mixture. Don’t mix in just yet.

Use a large metal spoon to carefully fold the cream into the chocolate, All Bran Fibre Toppers and Craisins mixture now, trying to keep the mixture as light as possible.

Spoon into six glasses and chill in fridge for at least one hour. Remove from fridge 15 minutes before serving, then top with extra whipped cream, All Bran Fibre Toppers and craisins.

Do you like crunchy or chewy foods?

February 26, 2012
The Shed: A strange man just played with my bits

By The Bloke in The Shed

It isn’t every day I let a strange man play with my bits. This day was not any day though and, strictly speaking, he was a doctor.

The time had come for my first medical appointment to ensure no further princesses or princes were added to our household. Here I was with Princess Kel by my side talking to a man about… well, you know… “The Snip’’.

The urologist opened with the line “well, there’s only one reason I see a fit, young bloke like you and his wife …’’. Yep, my sperm should be preparing for a road block.

I’m not sure what I expected, but I was a little surprised when our doctor started using Aussie terms I hadn’t heard or used since high school to describe the process. Did he just say “balls’’?

The most awkward bit came when he said “well, I’ll have to have a bit of a look down there’’. Scene: Kel sitting in same room behind a curtain while someone else fondles “the crown jewels’’. Weirdly, that was the part Princess Kel had the most questions about.

Kel and I had made the decision some time ago that I’d have a vasectomy after the birth of our second child. Seriously, I have been surprised at the negative reaction it’s received from some males. Things like: “What if you want to have more kids?”, “What if you get divorced?”, “You know it’s hard to reverse?’’, “You know Kellie could have a new device inserted which would last for a couple of years?’’etc. The last question actually came from someone in the medical profession.

Frankly, I’ve been shocked by all this. But I guess blokes are a little sensitive and perhaps a little stupidly protective about that whole area.

Me? Less so. Thanks to a reluctance of my “little pals” to drop, I have some horrific memories of several operations as a kid – picture trying to stretch a shoelace with your delicates attached and you’ll get a hint of what I went through. Hence, I consider myself lucky to have fathered children at all and am very content with what life has presented me.

The way I figure it is, I watched my wife suffer two troublesome pregnancies. If this makes our lives a little easier, then it’s the least I can do. I realise that the procedure is final and is incredibly hard to reverse. Fine with that. As I said, I consider myself lucky.

Our GP delivered some sound advice when he told us not to rush into it and leave it at least a year after the birth of Li’l Holly. Let’s face it, with a tired, breastfeeding wife, it’s not often during that time there is an issue in any case.

Yet, 16 months on, neither Kel nor I thought differently, but we did appreciate that time and space to reaffirm our decision. So, the operation is booked.

Why blog about it? Well, it just might just help someone out there. And besides, if your wife has been in the same room while a bloke fondles your balls, there is not much dignity left to be had.

If you have any questions about the process to this point or personal experiences let us know. Or feel free to share your experiences or reasons for your or your partner having “the snip’’.

Image credit.

February 2, 2012
What would your last meal be?

BREAKFAST has suddenly become a big deal in this house. And I’m not talking about the fact I have breakfast once in the morning and again about 8pm. That’s just normal. Right? The big deal is that when Princess Ella, Li’l Holly and I sit down to breakfast, The Bloke in The Shed now joins us.

Following up Weetbix with toast

We’re going on nine years of marriage and during that time I’ve only seen him eat breakfast a dozen or so times – and it usually involves eggs, bacon and a holiday. So when he started going to a personal trainer to find a thinner version of himself, he came home the first night announcing “apparently I’m not doing myself any favours by skipping breakfast’’. Really? You don’t say. (Sorry, can’t help the sarcasm).

The fact Li’l Holly and I were flown all the way to Adelaide this week for breakfast just shows you how important it is. OK, so the trek was for a Kelloggs Bloggers Brunch, but still. The aim of the event was for Kelloggs to garner input from mums on its brand and breakfast in general.

Three Li'l… on a cereal box!

The breakfast topic for me was the search for a transitional food now Holly has moved from baby rice through to “big girl cereals’’. I had to confess that the princesses have been brought up on a diet of porridge and the cereal that starts with W and ends in X. Well, what other options are there?

Ernie, enjoying Weetbix

At the bloggers brunch, as I was deep in conversation with the hilarious Lucy and fresh from The Morning Show Jodie, a packet of Sultana Bran Buds was pushed under my nose. So I pushed some under Holly’s nose. She devoured the lot. Jus like a snack. While Kelloggs has gained a bad rap (and still is from some corners for its so-called pester power), the company has capped the amount of sugar its new products contain. So, while I’m not advocating eating Coco Pops every morning, some of its newer additions can eradicate early morning mother guilt – or boredom if you’ve been lacking brekky inspiration. Like me.

Breakfast is important. And if I had to choose my final meal, it would be a bowl of cereal. A bowl of Be Natural Pink Lady, Flame Raisin, Fruit Flakes and Clusters cereal to be precise. And, just so you know, Be Natural is part of the Kelloggs stable. That’s a coincidence, I promise.

What generally gets served up at brekkie time in your house – if anything at all? And what would your last meal be?

PS. So sorry, but I didn’t take photos at the event. Something to do with carrying a baby around. But you can see a whole host of gorgeous shots of the mum bloggers and Holly on Flickr. Or you can just visit the blogs of mother to a tribe Tatum, super sweet (without using sugar) Alyce, the girl with the awesome name Kellie, Kelloggs new product development team member Bianca, all-natural Cat, Super Nanny educated Glowless, too funny for words Georgia and my roomie and inflight entertainment Louisa.

November 11, 2011