Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Colorectal Cancer:
I haven't been on in a while due to family issues.  My stepson, who graduates medical school on Friday, was diagnosed in March with stage 4 colorectal cancer so our lives have been somewhat hectic.  He is undergoing chemotherapy at University Medical Center in Lubbock under Dr. Cobos.  We are hoping he will do well with the chemo and start his anesthesiology residency at Cleveland Clinic in Ohio in the fall.

As a health tip, chronic constipation and especially with rectal pain is something you need to pay attention to.  I had an elderly patient who also had severe rectal area pain and had been to several doctors.  I asked him if he had a colonoscopy-no.  I told him to get one right away and sure enough rectal cancer.  The typical age is 50-75 years, sedentary lifestyle, eats lots of red meat, sedentary lifestyle, and smokes and drinks.  Irritable bowel/Chron's Disease also increase the risk.  My step son is 30 and does none of the above.  He hardly had any symptoms.  Oh, yeah.  Make them palpate your abdomen if you ever have this issue and pursue it if not getting satisfactory results or explanations.  It took an ER doc who actually palpated his abdomen and a CT-scan to identify his.

Other News:
  • I've been appointed to the Texas Board of Chiropractic Examiners (TBCE) by Governor Perry.  I've been placed on the enforcement committee which means pretty regular trips to Austin once a month. 
  • Attended the chiropractic orthopedic symposium in Las Vegas in April.  Had a chance to see singing ventriloquist Terry Fator perform-great show and I highly recommend it.  Marty and her son found a young people cancer symposium there as well which was very valuable to both.
  • My 2nd article on upper extremity nerve entrapments should be coming out soon.

Office Hours
No change in the office hours right now.  However, I'm an appointed Worker's Compensation Designated Doctor and will be traveling to adjoining counties to perform exams for injured workers.  I'm doing them on Thursdays and Saturdays only so I never know when I'll be in the office on those days.  A call will save you a wasted trip if I'm out doing exams.