Psychic Questioning

 I started this blog as a continuation of my former blog on WordPress at: 

https://wordpress.com/post/seanreeves.wordpress.com

My first post was on the 28th September 2020 and since then I've made eight posts and one of them was earlier today. In this post, I asked the question:

Why did my thymus gland malfunction in the first place and create my current thymoma?

I described the answer that I received as follows:

You have a hollow heart and you're trying to fill up the gap that has been created. The thymus gland is associated with the Heart Chakra, a centre of unconditional love and forgiveness. Since a falling out with a family member a couple of years back I've been containing a lot of resentment and anger. In a sense, I've been hollowing out my heart and ridding it of compassion and understanding for the family member concerned. 

I thought that listening to the Solfeggio frequency of 741 Hz, associated with the Heart Chakra, might help in healing especially if I focused on forgiveness. Tonight I listened again to the 14 minute YouTube video that I linked to at the time and I kept repeating the word "forgive". I felt this was preferable to saying "I forgive" because immediately the ego is strengthened by the use of pronoun "I". In the year or more that has passed since that post, I listened to the video only a few times and mainly in the weeks immediately following the post. After that, I largely forgot about because I post to this blog infrequently. I need to listen more frequently.

You can be your own psychic!

In my next post, on the 4th September 2020, the asked the question:

What happened to my gall bladder?

Manganese. As I wrote in that post, "I was lying in bed preparing for sleep and the question was only asked half-heartedly but an answer came back as quick as a flash: 'manganese'". I then set about investigating this element and its possible link to the development of gallstones. I was impressed with what I found.

A third and final question, that I wrote about in the same post, can be described as follows:

I asked a question for a friend of mine who has small fibre neuropathy but who is also on antidepressants. I asked what would help his peripheral neuropathy and the answer came back "iodine" with an image of mixing bowl filled with a yellow powder.  Again I set about investigating iodine and its possible efficacy in treating small fibre neuropathy and was impressed with what I found. I passed the information on to my friend who announced that he would mention it to his doctor. My friend had long ago put all his faith in the medical profession so I'm sure that no action was taken.

So after three "psychic" questions and three quite interesting answers, I stopped and haven't asked a question since. Perhaps it's time to resume. Questions and answers relating to physical matters can be posted to this blog while more metaphysical questions and answers can be posted to my my Mystic Meanderings blog.

Caffeine Addition: Progress Report

On 20th September, I made a post titled Caffeine Addiction in which I discussed my then very recent withdrawal from tea and coffee and their replacement with warm water and nothing else. I'm happy to report that for nearly two months I was able to maintain my "sobriety". Apart from an occasional fruit juice and one cup of hibiscus tea, water has been all I've imbibed.

Today however, I was "forced" into drinking a small cup of Americano at a restaurant. The reason for doing so has to do with my sleeping pattern. Over the past weeks, I'd fallen into the habit of sleeping around 9am, waking up in the afternoon and then snoozing again some time in the evening. Overall I was still getting seven to eight hours of sleep but divided into two quite separate parts. 

Circumstances conspired so that today I was still awake at midday having foregone my morning nap. Together with my family, I was in a restaurant and found myself in a severe sleep-deprived state. In order to keep functioning, I ordered an Americano to accompany my meal. The potency of its effect really surprised me. I was instantly alert and able to function more or less as I could have with my morning sleep behind. Furthermore, I was able to remain awake until almost 10pm of that same day.

For the first few hours after the drink, I was quite "high" and come down slowly over the remaining hours. I was reminded yet again of how potent coffee really is. I don't intend to return to my caffeine-drinking days and am happy to maintain my water only liquid intake. Upon waking up at 1am of the next day (having slept for about three hours), I noticed that I had drooled a little onto my pillowslip and that the smell of the saliva had the same slightly unpleasant smell that it used to have in my coffee and tea drinking days.

Figure 1

Since drinking only water, I drool less and when I do, it has a neutral odour. Presumably the caffeine is being excreted via my saliva when I sleep. Overall my health is good. I've managed to go for a brisk, twenty minute morning walk on most days combined with some light exercises throughout the rest of the day. My weight remains constant at around 71.5 kilograms. My thymoma has not been causing me any significant problems. Lying here, typing this blog post, my resting place rate is about 65 which is "good" (see Figure 1).

Caffeine Addiction

My thymoma, that I've mentioned in earlier posts, was causing problems again and so psychic help was sought. During a tele-healing session, I was advised to refrain from tea or coffee consumption for a period of about four days while my condition was monitored (remotely). In the meantime, I was to drink nothing but warm water. This came as something of a surprise but I nonetheless agreed to abide by the recommended restrictions. 

I'm somewhat unusual in that I seldom consume straight water. All of my fluid intake comes normally from the consumption of coffee in the morning and tea for the rest of the day. Both coffee and tea contain caffeine and I didn't realise the drastic effect that the changeover would entail. Yesterday was the first day and I spent most of it sleeping, having been overcome by a profound lethargy. 

Having missed my morning cup of coffee, I never really woke up. When I was not sleeping, I was in a very irritable mood and had a thick head. Later in the day, a dull pain in my hip joints set in and refused to abate. It persisted throughout the second day during which I decided to take a pain killer in order to obtain some relief. I checked on the Internet to find out if caffeine withdrawal could induce such suffering. Indeed it could. This one site titled HOW I BROKE UP WITH CAFFEINE (AND WHY I DESPERATELY NEEDED TO) said:

“The cessation of daily caffeine consumption produces a well-established withdrawal syndrome comprised of subjective symptoms and functional impairment, including headache, tiredness/fatigue, decreased alertness, decreased energy and difficulty concentrating,” he said. “These effects are likely to be more severe depending on the habitual caffeine intake (i.e. a larger or longer addiction results in greater withdrawal effects).

“Caffeine is an adenosine receptor antagonist, so when caffeine is removed, the effects of adenosine are magnified. For example, cerebral blood flow is increased when caffeine is withdrawn (acute caffeine administration decreases cerebral blood flow velocity) resulting in headaches. Aside from vascular effects, we also know that caffeine withdrawal can alter central nervous system activity.

“Given the spread of adenosine receptors throughout the body, and the importance of adenosine for the functioning of most cells, the consequence of withdrawal from large habitual doses of caffeine (i.e. >600mg/day!) will result in a broad array of symptoms.”

Like the author of the previous article, I had no idea what a grip the drug had on me. He wrote:

As Associate Professor Desbrow assured me: “The good news is that even in the most severely affected, symptoms typically subside within a week.” He was spot on. A week had now passed since Matt’s unintentional gauntlet-throw. I was waking up fresh (not drinking alcohol probably played a part there), I felt normal again, I’d discovered an excellent organic, caffeine-free tea that more than resembled my usual go-to, and most importantly I felt like I had my brain back again.

In fact, not only did I have it back, but I felt as if I was able to operate at a higher level than usual. Most notable was being able to stick to one task through completion, and my productivity (particularly at night – again, hello whisky) was remarkably better.

I’m still quite uncertain about whether I can recommend quitting caffeine. Without embellishing in the slightest, the withdrawal was one of the most rubbish experiences I’ve put my body through. I’ve experienced plenty of post-ride fatigue, but this happily took the worst of it and factored it by five. The very marrow of my bones hurt, and that’s without beginning on the crushing headaches.

I have been highly critical of people who take antidepressant medication (as over three million Australians do) but I now realise it was a case of the kettle calling the pot black. I was no better. It's taught me to get my own house in order before criticising others.

The following video does a good job of explaining the effects of caffeine:

The commentator in the video makes the important point that giving up tea and coffee can be damaging to health because of the risk of decreased hydration. People just don't drink enough to replace the water that was in the coffee and tea that they drank.

The Alexander Technique

From time to time, a momentary madness overtakes me and I forget I'm 72 years old. Such was the occasion when I encountered two stationary escalators and challenged my 18 year old granddaughter in a race from the bottom to the top. She quickly outpaced me which is not surprising but more disturbing was my body's reaction to this short burst of intense activity. It wasn't good and I know realise that I have to cease and desist from such foolhardiness.

I need to be very cautious and not indulge in any sudden, intense or unusual activities. It's important to gently put my muscles through as wide a range of activities as possible, in anticipation of future exigencies. Lately I've started to do some isometric and limited push/pull exercises for my arms. Due to my thymoma, I've deliberately avoided working the upper body and concentrated instead on my lower body. However, this imbalance needed redressing.

The discomfort caused by my thymoma has gradually increased and seems at time to affect the depth of my breathing. Any overexertion quickly magnifies the intensity of the discomfort and leads to a feeling of nausea and a burning sensation. As I've mentioned before, I must strive to spread my exercises over the course of the day and not concentrate them into too small a timeframe. I still do my ten squats and leg band exercises each day.

Hopefully I can use this blog to catalog my activities and display new exercises and techniques. I've known about the so-called Alexander Technique for many decades now but have not made much use of it in my daily life. I have a book in my library titled "The Alexander Technique Workbook" by Richard Brennan.

Interestingly, it's published in Australia in a street parallel to where I grew up in Brisbane.

I'll attempt to make my way through this book and hopefully gain some insights into how to improve my "health, poise and fitness". The author of the book is still alive and well as his website attests:

Biography of Richard Brennan

Richard Brennan is an Alexander Technique teacher, author and Director of Training at the Alexander Technique Centre based in Galway, Ireland. He is a leading figure in helping people to resolve back and neck problems. His belief is that the root cause of most back pain lies in poor postural habits.

First Career, and Back Problems 

In 1976 Richard developed painful back problems and sciatica while working long hours as a driving instructor. After several years of pain, and having tried various orthodox and complementary treatments, he eventually found relief by having Alexander Technique lessons in 1984. He found the Technique so effective that he soon decided to undertake the three year full time teacher training course in Totnes, Devon, UK, approved by STAT, the Society of Teachers of the Alexander Technique. He qualified in 1989 and joined STAT.

His work as an Alexander Technique Teacher 

Richard established his first practice in Totnes, Devon, and began lecturing and teaching around the UK and Europe. He began writing his first book about the Technique in 1991, and since then has written six more books, and his eighth book is due to published very soon.

Richard moved to Galway, Ireland, in 1997. He runs a busy private practice there. He founded the first Alexander Teacher Training College in Ireland in 1998. He is co-founder and President of Irish Society of Alexander Technique Teachers (ISATT), established in June, 2004. In 2007 the training course became approved by the Society of Teachers of the Alexander Technique. It is also approved by the Irish Society of Alexander Technique Teachers (ISATT).

Richard travels internationally, giving talks and courses on the Technique. He has taught the Technique at many educational centres, including Galway University, Limerick University, Middlesex University, London, and Dartington College of Arts. He was a guest presenter at the AmSAT annual conference in San Francisco 2009 and in Los Angeles in 2014. He was a Director of the 10th International Alexander Technique Congress, held in Limerick, Ireland in August 2015, which over 700 people attended. He established the International Alexander Teacher’s Convention in 2013, held in Dublin, Ireland; the next one will take place in 2017.

Books and Articles 

Richard is the author of eight books on the Alexander Technique which are translated into nine languages, and a book on the topic of stress. His latest book, How to Breathe, is due for publication in 2017. He has written many articles on the Technique and has published two CDs.

Richard has featured in several newspapers and magazines including The Irish Times, The Sunday Tribune, The Irish Examiner, Cosmopolitan, Hello and Home and Country. He has appeared on BBC 1 & RTE 1 and has been featured on BBC Radios 4 & 5 and on local radio around Ireland and the UK.

Approach 

Richard has a practical approach to helping people find their own solutions to problems such as pain, stress, and obstacles to performance. His greatest personal satisfaction comes when he can help others to get out of pain, especially when all other attempts have failed, just as he himself was helped after years of struggle in the 1980s by his Alexander Technique teacher, Daniel Reilly.

Richard aims to make the Alexander Technique accessible to a wide audience. He has been a pioneer in helping to make the technique accessible to many thousands of people.

The author says early on in the book that "when you begin to become more aware of yourself you will be astounded at how much effort it used to take to perform very simple actions". I thought immediately of my guitar playing where I have a tendency to press down very hard on the strings with my left hand. The muscles of my fingers are thus very tense which impedes fluidity of movement and causes the fingers to tire quickly. This is one area that I can work on every time I pick up my guitar. I have lots of bad habits.

Source

What stuck in my head over the years, since first reading about the Alexander technique, was  the door handle exercise in which you observe how much force is applied when simply opening a door. It was quite a discovery to realise how much extra and unnecessary energy I put into this simple task.

Somatic Renaissance

I'm waxing grandiloquent with the title of this post but so what. This year, now more than half over, I've made 70 posts to my Mathematics blog and NONE to this blog. This post is the FIRST of the year. The numbers attest to what I already know. I exist largely in my mind and any awareness of my body is largely unconscious.

Unless my tired old body malfunctions, I simply take it for granted. However, increasing stiffness in my neck has caused me to regularly swivel my head about in an effort to break up what seem to be little spurs that are forming in my vertebrae. This motion is essential in reducing the tendency of the neck vertebrae to fuse together. 

Figure 1: source

I can only surmise that the development of these spurs is the result of degeneration due to old age. Cervical Spondylosis is the term for it. See Figure 1. My vertebrae can't be too compressed because I've managed to maintain my height over the years and have not "shrunk" as some old people do. My posture is reasonably good I think. 

So these neck stretching exercises are a daily routine along with exercises for shoulder mobility. As for walking, one of my favoured activities, it's become less appealing. I don't cover my face with a mask when I'm walking but keep it under my chin. Nobody seems to mind but there's always the possibility of encountering the mask mafia in the form of vigilantes or official enforcers. 

Figure 2: source

So I've taken to just a sort of tip-toeing around a confined area as a substitute. This seems to work well enough. Even here, it's easy to overdo things. This very morning I tip-toed around for a little too long and suddenly started to feel nauseous. Whether this was related to my thymoma I don't know but my ongoing affliction plays up from time to time whenever I push my body a little too far. 

I'm temporarily suspended my ten deep squats a day because I started to develop a sore right hip that was impeding my mobility. I may replace those with more shallow squats. I still use the band for leg exercises although I've suspended that as well while my hip is giving trouble. Suspension for too long though is not a good idea as muscles seem to lose their "memory" very quickly as you age, becoming flaccid in the absence of regular reminders.

Figure 3: source

Surprisingly my weight is 70.9 kilograms, so I've not put on any weight. I just feel more flabby. The key thing is to adopt new exercises and activities cautiously and not to try too much too quickly. My propensity to overload is growing daily and may one day prove fatal. Meanwhile, it lives, it breathes, it survives. By "it" I mean this fragile vehicle that for the moment my consciousness is attached to. For how much longer, I don't know.

Figure 4: source

Health Report

Oh dear, my last weigh in was back in Australia on the 24th October 2019. I weighed 65.9 kg. Today, on the 9th December 2020, I weight 71.4 kg. That's an increase of over 8% or, another way to look at, is that back then I weighed 92% of what I weigh now. I couldn't help but notice that the blubber was accumulating and so I took the plunge and bought a pair of digital scales. 

Over the past week, I've been taking an early morning walk of about 2.5 km and I'll gradually increase this distance or maybe go for an afternoon walk as well. I think a reasonable weight for me would be about 68 kg. I was definitely too thin when I was hovering around the 64 kg mark some years ago. 

I'm also thinking of buying a sphygmomanometer to measure my own blood pressure but also my wife's. Her sister, a couple of years younger than her, died recently of a stroke after suffering from high blood pressure for a number of years. She was overweight however, unlike my wife but it will still be a good idea to monitor it.

I also want to start measuring a resting pulse as that's a good indicator of increasing fitness. I could also measure it at the start and finish of a walk. Right now, sitting here and typing this post, it is 69 beats per minute, which is OK. I can record all these details in the Samsung Health app on my Android phone.

Meanwhile I perform my hip-strengthening and flexibility exercises on a daily basis but of course I could do a lot more. One thing at a time however. For the moment, I'll focus on increasing the distances that I walk and monitoring my weight. I know from experience that walking is the easiest way for me to lose weight.

Thymoma or Thymic Cyst

 I was reading a medical journal article this evening and here is its introduction:

The normal thymus evolves over the course of a lifetime, with involution and gradual fatty replacement beginning around puberty. The thymus originates from 3 embryonic germ-cell layers and thus has the potential to transform along a number of neoplastic cell lines. On computed tomography (CT), the normal thymus appears as a triangular-shaped structure in the anterior mediastinum (see Figure 1). Variations in the morphology of the normal thymus gland, along with its association with a diverse range of pathologic processes, can make the thymus an imaging enigma and diagnostic challenge for clinicians.

Figure 1: source 

An abnormal appearance of the thymus can be attributable to either diffuse enlargement of the gland or a discrete mass. Benign thymic hyperplasia and lymphoma can both cause diffuse enlargement of the thymus. Many lesions—including thymoma, thymic carcinoma, and thymic carcinoids—as well as benign lesions—such as thymolipomas and cysts—can present with a focal thymic mass. This is often an incidental finding in an asymptomatic patient undergoing imaging for unrelated reasons. Clinical presentation can play a role in the evaluation of patients with thymic masses. One study found that more than 75% of asymptomatic patients with mediastinal masses had benign lesions, whereas almost two-thirds of symptomatic patients with mediastinal masses had malignant lesions. It has been suggested that expectant management can be considered for observation of asymptomatic patients with diffuse thymic enlargement. For symptomatic patients, biopsy or, at times, resection may be appropriate.

At present, CT remains the imaging modality of choice for the evaluation of mediastinal masses. Magnetic resonance imaging and positron emission tomography (PET) are useful adjuncts. While there is overlap in the features of many thymic lesions on imaging, some lesions have a characteristic appearance on CT. Thymolipoma, an uncommon benign thymic neoplasm, typically manifests on CT as a large anterior mediastinal mass containing fat intermingled with areas of soft-tissue attenuation, which may conform to the shape of other mediastinal structures. On CT, idiopathic multilocular thymic cyst, an acquired benign thymic lesion, cannot be reliably distinguished from the cystic components of malignant thymic lesions, including thymomas, Hodgkin lymphoma, and mediastinal germ-cell tumors. The appearances of thymomas on imaging can vary according to their staging and histologic subtype; lobulated contours, calcifications, and heterogeneous attenuation are associated with more-advanced, rather than early stage, thymoma.

Figure 2: source

The increasing use of CT has led to more-frequent identification of incidental lesions in the anterior mediastinum, and with recent advances in minimally invasive surgical techniques, an increasing number of thymic lesions are referred for surgical evaluation. Consequently, some patients may undergo invasive procedures for ultimately benign disease. If the benignity of a thymic lesion could be determined on imaging with a reasonable level of confidence, then the need for invasive procedures may potentially be obviated for a number of cases. The purpose of this study is to identify imaging features that help distinguish benign thymic lesions from early stage malignant thymic neoplasms.

From this study, we learn that "14% of patients with thymic cysts also had hepatic cysts" and:

A thymic cyst is a benign mediastinal disease which has been reported to be the second most common type of primary mediastinal cyst. Thymic cysts are rare, and the majority are believed to be congenital in origin. Approximately 60% of patients with a thymic cyst were asymptomatic, and the most common symptoms were cough, dyspnea, and chest pain, according to the literature (1,4). However, there were no specific symptoms for thymic cysts. 

Given that an ultrasound revealed that I had one or more cysts on my liver back in 2009, then the possibility increases that I might have a thymic cyst rather than a thymoma. It might be self limiting and not cause any severe problems. Up to this point, I've just assumed that what I had was a thymoma but that may not be the case. As the study says, it's often not possible, using CT, to determine the exact nature of an abnormality in the anterior mediastinum. Surgery may be carried out when it is not necessary. 

What struck me, when looking at the diagram in Figure 1 and similar depictions, is that there's not a lot of room in there and this means trouble when neoplasms or cysts develop. Lately I've been feeling quite tired during the day and fatigue is one of the symptoms of thymoma. For the moment, let's wait and see if my condition worsens or not.