The Physical Shinn (Prior)
Last update: February 4, 2026
The John Shinnick Website
The Physical Shin
I Think I’m Okay
I’ve had a busy month, if you look at the many sessions I’ve had medically. It appears that all that gastrointestinal work that I’ve had done has pretty much cemented my relationship with yet another “ologist”, my fourth, a gastroenterologist. My spell-checker tells me I got that right on my first try. But it is harder to spell than dermatologist, cardiologist, or urologist. I’ve got a mild case of diverticulitis, a somewhat more serious case of acid reflux, and a bit of fat leaking into my liver. I’d never heard of that. Apparently, it’s not too uncommon, but it’s rather ironic that the best thing for that is losing weight.
I’ve dropped from 218 pounds to 187 over the last six months or so. And that’s having just emerged from the 2025-2026 fiscal eating season. But to hear the CDC tell it, I’m still overweight and need to drop another 14 pounds to get into the “normal” range. It’s hard to believe that I used to be a skinny kid and wanted to gain weight. Be careful what you wish for…
After the colonoscopy, I had a “Zoom” appointment with my GI-ologist. That term isn’t recognized by my spell checker, but it’s SO much easier to type. Anyway, all the post-procedure tests showed me to be within normal range on most tests and only slightly out of range on two measures, nothing to get shook about. They had removed four polyps, none of which were particularly worthy of concern. But the acid reflux was worthy of yet another prescription pill for the acid reflux. This one’s a once-per-day, half an hour before breakfast tablet that ups my daily total to nine. It’s called “Pantoprazole” which is as hard to spell as the doctor who prescribes it.
Who makes up these names? Several of the pills I take are two-a-day, so I really only have five different ones. The others are Tamsulosin, Elequis, Metoprolol, and Propafenone. For a long time I assumed it was the bio-chemists who named them for some chemical property or atomic structure in the drug that would make perfect sense to the medical community, but now I think it’s some marketing company that comes up with a string of nonsense syllables designed to impress consumers.
The ones that are difficult, however, are the over-the-counter pain relievers. I can take acetaminophen (Tylenol) but not the other ones because of the bad interaction with Elequis since both thin the blood. I thought that was the end of such interactions but after a bit of digging, I found out that Alka Seltzer contains aspirin. Life is so hard.
I should just start my own pharmacy. Note that this doesn't include my non-prescription meds. Also note that none of these provide any entertainment value.
My dermatologist has somehow stayed above the fray. She hasn’t prescribed any pills at all. But she did tell me I should be wearing compression socks. I really hate them. She directed me to a company called “Sockwell”. I need to reorder as my originals are getting a bit threadbare, but damn! These are expensive! A 3-pack costs a staggering $100! FOR SOCKS!!! And I thought Eliquis was expensive. I don’t know if they’re deductible as a medical expense, but I’ll probably try it. I’m certainly not buying them for style or comfort.
I didn’t make any resolutions for 2026 except to finish my weight-loss project. 173 here I come. But perhaps I should say no more pills. Granted, I’ve already broken it, but no more! I could choke on them! Of course, then I’d need an otolaryngologist (throat doctor) to prescribe a pill for that.
