Category Archives: Green Living

Summary of my nutrition talk to runners

Use weight as a guide to hydration

–I’m ok with 1 lb weight loss after running

Hydrate with water and/or fluids with some salt in it like coconut water or apple juice.

–And Yes, you can be on a liquid diet while running, you do not need to eat solids while running

Some people are heavy salt sweaters.
I’m ok with running on fasted state (empty) but well hydrated for up to 1 hour
Everyone is different and nutrition is complex, and talking about nutrition is akin to religion or politics. It’s not always one size fits all, and even as our own personal health changes, our diet needs changes. So it’s not one size fits all at all times.
The world of nutrition research is complicated by people with agendas.
I choose for my own health, plants and the associated carbohydrates with whole plants: legumes, grains, potatoes, rice, fruits.
I choose blender over juicer for fiber. We all need lots of fiber.
B12 is made by anaerobic bacteria. We need B12.
All plants have protein even rice.
Just a fun fact: 1 calorie of broccoli has more protein than 1 calorie of steak.
Yes, athletes need more protein, but they also need for calories. By naturally eating more calories, we will naturally make up for it in protein.
We were made to eat plants more so than cats. Cats have protein taste receptors on their tongues but they can’t taste carbohydrates.

Nutrition lecture for runners was given 2/11/17 at Doctors Hospital in Manteca, California.

Where were we before Modesto, Botox and Plastic Surgery?

Before Plastic Surgery, Modesto and Botox, we spent met a wonderful retired pianist named Joan Orvis who lived next door.

There’s a lot before Modesto, Botox, and Plastic Surgery. But today, I was reminded of Dr. Wu (Tammy’s) neighbor – while she was an undergraduate student at Brown University.

Here’s the story which I posted on FaceBook, but I share here:

My story of pianist Joan Orvis, our friend.

I want to spend a moment here to celebrate my memory of my friend pianist Joan Orvis. I met her when Tammy and I were young students at Brown University. Tammy lived off campus on Blackstone Blvd. She had a neighbor (Joan) in her apartment complex who played piano from time to time. She found out that I played violin. She introduced me to piano trio music at the highest level. I had always loved listening to piano trios, but never had the chance to play them. Her sister lived nearby and was a professional cellist. The three of us would get together regularly through my 8 years at Brown University and play trios. This was completely off the grid from Brown University. We even performed throughout Rhode Island as a trio. Some of my favorite classical music is piano trios and quartets, and all this blossomed from the time that I spent with Joan and her sister. Joan was a retired piano professor from University of Wisconsin-Platteville for nearly 30 years. I was just checking the internet to see what has happened to my friend whom I’ve lost contact with. I just found out that she passed away in 2001. My memories of that time were jogged when I saw Chee Yun’s posting about a piano quartet which I’ve always loved. I’ve shared that version on FB this morning (please see that video – it is quite worthy). In this link, the piano is played by one of Joan Orvis’ teacher (Menahem Pressler who is now 90 years old), so I share it here: http://youtu.be/W4_aE1CVr1s.

and for reference, here’s Chee Yun’s posting of a rehearsal in Hawaii: http://youtu.be/V0O7egcMCHg

I have much to be thankful for. Thank you Joan for your friendship and the wonderful music.

– Calvin Lee

Lip Augmentation with Cannulas

First what are blunt tipped cannulas for fillers?

Borrowed over from the world of liposuction and the world of Huber needles for chemotherapy. There are four benefits of using a cannula for filler (ie. Juvederm) injections:

Tip is blunt, not sharp – so it won’t easily pierce unwanted delicate structures such as nerves and blood vessels
Side exit port for the opening for extrusion of filler. This is on the side so that the tip can be blunt. So this reason goes along with the blunt tip reason.
Flexible cannula. This allows for less injury as well, it has the potential to wiggle around obstructions which are sometimes cause by the vitals structures of nerves and vessels.
Long length. this allows for fewer puncture sites.

Why do we care about blunt tipped cannulas?

In the end the results are for safety and less bruising. But are the effects better looking when the swelling goes down? for the most part I think so, for broad areas such as cheek and temples.

Picture is worth a thousand words

Perhaps a picture would help describe cannulas for injectable fillers:

blunt tip cannulas

Lip augmentation with cannulas?

Currently, for myself as an injector in Modesto, I’m a fan of cannulas for filling the central part (body) of the lips. But for precision, I feel that I lose a little bit of the precision needed when working on the border of the lips. Thus I still find myself gravitating to the regular needle. I have also used longer needles. So for now, there’s a role for both cannulas and needles in my practice for lips. But for the most part, I’m doing most of the lip augmentations with needles. I like the precision that I get with a short stiff needle. However, I understand that there is more of a risk of bruising and swelling right after the procedure. These are just my thoughts at my current level of comfort with cannulas. For more of what I think, visit: my thoughts on Lip Augmentation with fillers:

www.SurgeryToday.com
(209) 551-1888

Tomato plants in Modesto, CA

Sun Sugar Tomato. First harvested on 6-23-13. The flavor was delicious!

One of our hobbies is gardening. Since 2003, we’ve bee planting various tomato plants in Modesto. We really like planting heirloom tomatoes.

When does the first tomato harvest of the year happen in Modesto, California

The timing of the first ripe tomato in our Modesto backyards is around the beginning of July. A nice way to celebrate July 4th! We’ve had friends get pounds of tomatoes even before July. Our ares of tomato plantings have some shading so it’s probably not as optimal, but it works and fresh harvested tomatoes are delicious! It’s one of my favorite things to do in our back yard in Modesto, CA.

We usually use raised beds and tomato cages called “Texas Tomato Cages” which has been sturdy for us for the last 10 years, and we leave the cages outside all the time. I’ve ordered these cages online.

This is what the yellow pear (cherry tomato) looks like today 6-23-13. They aren’t ready yet. But they seem very prolific. I grew these before and I got so many of these, I started getting sick of them (as did my neighbors). We’ll see how they do this year – it’s a different location and the prolific nature of these probably has to do with location.

Great healthy eating is great for our health and reflects well on our skin. We do believe that healthy appearing skin starts with great nutrition, and then followed by great sun protection – as you may already know, Zinc is our favorite product in sunscreen.

www.SurgeryToday.com
(209) 551-1888

Saving Electricity with LED Lights from Costco – Modesto

How many surgeons does it take to…

It might take 6 years to recoup my costs of LED lights

But I think it will be worth it – just for the chance to live greener.

$19.99 for 3 pack. Modesto tax rate 7.625%
This comes out to $21.51 for each pack of 3 LED light bulbs.

I previous had lights that were 45 watts. The new LED ones that I got are now 7.5 watts

Details on the LED light bulbs:

Feit Electric / Conserv Energy LED Dimmable, Mercury Free, 3000K light appearance, lasts 22.8 years. 3 years warrantee. Order No BPCEAG/500/3. 3000K light appearance (on the warm side).

The way I use it, I did some quick math on it. I think it will take me about 3-6 years before I get my return on investment on the purchase from Costco in Modesto, CA.

The package did say that they are anticipating 0.90 cents cost of yearly energy cost per LED light bulb based on 3hrs/day at 11 cents per KWh.

But there are so many other factors when it comes to savings, such as will the light bulb live out 22 years? Will we move. Will the next owners use them. Will they be broken – ie some one breaking them. Do they use up a lot more resources to make than a regular light bulb? I’m not sure of these things.

The Design of the LED Light Bulbs here might not be exactly the most efficient for canned lighting.

I think it’s an opportunity me to be kinder to mother earth. I don’t know for sure if it takes more resources to make an LED bulb. But if anyone knows. I’d love to hear. I’m just thinking about the design of the LED bulbs that I got. They’re probably just trying to make the light more diffuse, but unfortunately I don’t need diffuse light – they are up in a can – canned lights, but it’s still more efficient than the regular incandescent bulbs though. I know LED lights are directional – that would be good in a canned light, but there’s probably some sort of diffuser inside these bulbs. I’m just thinking just from the way it’s shaped. Oh well. I bet I could get some sort of flood light shaped with LED technology in it and get the same about of light in the room below with fewer wattage. Costco sold those too, but I didn’t get those. Now I’m started to understand the difference. Some lighting situations need diffuse light and others, directional light is king when using a recessed can light application – and LED is made for directional lighting, except when a diffuser of sorts is stuck in there – absorbing some of the light. But not all lost, because otherwise, I’d have a spot light on the floor.

Well, it would be great if we could retrofit a lot of the bulbs at our Plastic Surgery office with these bulbs. The rest of the office could benefit from a greener adjustment as well.

Here’s a little digression:

Q: How many surgeons does it take to change a lightbulb?

A: “Why don’t you just let us remove the entire socket – you don’t need it, and it’ll just give you trouble later.”

Continuing Medical Education for Calvin Lee, MD, Modesto Surgeon

Lifelong student of Surgery, Medicine, and Health. Surgical Artistry (209) 551-1888