Recovery continues, slowly but surely. My wife is being a tower of support, despite the burden that I must represent to her right now: she has to put aside or delay many of her normal activities in order to care for my wounds, help me move around when my body locks up on me, and generally soothe my fevered brow and make me feel better. The fact that she does so uncomplainingly is miraculous, in my book. Yet again, I'm deeply grateful that the good Lord brought us together, and that she said "Yes" when I popped the question. I'm sure there have been times when she's wondered about that, in retrospect!
I'm definitely noticing a slowdown in my recovery from this surgery. Previously, I'd have expected to bounce back from it fairly quickly, so that within 2-3 days the pain had largely worn off and it was simply a matter of waiting for the stitches to come out. Now... not so much. Five and a half days after the staples were inserted, they hurt more than they did that first day, probably because there are so many of them. We're using an antiseptic on them, to prevent any outbreaks of infection, but there doesn't seem to be any - just a big red ridge of skin and muscle beneath them that'll have to wait until next week for release from the pressure. Taken with the chest scar from my quadruple bypass surgery some years ago, and I'm going to be zippered pretty much from my collar-bone to my navel. Add in a few scars from previous injuries and surgeries, and my torso is going to be like a road map. I may have to leave it to science as a training device for future physicians - although they may not find everything inside that's supposed to be there.
Anyway, so far, so good. More later.
Peter
14 comments:
Peter, remember one of the great rules of life 'You have to be alive to complain.'. Just get well at your own speed.
A wife caring for her husband shows the quality of the woman. The very highest quality. Fortunately, I also have one of those. Currently in hospice with heart failure. Ken
Having a person who will be there when you need them the most is so amazing. When I had heart valve replacement and had to sleep in a La-Z-Boy recliner for about a week, Mom slept on the adjacent sofa, ready to help me in the middle of the night when I needed to get to restroom. I was weak as a kitten the first few days - I was unbelievably humbled to recover from that.
I hope you continue to improve . And it sounds like your wife was a good choice and you should consider yourself very fortunate.
"... I'm sure there have been times when she's wondered about that, in retrospect!..." We all do, Peter, we all do.
Peter,
If you don't mind, I'd like to bore you and your readers with a tale:
Almost 10 years ago my doc told me he had found a bad murmur, called and sent me right over to my cardiologist who said, "Uh-huh!" and set me up for a procedure to replace my aortic valve. I'm lying there dreamily on the table when the anesthesiologist says ,"Uh-uh! this guy's only pacing 50%", looks at me and asks "Do I hae have your permission to put in a pacemaker?" (Y' gotta be kiddin' me!)
I guess I assented because when I woke up I had a brand new pacemaker and a new aortic valve of cow tissue. So I moo every so often. Big deal.
Due to Mg, I consulted a chest cutter to consider the possibility of removing a substantial amount of subcostal fat which might have pieces of old thymus gland (and no! I'm not one of those surgery seekers)
He said, "I don't like those little white spots below your rib cage on the scan ," called my doc who sent me over to a belly cutter. I had a (better?) form of pancreatic cancer called P-NETs.
He told me "I can give you an appointment for laparoscopic surgery in 5 months." I said, "Thanks doc, how soon if you do a normal wide incision? Y'know, that side-to-side samurai cut so you can see clearly to get everything out that needs to come out? I know that a wide incision heals as rapidly as a small one."
"Tomorrow," he answered, "and we'll probably have to do a Whipple procedure. Don't eat anything and go straight to the hospital tomorrow morning."
Well, here I am, still functioning normally; well, as normally as you'd expect in an 84 year old man to function.
Healing was, as they say: uneventful and pain/discomfort was minimal.
When people, interested in my welfare, offered to say a prayer for me, I told them "Please don't!"
Many years ago, even before I was bar mitzvahed, I came to the conclusion that my life would be a path laid out for me by G-d, so I've said a prayer twice daily (in English, not Hebrew which I don't understand so that any prayer said in that language would be meaningless) to thank H-m for being allowed to witness his miracles that day; the total extent of my religion.
So I wish you the best and (I just love using this phrase), as the British say, "Keep your pecker up!" Things will improve day by day.
Understand also that there are many of us who await (rather anxiously) your daily column/blog/maunderings/meanderings/whatever - you know what I mean.
Feel better soon.
Gary
Zipper man !
At least you're alive TO complain... Be happy! And yes getting old sucks!
³so true, you've gotta be alive to complain...just try to not drive the Missus crazy with it! Prayers continue, Peter.
It can be a bit of a shock when you discover that "in sickness and in health" goes both ways and isn't simply my sickness and your health.
Eat better, everyone
I had a spinal fusion. (2 level) in 2011. It took a month before I could even wipe my own butt! Very patient wife! 2024 was a bad year, I she t the month of May in the hospital recovering from a stroke and m y wife spent spent three weeks over Christmas with an assortment of problems including sugar. At 76 for both of us it is a gift from God to have a daughter who took over the heavy work especially since we live off grid!
Gary, one of your Jewish brothers turned out real good and just happened to be the Son of God. :-) So take the forgiveness of all your sins so that you will be safe for all of eternity. Life is finite whereas eternity is forever.
Typos, I was in the hospital all the month of May.
I suspect that when you make sacrifices for a person (including a canine person -- I make no promises about cats), you can end up loving them more--not out of a calculated "now I have more invested in them" way, but more emotional attachment. Although I'm not sure whether Excitable Half could be any fonder of you than she already was.
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