Post-Op Day 4: The Fog is Lifting

It’s interesting reading my blog from over the weekend. Even though I remember everything, it feels like it was enshrouded in a deep fog. The chemicals helped me heal, while they also took me in a lot of other, ridiculous places.

As I touched on in my last post, I was slightly under the influence this weekend. Who am I kidding? I was baked beyond comprehension. It was not only the painkillers, as it turned out, but they also interacted with an anti-nausea drug that had about a zillion side effects. Together, they were a recipe that would make an addict jealous. Thankfully I was indoors and, aside from some goofy Facebook postings, my silliness was kept hidden.

Just for fun, I’ll share a couple stories.

After one dosing, I suddenly had the urge to listen to Pink Floyd. I’m a music fan with a wide variety of tastes, including Pink Floyd, but I had never really listened to them in THAT way. With my brain-buzzing taking over, I turned up the volume, transforming my living room into a psychedelic playpen.

My wife is a friendly, patient person, but that was too much for her. The phone rang and she could barely hear who was on the other end. I felt like I was 14 when she yelled at me to “Turn off that dang music!,” only her language was more colorful.

Still buzzed when I finally took off my bandage on Sunday, I marveled at the amount of ‘manscaping’ that had been done by the operating staff, giggling and guffawing with every new discovery of bare skin. They went to places that even my wife has not seen, and I joked on Facebook that they had “combed a sandy beach and trimmed under a palm tree.” I’m sure you can visualize. And I thought it was so, ridiculously funny. Yes, I had the mentality and sense of humor of an 8 year-old.

I peeled off the nausea patch on Sunday instructed, and Monday morning I felt a lot different, and not altogether pleasant. I’ll spare you the gory details. We’ll just say that nausea patch was there for a reason, and I had to find a replacement and fast. I settled for a combination of motion sickness and anti-nausea medicine.

The 8-year old had also grown up. Now when I take my pain pills every six hours, they simply relieve me of my soreness, as they are supposed to. I am now more sober and aware. I still have a sense of humor, but it is not nearly as ridiculously silly.

Now I am focused on my activities of daily living. I’ll be walking with crutches for quite awhile, and am starting to get the hang of it. Rather than knock everything over in my path, I can now navigate pretty well. I can dangle one crutch out and grab the lower grip, which enables me to pick up items from the floor (usually things I have dropped). The tricky part is that, with both arms occupied with the crutches, I cannot carry anything. I’ve found that I can be resourceful by placing items in my clothing, and if I have to carry anything of size, I’ll use a book bag.

As for pain, it’s still there, but this is surgical and not injury pain. It is not the same junk that I’ve dealt with before, so I’m cautiously optimistic that I’m on the road to full health. I can tell already that the recovery will be slow. Most of the next few weeks will be spent learning to deal with my situation, and the rehab will help me gradually escape it.

For now, Apple TV, Hulu Plus, iTunes, and the interwebs are my saviors. My co-workers gave me some ‘get well’ iTunes gift cards, which I’ve been using to great delight. Sure, I do get tired of the couch and staying indoors, but I love movies and am making the most of it.