Turns out that my madcap wife, she who accelerates out of the garage at 30mph plus did more than just “boink” the Jeep. She dented the frame, which dented the radiator, which promptly leaked…. Necessity being the mother of invention allowed us to figure out that a heavy chain attached to another car would “straighten out” the dent, and allow for the easy removal of the radiator. Do you ever get the sense of impending disaster? Like pulling a loose piece of thread that results in the entire garment disintegrating…I kind of have the same feeling about the Jeep. One thing is leading to another. There is no end in sight..!

Anyway, the collision cracked the radiator, which eventually gave out so we are having it fixed.  One of those little incidents in life that has a sub plot….son trying to take care of Mom, Mom causing massive household expenses, Dad picking up the bill.

Well this is the extent of my universe right now. I went back to work yesterday and it was WAY too early. The problem is that when I sit in a chair my tummy gets crunched up and seeing that is where both the incisions are….it gets a bit painful after about half and hour or so. If I stand up it is Ok, or if I walk around that works too, but sitting down is tough.
That makes working on a computer very difficult. So yesterday was a mixed bag of learning that I was not ready to go back to work and getting caught up on what has been going on in the office (All Good! I have a great team..they took care of business!!

Of course the trick is that I must not do anything.the Doctor, the nurses and Sandy have all told me that “getting back to work too early” is the worst thing I can do.  Well I am going to give it a shot tomorrow, the worst that can happen is that I will get tired and I can come home.  The bad news of the day.the New Zealand “ALL BLACKS” beat Australia in the Bledsoe  Cup.I was hoping that the Aussies would win.  I think they are the better side, but the AB’s are brilliant at pulling out wins .

Feeling a bit brighter today. Less fuzzy headed and not sleeping as much but I think the pills and the general anesthetic are still in my system. I am drinking masses of water to flush the stuff out of my system. It has taken me a while to develop a workable technique for getting out of the bed without causing pain. The trick is to roll on your side, swing your legs to the edge of the bed, hold onto your tummy to support the wound, let your legs drop to the floor and then lever yourself into the upright position. Then you have to use your legs to push yourself upright. You stand there and sway for a moment, get your bearings and then totter off onto whatever mission got you out of bed in the first place. It is amazing how your universe can shrink when you are recovering from an operation or you are sick. My world at the moment is limited to my home and my garden. I long for wider horizons.

I stopped taking the pain pills today!  It’s a major event.  I think I can put up with the discomfort that will remain but I am tired of being so woolly headed and sleeping the whole time.  It is not that it is restful sleep, its more of the “knocked out” variety.  Laying in bed is difficult as well as I cannot stretch my legs out as that pulls on the stitches so I have to stay with my legs draped over a mountain of pillows.  It eases the strain on the tummy but it does not do much for comfort. Also I have never been able to sleep flat on my back, and now I have to and that is not working out so I need to get back to “normal” (whatever that is) and stopping the pain pills is the first step.

Same old, same old in a way EXCEPT that I am walking around (being very careful on the stairways) and generally keeping things moving.  In the “old days” after surgery like this one would be kept in the hospital for at least two days and then carefully wheeled to the door and placed in a car for the journey home.  Modern Surgery and maybe modern budgets require you to be on your feet within hours of the event, and walking within days.  I am told it is good to be up as it prevent pneumonia (I have had that in the past and it is NO fun) so I am a diligent patient.  I am still feeling whoooozy but no pain, and that is good news.

No pictures today!  Abdominal surgery is something one should avoid if possible!  The general anesthetic I had for the operation has knocked me sideways.  The good news?  No pain and complete unawareness as to what took place.  The bad news?  Very, very dozy, a regime of pain pills ahead of me (one every four hours) for the next three days or so, the side effects of which are not pleasant.  So all in all I would rather be in Philadelphia apart from the fact that the surgery was a complete success.  Now that is good news!!