What's Next?
Saturday. Sitting in a chair at a computer is neither comfortable nor advised. They worry about blood clots after an operation, so I'm sitting here with my feet up on the desk playing at writing. Sitting in a straight backed chair also hurts, but that will go away in a while. Sleep is good and this morning after three hours of close concentration in my bathroom, studying my towel rack, I got by another hurdle without undue damage: dealing with the constipation you get after an operation. How would that work with a set of damaged insides? Three hours. Still, life and stool are fine. Enough, however, of mechanics.
Sunday. Up this morning, early. Put on the traveling pack, velcro straps around the left leg, shuffle down to the local 7 - 11 look alike for a paper and a tuna fish sandwich. When I was sick as a kid the magic bullet was a tuna fish sandwich. My mother would do soup, of course, it's in the contract, but when the shadow came close, when the shadow of the shadow came close, it was tuna fish time. Shuffle is about right. Seven in the morning, just light, not a lot of traffic. Old man shuffle, slow, but steady. Been in and out of bed sleeping ever since.
A call to MRW to thank him for his concern prior to the operation. Then another nap. A microwaved chicken breast with mashed potatoes and beans, quite good, actually, then another nap. Take the usual set of pills. This makes the third day back on the blood thinner, the one added danger to major surgery for someone like me, you have to go off the blood thinners and there's an additional chance of a stroke. The cardiologist said not to sweat it and I didn't, but more because there were other issues ahead of it in line. Still, three days back on the pills means another milestone, another bullet.
Feeling better. Maybe I understand a little more why the recovery period may take six weeks. Walk a half a mile in the morning, then sleep. Tired. But the aching seems less and the mind has begun asking: What's next?
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