Cancer Update IV: Intermission

Well, I thought I'd stop back in to clean things up a bit. Many thanks go out to goose for keeping the taps open and for keeping you guys updated. The surgery itself went well last week. I have had a few minor complications that have been quite painful, literally, but I'm coming around. My side has been healing well as far as I know. It's the other parts of my body that apparently got really mad when my abdomen was getting all the attention. I had a killer of a migraine the last day I was in the hospital and I have had a couple bouts of illness - fever, aches, etc - as well. I am trying to kick what seems to be a virus even now. I never thought I'd have to focus so much on breathing. Apparently, I have not been taking deep enough breaths (due to my side not making it very enjoyable to do so) so I made myself vulnerable to other pathogens...or something like that. I got an x-ray on my chest today to double check the possibility of pneumonia. I'll find that out tomorrow. So with the exception of a few spectacular bruises and some new bloody healing cuts, I have been told I look pretty good (did you expect anything less?). The biggest surprise I had in the hospital was the utter paucity of sleep one gets when they are trying to recover. I found this rather annoying as I was hoping to catch up on some sleep but...not so much. Even night time stays were constantly interrupted with shots and whatever else they needed to put in or take out of my body. Yes, I hate catheters...especially when those who are in charge of their placement aren't so gentle...I'll spare you the details on that one. I'll just say that I no longer take pissing for granted. I was a proud man when the gates finally opened... I also discovered how inefficient our medical system can be (which makes me want to see Michael Moore's Sicko all the more). I was probably asked at least 10 times what medications I was taking. And I can't tell you how many times the nurses asked me why I was there or what needed to be done to me. I was tempted to just say "yes, just a simple procedure of euthanasia will do" but when you're staying in the hospital, pissing off nurses is probably not the wisest thing. Well, there's some fun complaints for you.

I hope to start back at work full time next week (maybe even work 40 hours for a change!). My bills are starting to cry, I think. Cancer was a bad choice... My mom and dad, brother and sister-in-law, and two friends from Indiana will all be down next week for the thyroid surgery so maybe next time through I can just rock out a bit. I'll be here until then and serve up another one soon so feel free to drink up. Cheers.