Baby Steps

I’m catching up on my life in Wise Madness. I got home from the hospital Monday evening and now it’s Thursday morning. So that’s what I have to cover today.

Who can guess the first thing I did when I got home on Monday? Monday is important. I watched Game of Thrones. I didn’t want to risk it being spoiled for me. That proved to no avail as the writers spoiled the episode themselves. Everyone that watches GoT knows what I’m talking about. Perhaps tomorrow I’ll write about what was wrong with it but not now. I also watched John Oliver, that was not a disappointment, it never is. I thought I’d rush to the computer but that still required too much energy on my part. TV was much easier.

The first night home after abdominal surgery is always tricky; laying on a flat bed can be difficult, even impossible. I managed to get into bed and to be able to lay flat on my back. Incision pain made it impossible to sleep on either side. Sleeping flat on my back made it hard for me to breath. Coughing is very painful. I moved from the bed to my recliner. I had to keep adjusting my position. It was not a restful night.

I discovered something on Monday or Tuesday. At first coughing was not only painful but difficult. I couldn’t generate the force needed. As I improved the coughs became more powerful and more painful. Then I reached the point where I could have a coughing fit, not just an isolated cough. I was prepared to pass out from the pain, but that’s not what happened. Once the fit started the pain was put on mute. I have two theories as to what happened. One is that I used different muscles during the fit. The other is that my pain receptors overloaded so could no long send the pain signal to my brain. I’ll discuss it with the surgeon when I see him. If any of my Gentle Readers know, please tell me.

On Tuesday I could sleep on my right side and spent the night in bed, when not running to the bathroom. Every night I can lay in more positions. I no longer have to strategically plan how to get out of bed. It isn’t easy, there’s something of a scramble, but I get it done. I can lay on my right side now, it’s just not comfortable. Every day is better. It doesn’t make how big the steps are, just that they are in the right direction.

The weather on Tuesday was miserable and I just sat around the apartment. I did not walk around as much as I had in the hospital. I had been struggling for days and gave myself a break. Running to and from the bathroom gave me plenty of exercise. I managed to make myself dinner, brats and leftover gnocchi. For breakfast I had a Taylorhameggandcheese sandwich. I made coffee! That was glorious. Even now my stomach is under pressure so I don’t have a full appetite but I’m eating.

I caught up this week with all the Arrowverse shows. They had the opposite trajectory of Game of Thrones. They have been terrible of late but this week the shows were brought back closer to where they belong. They had all become so precious.

I don’t know why but I couldn’t watch the NBA draft lottery on ESPN, I could watch the playoff game that followed it and the pregame before it. That sucked as the future of the Knicks was at stake. That had a 14% chance of winning the top pick in the draft and the right to take generational talent Zion Williamson. They didn’t. They get the third pick in the draft. The big debate in the basketball world was how would the Knicks screw up winning the lottery? Now we’ll never know.

Yesterday was a beautiful day and I took a walk around the neighborhood. I explored places I haven’t seen. You don’t want to overdo things but you don’t want to be too sedate either. I listened to my body very closely as I walked and ended up going 0.6 miles. Under normal circumstances I wouldn’t even call that a walk but only six days after surgery that was perfect. I pushed myself but not to the point of doing damage. By the time I came home I was breathing better. My blood oxygen saturation has been low, at times below 90%, I got it all the way to 99% when I got home. Did you know that your Samsung Galaxy S7 can measure your oxygen saturation? I just discovered that a few weeks ago. It also takes your pulse.

Today I have to make the trek up to Harrison to see my psychiatrist. I have to go again tomorrow for therapy. I’m going to have to give myself extra time to get the MetroNorth station. I usually walk it in 25 minutes, it’s a bit over a mile.

Tomorrow after therapy I had planned on seeing Joe Crookston in Hastings. I’d have to take two buses and walk a mile to get there. I’ll see how it goes today before deciding. That’s the secret to recovery; think about everything. Keep updating your status. What you can do yesterday is not what you can do tomorrow. Never be too ambitious and don’t be afraid to push yourself.

The same goes with pain management. I’m on nothing now. Since I’ve been home I’ve taken extra strength Tylenol twice. I haven’t needed it more than that. When the pain was bad in the hospital I wasn’t afraid to take morphine. There’s no virtue to being in pain. There’s no weakness to ameliorating it. There are risks with pain killers so you keep them in mind and use them intelligently. You don’t avoid them totally.

I better finish this and make breakfast. I don’t want to miss my train. My psychiatrist had to cancel my last appointment. I’ve missed a ton of therapy sessions too. I can’t neglect my mental health as I take care of my physical.