Flashback 3

*This post was lost in the Blogger server crash... Along with any comments... Meh.

I’m having surgery.  Again.  Had my knee worked on after the accident to remove asphalt and road debris, now a hernia operation.  I think I’d like a do-over for the last 12 months, if I can get one... ANYONE??  Come on, throw me a bone here.

When you have umbillical hernia surgery, they open you up at your belly button, and also do a couple of other incisions to stick hoses in your abdomen under the muscle tissue.  One is to actually INFLATE you with CO2, so they can get the little nylon mesh between your organs and your muscle structure.  It prevents the hernia from pushing back through the muscle structure.  (That’s what was preventing my vertical muscles from engaging properly.)  They inflate you to the size of a mini cooper, then stick in a cover from a McDonalds breakfast meal, or something.  I begged them to use helium, because I thought it would be awesome to float out of the recovery room to the car.  The nurse could just hold my hand and guide me through the automatic doors.  No need for a wheel chair!

You are on your back for a solid week.  Yes, after a few days you can get up and move around, albeit gently, but the first couple of days I just slept.  This surgery disrupts your entire abdominal area.  This was a much different kind of pain than my knee injury.  It was an all over pain.  It seemed that my entire torso ached.

Went back to work ten days after surgery.  That’s the longest consecutive period I’ve missed work in my life, I think, including vacations.  At about the two week mark, my belly button started to get a little enflamed.  It got worse for a couple of days, so I called the Doc to schedule an appointment.  We played phone tag for 3 days.  By now, my belly has a pie pan sized red area, and is so sensitive to the touch that when my shirt rubs against it, it’s painful.

My doctor sends me for a CAT scan, and asks me to stay until the results are in.  He admits me immediately.  I’ve got an infection that requires IV antibiotics.  Apparently, if I had delayed another day or two, they would have been admitting me into ICU.  Thanks for the phone tag, Doctor’s office!  I remain in the hospital over the weekend.  My first full weekend off in over 3 months, and the first sunshiney weekend we’ve had so far this year.  SUPER.  Yeah, I’ll just make my motorcycle a museum piece, I don’t really want to ride it or anything.  My Doctor releases me and hands off some antibiotics pills for one more week of meds.  I will finish them off today.

Next will be the fallout that occurred while I spent a good portion of the last year recovering from various incidents.

Funny thing..... I’m not complaining about this crap.  Sure, it’s been a tough year, but I’m still here.  That little phrase has become somewhat significant to me over the last few years.  

I’M STILL HERE.