An update

It's been almost a month since I updated. Here's what's been happening.

I got home from the hospital, and my recovery seemed to be moving along briskly. Within a few days, I was up walking around the neighborhood, driving to the coffee shop, and going for short trips to the grocery store.

Then, I had a setback. The painkiller I was taking started making me groggy. My incision became infected, and the surgeon prescribed a sulfa-based antibiotic that nauseated me and made me throw up twice or three times a day. I started having strange hot flashes that felt like I was running a fever of 102° or so, even though the thermometer showed I had no fever at all.

Eventually, I was in bed most or all of the day. Couldn't drive, couldn't make it to the coffee shop. Fortunately, friends came by to check on me and keep me company during all this. My friend Cindy came and sat with me for a couple of hours one evening, even though I was too zoned out to even carry on a conversation. My friend Rena stayed over one night when I was at my nadir.

Then my surgeon took me off the painkiller and the antibiotic, and I started feeling better again the next day. The hot flashes, he told me, were caused by dehydration. At his suggestion, a knocked back about a half gallon of Gatorade over the course of the day, and the hot flashes ended.

Now, I'm back up and around, although I tire easily and I'm good for about a half day of activity at most. I also have not slept well since leaving the hospital. I had a pretty good night last night, sleeping maybe six hours, but most nights I sleep three or four hours at most.

More to come.