Mummers Mass 2010

Mummers Mass 2010

Sent from my Verizon Wireless Phone

Mummers Mass 2010

Mummers Mass

Sent from my Verizon Wireless Phone

Post-doc-visit

I saw the doctor who's filling in for my surgeon.

She took a look at the two problem spots on the incision. (One, I didn't think was particularly bad, but the other one was the area I suspected had gotten infected.) She applied peroxide, did I-know-not-what to help the less-nasty of the two spots drain, and trimmed down the one trailing thread that was protruding from the "worse" spot.

I think that thread was at least part of the reason why an infection was starting to set in. So I'm glad that she took care of it.

Then she gave me the new regimen: peroxide, OTC antibiotic ointment, gauze bandages instead of band-aids, and warm compresses. That sounds easy enough.

I'm glad I went in right away, while over-the-counter remedies are still able to be a solution. If I'd tried to wait it out, who knows what they'd have had to do to fix the problem. I've seen people end up in the hospital on antibiotics for bad infections. No thanks. I've had enough of hospitals to last me a while.

Doc visit

Did I mention that there are certain symptoms I was told to be alert for, that would indicate a possible infection in the incision area?

Well, there are. And on Thursday night (naturally, the night before Christmas Eve, guaranteeing that no doctor's office would be open until Monday at the soonest), some of those symptoms started making an unwanted appearance.

I dealt with it as best I could over the weekend, and on Monday, I called the surgeon's office. He's away this week, but the fill-in doctor asked me to come in so she can have a look and prescribe an appropriate treatment. I'll be there today, and with luck whatever she prescribes will knock this problem out.

Snow

I'm dreaming of a white... day after Christmas? That might not be how the song goes, but it's how our weather pattern is proceeding.

Mass was in the downstairs church today instead of being upstairs. That was a smart move on the pastor's part, because although the snow had not begun by the time Mass started, by the time we were exiting church, the flakes were falling. If you've seen the big stone steps outside the church, you'll understand why Father didn't want to risk having people walking on those steps while slick with snow or wet with salt and water. That would have to be filed under "accident waiting to happen", especially with older parishoners whose reflexes and balance might not be what they once were.

So we missed out on one day of seeing the pretty upper Church for Mass, but we made up for it by NOT having anyone see any ambulances or emergency rooms due to taking a spill on stone steps. It's a tradeoff worth making.

So I've heard predictions of anywhere from 6-10 inches to 8-12 inches for this storm, depending on what source I was listening to. Which probably means that there'll be snow left on the sidewalks, to some extent, by the time the Mummers Parade kicks off on New Year's Day (I HOPE. That's presuming the weather's good on Saturday). I do hope Mother Nature gets this snow stuff out of her system by New Year's Day. I hate when the parade gets postponed.

Some people need to get a life

I heard yesterday the most "insulting" gift for a woman is clothing that's a too-large size. And I thought "Who in their right mind gets INSULTED by a gift given with an honest heart?" So the giver goofed up on the clothing size. BIG FLIPPING DEAL. As inconsistent as women's clothing sizes are, getting the size right on the first try, for the uninitiated, would be a real Christmas miracle. The correct response is to thank the giver and see about exchanging the too-large item for the correct size, sans drama.

But anyone who takes OFFENSE at a gift that was the wrong size really needs to sit down and take stock of their priorities. Seriously. The ungrateful harridan who would behave like that needs to get a life.

Ow.

The surgeon warned me that the subcutaneous blood clot near my incision might migrate over TO the incision area and cause bleeding, and not to be alarmed if that happens.

Good thing I was forewarned. He forgot to mention that there would be discomfort involved. Sigh. Tramadol time.

Brrrr

Just for the record: should you find yourself either in your own home, or house-sitting for a friend, while the windows in said house are being replaced... if it's December, be prepared for the house to get cold.

Brrrrrr. That's all I can say.

Joan

It's that time of year again. December 17. It certainly doesn't feel like 15 years have passed.

We still love and miss you, Joan. We'll see you when we get there.

Proofreading... more than just a good idea

Mark got a note from a vehicle service regarding his car. I don't think he's actually used them, so your guess is as good as mine as to where they got his contact info.

However... here is the part that makes me nuts: "According to your owner's manual, your [year make model] is due for *it's* 90,000 mile scheduled maintenance."

"It's"? With an aspostrophe? On a document that gets sent out to potential customers daily? Does NO ONE proofread anymore? :headdesk: :headdesk: :headdesk:

Health update

Fasting bloodwork: DONE.

Weight update: 28 lbs since July. Slow but steady. I've kept to the gradual pattern of 1-2 lbs/week, with a small boost to the total last month since the Fibroid From H*ll is finally gone.

I would like the numbers to be dropping a little faster, but that will have to wait until I'm capable of resuming the 30 minutes of daily exercise. I'm not even close to that yet, so I'll have to be patient. In the meantime, I'll have to keep careful track of what I eat. I can certainly control that part of the weight loss regimen.

[grossout warning]

OK, the area next to the incision where the blood clot is, is FREAKIN' killing me. That dratted thing needs to be reabsorbed, preferably yesterday. Every now and then, that spot just sits there and hurts like heck, and this is one of those times.

Doggoned rat fink pain in the tail sore spot. Go away, you bastage.

[/grossout warning]

So far, so good

I had my first followup with the surgeon yesterday.

Dubious Achievement: thanks to my 7.9 lb fibroid, mine was officially the largest uterus removed in 2010 at the (large, teaching) hospital I went to. I realize there are a few weeks left for someone to come in and top my numbers. But I assure you, I won't be envious of any person who presents with a fibroid even larger than mine.

The incisions (external and internal) are healing as they should. There's one area adjacent to the incision that I flagged as being sore. Turns out there's a blood clot in that spot. No wonder it's been consistently annoying at times -- something's actually there. The doc said that normally, the body reabsorbs the blood clot with no problem, but occasionally, it will migrate over to where the incision is and cause some bleeding there. So he said not to worry if that happens. Good call -- I wouldn't have been one bit happy to see bleeding show up unexpectedly, so at least now I'm forewarned.

I have a couple spots on the (6-inch-long) incision that are looking a little inflamed, or maybe even slightly infected. Those didn't trouble the doctor. I guess that they're not an unusual situation at this stage of the game. I was expecting to end up with antibiotics when he saw those areas, but no. To my surprise, he told me to put Vitamin E on them. Just as well -- I take enough pills every day as it is. I wasn't looking forward to adding more. So Mark picked up some Vitamin E last night, and I've started using it.

I need to curb my activity level a little bit, I think. I've spent the past 5 or 6 days nearly as active as I was pre-surgery, and boy is my tail dragging today. I think I did just a tad more than I was ready for. I don't regret any of it, but now I know to pace myself a bit better for the next few weeks.

So that's what's up. So far, so good. :-)

We went to a frustrating Flyers game tonight. The Flyers lost 3-0 to Boston. I was glad to be there, as it was my first game since the surgery, but I do wish we'd have had a goal or three to cheer for. It was especially frustrating to watch some great chances around Boston's net come to nothing.

We sat in the accessible seating, as I don't think I'm quite up to climbing stairs to our regular seat yet. But it was good to get the heck out of the house, win or lose. I've been getting cabin fever lately.

I'm sort of sore now, after all that activity, but I'll deal with it. I'm not so sore that I think I messed anything up. The abdominal muscles are griping, occasionally stridently, but it seems more like they're objecting to having been used, rather than warning of new damage. So I'll head for the ibuprofen/Tramadol combo and call it a night in a little while.

I did learn something interesting tonight. The same abdominal muscles that are sore are the ones I use to holler and cheer. Producing any vocalization with any kind of volume turned out to be a source of discomfort. I suspect that singing would cause the same issue. The reason that's a relevant consideration is that I've been talking with our parish's new choir director about rejoining once I'm recovered from surgery. Looks like that plan will need to wait until my abdomen's in a bit better condition than this. If I can't even holler "Yeah!" without pain, singing an entire song at any volume beyond "under my breath" won't be much fun right now.

My mom warned me today that to really recover from surgery takes at least 6-8 weeks. So by my count, I've got at least another 4-6 weeks of recuperation to go. Here's hoping that's ALL it is. I really want to start the new year feeling like a human being.