Recuperating

As I write this, I have a small pillow lying across my hips, laptop propped on top of it, angled in such a way that I can easily type, screen tilted so I can see it. I’ve got an episode of Angel playing to keep me company. I alternate my between lying down, walking around a bit, and sitting up working on the computer.

For the most part, I’m comfortable. There’s soreness and stiffness, of course, from the surgery itself, and that’ll go away with time. But I’ve realized over the last day or two that I’m in more pain and discomfort than I realize most of the time. Ironically, I felt the best the first couple of days after surgery, but the last couple of days have been a bit more difficult. I have slept a little better at night, but when I do wake up in the night, I usually feel a little queasy, and it takes me a couple of hours in the morning to fully shake the nausea and starting feeling somewhat normal.

The Vicoden is doing a pretty good job of masking the pain. I know this because when I go too long between doses, like at night, or when I lose track of time during the day, I start feeling pretty rough again. So, as good as I generally feel, apparently I also don’t feel very good at all. It’s a strange juxtaposition of sensations, really. It’s no wonder I get to feeling queasy at times. It’s more than one body can deal with.

I’m healing, though. The incision has itched for a couple of days now, and of course the itch is under the bandage, so I can’t reach it – nor really should I. A couple of more days and I can take the bandages and the steri-strips off for good. From there, it’s only a matter of time before I’ll be able to start thinking about returning to the office and working some of my regular activities back into life. A minimum of two to three weeks before I can think about getting back to work, and several months before my healing can be considered complete