Non Sequiturs

Been a busy few days for me. On Friday I had the first surgery I have ever had in my life. For years I have had an inguinal hernia and it had never given me trouble or pain, but apparently if you let it go without treatment it can lead to all sorts of nasty things so I decided not to procrastinate any longer and have it taken care of.

My mother was nice enough to come up from Savannah to stay with me and help. We had to get up at 4 am on Friday in order to be at the surgical center by 5:30 am. Everything went very smoothly, was checked in quickly and taken to prep. Had a lovely green patterned smock to wear. Pam was my nurse and took excellent care of me. Didn't even feel the IV when she put it in. I met the anesthesiologist, who was irreverent and cute, and told me I was getting the same anesthesia that Michael Jackson OD'd on. At that point I was just hoping I would feel a little woozy and not have to look into the light ;)

The nurse anesthesthetist (very cute and very gay) took me into the surgical room and made me put a fabulous silver shower cap on. It clashed horribly with the green smock though. That was the last thing I remembered thankfully. I woke up in the surgical recovery room and I believe I hit on the cute nurse that was working in there. He didn't seem amused.

The regular recovery room was fine. I didn't feel nauseous or dizzy and was sitting up and ate saltines and drank a coke with no problem. Anika, the nurse taking care of me, was cute, blond, and perky, and took very good care of me. I will have to say that the care I received at Piedmont Hospital was excellent. Everyone was very nice and very professional.

Once my surgeon Dr. Colquitt came in to see me, he told me I was ready to go whenever I was ready. My mother left to go pull the car around, but as Anika helped me into the wheelchair, my left leg started buckling like no one's business. She thought I was just feeling dizzy from the pain meds, however, it turned out my left leg was numb all the way from the incision down to the bottom of my knee. It seems I have difficulty recuperating from local anesthesia. When I get Novocaine at the dentist my mouth takes two days to come back to normal. Well, similar situation here.

They took me up to another recovery wing in order to wait out the numbness in my leg. Instead of being at the hospital for 4 hours we ended up waiting for over 8. Unfortunately, my leg never really un-numbed. I finally realized I could walk if I locked my knee and shuffled along. So we signed the discharged papers and headed home. Needless to say after the long wait at the hospital, the long wait to get my percocet prescription, driving in rush hour traffic on horrible potholed filled Atlanta roads, I was worn out.

Luckily, the anesthesia wore off in my leg the next morning, but I think it basically set me back a day in my recovery. Thank heaven my mother was here to help out. There is no way I would have been able to take care of myself otherwise. It has been very difficult to move and to get in and out of bed or a chair. My mom has been a real trooper.

Everyday has been better; less pain and more mobility. The only other issue was the pain med catheter. They made a small incision above the hernia incision and placed a pain med catheter that dispensed pain medication into the area for 48 hours. It really helped with the pain, but the downside was that I had to be the one to remove it. I am extremely squeamish when it comes to anything blood related. I can't even stand looking at a papercut. Unfortunately, my mother is even worse than I am so I didn't want to subject her to doing it. I got all the dressing off and it didn't look too bad, so I started gently pulling it out, thinking it would be out in about 2 seconds. I kept pulling and pulling for what felt like five minutes. I think it was inside about 6 inches. Finally it came out and I about passed out. I had to lay down for 10 minutes until I got my color back. I am sure I was eight shades of green.

Every day seems to be getting better and I hope to be somewhat normal by the end of the week. All in all, it has been pretty smooth. I am just glad to have a wonderful mother and a wonderful group of friends looking after me.

Lyrics Rattling Around My Head

"Darling, just don't put down your guns yet
If there really was a God here
He'd have raised a hand by now
Darling, you were born but you will die here
Oh that's quite enough for me too,
We'll find our own way home somehow."

Editors
"Papillion"

"You trick your lovers
That you're wicked and divine
You may be a sinner
But your innocence is mine

Please me
Show me how it's done
Tease me
You are the one"

Muse
"Undisclosed Desires"

"Small metal gods, cheap souvenirs
you've abandoned me for sure
I'm dumping you my childish things
I'm evening up the score"

David Sylvian
"Small Metal Gods"

"I don't have to leave anymore
What I have is right here
Spend my nights and days before
Searching the world for what's right here"

The xx
"Islands"

Appealing Things

Moms
Chris
Red velvet and coca-cola cupcakes
Vuze
Confirming plans to go to Coachella Festival next year
Grizzly Bear live
Garlic cheese dip
Blow Pops
Finding out I am eligible for a State sponsored health insurance plan

Annoying Things

Anesthesia
Pulling out a pain med catheter
Liars