@redlightpolitics
I hope you’re feeling better, my dear.
Awww thanks so much!!
I am feeling much better but still in pain and having to lay low. Here’s what they don’t tell you in advance: when they do laparoscopic surgery, they pump a great deal of air into your abdomen so that they can maneuver with the instruments. Once the surgery is over, that air needs to get out. Most people have a serious case of a gassy tummy and they burp a lot and experience flatulence. For a small percentage of people, the air finds its way through muscle tissue. That causes cramps and muscle spasm. Guess in which group I am? Last evening, as I was about to be released to go home, the spasm kicked in. Now let me say this: I have cycled 70+ km in a single day. I go to the gym (at least before the gallbladder problems started, I used to), four to five times a week. So I know a thing or two about muscle pain. However, I wasn’t prepared for what hit me. I blacked out from the pain that took over my right shoulder. I lost consciousness to the point that they had to put me in a morphine drip. So, the operation itself? Piece of cake. Abdominal discomfort and some mild pain from the stitches, together with a weakness that exhausts me. But other than that, an easy experience. The muscle pain? Twenty four hours later, I still feel like ripping my right shoulder out of its socket.
Which leads me to my other problem: I am allergic to Ibuprofen (and any related pain killer medication like diclofenac) so they can only prescribe me opium derivates to kill the pain. Or, morphine/codeine related sedatives. Which means I am high as a kite. I am trying to keep the intake of these pills to the bare minimum because I do not want to create any sort of dependency on them. The last thing I need in my life is to have to kick an addiction to painkillers. So, let’s just say I am doing good but the muscle pain is crippling me. I hope it will be gone in a day or so and I can resume my regular low effort activities (like writing, reading, etc.). I was already told I won’t be able to resume the gym until January. Blergh.
In the meantime, I am slowly writing the Christmas cards I have promised y’all. It’s a great distraction and it brings me smiles, so I cannot think of a more therapeutic task to complete.
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