Saturday, March 26, 2011.
First Post-Op Supper.
Twelve hours of sleep were interrupted every hour or so, but I went right back into slumber. The only annoyance was the tube I have stuck into my thigh, connected to a bulb in the purse-like bag. It is inevitable that I'd get tangled in this thing, and I did.
The tube provides an anesthetic which, I learned later today, is the same kind they give to women having babies. The lower part of my left leg is numb. When I try to move my toes, nothing happens. The doctor who called to check on me says this is all normal.
I have an unpleasant item facing me this morning. The doctors say in no uncertain terms that blood clots in my leg are a real danger, and that I must inoculate myself daily with a blood thinner. I've never given myself shots before (except of the bourbon and Scotch variety), and wasn't looking forward to the first time. I called my M.D. friend Doug Swift, to make sure I was doing it right. I heard somewhere that a good place to shoot yourself is into a fold of belly flab, with which I am well endowed. Doug confirmed this was the perfect place, with no major blood vessels to worry about. He also advised me to go in at a forty-five degree angle, and to wash my hands well before starting.
"And don't stick yourself in the finger!" he said. "You wouldn't believe how many people do that by accident!"
So now I will be an expert at something new. I will have twenty-seven more opportunities to practice.
The nurse at the hospital yesterday said that I was not to be left alone as long as the IV was in my leg. I couldn't imagine what could happen, so I gave Mary Ann my blessing to have lunch with our friend Ciel. Before she left, she made me a plate of Chateau du Lac's wonderful rabbit pate with some crusts cut off a calzone from Carmelo. That made a better lunch than it sounds.
Cayman Sinclair--the owner of the Lake House--heard about my plight and asked Mary Ann (but not me, to avoid the ticklish conflict-of-interest matter) if he could send a supper. Mary Ann likes Cayman and his place, and gladly went over to pick up a supper of a sirloin strip steak, a nice crab cake, broccoli raab and carrots, potatoes au gratin, and a jicama slaw. I ate half each of the crab cake (delish) and half the steak (crusty and meaty). This was just great, the first real meal since the surgery.
I was pleased to see how quickly my appetite was sated. I am determined to reap the great side effect of surgery: weight loss. I won't need that fat flap forever for injections, after all.
