Among the People & Chaos

A week has gone by and no blog entry by me. Well, the good news is I am doing quite well. The reason for no entries from me is that my internet connection was nearly non-existent from 8/9 thru 8/16. But there was a good reason for it. My in-laws blessed us with an all expense paid camping trip to the Jersey Shore - something we obviously can not afford right now.

And man-oh-man it couldn't have been any more beautiful. My pain level has been slowly decreasing so I was able able to go to the beach multiple times (absolute heaven), go to the boardwalk a couple of times, have a campfire, spend time with my in-laws throughout it all and get to know Daniela's extended family a lot better (her Aunt, Uncle, cousins and second cousins). Everything was perfect - even the weather.

And what amazed me was my reaction to being in public. Again, it was the "adjustment period." On our third night on the shore, Daniela's family brought us to the boardwalk - with all the rides and games and lights and music and bells and whistles and vendors on microphones loudly announcing what they have to offer. It was a lot of energy and a lot of excitement. So, it wasn't more than 15 minutes before I was clear I needed to step away from it all.

While everyone ate their delicious boardwalk food, I took a walk along the beach to decompress from all the chaos and intense energy. With all that happening, my anxiety level was getting high and since it is not my personality style to get anxious around crowds, I knew it was the post-surgery adjustment period. At one point while on the boardwalk, I even had a concern about not being able to protect my family because my body is still healing - very primal but very for a moment, it was real.

So, after about 20 minutes on the beach, I was ready to be among the people and the chaos again. So we walked and watched the kids go on rides and play the games and had a lot of fun. But then in crept in the anxiety again. Fortunately, I found a quiet area of the boardwalk away from the bright lights where I was able to find a little peacefulness, but not be too far from everyone.

A little while later, Daniela's Uncle Robert happened to walk up my way and he and I had a great conversation about the post-surgery anxiety/adjustment period. He's been through it following a surgery he had not too long ago and kindly shared his experience with me. It was so great to have my experience validated - to know that someone else could understand what I was going through - first hand. And as he shared what he went through, I was able to see where I had mistaken anxious thoughts for the truth. For instance, while I was in the hospital, I thought the nursing staff was resistant to administering my morphine when I asked for it. I was telling Robert about this, and as I was sharing with him I realized this was one of those anxiety thoughts - "them vs. me" - and I had believed it to be true until the moment that I was sharing it with him. The reality is, the staff was more than willing to give me morphine when ever I asked for it as long as it was no more than every two hours as prescribed. Why I thought they were unwilling to administer it...I don't know. But I believed it while I was there.

The anxiety is still very present for me - not all the time - but throughout the day I experience random moments of concern where I wonder if I am doing something wrong. So I will check in with Daniela and make sure we're good or just realize that my mind is at it again and go back to what I am doing. To tell you the truth, it mostly shows up in public, not so much at home. So, whenever in public I mind my thoughts and remember to enjoy myself.

At the same time, I am still slow to see people even here at the house. Being with large groups seems to be difficult at times and I can't always tell when it will be. If I find myself getting cranky or irritable I know it's time to step away for a moment and have a little quiet. Normally I would find all of this very humbling, but with all I have been through in the last 16 months or so, I can really say I have learned to accept what my body needs - of course regular reminders from Daniela don't hurt either.

CT Scan...and Staples

Finally my staples are gone - what a relief!!! Those things were driving me nutz.

I also had a CT scan and blood work to determine the source of my recent abdominal pain. And in looking for it, it seems I may have a slight infection near the top of my backside suture. That explains why I still have a little pain when I sit - I had just figured it was post-surgery pain.

Fortunately, I was given an antibiotic to take home with me. I say "fortunately" because prior to be given the prescription, Dr. Cagir informed me that I may need to be re-admitted and administered an IV antibiotic as well a drainage catheter. So, we waited an hour until a well-respected radiologist had the opportunity to review my CT scan and provide Dr. Cagir with a second opinion.

Initially I FREAKED at the thought of being re-admitted. And then after a few minutes, I was able to relax and realized that it would likely be nothing more than a boring hospital stay with minimal discomforts. Initially upon hearing that I may be admitted again, my brain went to the only experience I recall as an admitted patient: heavily drugged and occasionally in a great deal of pain. Oh. And with a room mate who woke me up every single night at 1 AM & 4 AM until I finally got my hands on some soft ear plugs to sleep with. In his defense, he was 87-years old and confessed to being hard of hearing and forgetting - at 1 & 4 AM - that he had a room mate.

And he was very apologetic for being hard of hearing. He compensated for it by yelling when ever he spoke to any of the hospital staff or whenever he spoke to his wife when she came to visit. And of course they all provided him the same courtesy of yelling when they spoke to him. It was a real treat for me when ever he met with the staff and/or his wife. Oddly enough, when his two sons-in-law came to visit, they would talk for over an hour and no one seemed to need to yell to communicate...

Anyway, I will be scheduled for another CT scan in one to two weeks to make SURE there is no infection. Apparently, once a bad infection shows up in tissue that has been radiated, i.e., my backside, it can take "forever" to be healed (or so said Nan, my Nurse Practitioner).

So, as much as I despised the idea of being re-admitted, by the time I thought it through, I was perfectly content with it. When Dr. Cagir prescribed an antibiotic and sent me home, I asked him, "Are you sure?" I have no desire to take ANY chances. He assured me it would be okay because I am to be scheduled for another CT scan in the next week or two to keep an eye on things.