Friday, March 28

All Is, Well...



"THE war that I prefer."  Also translated into French. There's two lines of Italian at the top, but it's too hard to read the print well enough to stick it in a translator. Like the man said, who'd have suspected that fifty years after the war we'd be buying Japanese electronics, driving German cars, and performing cunnilingus?

Thanks for all the good wishes. I did wake up, though apparently about a half-hour later than they expected. I'm about 50% more hobbled than before, and soreness is starting to set in, making it advisable not to sit or lie in one position for very long, but the doc said I could walk on it as I saw fit. He said that in the presence of my Poor Wife, but it didn't take; she's been on my case every time I get up to do something for myself. I getting around with my cane. The crutches are a bit much for motoring between three rooms. The prep nurse wanted me to get a walker, due to my advancing years. That was probably the worst part of the whole experience.

Even though my relationship with allopathy remains chilly, I must say I marvel every time I come into contact with its workers, who do a difficult job with a near-universal good cheer, and always laugh at my jokes.

Too painful right now to consider sitting long enough to write. Enjoy the weekend.

21 comments:

  1. A walker?! Did you shake your cane at her in indignation?

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  2. The walker scene is a shame and a crime. Let us not speak of it again.

    I wish you a speedy and pleasant recovery.

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  3. Anonymous10:59 AM EDT

    Glad to see you survived. I got the crutches, but no one ever asked me if I needed a walker, so I am freude at your schaden.

    Despite the moniker, I don't speak Italian., but it looks to me like the line is this:
    davanti a questa meraviglia... ideata e potenziata dal fascismo...

    Which near as I can feebly translate means "before [in front of] this wonder... created and developed by fascism"

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  4. Glad you survived. As a person who developed arthritis relatively young, I can say that canes and walkers and the like have less to do with age than illness. You are hardly at fault for being "too old" just because your joints don't work. We all get sick; it's just that some people get minor things that go away quickly.

    That's been my experience, too, I will say, that before the surgery your partners regard you as though you're going to be a pest and a wuss afterwards and make declarations that they will absolutely refuse to wait on you hand and foot. And as soon as you get home, they rush to do everything for you and start yelling at you to take your pills and get some rest and stay put, etc. I suspect it's either a visceral response to spending a couple-few hours wondering if you're still alive, or a practical annoyance at the prospect of having to wait on you hand and foot for even longer if you screw up your recovery. I've chosen not to pin down which.

    Take care of yourself, and seriously, take your pills. If you let the pain catch up to you in the first two days, you're screwed.

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  5. Anonymous11:55 AM EDT

    What d. sidhe said, twice. Particularly about not letting the pain settle in. Glad you're back among the conscious -- there's a particularly noisome Bobo today that simply cries out for your attention. Hope you mend quickly.

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  6. Welcome back. I'm glad you're OK.

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  7. My 90 year old mother refuses to use a walker, because it would make her look old! Instead, she uses trekking poles - the lightweight ones from REI - for her walks outside. The docs all say they're great for stability.
    Glad to see you're mending.

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  8. Anonymous2:34 PM EDT

    Mahalo for the blowup of the illustration. I notice Ms. Aunaturella Downthere does not favor Hitler shaves. She's no gotterdammerung fascista!

    While you are in the arms and alumn9inum legs of recovery, maybe you can run an opinion poll on what Mr. Glans's glance at us reveals in the way of his thinking at this moment. Oddly, he does seem none too happy at what Iforone would find a delicious situation.

    Happy lolling!

    His (x) deutschmark

    pookapooka

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  9. After 6 weeks in a wheel chair (surgery for badly broken knee) i was delighted to use a walker. Graduating to a cane was splendid! but I kept loosing them.

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  10. Well, I was going to be the first well-wisher, but my interweb connection via my road-beaten laptop wasn't behaving this morning, at least not letting my enter blog comments.

    So, I surfed for porn.

    Now, I am wishing you speedy health. Please don't get all mushy and sentimental on us.

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  11. Perhaps this might help?

    Print it out, blow it up to poster size, and hang it on your wall. Not that you need any reminders that you can still kick ass, or anything.

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  12. If you have a prescription, use it.

    Today, my knee turned purple. It is stiff, it hurts, and ice isn't helping. The swelling has spread to my once shapely, lovely ankle. I had my meniscus repaired and bone spurs removed on Monday morning. Crutches are almost ridiculous in small rooms and a walker--even the Texas Ranger--is just too traumatic.

    So, more meds. Please recover soon. I need you to help me with the anger I will no doubt feel upon reading Bobo.

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  13. Glad to hear you survived and here's hoping for an uneventful, drug-filled, and speedy recovery.

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  14. Anonymous11:28 PM EDT

    Get well homie. When everything looks bleak, remember the Pacers are still in the hunt for the playoffs. That's gotta make you feel all better, donit? Yeah.

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  15. Anonymous1:48 AM EDT

    Hang in, Dog. I had to use a walker for a few days after spinal fusion three years ago. I put on the Chariots of Fire DVD and did laps around the living room...me and my Ambulatory Device of Fire.
    I took cheer from the enormous amusement I afforded my wife, and I hope you do too.

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  16. Anonymous7:35 PM EDT

    By the time you are ready to trip happily outside, the last vestiges of winter should be past and spring well and truly under way. And if you're still not feeling too chipper, the Poor Wife can bundle you up in shawls and park you in the sunshine.

    Best wishes for a speedy recovery, and as others have said, keep the drugs refilled and close to hand.

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  17. Anonymous11:21 PM EDT

    I don't see you as a walker kind of guy, I see you more as a Little Rascal -- but not one of those old men who ride a slow-as-molasses scooter around the canned goods aisle in the A&P with a bumpersticker on the back that says, "Ask Me About Electric Mobility!" as he falls asleep at the switch and plows remorselessly into a point-of-purchase display for Campbell's Franco-American Slow Roast Gravies until jars and tins are rolling with a down the linoleum with a low grumbling sound like gutter balls...

    No. I see your scooter as the General Lee of Little Rascals, all souped up cherried out, with Hooker headers and thrush pipes and glass packs, and you'd be jumping the legume bins in the produce section in slo-mo while the Assistant Manager -- foiled yet again -- would be shaking his fist and shouting, "Damn you, Doghouse...!"

    Get well soon, DH. I'm jaded and disgruntled and you provide one of the few irresistible bright spots that keep me coming back to the intertubes...

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  18. Well, your knee may be on the mend but you still sound sorta cranky - which I take as a good sign.

    And speaking as someone who makes an incredibly lucrative living catering to the health needs of people like you (well, not exactly, unless you also had brain surgery), thanks for the thanks.

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  19. Anonymous7:58 PM EDT

    Open the door for Mr. Muckle!

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  20. Well wishes, you Dog you!

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  21. Anonymous1:11 AM EDT

    By the way DH, I appreciate that in this era of daily celebrity upskirt shots, a certain amount of candor is expected on the internets, but may I respectfully suggest that from now on you leave the leg art to Alberto Vargas?

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