Update of the moment

[jbailey]

Hey - here's an update:

* I'm off the steroids. Last one was last Friday, spent the weekend enjoying the withdrawal symptoms, and already enjoying the benefits, like my skin is clearing up even more, I'm starting to get my voice back, and I'm less inclined to be angry at the vacuum cleaner when it runs into me. Angie tells me I'm a lot more fun to have around. Which is encouraging when one is totally dependent on another person for food. =)

* I seem to have gotten sick. It took me a bit to figure this one out, but the withdrawal symptoms seemed to be going on longer than expected. Then Angie started showing signs of them, after Leif was fussy for a day. Blech. =( Which explains why I can be cold under covers when the thermostat claims that it's 74°F (No idea in civilised measurements, sorry). Hopefully this passes quickly. Time for lots of breathing and napping. Like I could be sleeping any more during the day.

* My energy levels are getting better. I saw Andrew Pollock at noon today when he returned a CD to me, and he commented that from my walking you can barely tell I had surgery 3 weeks ago. Except for how slowly I'm going. And the full body turn in order to look to see if cars are coming when I cross the road. And the huge production to step up onto the sidewalk. A 5 minute walk no long requires me to sleep for 2 hours. Can't say the same for a 10 minute walk yet, though.

* Staples are out! I have two more days of antibiotics because the incision is still red and giving off more heat than they'd like so I'm back in next Tuesday for another checkup. Last week, the surgeon wasn't surprised by the healing rate given that the steroids are an immunosuppressant, though. So hopefully next Tuesday I get a clean bill of health and then just have to wait 2 weeks before getting some movement restrictions lifted and starting PT. And tomorrow I'll have a shower without fetish^WPlastic Wrap all over the incision. I can't shower unassisted yet, though, since getting most of my body would count as "reaching"

* Short-term disability finally approved my claim. For 6 weeks anyway. Then they want me to return to work or get better justification from my surgeon. I'm sure he'll be all professional, but I'd love it if the letter read "My client takes 10 minutes to get out of bed. He takes vicodin every 4 hours, and my nurse just recommended Oxycodone so that he can sleep more than 2.5 hours at a stretch. What do you think?"

* We have the biopsy results. And like every other biopsy result, we have... Inconclusive! Whee! At least they're no longer using the word "Sarcoma", but instead have settled on Osteoblastoma. But there's a catch - there are two types of Osteoblastoma, Aggressive and not. (I'm sure there's technical terms, but I'm tired and didn't catch them). The inconclusive bit is whether it's aggressive or not. During surgery, however, they treated it as aggressive because they didn't have the information and did what they'd do to minimize the chance of it coming back by taking out lots of extra tissue. I still get to see an Oncologist, in case there's something interesting through all of this still to learn.

* Otherwise, schoolwork extensions are all approved, our new bank likes us and is doing good things. Coworkers are popping in and saying hi, so I'm not feeling totally isolated. Heinlein is less good the fewer drugs I'm on. Or maybe it's because I'm reading "Friday".

Things are still getting better every day, even through all the sickness and such. I'm trying to catch up with people on Jabber. I still can't lift the laptop, so IRCs out until I figure out where I put the charger to the N810. It's somewhere out of reach, so as far away as the moon as far as I'm concerned.

I also want to take a moment to say thanks to Sandy and Jamu for their visits here - We're trying to arrange for people to visit us on the weekends and help us return the place to a clean state, with Kit starting the visits this coming weekend. Angie's got her hands full with Leif, and I get the joy of sitting in the corner wishing I could be useful. The result is that the house slowly falls apart over the course of a week, and hopefully weekend visitors will help us keep some measure of sanity here.

Peace and love, all.

Tks,
Jeff Bailey

Comments

[ze-dinosaur.livejournal.com]

I'm glad it's going well (or as well as can reasonably be expected). I hope your recovery is super speedy.

[jbailey.livejournal.com]

Thanks, Eric! I'm feeling really quite good, which is nice. I've heard from some other people who had similar surgeries about ongoing pain and such. So far I'm confident that I'll return to a drug-free generally normal existance in relatively short order.

[jkakar.livejournal.com]

It was a pleasure being there... wish I was able to spend more time.

[jbailey.livejournal.com]

Careful what you ask for, you might find tickets in your mailbox. =) Having you here made a huge difference, and I've found myself wondering now that the incision is generally closed, what you would find working on the actual surgery spot. I need to come up to Vancouver at the end of May / beginning of June for some visa stuff, so I'm hoping to grab some time from you on that trip. It also might be interesting to come in and be a guinea pig for the Kiatsu class in case you wanted to use me as a case study. I assume that it would still be of value then. I just would have to remind Sensei that no I can't be thrown around. Really. Truly. Let go, Sensei...

[calla-lily.livejournal.com]

Gosh, that's tough that you still can't have a final word from the biopsy. But I'm glad to hear that things are getting better and better and you've got cool visitors on the way. I like reading your updates; thanks for keeping us posted.

[jbailey.livejournal.com]

Thanks, Linnea! It always nice to get the positive comments from folks, too. It makes a huge difference to staying positive. I feel bad that I don't always get to replying to everyone, but folks seem to be understanding.

[angorian.livejournal.com]

I'm glad to hear that things are still progressing positively... though that inconclusive stuff sucks. Why don't tests ever come back as "no, you're perfectly healthy"? That would be nice.

[jbailey.livejournal.com]

I suspect because then they couldn't send me for more tests *sigh*.

I don't believe them to do that intentionally, but it sometimes feels like that.

On the other hand, having to check in with them weekly has both made time feel like its passing more quickly, and has also meant that questions are getting answered quickly and that I get confirmation that I'm doing well.

*hugs* Miss you guys. I still owe you a 604 number, sorry about that.

[angorian.livejournal.com]

Why don't you guys give me a call some time? That's a good way to get me your number. :)

[gubydal.livejournal.com]

Wow, lots of great improvement! It's great to know that you're progressing rapidly.

[motherinlawtree.livejournal.com]

Tom was on steroids for his thyroid this winter and he's easier to get along with since he's done with them. But all his joints ache again. Of course that's partly from what he does to them.