Recovering From Surgery

Recovering From Surgery

It has been a little over 7 weeks since surgery.  I would say my recovery is going pretty well since I last posted on September 29.

We met with Dr. Dunst, my surgeon, about 4 weeks after surgery.  The weekend before that meeting I started drinking and eating different liquids and soft foods, the first I'd had through my mouth since surgery.  We reported the results to her and she gave me the green light to eat anything, but to be really cautious with each new food - little bites, chew a lot.  The only foods she warned me off of were steak and carbonated beverages.  She also reduced my time on the food pump from 18 hours a day to 8 hours a day.  I'm getting about 1000 calories from the food pump and the rest through eating.  I've held my weight steady at around 228, which is at least 23 pounds overweight.

I've been working at the office for three full weeks, starting just after I was reduced to 8 hours a day on the food pump.  Prior to that I was working full time from home for a couple of weeks.  My total down time from work was about 2-1/2 weeks.  I did not work at all for the two weeks starting on my surgery date and I worked 1/2 time for the 3rd week.  Sitting in front of a computer monitor and working is not very much more taxing physically than watching TV.  I was paid the entire time.  I had a week of vacation and the rest was covered by disability insurance that Symantec had.  What a great way to spend my vacation.

I've been walking for exercise.  For the last 3 weeks I've been walking with Steve Zeigler and Steve Scalpone during lunch at work.  We have a loop mostly through parks and on trails that is about 2-1/2 miles.  My brother Powell joins us on Friday sometimes. On the weekends I walk with family.  Here's a picture of Martha and I on a walk last Sunday (10/27) taken by Caroline:

I'm still kind of tender in my abdomen.  I feel some pain in two specific places, one is at the biggest scar, when I move in certain ways, mainly picking something up with my right arm or pushing with my right arm.  It is repeatable.  But interestingly, it goes away while I'm walking.  So it may be more a stiffness pain.  But it is real when it happens and it hurts a little.  I definitely adjust what I'm doing to avoid it.  Getting in and out of the car is always adventure.  I used to grab my laptop and get out with it in my hand.  Now I just get out then walk over to the passenger side door and grab the laptop.