Welcome to the boring but important parts of recovery.
I'm almost off the Percocet and managing pain with Advil and Tylenol. I feel like I lost a bar fight, but that this type of soreness will eventually dissipate. Sleep is still sporadic.
A couple of milestones yesterday.
(1) Caffeine. I caved and ordered a latte from Starbucks, as a purely scientific trial, mind you (remember, I work in pharmaceutical R&D). And it felt frickin' GREAT. Remember I'd been abstaining from caffeine for more than a year. Yes, I, the guy who owns a $35 Thermos that keeps his coffee hot 'n' fresh all the working day and includes a shoulder strap, coffee made from beans roasted to order and shipped overnight from a boutique in NYC, gave up the joe - it made me feel that bad. Well, success! I got a rush to the frontal lobe (good) but not to the left ventricle (would have been bad). Jenn says she doesn't remember the last time she saw me smile so wide.
(2) Restaurant food. We went to a very nice restaurant, Table 45, for a multi-course meal last night, the type that would have sent my gradient through the roof pre-op. A lot of food (all of it heart-healthy), and no trouble with dizziness or shortness of breath at the dinner table or afterward. A very pleasant change indeed.
I'm looking forward to coming home. The concierge at the Clinic is unbelievable. We provided them our travel itinerary an hour ago. By tomorrow afternoon they will have taken care of - at no charge to us - printing boarding passes, ground transportation to Hopkins Airport (they had also chauffeured us to the Clinic on arrival), and wheelchair service/cart service/luggage assistance at both Hopkins and Newark. They do this for every single out-of-state surgical patient, gratis. Amazing.
Finally, in the spirit of "Pay It Forward," I met with a fellow HCM patient today who is scheduled for a myectomy tomorrow (Thursday) with Dr. Smedira. We got to know each other a little bit online through the HCMA message board. His name is David, he's a great guy, and if you could keep him in your thoughts, I'd appreciate it. I believe his status will be updated here.
Take care,
Michael
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3 comments:
So glad for all your amazing progress! Tip for sleeping (in case it wasn't mentioned before): Bed Wedge, available at places like Bed, Bath and Beyond for about $60. I used 2 for several months after surgeries, still need one with a pillow even now.
Hope you found out the official bypass time, just because I'm curious. I get 'pump head' if I'm really tired, and it sucks.
You are doing amazingly well--congratulations!!
Welcome back to the caffeinated world. That's just great.
Mom
Bar fight? When have you even been in a bar fight? (remember your mom is reading, and that really isn't you on the news . . .)
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