I measure my progress by the number of little tasks I am able to do that I previously found overwhelming. I’ve been meaning to trim my toe nails for the past three weeks, but it was more that I could handle.
Today I trimmed them. A small victory, but a sign things are getting better.
Things have improved considerably since I started getting fed through my vein rather than the feeding tube. Being on the IV antibiotic is also a huge improvement over the pill form. Talk about gag me with a spoon, those pills were awful.
It’s interesting not eating. I’m always a tiny bit hungry, but not unpleasantly so. However I am consumed with fantasies about food, most of which include a lot of red meat. This is strange since I seldom eat meat.
Our friends and relatives have supplied Anne with a wonderful supply of meals. Each night I have her give me a detailed description of what culinary delight she is experiencing.
I then retreat into my fantasy world of greasy spoon hamburgers, homemade hamburger intense chili, hot dogs, Hawaiian pizza, and, of course, my favorite, a whole box of Kraft Macaroni and Cheese saturated with Heinz catsup.
An unanticipated aftermath of the surgery is the healing process has sucked the blood from my brain. I have found it difficult to read since concentrating is so difficult. This was quite a lifestyle change for a guy who usually reads four or five books at once.
I am reading again. I am even reading a book that is considered a classic of American literature. Of course what makes it literature is the author spends four paragraphs describing the autumn leaves blowing across the court yard. I skim that part and jump back to the plot, which is quite interesting.
I’m now walking about eight blocks twice a day. I’d walk more but getting my nutrition through a tube hasn’t been quite enough to match calories burned. I’ve already lost over ten pounds and I don’t want to burn off too many calories.
I’d like to thank everyone who has come to visit me. It’s nice to have company even though I don’t always have the energy to be a sparkling conversationalist. Oh wait, I was never a sparkling conversationalist. I guess that isn’t a problem after all.
I follow all of your blog comments and appreciate them greatly. I haven’t responded to them as well as I might have because my brain has been in a such a muddy swamp. Sometimes I don’t have the mental energy to do even the simplest tasks.
But today things are better, so I figured I’d write this post as a way of dropping by to say “Hi”.
“Hi”.
…Annnnnd heeeeeee’s back! VERY good to hear from you again! All good wishes for continued progress!
Hi Gary,
Great to have you back on your blog. I’m also thrilled for you that you’re able to read again. I have two recommendations: “Blind Descent: The Quest to Discover the Deepest Place on Earth” by James M. Tabor. I read it this past summer and read it two or three days because I just couldn’t put it down I found it riveting. Now I’m reading “Fall of Giants” by Ken Follett. He wrote “Pillars of the Earth,” perhaps the greatest historical novel I’ve ever read. Anyway this is the first of a trilogy of historical novels on the twentieth century. This first one takes place between 1911 and 1919. It’s very fast-moving and well written. The only downside is that it’s 985 pages long and quite heavy–although I guess you could press it above your head periodically as a strengthening exercise. I’m just over half done with it, and I recommend it. Good to hear from you again!
I’ve definitely moved past the zombie stage. Tomorrow we meet with Dr. Tseng which should give us a better idea of what’s next. Hopefully it will be something nice.
Book recommendations from a guy who considers Darwin’s Origin of Species an “easy read” is a little scary. None-the-less, I reserved all three books from the library because I like historical stuff. My literary tastes generally run more towards spy thrillers and cowboy yarns, but I can get into something more enlightening in a pinch. Thanks for the recommendations.
All I meant was that, of all the important scientific treatises, the Darwin can actually be read by a non-scientist! The tabor is incredible true-life adventure, and the Follett books are extremely readable novels. Anyway, they’re just suggestions! Good to hear from you. Speaking of cowboy yarns, I assume you’ve read “Lonesome Dove.” Fantastic–and I generally don’t like cowboy yarns.
Hugo
Marcia gauges your progress by your color. Those of us who read the blog regularly might use your humor. It’s nice to see/read it again!
Yes. I loved Larry McMurtrys’ Lonesome Dove. That’s actually a fairly high brow western. I also read all one hundred and one Louis L’Amour books as well as just about anything published by Double D Westerns. Now that’s getting into the real low brow stuff.
I also gauge my progress by the state of my sense of humor, which has been pretty none existent lately. Things are getting better.
Gary,
It’s good to see you writing your own blog entry. Marsha is great, I think she should be in syndication! As great as her prose has been, I view your first entry on the site in some time as a definite step in recovery. Though, I don’t mean to slight the trimming of your own toenails in any way. Especially since the distances involved are so much greater. I am build much closer to mine and still find it a challenge.
I had just told Lisa, yesterday, that I thought when you had energy to make your own journal entry it would be clearly a good sign you were getting stronger.
All in all, I’d say you are coming along very well indeed for someone who’s been ripped open by robots and implanted by the borg so recently.
Ed
I’m glad to hear you’re developing a closer relationship with your toe nails. That’s such an important thing. My own relationship with my toes was so helpful in my experience of being ripped open by robots and implanted with borg technology. I don’t know how I would have gotten through it without them.