I am Invincible !

Apr 27, 2010

15 days post-op and I'm relieved.

Why?  Because I was starting to be concerned -- concerned that this surgery meant I would no longer be the strong guy.  I would no longer be able to do hard manual labor.  Today I pushed it.  Yes, I know, doctors orders and all that and yes, it was in the back of my mind.

But today I had some heavy pieces of a tree that needed to be moved.  I split them and tossed them in a wheel barrow and hauled them down to the curb.   I know -- bad, bad man.  But this was more than just a household chore for me -- this was me being able to tell whether I would ever be able to do hard, physically taxing tasks and I completed them without ripping my guts open.

Well, maybe not completed.  A small dose of sanity crept in and after I hauled some of it down to the curb I took an hour break.  Then I moved more down to the curb and I think I'm done for the day.  There will be other days to finish the task but it felt good to be able to accomplish this task -- really, really good.

The day before I went in for surgery that was one of my major concerns.  Will this surgery compromise my ability to do what I identify as a mans responsibilities.  Will this surgery essentially neuter my ability to be a good provider and do what needs to be done around the house.  That day I worked to split and stack about two cords of wood.  It felt good, but I was worried that it may have been a last hurrah.

Nope.

I'm not going to push it anymore today.   After all, I do recognize that my body still does need some rest.  And while we're on the issue of rest, I was able to sleep in my own bed last night.  Yeah, that's right -- my own bed.  It was really, really nice.  As much as I appreciate the comfort that the recliner gave me for the past two weeks, to sleep in my own bed was a major milestone.

I'm looking forward to more milestones as the days, weeks and months progress. 

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