Staples Center

This photo of me lying in the hospital bed was taken on Saturday afternoon, I believe. Friday was the day of surgery, and is pretty much a blur. I have had a few people tell me that they stopped by and talked with me, and I have no memory. But thanks for doing that.

The images and language below may be upsetting to some people. If you are upset by the view of stitches, you may want to move on and visit another health blog. You know, something where they can do things by telekinesis, my preferred method of surgery. But if you have the stomach (!) for it, hang on in there.

I spent about five days in the hospital. Went in at 6:30am on Friday, and came out about 2pm on Tuesday afternoon. Thanks to major coordination and consolidation by Ruth and Jim, I was deposited in the middle of three lovesick poodles, who made me feel very loved. Ruth tried to keep their demonstrations to a minimum.

I haven't been able to sleep very well, and I guess I'm surprised that being home didn't make a difference. So, at about 3am, I moved my aching body out to the living room recliner, and slept there. Five minutes there, two minutes there, that kind of non-REM-producing sleep.

But today, the 6th day, I felt better. The belly still hurts, of course, but I'm able to sleep for 10 minutes, maybe 20, at a time.

I called today into Dr. Jeffrey Stern's office to make that appointment for next week. They could've brought me into his office in Berkeley this Thursday, but that would be tomorrow, and the thought of riding around, and then walking a lot, was very upsetting. So I was glad to get an appointment for next Tuesday morning, March 20th.

I'm hoping Dr. Stern will give me the full pathology report in which he says everything's clear, no radiation or chemo therapy needed. That's the short version I got as I was preparing to be discharged yesterday as he did his rounds.

And I am also hoping to get rid of these infernal staples.

A friend asked me on the phone what they were like. I didn't really want to look (although, frankly, that's the first thing I did when I got home: get in front of a full-length mirror), but I did. I thought they were nylon. Maybe plastic. They're metal! I would certainly set off a bevy of TSA x-ray machines right now! My hardware is kind of ominous.

The lengthy picture here is a section of my incision and the staples holding me back together. Believe me when I say "filet" is the operative word here. They fileted me like a fish. There is no other word for it. I am cut from around the pelvic bone up in a vertical slash to the belly button.

It only hurts when I move. It only really hurts when I don't use my oral medication, which is vicodin for the heavy-duty pain, and Motrin for the not-as-bad pain. I'm on a combination of both.

I have to go back to my reclining blue chair, as it's time for a nap, only because my body tells me so. More on the hospital visit -- which was fascinating -- later.

The other photo shows a close-up of one of the staples.