Surgery Updates and an Apology to DiGiornio . . .

I have heard from both of our surgery patients (or in Joe Krivitski’s case, a “representative”) . . .

Kathy posted the following on her Facebook page Wednesday afternoon – “So it's been 24 hours since Joe's total hip replacement. He is doing ok despite being sore from the 12 inch incision through his gluteus muscle. He just finished PT and even walked a bit! Just amazing. Hoping he can come home by Friday. Thanks for all the prayers. Keep them coming. We appreciate them more than you know!”

And a couple of posts last night from Joe’s page combined into one – “Surgery was successful. New hip joint feels good. The surgical site is however another story in pain.  Simply walking without pain will be a new experience. Thank you for the kindnesses. Ultimately, God is in control and I am just along for our walk together...”

(Addendum -- Joe called me about noon today.  He sounds fantastic (pain medicine is a wonderful thing) and he thinks he will be heading home this afternoon.)

If you want to send Joe a note, you can send it to Kathy at kathyk@seasidestampin.com (I know that Joe has e-mail and logic says it’s probably just like Kathy’s except for a “joek” prefix – but I’m not certain of that so sending notes to Kathy is a more confident alternative.

Melinda Doster had her reconstruction surgery on Tuesday.  Her friend Zaira Cardenas sent me a text Tuesday evening that the surgery had gone well and Melinda was resting comfortably.  And I got a lengthy e-mail from Melinda overnight that she typed while she was waiting for her pain meds to kick in.  Here’s the part that would be of interest to you – “I got home today about 12:30 and have been miserable. I knew this surgery would be worse, and I was right.  I am in a lot of pain. Fortunately this time I didn't have the hours of nausea and retching that I had last time. I did experience nausea immediately following surgery, but not nearly as much.  I apparently traded it for the pain.  The pain was minimal with the first surgery, but just the opposite with this one.  I find it hard to comprehend why women would go through this for any other reason than necessity. If I didn't have to....no way would I do it.”

Again, if you want to send notes, Melinda’s e-mail address is medoster@comporium.net

And I owe an apology to DiGiornio – I have been blaming them for the upset stomach that has been bothering me for the past few days.  It started late on Sunday evening and has gotten progressively worse -- I was blaming it on a DiGiornio pizza I ate Sunday evening ("pizzeria style" crust -- I assumed the garlic got me since I don't handle anything spicy well).  But nothing I took to try to counteract the upset stomach did any good.  So I went to the doctor yesterday and went over the timeline with her, and she gave me a couple of pills to take for a few days to try to calm down my stomach.  Then I left, thought of something while I was driving, and went back -- and asked her if the new antibiotic she put me on last Friday (second attempt to knock down a sinus infection) could be a contributing factor.  She looked it up, and of course nausea was one of the potential side effects.  She really wanted me to try to gut out the antibiotic for a couple more days (she was assuming the pills she gave me would take care of the nausea) but after a few seconds of thought I vetoed that idea -- there are other antibiotics that I can tolerate if the sinus infection continues to bother me.  So I basically spent yesterday evening curled up in a ball on the couch.  Slept well and woke up feeling decent (as I have each night since it started -- it doesn't seem to really get bad until afternoon), so I worried about waiting for afternoon and dreading that feeling again.  Thankfully, I feel much better -- but I figure it will be two or three days before everything calms down.

Don't you just love it when friends tell me how much they hurt and I respond with a story about how I’m feeling?  I won't kid you -- I have been miserable at times these past few days, but it's nothing compared to what Joe and Melinda have been through.

And that’s enough of the medical updates.  Tomorrow, I promise a story from the lighter side – I have already written it – and you might even enjoy it if you have interest in the backstory of what makes me tick.