Paula's Place

Paula's Place

Saturday 19 January 2019

New Year; New Starts; New...........

I'm feeling rather annoyed, I had drafted most of this post the other day and was just tidying it up when my computer crashed, it appears that I hadn't saved it so now I have to start all over again!

Waiting with my friend "Stripes"
As promised I am looking forward. I'm looking forward to getting back to work ~ it'll still be a while before I will be able to, or will need to be throwing lawn mowers in and out of the back of the van. I'm looking forward to making music, and I'm looking forward to finding out how life feels following my recent surgery. I suspect that it will be both very different and very much the same at the same time.

Prior to actually going into hospital I will now admit to being very worried, both about the sheer scale of the procedure and whether I had made the right decision. I had weighed up my options, taking into account my age, any anticipated future relationships, and what I still hope to get out of life. I felt I had made a rational logical decision, but that didn't stop me worrying.

Also the only surgery I had had before was for peritonitis when my appendix ruptured at the age of eight or nine. I am a total wuss when it comes to these things so the very idea of surgery was more than a little scary.

Typical Hospital food
My wife and daughter came into hospital with me that morning and stayed with me till I got taken down to theatre. I was, and of course am, so grateful for their support and love, especially at what must have been a very difficult time for both of them as well as for me. As usually happens none of the things I was worried about happened, and despite a moment where I thought "OH MY GOD WHAT HAVE I DONE" (pardon my shouting) which quickly passed I have to say I am very content with the outcome.

As I know not all of you are interested in the clinical details I will pass over them, and leave it at, I will need more time to recover physically, but it is also taking a bit of time working out where everything is, as some of the nerve ends are now in different places and it is taking a bit of time working it all out. I will observe, however, just how well I was looked after, all the staff were wonderful, and the food was excellent.

Breakfast
It's not really that surprising that between eating rather well, and almost total inactivity, I have put on rather a lot of weight, just over a stone (14 pounds or about 7 Kg) in the last month. Given that I have another 5 weeks to go before I can go back to work it's not going to be easy to shift.

So my first aim for 2019 is to shift that extra weight I've put on.

The next is to deal with my blood pressure problem, It was quite high before but I was just concentrating on being OK for surgery, it was fine all the time I was in hospital, but I will have to keep an eye on it. Indeed I have been called into the local Hospital to have a monitor fitted for a day.

A more enjoyable ambition is to go to more concerts that I'm not playing in. At least I can get off to a good start on that, tonight I will be going to a clarinet recital given by a good friend of mine. Jay is an excellent clarinetist and a fine musician so it should be a very good evening.

Pretty simple, but maybe not too easy.

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