pre-hospital whirlwind

Tomorrow is the day. Things have been fairly hectic lately. Or it could be that trying to keep a "normal" Tokyo schedule is a bit trying at present.

In the past 5 days I've prepared and given group seminar, waited about an hour for an appointment with my surgeon, had dinner with the lab to welcome a visiting student from my alma mater, met with friends twice, tried a new restaurant to keep things fresh, prepared an submitted a job application with cover letter and sample 600-word editorial on a recent nanotech paper, met with my anesthesiologist, filled in my paperwork for my June pay stub, signed a release on a court settlement from a car crash that was ages ago, sewed a new hem on my yukata so I can wear it in the hospital as a robe, and typed a blog entry.

(I left out a few things, but you get the drift.)


... What I really want to do at this point is document my condition, so I can read it later and decide if be reassured that it was all really worth it.

Right now as I type, the pain is not that bad. From when I wake in the morning until early afternoon I'm fine--I simply have a little ponch on one side of the lowest part of the abdomen when I stand up. It's totally gone with I lie down. (In fact, I've envisioned taking a photo of the area as pre-scar documentation, but.. uh.. still haven't figured out a non compromising pose to make...)

Eventually the region gets tender, as if someone had punched me hard enough to hit my pelvis bone. I self-consciously start protecting it. Then a nerve to other nearby areas (which need not be mentioned) must get activated, some kind of secondary effect, which makes me feel like I just got kicked in the groin.

I walk slow when that happens. Real slow.

I have a lot in common with the Tokyo retiree community these days. Youngins move faster than me, I don't ride the train at times when I can't get a seat, and when I do get a seat I make one of a variety of "coming in for a landing" grunts. (...I think a lot of it is psychological, because I really don't want to enlarge the herniation.)

So, despite typical surgery fears (general anesthesia, scarring, etc), cheapness (a bed for $300/night?!? damn!), and anxiety over inevitable cultural differences, I have good reasons to look forward to my surgery. All this will be fixed up soon.

I really look forward to the moment when I'm fit enough to play soccer (2 months?) and jog again.