Medical Leave

Last month something was wrong and I got examined for it.  I won't at this point in time say what it was.  I was referred to a specialist, and one week later that specialist examined me and didn't waste any time scheduling me for surgery.  It was an out-patient kind of thing, but that kind of thing that would have me out of commission for a few weeks.

So on Wednesday, the 30th of August I reported to St. Joseph's Hospital here in Tucson.  The buildup to this wasn't pleasant.  The previous afternoon the damn phone wouldn't stop ringing.  People kept wanting to call me up and waste time going over things that a previous caller did.  I was about to tear into the last caller. "Can we do this tomorrow?  If I had known that I was going to have to waste six hours on the phone to get ready for this, I'd have taken the day off!".  It was one of those days where I hated having a phone.

Anyway, the procedure went smoothly, though I was in for a rough 48 hours afterwards.  I was on pain pills and pretty much wiped out.  The followup exam the next day explained more about recovery, and the next followup was scheduled in a week.  Within that one week I wasn't needing the pain pills any more, and I was cleared to drive - - locally.  I still had to stay at the same elevation for two to three more weeks. 

My energy didn't return until last Saturday.  I told Sheila and a few others that I had no idea that resting up from surgery would be so tiring.  I don't remember very much from that first week as that  I slept a lot and was sore where they did the surgery.  I'm still somewhat tender there and I have not undertaken very much in the way of physical activity.  My plans are to return to work on the 28th.

In the meantime, ham radio is helping to pass the time during those days where conditions are good (we're not getting very many of those days).  I've done some reading on what I want to do with my station.  I had a quick contact with a station in Cuba last Saturday, and I've also QSO'd (as we call it) Mexico twice already.  I'm also building up my code speed.

Time off from work is nice, but not when you have to do it like this.  It does appear that the surgery will be 100% successful when I am finally done healing.