Back from the Hospital

I picked my son up at the hospital after Mass this morning. He won't be doing any heavy lifting for a while, and it hurts to laugh: but other than that, he's doing okay.

Appendicitis isn't what it used to be, for which I'm grateful. I remember the 'good old days' too well to want them back. The surgical procedure went smoothly, and involved three remarkably small incisions.

My son and #3 daughter are playing a board game in the other room. Yesterday evening they were talking, using his laptop, my daughter's computer, and Skype. I love living in the Information Age.

I wouldn't mind having no more major surprises before Christmas.

More-or-less-related posts:

• "Appendicitis and All That"
  (November 30, 2013)
• "Good News, Bad News, and an Antibiotic-Resistant Infection"
  (November 22, 2013)
• "I Got What I Asked For"
  (September 29, 2013)

Appendicitis and All That

I'll say this about our family. We don't have boring lives.

My wife and #3 daughter took my son to the hospital this morning. A CT scan and other tests gave us good news and bad news: his appendix had gone rogue, which is bad news; but dealing with diseased appendixes - appendices? - is a fairly routine matter these days, which is good news.

By about 3:00 p.m., I'd been with him for long enough to sign a form or two, chat a bit, and see what prepping for an unexpected surgical procedure was like - as a spectator, not the patient.

The surgery went well, he was in the recovery room for roughly three quarters of an hour, and remarkably coherent after that. That's from my point of view. He and I discussed how frustrating it is to know what you want to say, and feel the wrong words start forming. I think that's the gist of some of the reported experience.

Going through this, he's got the advantage of youth and basically good health. It's also the first time he's had any major surgery done, so he's on a rather steep learning curve.

When I got home, somewhere around 5:30, #3 daughter and he started texting each other. It's not quite like being there: but even so is a good way to communicate.

He'll be home when he's ready: which will be - - - when he's ready. Maybe tomorrow. Then again, maybe not.

Slightly-related posts:

• "Good News, Bad News, and an Antibiotic-Resistant Infection"
  (November 22, 2013)
• "I Got What I Asked For"
  (September 29, 2013)

Wednesday: Back to School, and a Little Spring

I hear on the weather that there's a winter storm advisory out for most of Minnesota, starting 1:00 tomorrow, and running until Saturday morning. Probably starting with rain and snow.

I'm glad I enjoyed being outside for a while today.

Our son was back to school today, and I think my wife and #3 daughter are in better fettle. #1 daughter came over for most of the day: she'd been asked to do more organizing in the attic. She got my science fiction and fantasy books shelved: and asked me if I knew how many anthologies I had. I understand her feeling: I preferred to get collections of short stories, rather than buy a whole magazine for one story.


#1 daughter brought her rabbit, Giol, along with her. That was a treat, for me anyway. Our son likes the rabbit too. Giol likes to nap behind the couch, and under the chair I use in the living room. It's a bit of a treat, feeling his whiskers when he sniffs my feet.

The light in the living room floor lamp burned out when I turned it on today. Later, when our son had brought a pack of light bulbs, he asked me why they were so hard to get out of the pack. I explained that light bulbs were fragile, and rhetorically asked what he though would happen, if a light bulb fell to the floor.

Then, I neatly dropped the spent light bulb from the floor lamp onto the floor.

It popped, making a rather neat pile of shattered glass. right by my bare feet. I practiced standing very still, while members of the family barricaded Giol at the other end of the room. My wife proceeded to the kitchen, returning with a broom and dust pan.

I didn't think until later about the implications of that. First they take care of the rabbit. Then me.

I got to the exercise place again today: I'm getting back to where I was before that sick spell much more rapidly than I thought I would.



Tomorrow will be interesting. My father-in-law, the Sauk Centre grandpa, is going in for one of his carpal tunnel surgeries tomorrow, so my wife and #3 daughter will be over at his place, minding the shop. My wife tells me that she'll leave me something to eat at noon.

Apparently, his knee will wait. He's having almost as interesting a time with surgical procedures this year, as I was having back in 2006.

Recovery From Knee Surgery: Determination and Family Help

My father-in-law is back home, having gotten both knees replaced on Tuesday. I understand that he was scheduled to come back Saturday, but was doing well enough to return Friday.

He's not about to dance around, but he's doing quite well, given the circumstances.

I think two factors are at work here: the sort of determination that I'm more inclined to expect in those born a few decades before me than those born more recently; and a large, loving, and cooperative family.

My wife and kids helped out by minding the shop in his absence, and now much of his home care is being done by a the kids of one of my sisters-in-law. Others in the family are either living farther away now, don't have children of an age to be able to help, or a combination of the two.

Large, cohesive families weren't part of the culture I grew up in, but I'm very glad to be in a family where my kids are part of an annual "cousins" photo in which the kids fill most of the branches of a large oak tree.

Good News for This Family

My father-in-law is back from the hospital, and has been since Friday afternoon. He's got a pair of new knee joints, and seems to be doing well.

Folks from my immediate family have been minding the shop in his absence, and a contingent from another town has come to help him get by, now that he's home.

That means that there are cousins in town, so there have been kids going back and forth between our two houses. Actually, the out-of-towners are some of my nieces and nephews, but they're "the cousins" in this household's dialect.

Last year, in brief

My third summer layoff in a row started in the spring. The timing was pretty good, as things turned out.

With no job to complicate schedules, the family doctor and my wife convinced me to get some long-overdue repairs done:

• Carpal tunnel, left and right wrists
• "Trigger finger" tendon trouble, left and right hands
• Hip replacement, left and right side

It's a good thing I didn't have to go to work. I don't seem to bounce back as fast as I did when I was seventeen.

So far, last summer's layoff has lasted through fall, winter, and spring. My family hasn't had such exciting financial times for decades.

In a way, this is a wonderful opportunity. I'm getting a few minutes a week now, on average, at my day job, which gives me a great deal of time to develop my own business.