Abducted By Aliens...

I feel like someone who is back from the dead. It has been ages since I made my last post here. I dare say that many who have read this blog in the past may have given up on me, but I hope that the number has been small. My intention was not to leave the blog unattended for so long, but for whatever reason WB's attempts to ghost write for me while I was gone didn't work out. (You missed out on a real treat for sure!)

But then again, I suppose that I am getting a little ahead of myself. I really should explain why I have seemingly dropped off of the face of the earth.

It all started on New Year's Eve. Boy, that sounds like the beginning to a novel! Well, regardless of what you might be thinking my absence has absolutely nothing to do with personal revelry on the last night of 2004. The problem actually began much earlier than the earliest year-end party. I woke up on Friday morning with a terrible pain in my lower right abdomen. I didn't think too much of it, figuring that my morning constitutional would take care of the problem. Unfortunately it didn't.

At that point several factors converged with nearly catastrophic consequences. #1 I am male, and most of those of my gender really don't want anything to do with doctors' offices. #2 I am naturally stubborn and have not yet lost all of the vestiges of earlier (younger) notions that I am ten feet tall and bulletproof. #3 I have a pretty strong constitution and can usually outlast most sicknesses. #4 I don't have health insurance and was in denial.

After suffering all day Friday and all day Saturday I woke up Sunday and my parents insisted that I go to the doctor. After a little poking and prodding the doctor told me that I needed to go to the emergency room - he thought that it was appendicitis. Well, to make a long story short, it was appendicitis and my appendix had ruptured. That night they rushed me to surgery where they removed my faulty appendix. I spent the next 4 days and nights at the luxurious Rowan Regional Medical Center.

Since then I have been at my parents' house (no Internet access) recovering. It has been quite the experience. One thing that I have discovered is that the drugs that they send you home with aren't nearly as good as the drugs that they give you in the hospital. The stuff that they gave me there gave me some really cool dreams whenever I closed my eyes. The stuff that they sent me home with wasn't even as good as Motrin. In fact, I quit taking the stuff that they gave me and just relied on Motrin instead.

There were two pretty rough parts. The first was the first 36 hours or so following my surgery. They wouldn't give me anything to drink. I had been fasting ever since the first pain hit me and was basically empty. That was no fun. Dying of thirst would really stink. The second part came after I got home. The doctor had left a drainage hole in the bottom of my incision. It began to drain in earnest when I got home. The smell was horrendous. For the first week there was a constant smell that smelled like something dead. You couldn't get away from it no matter what you tried. That trial has eased up some, but still lingers somewhat.

It has been interesting discovering the things that I have taken for granted - things like standing up straight (WB actually had a pool to see if anyone could guess when I would do it. The day that I actually did stand up straight, I did it before I realized that I had done it! Unfortunately no one picked the day that it happened in the pool!) washing your own feet, getting into and out of bed by yourself, and tying your own shoes. I live for these small victories!

It is also amazing how quickly you can get tired of sitting in a chair or lying in bed and watching movies, reading, or sleeping. Fortunately, I have gotten a little bit more mobile over the past two weeks. I have been venturing out here and there as I have been trying to rebuild my stamina - and wait for the drainage to finally stop. The stamina is returning, but unfortunately so is the drainage! There is good news on that front though. The drainage at the very least seems to be slowing down and that is a major encouragement.

So, if you have been wondering where I have been I wasn't abducted by aliens! Hopefully I will be getting back into the routine of writing and doing normal stuff again.