Surgery survival tips and stupid mistakes

I’m happy to report that I’m starting to feel better post surgery. I’m still dealing with some unexpected (and slightly inexplicable) neurological complications, but otherwise, I’m well on the mend.

Three strategies that helped me get through a challenging recovery.

Theme songs:

Early on in the recovery, moving from one position to another was extremely challenging. It hurt a lot, so playing a theme song on my phone or even in my head actually helped a lot. The songs inspired me to suck it up and move.

Mainstays included the theme to Superman, “I’m Still Standing” by Elton John, “Born to Run” by Bruce Springsteen, “The Show Must Go On” by Queen, and The Imperial March from Star Wars.

Darth Vader’s song.

Remembering that pain is temporary:

Chronic pain is an awful thing, but post-surgical pain is temporary. It’s fleeting, and it’s theoretically getting better every day, so I reminded myself continually to not allow it to dominate my life.

I continually assured myself that it would be gone before I knew it.

I’m experiencing some nerve pain in my leg now as a result of the surgery, and though the pain can be sharp, biting, and persistent, I constantly remind myself that it’s also phantom pain, detached from any actual injury. My nerves are firing off pain signals even though I’m not actually hurt.

It doesn’t make it any less painful, but it makes it feel slightly less relevant. It diminishes it’s importance, thus it makes me feel a little better.

Still, I can’t wait for it to stop.

Having good friends:

I received constant calls and text messages from a handful of friends throughout my recovery, including jut last night. When you’re home, alone, and suffering, it’s really good to know you haven’t been forgotten.

You can’t call and check on a person too often, whether that’s recovering from surgery, battling COVID, or grieving over a recent loss.

I also had four Egg McMuffins delivered to me during my two weeks of at-home recovery, as well as dinner at least twice. The parents of my students were also exceedingly kind and generous as well.

I’m also thoroughly incapacitated due to my surgery, unable to lift for than 10 pounds safely, so my neighbor, Andrew, did some heavy lifting for me whenever I asked. It’s good to have someone living next door who is always willing to help.

Then there was Dan, who delivered an Egg McMuffin to my home, saw the enormous box containing Charlie’s new basketball hoop, which I could not assemble given my condition.

In fact, I wouldn’t be able to safely assemble it until February 1.

So Dan returned later that afternoon with his tools to assemble it for me.

I didn’t ask. He just did it.

It actually took two sessions to complete since we were rained upon during the first half of the assembly. In total, Dan volunteered nearly four hours of his time to assemble that hoop.

My plan was to hire an handyman for the job.

Fantastic friends. A supportive wife. A son who constantly asked me how I was feeling. A daughter who offered to help at every turn.

This is how you get through surgical recovery without losing your mind.

My one mistake:

I didn’t understand my surgery at all. The surgeon gave me materials to read, but everyone told me how simple and easy hernia surgery would be. Friends told me how they were on their feet and back at work in three days, so even though the surgeon specifically warned me about how painful the surgery would be, I ignored him, assuming he was being overly cautious.

I didn’t even understand what the surgery entailed, so when I first removed my dressings and saw my abdomen, I couldn’t believe it. I was expecting a small incision somewhere near my belly button. Instead, I had five, two-inch incisions stretching across my abdomen in a half moon shape. They were glued shut, so I could see them clearly. I looked like Frankenstein.

I was horrified. I had no idea.

It turns out that yes, some hernia surgeries are much easier, and the recovery is much faster. Others, like mine, require three hours in surgery and have an exceedingly demanding recovery period.

The material that the surgeon gave me to read explained all that, but I put it aside and moved forward with both ignorance and bravado.

So if you’re ever having surgery, don’t do that.

On Saturday, I shot hoops with Charlie after Dan finished assembling the hoop, which is to say I shot the ball three times before the pain in my abdomen started screaming at me, reminding me that this was also a stupid decision.

Too early to play basketball or even toss up a shot.

Instead, I watched Charlie play, which wasn’t nearly as good as playing with him but not too shabby either.