Saturday -- very early -- 2nd Sep

I'm feeling recovered enough to be lying awake, almost worrying :-) It's about 1:30 am on a Suturday morning. I've been in hospitals A and B for six nights. Getting better all the time. So it seems...

Deb, Tim, Robbie all visited. Such nice people :-) I'm getting so much love and sympathy from all sorts of delightful friends, family, relations.Aaahhh, maudlin sniffles... Enough!

I was woken at midnight for various are-you-still-alive tests. And find that I'm not falling asleep again. It's a sign -- so I claim -- that my body has recovered from the exhaustion of being crook then operated on. Unfortunately it does give me time to worry... just a bit... so I blog, rather than give in to internal stress.

Being in a hospital, everyone  wants to know about my pees and poos. Both are now happening... The nurses have an interesting device, it scans the bladder to show how much pee is still in there. Early pees left quite a lot (300ml?). Perhaps that's why I normally go to the toilet several times a night -- I don't actually  empty my bladder?!

So now I pee in a "bottle" -- it looks like papier mache but holds... water. Then I call a nurse. She checks the amount passed and scans my bladder for leftovers. I did better this last time, less left behind.

Sorry about this pissy topic -- but I am in a hospital :-)

Other than a rub-down last night in ICU, I'm largely unwashed. The operation left a bandage on the side of my head, I'm reluctant to risk getting that wet, nurses are happy that I don't get it wet, so I take the easy option of not having a shower.

The operation started with pinky-purple stuff rubbed in my hair, disinfectant. It's still there, real punk stuff. And it shows up on the pillow. Or, rather, on the  towel on the pillow. Even at home I put I towel on my pillow, just because I sweat when I sleep.

I go to bed feeling cold. Gradually warm up -- perhaps as dinner digests? -- then wake up warm, and often covered in sweat. Fetch me a dry towel, nursie !

Deb brought in a Readers Digest. I've been treated with Laughter, the  Best Medicine. Some of the jokes are funny enough that Deb read them out to me before passing over the magazine.

Robbie bought me a new mobile phone, clear keys & screen, easy use, no data, designed for old people. After only three attempts I managed to phone Deb at home.

Tim dropped by. He's off to Melbourne this weekend to watch the football (soccer). He also has to worry about the Eagles, will they get into the finals. I'm okay, I barrack for the Dockers, they are well and truly out. I told Tim my idea for "improving" his Nature novel... so he won't be surprised if I steal it :-)  (As if I could do all the work of extending a novel.)

A couple more doctors came by, mostly to check up on what I think I'll be doing next. Make sure that I'm well now and have a medical plan for the future. I am well, I don't have a plan but I do know that things will be happening... Results of lump analysis. Possible radiation or chemotherapy, depending on the lump analysis. Then a urologist (who and when is currently unknown) to stare at my lumpy testicle. Just one is lumpy, so that's sort of good news. Anyway, in summary: I'm not done yet! Neither done with medical treatment, nor done with life :-)  The name of this blog was intended to be only a bit of light humour...

Dinner was a full meal -- I'm allowed real food now :-) Braised lamb (needed salt, stuck in my teeth, thank goodness Deb brought in my dental floss) plus salad, dessert, small bun. All good. Could have eaten more.

Was tested for weeing, blood pressure, pulse, temperature, blood sugar, awareness of who I am and where I am. All apparently okay. Slept like a log till I was woken to be tested again. At midnight. It's every four hours. Given an anti-clotting injection in the stomach. All results still acceptable.

Then I didn't go straight back to sleep.

I think that I've slept off the operation after-effects. Don't feel like reading. Had a nurse fetch a cup tea. Ah, room service:-)  Though I actually stood up and went to the door to find a nurse. An excuse to stretch my legs. Also have a fresh dry towel to cover my pillow.

Surely there's nothing more to write!? I do like to get it all down so that I can stop thinking about it all. I'm not worrying -- just practising for later anecdotes. With luck, having blogged my experiences, Deb will not have to listen to it all...

What next? Should I pee? Ask for more tea? Lie down and possibly sleep? Perhaps all three, in order... Ah, it's a tough life... always decisions and actions required.

I'm in a good place. I'll be glad to be home again. With Deb :-)

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Dr Nick Lethbridge / Consulting Dexitroboper
Agamedes Consulting / Problems? Solved.
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"Wow, I never thought of it like that before." … Joan D. Vinge