mmm…. scars..
ok, so that was about two days after getting out of the hospital. click on that image.. and you can see the last xray they took before they decided to hack into me to create the above scarring.
recovery so far has been a battle. it’s amazing how difficult it is to not use your arms for anything. to not put your arms outside, away from your chest with any weight. can’t hold anything heavier than a gallon of milk, and that’s in front of me, with both arms equally supporting the weight. oh, and no reaching over you head!
after doing nothing but walking, trying to gain any kind of weight, sleeping, taking lots of pain meds and staring at the four walls in my house. to have the help of my mom staying with me, making sure i eat well, eat correctly and am not over exerting myself.
at first, i could hardly walk 15 minutes. a week later, i was walking a solid 30 minutes at once. not much later, i was walking twice a day for nearly 40 minutes. the walking helped keep the blood moving, and kept the pain down. i was taking a lot of pain meds. plenty of oxy coupled with tylenol and ibuprofen per the doctors recommendations. the walks definitely aided in keeping the pain down.
the big issue with taking that many pain meds is the lack of quality sleep i could get. it was fitful sleep constantly. i had to continue sleeping only on my back. i tried to take ambien per the prescriptions i was given, but that only resulted in me falling asleep well. didn’t do much for staying asleep.
after only a couple of weeks, i couldn’t take it any longer. i had to get out of the house. so i tried going into work for a few half days. it was great, but after only a few hours, i was pretty wasted. a week later, i managed to get in three full days, and it felt great!
i also decided to take up learning something new. i decided to do as my parents do, and play the guitar. it’s been a great way to distract myself during the evenings. yes, i have the tv, but really, there isn’t much on tv these days. and learning another musical instrument has been great. it’s been well over a decade since i last played an instrument, of any kind. so it is a great mental exercise to learn something again. i’m struggling quite a bit, but it’s still a blast.
so, now it’s been five weeks since surgery. technically i have one more week to go before getting the clearance from the surgical team to start to move my body around more. i’ve been working hard to keep a good posture and pull my shoulders back so as to not allow my tendons and muscles get used to a bad setup. i can certainly feel the stretching going on. i have to admit, i have pushed myself a bit here and there. but i’ve been fortunate to have a body that rebounds well and the next day, i feel even better.
i’m completely off all drugs. and i can sleep finally. taking melatonin really helped out. and i’ve gained three whole pounds! so now i’m only minus 32 pounds from where i started out on this adventure. as a number of friends have pointed out, i definitely have the upper hand in some respect. instead of trying to lose whatever winter weight i’ve gained while trying to increase muscle mass…. i’m basically starting from skeleton and not much muscle. so into the gym i go with a recovery program that will hopefully see me back on the bike and out paddling and surfing soon. alas, i know recoveries can really screw you up, so i have to be quite focused on listening to my body and making sure i stop when something is causing some pain.
it’s a mental relief to get my life going again. i am not sure what is worse… waiting to hear if you have cancer or waiting for the green light to start going again after a bout of intense inactivity for recovery. either way, i’m still over the waiting hump, and into the recovery. i’m also stoked to learn how to smile in the face of fear, pain and distress. even when i feel down, remembering to smile has helped me tremendously.
hope you are all having a great january, i look forward to being back out there with you all soon!
Rev -
Glad to hear from you again, and really glad to hear the recovery has been going well, if a bit boring. Here’s to wishing you the best in your rebuilding process, but don’t go and blow yourself out in the first week after you get the okay from the docs. =)
Waiting to hear if you have cancer is definitely worse than the other thing you listed. Check that off your list of life accomplishments.
Glad to “hear” you are doing so well and almost healed. Can’t wait for you to start using your arms again! Snow angels!!!!
xoxo
Gnarly! Glad to hear you are closer to getting the ball rolling on physical recovery.
Hi Kev great to hear from you again and glad to see you are getting going. Playing the guitar sounds fun, I miss your Uncle Kelly playing. He used to play all the time, maybe you can motivate him to start again. Music is so soothing to the soul. Keep on truckin Love you
Perfect! next surf trip you are the cook AND the musical entertainment.
goddamn that pic is gnar!
Now, you know what it’s like to grow fuckin’ old when the warrantees up ! Just messin’ wich you, foo! I’m glad to hear that you’re up an about and functioning.It must be nice being as young as you are…you guys heal a hella’ faster than us OMFers. Hang in there and kick this thing’s, whatever it is, ASS ! Uncle Rick…just in case you thought this commentary was from Aunt Colleen.SBF( Smutt Brothers Forever )
So glad to hear you are recovering well. The big question, from looking at the scar pic, is…will your chest hair grow back evening
Glad to hear your’e up and going again.You’ll get no profanity from me any more…well ,,,maybe just a little toilet humor now and then. Love and kisses and a great big bear hug till you poop your pants the next time I see you. Clint
We’ve been thinking a lot about you lately and glad to hear you’re taking the path to recovery! I’m sure we’ll be seeing your smiling face soon. Scar looks o.k. but the nips look better.
Warmest Aloha and a successful recovery!
Johnny & Annie
I’ll always keep a chilled one for you.
You’re gonna come back better than ever, yo! Lean mean machine with a will of steel and an outlook anew. How very exciting, Kevlar!
Keep me updated on your progress and I’ll be sure to send you stories of our adventures on the warm water here
Aloha,
Jaimie
Hi Kev,
Just thinking about you and hoping you are recovering nicely. Love You
Hi Kevin,
The worst is behind you. Funny about life, we get a dreaded diagnosis, then we are lucky if we find an expert surgeon in something we can’t even pronounce. Then the tests, then the pre-op and all this time we are trying to keep positive and sane! Well, good job, you’re lucky that you have youth going for you because it will be easier when you start some rehabilitation to build up those muscles. Any experience like this is an eye opener, we may see life differently. Imagine 155 survive landing in the Hudson River and this week a plane crashe in Buffalo NY. There were some pretty well known people on the flight, Musicians from the Chuck Mangione band, survivor’s families from 9/11 and people who flew all around the globe and 5 minutes from landing ….Puff!
Playing the guitar is very soothing and music itself lends to healing, certainly kills time.
My dad used to say that he plays for his pleasure and everyone elses annoyance!
take care, Saw your photo of facebook. You look like your sister.
Love,
Sallie
….Oh yes, I forgot to wish you a full recovery in record time which seems to be the case.
sallie
Hi Kevin,
Just a note to say I am thinking about you. Hope you are gaining strength everyday. Warm weather will be here soon. Love you
Hi Kev,
Thinking about you and hoping things are getting back to normal for you. Love You Cher