Ribbed and Veined

So yesterday was the big day. The dance with the doc. My one on one with a scalpel. My herniated disc was going to be dealt with surgically. I have to say, I was not looking forward to it. In fact I was kind of dreading it. I was wanting it taken care of. I was tired of the limp and pain and not being able to run and exercise, or show my brute strength by re-arranging the furniture in our living room just for the hell of it. But man, I was not looking forward to this surgery. Something about being knocked out, intubated, and cut open like a Thanksgiving turkey just doesn’t sound like fun. Plus when you’re dealing with the spine it’s all the more scary.

But what choice does a person have? You gotta get things taken care of, especially when it affects your quality of life. I’ve got (hopefully)quite a few more years left on this rock. I want them to be the best they can be.

Well, the surgery went great. I was wheeled away right around 1pm. As we were wheeling through the halls to the operating room the anesthesiologist said “Here’s something to calm you down a bit” and he injected something in my IV. Within about 30 seconds my eyes were getting heavy and the voices seemed to be fading to the back of the room. Next thing I know I’m groggily waking up in recovery with a nurse asking how I was feeling. My wife came back to check up on me, then sent my parents back. Only one person could come back at a time. We were on the road soon enough and it was over. I spent the rest of the evening in a post-anesthesia haze. I tried eating a piece of leftover pizza. I was full after about three bites and gave the other piece to my wife. They gave me this cool pack to wear. It’s a piece of fabric that wraps around your torso that has a tube in the middle of it. The tube goes down to a cooling unit you fill with ice and water. When it’s turned on the water runs up into the tubes in the pack which then cools the wound area. It’s really quite ingenious, and so much better than having to use ice packs. You wear it three hours, then leave it off for three hours. That’s been my existence since yesterday.

Despite the soreness and stiffness in my lower back, I feel like I’m not doing too badly considering. Between the pain meds and ice pack, the pain is there but manageable. The worst thing is getting up out of a chair. It’s a struggle. But hey, I’m only a little over 24 hours post-op. It’ll get easier.

There’s nothing more healing(well, besides those pain pills) than music. My parents came by and dropped off a bag from my friends at Karma Records. They picked up the new Black Mountain and the Govt. Mule/John Scofield live record. They were waiting for me at the store and my parents were kind enough to make a vinyl run for me this afternoon, then refused to take my money. In the bag was an extra record, the recently reissued Cocteau Twins compilation Tiny Dynamite/Echoes In A Shallow Bay. My good friend John threw that in as a “get well” gift. Good, good people he is.

Okay, just wanted to drop a quick one here and let you all know I’m doing well. Sore, but good.