Sunday, January 11, 2009

Putting the Stuffing Back In

Like a lot of people, I tend to avoid going to the doctor unless I’m really sick.   Unfortunately, this bad habit has prevented me from taking care of a few medical conditions that ought to have been dealt with years ago.   One of my “resolutions” recently has been to take care of one such condition, namely the umbilical hernia that I’ve been living with for the past 10 years or so.   So last Friday I went in for surgery to have it repaired.  

It was the first real surgery I’ve ever had, so I was a bit nervous when I went in there but everyone was nice and that helped a lot.    They wheeled me into the operating room and started getting me situated, the anesthesiologist asked me a few questions and the nurse put was getting me situated on the table, the next thing I knew I was waking up in the recovery room and my stomach hurt some.    Was as simple as that, not really a big deal at all.    Spent a while in the recovery room while they kept an eye on me and made sure I was ok.   After a bit, a nurse helped me get dressed and after a bit of a wait for my ride, I left and it was over.

My belly was pretty sore until I got my prescription filled, then the pain medication helped a bit, spent most of the afternoon/evening just watching the TV and napping.   Getting up and down was a bit of a challenge, but after the first night it’s gotten easier.    As I write this it’s Sunday night and while it’s still painful, it’s bearable.    The pain medication helps.  

It’ll be about 4-6 weeks before I’ll be completely healed, but it’ll be worth the pain and aggravation to have this taken care of, while it was something that you can live with, it’s an ugly, annoying and sometimes painful thing to carry around with you, especially for 10 years.   Should have gotten it fixed sooner.   

People, you’ve got to take care of yourselves.   Putting things off out of fear, or laziness, is just plain silly.   Whether it be having a surgery to take care of something like this or starting an exercise plan to stay fit or changing some other aspect of your life that is unsatisfying, you have to get off your butt and do it.   Don’t let fear or lethargy rule your life.