A Sore Backside

Thanks to yesterday's surgery, I have a very sore butt.  Dr. Pohlman did not perform the Seton cutting stitch procedure he had discussed with me.  He found that the fistula involved very little muscle, so what he essentially did was fillet the fistula, cauterize it, and then sew everything back flat and closed.  It is bleeding and draining, and sitting is not my favorite thing to do at the moment.  I have a Percocet (hydro-codone) prescription saying take one or two pills as needed every 6 hours.  So far, I took one last night at 9, and one this morning at 7:10.  It does take the edge off the pain. -  One nice thing is that Dr. Pohlman says that the operation he used yesterday has a 98% success rate. - and I know that my recovery time was a little weird yesterday - the alarms kept going off because my temperature, the oxygen content of my blood, and my blood pressure kept dropping.  Kathy said it seemed that she had to wait a much longer time before they brought her to the recovery room. Usually, they leave me in bed and just have me dress and leave.  Yesterday, they put me in a recliner and wrapped me up with warm blankets before allowing Kathy to come back.

Once we were allowed to leave, Kathy asked if I wanted to go straight home and get in bed, but I told her I wanted to go to the Dairy Queen and get a soft-serve vanilla cone first.  We both enjoyed one.  As soon as we got home, Nedi went under the bed; Mocha came out for loving; and Lovey took a good whiff of Kathy, and shrugged.  I guess she was thinking - it's the Auntie who visits occasionally.  We looked at the kitten and pit bull video set to "Live and Let Die", then I laid down, and Kathy settled in the reading chair.  She started reading the book she brought over, and I went to sleep.  When I woke up and went to the bathroom, Kathy was asleep.  We had "lunch" about 2 p.m., and I asked about travelling the airways (since I haven't flown since 1990).  Then we both read some more, and I handed her my copy of The Devil Colony  - she started reading it, and it went home with her.

Boo starts her 18 days of radiation therapy at CSU in Fort Collins today.  ...  Lynn, who adopted Dhisana, the kitten in Ohio , for $10 and who has since spent over $7,000 on getting her well, called me and said she has a new dog - a Havanese named Riley, whose previous owner abused him.  She wanted me to start caring for Riley yesterday, stopping by 3 times a day to give him love and affection and a human playmate.  I might start doing that on Monday, but not this week.  ...  Joel is playing the Wizard of Oz  in Louisville.  Nancy is directing Titanic: The Musical  here in Boulder at the Dairy Center.  Their son Max has two roles in Titanic, as the Captain and as Isadore Strauss.  I plan on seeing that this weekend.  ...   NBC will start showing Saratoga Springs thoroughbred racing beginning this Saturday, 23 July on weekend afternoons.  ...  And, the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Department Saltwater Cowboys will start rounding up the herds of ponies on the northern Virginia side of Assateague Island.  On Saturday, they will be herded down the beach at sunrise, and delivered to the Holding Pens, so that the veterinarians can check all the ponies, they can get their shots, hooves trimmed, and parents of foals identified for the auction.  All ponies will have a Coggins' test done, to insure there are no transmittable diseases in the foals that will be sold.  (I miss the smell of ponies, sweat, salt water, and the wonderful awful smell of Assateague and Chincoteague marsh mud!)