Try spelling that over the phone to apply for your sick leave!

But wait, there’s more!

Act now and we’ll throw in a Tonsilectomy and a quick lysis of nasal adhesions (a fallout from my last procedure) plus free shipping and handling! Such a deal! I’ve had a great weekend so far!

Actually, it wasn’t quite as bad as I was warned. My physician called it “brutal.” Everyone said to expect a lot of pain, but the pain – per-se – hasn’t been so bad. It’s more a constant irritation. Irritation from the little ends of sutures that keep poking the back of my tongue, irritation that I can only swallow with great difficulty, irritation that the only food I can get down is Jell-o and Popsicles.

But I like Jell-o and Popsicles! Even so, it’s a chore when all I can handle is little baby-spoonfuls. It takes an hour to get through a little medicine-cup sized serving.

Even drinking fluids is a challenge. My throat is different now and it’s easy to get liquid to splash up into my nasal area. Not what you want when you’re not supposed to cough! So far all I’ve had to drink is warm-flat ginger ale and water.

The upside is one person I knew who had this done said they lost 25 pounds! I can spare that.

Surprisingly, sleeping was not that bad tonight. I think once all the swelling and irritation is gone, it will be a great improvement. The nasal surgery was a big help and this should be another step in that direction. Unfortunately, all I’ve felt like doing is sleeping and I don’t really need it right now. (I’m typing this at 3 am!) I was awake a lot of the night in the hospital yesterday as well, but slept more around 4am-6am until my leg cramped up. I had them let me get up and walk around a bit then, hospital gown or not, I needed to get some circulation back!

The hospital staff was great. I was at Millard Fillmore Suburban and had a view of the construction they’re undergoing. It’s just clearing space right now, and the parking lots are all a mess, but they’re expanding out because the Town of Amherst won’t let them build up.

I was surprised at the number of men working as nurses and aides. That was cool. I like a pretty nurse as much as the next guy, but it’s cool to have another guy around to shoot the shit with. I’ve always found the best way to be treated well in a hospital is to cooperate, be nice and understand what they are doing for you. They are just doing their job and trying to get through their shift just like I do at work, might as well make it as easy on everyone as possible.

Actually, there is a lot of similarity to what I do. You might think an Electrician works on, well electricity and wires and machines, but the particular type of work I do, that’s almost secondary. While I’ve done building and installing equipment, what I’ve been doing the past 10 years or so is trouble calls. The machines don’t call in themselves. I deal with people. I go to a call and usually, it’s a person who has a problem. Just in their machine, not their body. And I try to help the person by making the machine do what they need it to do. The machine and the product is secondary, at least from my point of view. It’s helping the person who is concerned with those that I do.

Sometimes managment doesn’t understand that. But what am I doing worrying about that right now! I’ll be off 3-4 weeks and I really hope by then my retirement will go through. Even if it doesn’t, it will be just a month or two until they have to let us go. Current rumors say they will let us all go early enough to avoid paying the Christmas holidays.