It's 18 Months Since My Surgery

The pain from the shingles is slowly going away. I'm able to work with some pain meds. I'm taking 2 Lyrica and 2 Tylenol 4's a day now. I don't feel the "pain med effects" from those any more, but I have methods of measuring my mental capabilities and I'm at about 85%, so there is some effect in that area.

I managed to do the repairs on my roto-tiller (Troy-Bilt Horse) and got it running this evening. Then I tilled what used to be my garden area so I can plant that to grass. The scenes they show in the ads show someone walking beside the tiller and holding it with one hand. That works if you have nice, soft soil or you've alredy tilled it a couple of times.

Now, if you have rock-hard clay with grass roots in it, that's not quite the way it works. The tines on this tiller rotate the same direction as the wheels. The wheels turn nice and slow, but the tines turn at something approaching warp speed. When they can't dig in, they cause the tiller to take off at about 6 mph and the whole thing starts bouncing up and down as I go running after it. Once I get it back reasonably under control, I pull back and down as hard as I can, dig my feet in and try to get the tines to dig back into the ground.

That got to be quite an aerobic workout. I told my wife that if I would till that much every day for 6 months, I'd be dead within a week. I got it all tilled. I'm going to till it once more and then get grass growing there.

I told that little story to show that I'm getting my strength and stamina back. I'm not as strong as I was and I don't have all my stamina back yet, but I can do things that will let me regain everything in those areas.

At my largest, I was 171 pounds. I was down at 163 when all this started. At my worst, I was down to 138. Now I'm at 148 and able to hold my weight there. That's the only advantage I've found to eating being difficult.

Beef is pretty much out of my diet. Meat loaf is about the only way I can eat beef with any level of comfort. Fortunately, I like pork almost as much as beef and I can eat pork pretty comfortably. I bought a smoker and have mulberry trees in my back yard that always need to be trimmed. That combination gives me wood to burn and a way to smoke ribs and pork tenderloins. I don't have any problem with cholesterol or blockage in my veins, so ribs are fine for me to eat.

The last year and a half has been a rocky road. I feel I've had a guided tour of Hell. I've made hard eye contact with Satan, gave him an obscene gesture, and told him to take a hike. Some times it gets easy to think about the bad times. I have good days and bad days. The little trip I've taken is different for everyone who takes it, but I have managed to keep a decent attitude about things - well, most of the time - okay, some of the time.

Some of the highlights in my life the last 18 months. (Other than being cancer-free)

1) I have a new position at work with more responsibilities, higher qualifications and requirements, and an increase in benefits consistent with that.
2) I dug a hole 18" deep and three feet across and stuck a tree in it.
3) I dug up an iris bed along my driveway and planted that to grass.
4) I bought an electronic keyboard and started playing keyboards again. That got sidetracked over the summer.
5) I repaired my tiller because the dealer was backed up for 4 weeks and I needed it quicker than that. I had no clue I could fix that thing.
6) I'm getting involved with fund-raising for cancer research.

That's probably more positives in my life in the last 18 months than I would have had if this hadn't happened to me.