The Scar

Here's a picture of the scar, a little over 2 weeks post op. People don't usually show you this. :)

Due to some highly complicated optical effects and distortions of the camera lense, the mirror, and your computer monitor, my butt is not nearly as large as it appears. You'll just have to trust me on that.

The End. ;-)

Home

It's amazing how time flies when you're not traveling. I've been home since Sunday morning, but spent the last week just basking in the company of my wife and kids. Sorry for not updating this blog with my status until now.

I arrived safe and sound Sunday morning at 9:50 AM, one hour later than scheduled due to a mechanical delay at the aircraft's starting point, Hong Kong. The flight was uneventful and I even managed to catch a few Z's so I wasn't dead tired when I arrived at San Francisco. My wife, Jeree, was waiting for me at the International arrivals "hall". We kissed our hellos, headed to the car, and spent the next 2 hours driving back to Sacramento talking about my trip.

By far the best part of the homecoming was when my mother-in-law stopped by the house shortly after we arrived and dropped off my two sons, Nick (2.5 years old) and Jason (11 months old). Nick yelled, "Daddy!" and ran into my arms, giving me a hug that lasted over 2 minutes. It made me feel so good. Jason didn't seem too sure about me until I held him and gave him an "oopsy daisy" up in the air. Then he looked at me with a look of "Oh, now I remember you!"

The only other "recovery" news of note this week is that I went to a medical supply store to get some replacement "compression" stockings. I learned that the "TED" stockings I've been wearing are only really suited for in-bed situations. They're not good when you're mobile because they can bunch up and actually create miniature tourniquets around your leg, exactly what you don't want when trying to prevent blood clots in your extremities. The gal at the store educated me on some options, so now I'm wearing some nice knee-high compression stockings which are better-suited to ambulatory folks like me. She also suggested I remove the stockings for a night or two to allow my skin time to breathe normally. Fine by me! I know she's not a doctor, but she really seemed to know what she was talking about, so I trust her a bit. Besides, I'm not in any kind of risk group for blood clots, so I think I can risk trusting her judgement.

Coming soon: I'll tally the expenses I've accrued during this whole dealy. Your mileage may vary, of course, and I'll point out where those areas are. I'll also post a couple pictures, one of my x-ray and another of the scar. (Nothing naughty, I assure you.)