Scenes From a Recuperation

I am really feeling much better each day, but I still get tired rather easily. The pain is much diminished, except for this cramp that I get occasionally on one side of my abdomen, which I have to remember to tell someone about.

The main incision is healing fine. It is now starting to itch, which everyone tells me is a sign that it is healing. A damned annoying sign, if you ask me.

The hole where my belly button was is doing OK, I suppose. I am still packing it with wet gauze twice a day and covering it with a dressing. I see Dr. Schwartz again on Friday. It just seems a little bit deep to me. I have no idea what this is going to look like when it heals. At the moment, it is deep enough to store spare change in.

I am walking about half a mile on most days. I them come home and take a nap. I am also doing some housecleaning, including cooking for myself and doing laundry. And my napping skills are simply to die for.

So what have I been doing most days? I have been playing around on the computer and watching a lot of television. Mostly I have been watching movies, but I have finally caught up with CSI. In the past, I have rarely watched any series or network television because I have not been home most nights. I confess that I have never seen The West Wing, 24 or Lost. But one cable channel plays two episodes of CSI back to back every night and I have gotten hooked on it. Or maybe I just have a serious lech for William Petersen.

I have also indulged in watching movies, lots and lots of movies. I have seen two different versions of “Jane Eyre,” the Orson Welles version and the William Hurt version. I have watched “Kung Fu Hustle,” which is what you get if you cross a Bugs Bunny Looney Tunes cartoon with a kung fu movie. I also watched “Zatoichi,” which is a kung fu movie that ends with this extended tap dance scene for no apparent reason. (Alright, I tend to like kung fu movies. So sue me.)

And I have been knitting a lot. I have started on Helen’s green sweater, the one that has been two years in the decision process. I have finished a pair of tiger striped socks and started another pair in red and multicolored wool. I am a happy camper.

So, for the bulk of this recuperation, people have been bringing me food or taking me out to dinner, and I have been laying on the couch reading or watching television and knitting. Frankly, I see no profit in getting well.