That wasn't bad

1/8/09 Thursday
Well that’s over. We got to the hospital at a quarter to nine like they asked but it wasn’t till eleven that I was seen. That was a long wait and both Cherie and I fought nodding off to sleep in the waiting room. Finally my name was called. Lately the VA is real stringent on making sure they have the right person, asking my full name, birthday, and why I was there. I suppose someone, somewhere, had the wrong surgery so they put in this safeguard. Works for me.

They took me to the surgery room and hooked me up to all kinds of monitors and shaved the area to be cut. After the local anesthesia the doc started cutting. “PUS” I heard him say and he told the attendants to get this and that. Come to find out the first doctor I saw was right, it was an abscess. So he squeezed out the pus and cleaned it out. I’m glad I didn’t have a coughing fit or sneeze while he was cutting. That would have been bad. After packing it with a special gauze he bandaged everything up. The whole time Doc was telling me about it and giving instructions on how to care for it. I told him I would like it written down because otherwise I would forget. After the “surgery”? he had the nurse explain everything again as she gave me the gauze and stuff I’d need. She looked at me and said “Perhaps I should get your wife and tell her”. Smart lady. I said that would be a good idea so she brought Cherie in and instructed her.

So that’s it. All done now. “It should take a week to heal” he said and I’m not supposed to lift anything heavy with the right arm. I haven’t lifted much of anything at all for a week since I’ve been sick. The biggest problem will be the location. My right arm doesn't swing much because of the paralysis but I suspect this area will chaff a lot. I wanted to borrow Chuck’s trailer and pick up another couple loads of manure from the old man’s place but that will have to wait. At least I’m on the back side of this cold and am getting better so my energy level is coming back. Today I plan on washing the sheets and blankets from the dog house so I can replace the soiled ones that are in there now. With the puppies getting older they are pooping more so I need to keep up with that.

Just so you know, Ben came back and was sleeping on his usual spot this morning. I worried all night about him so didn’t get much sleep at all. I gave him lots of hugs and pets to reassure him he was still loved. But we still need to find a home for him. Outside cats are important on this farm for otherwise we would be overrun with rats and mice. Plus we love our animals and Cherie’s had a cat pretty much all her life so gets quite attached. Remember the little Terrier type dog we had? The one that disappeared? Ben didn’t like him at all, especially when Gretchen was in heat, so I’ve always wondered if he did something with him. We just can’t have that. So if anyone out there wants, or knows someone who might want a gentle golden lab send me an email at bobcarver2@yahoo.com. Just make sure you don’t have any cats.

I got the letter to my dad started. It’s been a hard thing to write. I’ve gone back and forth, writing and then deleting as I search for what might work. This will take a while.

It’s 2:00 now. I’m going to lay down for a bit and then head out to wash sheets and do some other chores like check the mail and deposit the two checks we have. I wanted to order the six thousand foot roll of drip tape but that will have to wait. There was some money we were expecting that didn’t come through. Hell we need to order seeds and fertilizer too. It will work out as things seem to do around us, but it’s always on an edge.