It's been a while, and a lot has happened

Well, I would be totally and utterly shocked if anyone still checks this blog. But I have made a vow to resume blogging, as things have been happening. It is really easy for blogging to slip lower and lower on the priority list though, as I do not make a living off my blog, and I do have a lot of responsibilities that may be slightly more important than blogging. But I do realize that there are very few people who... well, used to read my blog, who have no other way of knowing what's going on in my life.

A lot has happened since I blogged about something substantive, but I guess I should just jump to what happened two days ago and go a little backwards. But I will be killing Hamlet in the first act if I do that. Oh well, I can live with that. And I hope I didn't just ruin it for someone who has never read Hamlet, that yes indeed, he does die at the end of the book. Then again, if you didn't already know this, I don't want to be your friend anyway!

Two days ago I had a back surgery. It sounds HUGE. BACK SURGERY. People's first reaction is a grimacing facial expression. Everyone imagines a butcher-looking surgeon cutting the back from top to bottom and exposing the entire spine. Not that I would not love for people to think that's what happened and get some extra sympathy, but what had happened is a lot less glamorous. It was about an inch and a half of incision, through which the surgeon went into my lower back and cut out a herniated disc. I guess this is major, as the shit headed intern who came in to have sign the consent sheets answered my question as to what the risks were by saying: "well, as with any surgery, death, or in this case, paralysis." I guess I did deserve this answer, as I should have no expected a rosy answer from a doctor, especially with all the medical malpractice lawsuits going on all the time.

Needless to say, neither happened, and I made it out alive and not paralyzed. This is a surgery I was scheduled to have in two weeks, but a few days prior to the surgery, I was in excruciating pain, and I went to the ER, where they captured another MRI of my lower back and saw that the herniated disc had gotten a lot worse since my last MRI, less than two weeks before that. I did have a lovely stay at the hospital for a few days before the surgery, whereby I was constantly on good pain medication that kept my pain under control.

I do have to say, it is a relief to have this surgery out of the way, as it cuts less into my summer. Theoretically, I will be fully recovered in 4-6 weeks. Meaning, after that time frame, I should be able to resume normal life of walking and driving and working out. Of course, I will continue to be very careful with lifting heavy stuff and picking up things properly, i.e., bending from the knees and not the hips or waist. I will limit the twisting motion, which means, I will have to give up on my dream of becoming a good golfer or softball player for at least this summer. My first priority is to make sure I never have a surgery ever again, as I do not think I will want to hear a heartless doctor tell me that death is a possible outcome. I like nice rosy lies.

My actual surgeon was one of the most wonderful people I met, and I could've not asked for a nicer person to cut me up and fix me. He is one of the sweetest people I have ever met. It probably also helps that he is one of the best at what he does. Thanks Dr. C.

One of the funniest things about this whole experience is realizing how some people I know are not at all what I would consider a good friend, even though they paint themselves to be so. Not that I need words of sympathy or fake friendship, but a few people completely ignored the fact that I was in excruciating pain and about to have a major surgery. They ended up reluctantly throwing a couple of words that may be interpreted as encouragement, but I know now that these are not people I would ever depend on or ask for help, because they're the types of people who would not want to be inconvenienced or bothered to help a friend. They are so self-absorbed and all into their little boring lives that they think are so important, but they in fact little specs of nothingness and actually big losers who have no real direction in life. I am glad these people are ones I once considered friends. They're only my friends when they need something or when happy things are happening in their lives.

On the other hand, I can't complain too much, as I do have a lot of people in my life who are actually wonderful sincere and loving people. So I will not let the few black sheep take over and let me be bothered and forget all the other good people. Thanks good people who sent me good thoughts and well wishes. And please, don't anyone try to think that they're the bad friends, as these people I speak of are so awful that they would never think they're bad friends. And all the rest of you, thank you!

Now, please, let me go back to my recovery from my old lady body ailments. As my physical therapist told me when I first had my back bother me and discovered that it was a herniated disc: "this really mainly happens to middle aged men." Oh great, thanks for telling me that, since I am neither! But maybe deep inside, I am a 40-something year-old man. You just will never know!