Ramblites, I meant to put out May/June newsletters about this, but not all of you are subscribers and time got away from me, so here's just a regular metapost.
I'll be having back surgery on 5/29, which is a Tuesday. I should be in the hospital for about 3-5 days for recuperation, and Husband will be with me during hospital visiting hours. (Mom and Dad will not be able to attend as previously planned, because Dad is going through his radiation and chemotherapy treatments.
After my surgical stay, I'll be out of work and largely house-bound for 8-12 weeks (at which point I hope to go back to work), and I do not at this time know what level of consciousness I'll have. (Depending on how my body reacts, there may be lots of sleeping involved.)
Posting-wise, I think we'll be alright. Here's what I have pre-posted as of today:
I expect to keep adding to that; if I absolutely can't keep up, we'll have another week of open threads or something. You were all very kind and patient during the last one, and I can't thank you enough. Thank you.
Moderating is another thing entirely: I can reply to comments, and delete comments, and spam/un-spam comments from my Disqus phone app and that's going to be about it for at least my hospital stay. I certainly won't, for instance, be able to ROT13 comments, since that takes a lot of movement and access to relatively high-level computer resources. If we get some kind of bizarre troll influx, I'll just mark the crappy stuff spam for temporary purposes and sort it all out later, but what are the odds of that happening? (Famous last words.)
--- YOU CAN STOP READING NOW. THE REST OF THE POST MAY REQUIRE SPOONS. ---
I guess I should say something about me now for those of you who want to know and have the spoons.
I'm doing fine, although I'm at the point where I'm feeling a little subdued and tired in advance of everything. This is the second time I've had this surgery, so I know what to expect and am not really apprehensive, but I'm not really jumping for joy either. I just had my hair sheared down to a pixie cut yesterday because I did this surgery before with longer hair and it was a pain to manage in-hospital, and while I look cute and feel cute, it's not the cut I would have chosen for myself normally (or I'd have already had it), so that and about a million other things kind of squat on my shoulder and remind me that I don't have nearly as much control over my life as I would like.
So I also had the hair-stylist put in bright red streaks, and I bought some feathery headbands and a couple of pairs of legwarmers, because goddamnit, if I have to be in hospital, I am determined to have fun. Also, legwarmers are permanently affixed in my mind to Cleo the Cat who I remember thinking was cool, classy, and sexy. (Disclaimer: I haven't watched Heathcliff in years and my childhood impressions were rarely accurate.)
And, of course, there's Dad. He's doing fine so far, but all the doctors and nurses assure us that Things Will Get Worse (in terms of pain and tiredness and swollen throat and stomach tubes) which is obviously not very reassuring at all. But theoretically after he passes through the fire on all this, he should be cured of cancer. Which is great, but supposedly he'll also have dry-mouth for the rest of his life, an increased risk of other kinds of cancer thanks to the radiation, and he might not have taste-buds after this. Basically, I'm dealing with this by not thinking about it very much.
So. I'm fine, really I am. Husband has gotten me a nice spreadsheet game to sink into (Patrician IV), and I have a backlog of Kairosoft games to play, and I have about eight zillion books to read, and of course there are things to say about Twilight so I'm doing alright. This is really just a heads-up to let people know what's up and what's going on and why I'm not always answering comments as much as I used to -- I love reading them (so much; there's at least a dozen a day that I read 3-4 times before filing them in the "Keeper Comments" folder on my gmail), but answering them is a little fiddly sometimes. And I am sorry for that.
Peace out, and I'm looking forward to waking up from surgery and seeing how you like that day's Narnia post.
31 comments:
I will be sending good vibes your way, and eagerly waiting for your first update to say that everything went fine....
I often offer to help friends/coworkers in situations that come up, and I rarely get taken up on it - which means I'm not sure if I'm offering poorly and it seems like a social nicety rather than a sincere offer, and therefore they don't want to actually take me up on it; or if not knowing what exactly to offer means I'm putting the burden on the other person to figure out what and how to tell me they need something. So... um... would it be too intrusive if I sent you a card?
Best wishes, Ana. Remember that your health and well-being are more important than the blog, so don't let it stress you out to not be here. Just let it help give you something to look forward to, and we'll all be here however long you want to rest.
I think there's a really strong impulse -- whether it's social or cultural or essential or an attempt at controlling one's uncontrollable circumstances -- to be able to handle these things with a minimum of outside help. I know that both I and Dad have had numerous offers of help from co-workers but the idea of accepting that help is on another plane of "No, I Can Do This Just Fine." So I wouldn't worry that you're asking 'wrong' -- probably they, like us, are thinking "oh, that's nice, but I don't need it because I'm Stronger Than This." :)
Re: Actual help, I would prefer not to receive cards/flowers/etc. because I honestly just throw them away (clutter!) and then feel IMMENSELY GUILTY about it afterward. The best gift I can ask for, really, is that people comment on the decon posts -- even if it's just "Interesting. I disagree, but whatevs." -- since that helps me feel kind of connected to the outside, non-hospitally world. :D
You know we all love you! Onward to victory!
Ana, we're all praying/chanting/Atheisting for you :)
I don't have a lot of on topic things to say. I wish you well and hope everything works out perfectly, but that sounds awfully generic.
On the front of things that aren't really on topic, I am amazed, I seriously sit in awe, on learning that you have so much done ahead of time. Today I wrote a .hack//Sign post, which is in theory a series I'm doing weekly if not more often, and it's the first I've done in a month and a half. That you are so productive as to have things done months in advance is just stunning to me.
Best wishes! Also, may I second Chris on being awestruck by the very idea of your having prepared two months in advance? Not so much 'sitting' as 'reeling around with strange signs in my eyes, like a cartoon cat whom a mouse has just whopped with an unexpected mallet' - but definitely in the same genre. I take off the hat which I am not wearing, and wave it in great admiration.
Best wishes.
So say we all.
Best wishes.
@Chris and Gray, thank you. I don't know if this will make it less impressive by putting it all in context, but I've been hoarding up posts for about a year now, knowing this was coming, so this is basically 3 extra posts a month, I think? Not so much.
And you'll note that the days I have the most done are low-effort days -- Open Threads, Recommends, and Author Interviews. Twilights and Narnias take longer. :D
I, too, just got a pixie cut with red highlights! (Except mine was totally voluntary, and required wheedling to get my stylist to comply.)
Is there a non-clutter type thing that could be sent that would be welcome? Sea-salt brownies? Nice socks? A book of Madlibs? A box of assorted snacks in case your husband can't make it out to eat and needs refueling?
One of the best things I've ever seen anyone bring into the hospital was a woman who had two tiny plastic figurines of Glenda and the Wicked Witch. Depending on how she was feeling, she'd put one on the bedside table - so if visitors/doctors saw Glenda, they knew she was good to go, but if the Wicked Witch was up, they knew to watch their step.
!!!! Good luck, Ana, and I hope everything goes as easily as it possibly can under the circumstances.
Good skill to your surgeons and a swift and happy recovery for you, Ana.
@Dav - Brilliant. My mind is now trying to think how to extend that out to other properties and fandoms.
I hope you have a quick recovery time.
Best wishes through this. I hope that everything goes as well as it can go.
Best wishes. I know how very much hospital stays suck. :( I hope yours has edible food and nice staff, since both go a long way toward making it...better.
*offers many hugs*
*Hugs, hugs, and yet more hugs* to you and your family. I've been sending good thoughts your way and will continue to do so. The leg warmers and highlights are a great strategy for dealing with a hospital stay--it always has seemed strange to me that hospitals, one of the places where you really need cheery colors and lighting, are always so not-colorful (I know it's supposedly because blandness is easier to keep clean, but really.) I hope your stay is short and your recovery swift. *HUGS*
First comment here, but been lurking for a while. Just wanted to wish you and yours a speedy and mostly painless recovery and hope it all goes well. These things are always scary, so you and your Father will be in my thoughts.
I will be thinking of you, and hoping things go better than you expect.
Wishing you the best possible result for the least possible amount of suckage.
Ana, I don't think the exercise of foresight makes it even slightly less impressive. A bit less boggling, but that's not the same thing by a long chalk.
Hope things get better.
I hope things go as well as possible for both of you, Ana. The dedication you put into this blog is already amazing and I think you deserve every moment of rest you can get, so I hope you won't feel guilty if/when you do choose to take a break and give us a Cute Animal Open Threads Week.
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@Dav - Brilliant. My mind is now trying to think how to extend that out to other properties and fandoms.
Well, if it were the Pevensies, then presumably Peter would be for when you were feeling completely brave and credulous and willing to do whatever absurd thing you were told, Susan would be for when you were feeling far more vulnerable but still generally willing to do what had to be done, Lucy would be for when you just wanted to be left out of the nasty stuff and allowed to commune with divinity or visit with friends/family, and Edmund would be "Unless you're bringing me something delicious, @#$% off."
Possibly harder to get people to memorise that set, though.
Oh god, my constantly prodding you to get into the comments as well has finally worked. Now I'm going to be all self-conscious about my commenting because 'who knows who could be reading this' is in fact far less ominous than 'I know exactly who is reading this'. ;P
I kid. And I covet your avatar.
I'm in your internets, reading your comments. Also surprised you haven't seen this avatar yet, it's been my go to for years.
We can only hope and send you good wishes.
Pre-op today, checking in, EKGs, chest x-rays, that sort of thing. Very tiring.
I learned that I'll be in ICU for at least 24-48 hours after the surgery on 5/29, and that they don't allow 3G / WiFi devices in there (well, not with those things enabled, anyway) so I may not be able to check in here on the day of. I will definitely place a comment somewhere as soon as I can to let everyone know I'm still alive. :)
I hope that everything goes significantly better than you expect it to. Good luck. Many hugs.
("Everything" here extending well beyond the bounds of Tuesday, by the way.)
Have you found out if you'll be able to use your ereader?
I think so -- the ICU doctor looked dubious but said it would be alright, and the nurse we spoke to was more enthusiastically okay with it.
We then dropped by Half Price Books and got some dollar books of things I already have on the eReader but aren't too bulky -- 'Water for Elephants" and "In the Woods" -- so I have a backup plan.
Though the doctor believes that I won't "feel like reading" for some time after surgery. Ha. That's what they said about video games the last time and I proved them WRONG. :D
I bought some really cool iphone case, will you try it?
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