Well… that was a thing

Today marks a month since the surgery and to be honest, I’m still feeling it. Like, the pain is gone for the most part, or at least gone to the point where I don’t need pain medication — and thankfully, can poop again. My sleep is still messed up because direct pressure against the site does hurt a bit, but it’s mostly just uncomfortable. So if I’m not careful with the right mix of caffeine and sugar, I end up falling asleep in the middle of the day or right after work.

It’s like being sick without actually being sick and I’m clearly still in denial about it. I know I’ve gone through a lot, and my body is healing and adjusting, but most of me feels like, “I don’t have time for this!” I’m trying to go through the build up of stuff going on in my apartment, mostly laundry and general tidying that’s been abandoned while I either tried to figure out how to sleep or just fell asleep without warning.

On the plus side, the lipoma excision surgery was successful, and pathology confirmed it was just adipose tissue… a big fatty lump. As anticipated, I had to wear a cumbersome and unstylish drain for almost two weeks afterward that had me emptying and measuring the most fascinatingly colored fluids from my body. I didn’t have a Pantone color scanner to hand, but I don’t think I’ll feature them in any future design project. I had a large and somewhat binding bandage across my back and the adjacent sticky goo from said bandage that came with literally any form of movement. I couldn’t shower, and as I don’t have a bathtub, sponge baths were more standing at the sink, soaping and rinsing as best I could. Even with my best whore’s bath, my undies, shorts and pajamas needed thorough laundering. So much fun!

Health insurance should cover a daily or otherwise regular visit to the hospital so someone can dab a warm sponge and/or alcohol/acetone around these sites, especially when they’re in the spot on your back that you just can’t quite reach.

I dealt with cabin fever, I dealt with working remotely, I eventually went back to the office to deal with the growing dumpster fires. Aside from a very ill-fated decision to try going out for an evening, after which my body distinctly said, “No, you are not ok yet,” it’s pretty much just been me at home, on the couch with TV or video games (and a headache) trying to get my sleep schedule back in shape.

I’ve mostly taken a break from social media, pretty much only engaging with those who engage with me from the shoreline, not following the entire ocean, so I’m still catching up though a lot of what I’ve seen makes me glad I pulled away. No real surprise there, we’re clearly one of the worst out of the alternate realities.

So, anyway, I’m still here, but very very tired. Yay.