I'm gonna screw this whole thing up by cutting to the chase before I share part two of the surgical/hospital experience.
As of today I'm 96 days post-surgery and I'm doing much better than well. I blasted through PT and embarked on a reconditioning program, concentrating on strength rebuilding for the back/abdomen/torso and cardio. It's been very successful so far. I saw the surgeon two weeks ago a day after doing a five-mile run.
Being able to do things -- like regular running -- that I haven't been able to do for more than two years is awesome. The surgeon says that coming in fit, prepared, and with the proper attitude was the key to my success. That and continuing to charge ahead into life.
Right now I'm doing weight training three days a week and cardio four days a week and that's a good fit. I'm also doing some rather esoteric stuff to address healthspan going forward, modalities to improve quality of life. So I'm doing heat-shock/cold-shock, meditation, and and a keto-ish diet. It's all making a big difference.
I'm also completely blasted with other life stuff. Family, work, and ranch stuff disappears lots of hours from each day. That's a good thing, but I've put the blog on the back burner while I got my feet back under me, and that's not such a good thing. I'm seeing a pathway to adding blogging time back in and I think it'll work. Time will tell I guess.
I had six weeks of influenza. Which influenza? Doesn't matter, because in my case the treatment was the same regardless of the causal virus. The name just doesn't matter.
I was quite ill and had all of the symptoms. Symptomatically I can make a case for having had each of the three candidates. I hydrated, ingested proper nutrition, took appropriate otc meds, and continued to work and work out. It was tough but I pushed through and never came close to being ill enough to require any actual medical care. During this time I knew of several people who were hospitalized for weeks and spent time on a ventilator in ICU. They were all younger than me but also had significant co-morbidities. They all pulled through but each emerged a physical wreck.
I'm a sample of one but it seems clear to me that being fit was a key to my happy outcome. Sometimes I wonder why I chose to begin the road to fitness in 2018. I had no inkling that the wuhandromeda would happen. It doesn't matter why, of course, I'm just fortunate I chose the path I did.
I'm not gonna live forever, at least not in this physical realm, but I am gonna live as well as I can for as long as I can and I think that's the correct path for me.
The other evening I was playing with the three year old and the five year old. The game they were playing with me was incredibly fun and fascinating. They way they morph the game from one thing to the next to the next is such a neat thing to observe and be a part of. They know what the rules and objectives are, and they flow from one thing to the next seamlessly and in concert. It's as if they read each others minds. I can hardly tell what the game is, but I participate. At one point the three year old said, "you fell out of the car and you're dead." So I flopped over and closed my eyes. Then she started puffing breaths in my face and pushing on my chest; two breaths, two compressions. She was mimicking CPR, and doing it right! Now where did a three year old learn CPR? At another point the five year old buried me in stuffed animals, then decided it wasn't fair that I had all the stuffed animals. Little humans are so amazing and fascinating!
I'm so blessed and fortunate that I get to live a life. So many people seem to choose an existence of being perpetually butthurt and victimized. I'm not fundamentally different than anyone else. We're all humans, and none of us are better or worse than our fellows. I could choose to have a horrible existence too, and that pathway calls to me the way it does to each of us. So why do I and others reject it, and why do so many not?
It's a puzzle. I doubt I'll ever solve it. It helps me to understand in a meaningful way how blessed I am, and the combination helps to keep me centered. Which is a good thing.
Be well and embrace the blessings of liberty.
