Can This Just Be Over

Me: Can this just be over....
Wife: You're kind of an impatient sort!
Me: (sigh) really dejected look (acting)
Wife: You're really pathetic.

It's a week after discharge and other than Thursday night each day gets a little bit better. We're not sure if Thursday was the return of some swelling around my heart or John McCain's speech but I didn’t feel well at all. That night my personal pharmacist suggested some Ibuprofen since the anti-inflammatory medication they started me on in the hospital for the heart rub (caused by swelling around the heart) had finished its course about 24 hours earlier and I was having similar symptoms.

That turned out to be a brilliant call as my pain and general state of being improved 100% by the next day. I had a pretty decent sleep too even though that still meant getting up at least once for an hour or so stretch.

The daily routine:
I wake up first (for the second time) around 7AM, have my bowl of cereal, check email, the Saipan Tribune and a few other web sites / blogs. Yes I check my blog stats, it's addicting. I turn on the TV and half listen to the same crap as the night before on CNN or Fox - hurricane in the Atlantic or Gulf and the exact same sound bites from the candidates as the day before even though they are in different campaign spots. It seems they (especially the Republicans) really try to get the most out of those speechwriters. I mean, how many times can you use the same old line before it just gets irritating. (I digress).
Once Denise is up I get my first beating of the day followed by my medications. These back thumpers are intended to help keep the little alveoli sacks in my lungs open and decrease the pain in my chest. I usually let the pain meds kick in a little before this so I can give a stronger cough and she can hit me that much harder (that's a joke). I then use the incentive spirometer 5 or 6 times until I get a couple of 3000's in a row. After that we head out for our first walk of the day. Walks have been getting further and faster each day as well. We've now progressed to two full laps of the block and tonight I think we'll try for a third.

Once we get back it's not long before Nana is up and all three of us are on the computer sending email, playing suduko and surfing mindlessly. I'm not sure what we would do if it not for the laptops and internet! By mid morning I'm ready for a snooze. Today I was falling asleep while reading a diving study (I'm almost finished a post on it that will be up soon) so that was my clue it was time for a nap.
Once up it's time for another beating. They say you should wait two hours after eating before doing this exercise so I try and do it before I eat. Lunch, more pain meds, more TV and internet a shower, some conversation, some more internet............. Where did the afternoon go? I've been slacking a bit on the afternoon walks because there is really no shade where we are and it's been pretty damn hot but I do try to get in at least one walk before dinner.

Denise and Nana have been teaming up in the kitchen and dinner is served somewhere around 6PM. By 7 it's time to call Morgan at Grandma and Grandpa's house. The conversations are getting shorter and shorter each day as I think the novelty for her is wearing off. She's only 2 & 1/2 but her conversation skills are quite extraordinary for her age. We can usually determine what she's done during the day and with the right questions she gives pretty good responses. It's a hard part of the day because we really do miss them. Part of the boredom factor for us is that for the past 2 &1/2 years we've had more than our share of entertainment everyday just watching Morgan and Carson grow up. Yes at times you want (and need) a break but once you're forced into having one by being away from them it really sucks. I can't wait to give them both a great big huga wugga.
The evenings have been spent watching and bitching about American politics. Followed by more beatings, the spirometer and another walk. Last night we ventured a little farther off our normal track so I could get an ice cream bar much to the chagrin of the diet police. Then it's usually Larry King followed by some good laughs with the Daily show and Colbert. More Medications, more beatings another few blows on the spirometer and Sports Center then it’s off to bed for a few hours before it all begins again.

Sounds exciting eh! Despite getting better each day I really do hate being a patient and Denise is right I am an impatient sort when it comes to doing nothing. If I could just go diving for an hour all would be good again!