It’s just barely Post-Op Day 1. As I’m often wont to do, I let my 5:40 a.m. alarm snooze twice before heading downstairs to spend some time alone in the pre-dawn quiet.
The nerve block is wearing off, and the familiar, illusory sensation of pain is settling in. It’s like an old friend, and I have no fear of our relationship. I will use it for what it’s meant to do: to guard me against injury and overuse. Perhaps it would be better if pain had a more sophisticated way of reminding me. Still, its response is a primitive, instinctual one, not modified much over thousands of years of evolution. Once I am reminded, the rest of the reaction is really just a rounding error.
In my morning meditation, I summoned a massive healing power, which I brought and focused on my shoulder. I do believe that the involuntary systems we rely on for healing can be harnessed.
Usually, I’d be at the gym by now, but I’ll listen to my doctor and refrain from any activity whatsoever, except for a short walk, for one week. Next week, I’ll add uphill walking and hiking. It’s all fine.
Being a patient after a life perseverating about how to be better on the other side has brought amazing reflections. That’s for another chapter. I am so fortunate to be able to go through this experience with my friend Chris Ahmad, who is not only a consummate surgeon but a master at creating systems that bring best-in-class care to so many patients. His communication only rivals his technical acumen.
Overall, it’s very manageable. I have to run—only 69 days left and I need to make the most of them.
Grateful.
