Off I go

Well the time has come. I've tied up as many loose ends as I can. To all those who I managed to talk to personally about how I'm feeling (you know who you are), thanks for lending an ear to all my rambling.

I'll keep everyone up to date on how my recovery is going, thanks to all those who contacted me before to wish me luck.

I found something pretty cool online where you can send an e-mail to me through the hospital website. They'll then print it out and give it to me. So to all those who would like to say hi but can't make it, this is a great substitute.

https://intermountainhealthcare.org/xp/secure/forms/uvrmc_emailpat/

I'll see everybody on the dark side of the moon!

Grant

Pills Galore

See all these pills? I've been on all these during this whole hip debacle. Some of them are not required (multivitamin, Glucosamine/Chondriotin), but the rest more or less have been required. The big bluish/grey ones (they're bloody huge) are Lodine. My doctor just yanked me off those since they will thin out my blood before I go under the knife, and they can't have that. The small round white pill is iron, which the doc says I need to get as many red blood cells produced as possible before the op. The yellowish long pill is Ultram (sp?), which from what I understand is a mild narcotic (used in place of the Lodine). I took my first dose tonight and I can say I was in another world. I've always wondered what it was like to be high, I think I caught a glimpse of it, so I'll only be taking those when I'm in a lot of pain. The small pink pills are Ranidine (Zantac 75) which I use in conjunction with the Prevacid (pink/black capsule). They're for my acid reflux, and are only taken as needed (about once every two or three weeks on average).

What kinda irks me is that before my mission, I was as healthy as an ox and didn't need pills. I'm just glad that I don't have to take all these pills every day. If I understand right, I might only need the yellow pills before my next operation in 09 (or not at all thank heavens, I like having my wits about me). As far as the Lodine is concerned, it will be as needed (and only after the op) to deal with the cartilage tear in the right hip that developed a few weeks ago, so I can't see myself taking that very often. The heartburn stuff is only occasional, and the rest are all unnecessary. When I'm an old man, I can see the nurses in the retirement home having a hard time getting me to take my pills. :)

I also found out an estimate on how much this is all going to cost, thank heavens for insurance. I won't say how much it is on here, but it's more than 3 or 4 times what I paid for to get my car.

I will post again soon, and try not to have it revolve around the hip thing. I have more to say, but I'm kinda tired of typing right now. (drugs + late night = ZZZZzzzzz)

Countdown

20 Days and counting.

You know that feeling when you're about to leave somewhere for a very long time? Like if you're about to go on mission, or you're about to finish your time at a school.

That's kind of how I feel right now when it comes to this whole surgery thing. I feel like I'm starting to disconnect with people, things, and some places (?). I don't know why this is the case, because it's not like I'm going anywhere. I guess this time in my life is the calm before a very, VERY turbulent storm. This is my current view going into 2008, which is why I didn't exactly greet the year with enthusiasm. To be fair though, nothing, and I mean NOTHING was going on in Provo (that I was aware of) for New Years, so I doubt I missed out on much anyways.

I've been reading the Dune series for who-knows-long now. My family always wonders why I read these "Cinderella books" (As my friend Tom puts it). I figure that I read so much everyday about news, politics, factual type stuff that I just get into some reading that is entirely fictional. It gives my brain a rest from all the rubbish going on in the real world. So when the family asks me why I read them, they always get the same answer. I like it :-)

Heres a nice little pic to go along with it all.