surgical aftermath

I've been intending on writing an update for several weeks.  What's been the cause of the delay?  Mainly, I've been exhausted a lot.  Also, since I didn't really have leave to use, I've trying to work in spite of the exhaustion.

To organize my thoughts, I'll break the experience down into time periods

1. Inpatient - Three days in the hospital, increasingly miserable because it was impossible to get a good night's sleep there.  
2. At home, with brother in town for several days.  Finally sleeping and figuring out how to get the body working again.
3. First week trying to work - pretty much impossible to do more than a few hours of work per day.  
4. Second week - energy level still well below 100%.  Tried to do a small amount of running but just didn't have the energy.
5. Third week - exercise time aside, energy levels pretty close to 100%.  

So I'm three and a half weeks out, feeling pretty tired for a Saturday.  Did 30 minutes on the elliptical machine last night, which felt fine.  

Back to the hospital.  Being in a hospital sucks.  More than I thought it would.  For starters, the bed just isn't comfortable.  Hospital beds bend and fold to help patients sit up, but they fold in the wrong place.  And when you're coming off abdominal surgery the last thing you want to be doing is a lot of sit-ups adjusting your body.  Also, the food was dreadful.  Being on a liquid-only diet sucks, but it turns out that their solid food is awful, too.  About the only thing they do well is administer pain-killers, but that's counter-balanced by the endless blood tests.

Going home was great.  Finally got some sleep, though the mobile feline heating unit made it a challenge to find a combination of blankets and comforters that would keep me warm without waking up in a sweat.  I gradually figured out the pain  issue - during the surgery the doctor pumped up my intestine with air to make it easier to see what was going on.  The gas was unpleasant.  Also, it felt like my entire abdominal wall clenched during the surgery and wasn't going to relax any time soon.  Things only started picking up when I switched from Percoset to Alleve.  Alleve is the best at relaxing muscles.  

The resected colon seems to be doing fine.  In retrospect, I'm wondering if this surgery was overkill, if it was disproportionate to the risk of whatever was left of the polyp.  (Which might well have been nothing.)  But I'm fine with the decision-making process, even though I suspect it will be viewed as wasteful in the future.

getting organized

Told the good Frau Doktor I would update my blog sometime soon - this was two months ago. Well, I'll try to update anybody interested soon.

The biggest update of the past week was walking away from Mafia Wars. Facebook game was eating up perhaps as much as 20 hours per week. I'm still doing a few passive games (MouseHunt, Fishwrangler, Ghost Trappers) but it's nowhere near as much time. And with the complete lack of Diplomacy commitments, I have time now.

Sister visited last week, which was cool. Place feels a lot more alive when another person is about.

I wonder if I can whip up a decent post for my nascent science blog. I started a blog called Pineapples in Alaska. I wonder, though, if there's a lot for me to say. I'm not really a content producer by nature. I'm much more of a critic or reviewer. I like sucking in lots of information and comparing it a lot more than producing material creatively. Let's see what I can put up there this Wochenende.

If I were to go into something more journalistic, my talents would be more as an editor, I would think, than as a writer.

Where does that leave me as a blogger?

It seems weird to me that journalism these days has become a business interested more about producing volumes of product than of trying to see what impact the products have. Indeed, that seems to be the guiding light of our professional class.

Obama is really bumming me out. The blame-the-liberals game is getting old, and his penchant for creeping authoritarianism is unforgivable, as far as I'm concerned.

Good films seen recently: Inception, Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Girl who Played with Fire. Of the latter two, I liked GDT more than GPF, simply because it fit the format of a feature film much better. The latter film was a bit hampered by the need to cram all sorts of stuff into a film. It didn't really fit.

I've been reading the associated books, and I've decided the reverse is true. The first book takes hella long to get started, while the excess information which drowned the second film fits quite easily into the second book. That brings up the question : do I see Wasp's Nest before I read it or vice versa?

Another film I saw recently which I really like was the Austrian film Das Weisse Band. (The White Ribbon, auf englisch.) It's a film set in rural Germany circa 1914, in a small town where deadly pranks keep happening. For example, right at the start of the film, the town doctor falls from his horse when they run into a wire strung across the entrance to his yard. The acting in this film is tremendous, and in particular they did a great job casting the large number of children's parts. In any case, it's a film far more interesting than 95% of the crap in RedBox.

It occurs to me that I probably should make note when I use a fake word like "hella". Das is nicht gutes Englisch.

Up way too late. Pessimistic about the Pats winning a road game against a good team. But at least Ginger is in great shape. Oh - I ran noch ein Halb-Marathon vor zwei Wochen. Next up: the Army Ten Miler.

Viel Spass noch!

Katzentreppe!

Was pointed to this blog by somebody on Facebook.

I love this spiral one:

Gin-Gin in trouble!

Oh no!

Here she is in her normal location, considering the problems of the world...

fun with image searching

OK, I'm copying Antje
!

It's no surprise, is it, that searching with Ginger's image finds an orangutan!

Ha ha ha! Ha ha!

Uh oh, she's giving me a dirty look.

If you want to do this with your own pics, look at Idee.

Buffy is seriously ill

She did eat last night, but I'm very troubled by the fluid throughout her abdomen. This seems to suggest serious liver damage and/or cancer. I'm guessing she only has a few days left.

Fluid is not supposed to be in the abdominal cavity. Whatever has caused that to happen means something is seriously wrong. And I cannot go through and do not want to go through a two-month ordeal like I did with Pandora 6 years ago.

WWBE?

What would Buffy eat?

She had a good 2007 because I discovered she would eat the Whiskas "Oh So Meaty/Oh So Fishy" gourmet food. Unfortunately, they don't have that in the US. The closest is "Purrfectly fishy", which I think she'll eat.

She used to eat Friskies, but she's turned her nose up to that recently. She's looking thinner than she did in France, and it's starting to worry me. The strange thing is that, when she turns her nose up to any particular food, Ginger does the same. And yet Ginger is not sickly and gaunt.

Hmmm....

Well, I've gotten them some Iams dry food, which should be healthier than the Meow Mix. But while Ginger is tearing into it, will Buffy eat it? The only way Buffy will really gain weight is if I find a dry food she'll eat.

Good news is that she did like the treats I gave her yesterday. Bad news is that each only has 1 calorie.

This post was written with the aid and assistance of Ginger sitting on my left hand.

Update: 2/14
Well, it turns out that Buffy is seriously ill. Her weight has dropped to 4 lbs. 4 oz, which means she's lost at least a pound and a half since returning from France. The vets are very pessimistic about her condition.

Ginger on the wrist

What does it say about me that I'm typing this with Ginger resting comfortably on my left wrist? I wish I could take a photo of this - I'm going to count on somebody with a digital camera doing this sometime in the near future, so blog readers can understand how much Ginger likes it when I type at the computer.

Ikea boy gets to work

So, I'm facing a mostly-empty condo, with only a bed frame, a couple bookshelves, and a futon mattress hijacked from Landru which will probably turn into a pumpkin at some point. The girls are very happy that I'm back on a queen-sized mattress, instead of the tiny twin-sized sofa-bed I was sleeping on in Montpellier. Now they can both demand my attention simultaneously, rather than be forced to take turns. (And somehow, when they are forced to take turns, it is usually Ginger's turn.)

Anyway, I'm gradually furnishing this place. First I've dug out things from storage in MD and KS. I got a cheap 19" flat-screen TV at BestBuy early this week. And a couple days ago I made a run to Ikea on Route 1.

I swear, I really am the target audience for Ikea. I just love the place. Getting furniture that I build myself is so much fun! On this trip I decided to pick up what I need most, while leaving the more luxurious items for the next trip, and the general storage items for a trip after that one. (I could probably use a few more bookshelves, but really, that's a low priority.)

So, I've picked up a desk, which is the highest priority, and a chair to go with it. And a coffee table for the TV & VCR. And a comfortable chair to sit in while watching TV. But the only thing I've assembled so far is the nightstand.* What else do I need? Dining room set, sofa, another comfortable chair or two, a mattress set, storage, etc. The mattress set is next on the list, but I think I'll defer that until after Christmas.

*In German, "nightstand" is "Nachttisch" and this is a great word for testing the tendency of English-speakers to run the end of one consonant into the next consonant. The German word for dessert is "Nachtisch", which literally means "after table", i.e. after the meal, while "Nachttisch" literally means "night table". The thing to remember is that when saying "Nachtisch" you need to have clear separation between the syllables, "Nach tisch" (nawhk tisch) and avoid the temptation to use the 't' in the first syllable. If you do that, when you think you are ordering dessert in a German restaurant, they will wonder why you are ordering a small table to be put next to your bed.

good morning!

Somebody planted a camera in my bedroom!



Hat tip to Grrlscientist at ScienceBlogs.

Buffy is very much like this in mornings, though she is more likely to simply be loud and attack me with headbutts than to resort to more drastic measures.

going King mode

Too many things...time to go into an incoherent, Larry King-style rant.

- OJ got away with murder, so of course he thinks armed robbery is an easy thing!

- I'm sorry, there just is no moral line between "using your own cameraman to steal signals" and "using the network's cameramen to steal signals". Yes, rules should be followed, but enough of the moral outrage already|

- Buffy is tired of moving. She needs a permanent home.

- All those websites that have decided I speak French? Stop it! (I'm looking at you, Google..)

- Anyway, while the cats were staying at the Finsbury park flat of Dr. J and his red-head, the good doc tested his stealth badger camera in the flat to track cat movement. Some pics will be forthcoming.

- Bush cannot leave office soon enough. I'm tired of the idea that winning a war is done just like any other PR campaign. And the media fall right in line, every time, sucking up to General Petraeus on schedule. Stop it! The war is still a stupid and immoral idea. The fact that a temporary increase in force (and unsustainable increase in force, in fact) can be used to create statistics indicating a decrease in violence (as long as the stats are doctored sufficiently, and the media don't examine the story closely, which of course they won't) does not in any way justify staying in Iraq.

Whether Iraq becomes a peaceful, democratic society or not is not something that further American military presence in Iraq can affect in a positive way. Best idea? Get out. See Vietnam for an example.

I was refreshed to see Alan Greenspan acknowledge the elephant in the room: this war is about oil and always has been. That's always been true. I'm sorry, but it's so obvious that it's hard to stomach the steadfast refusal of mainstream media outlets to address this issue.

Look, oil prices have doubled since the invasion of Iraq. That fact is caused in part by the decrease in oil production from Iraq. It's also caused in part by the fact that the Bush family is essentially a subsidiary of the Saudi royal family.

Not only are oil prices going up, energy company profits are zooming up. Net profits at ExxonMobil, for example, have doubled during the war years. This is a fact that needs to be pointed out in any discussion of the war. Right now regular taxpayers are paying for a war (or, more precisely, funding debt to support a war) in order for Exxon to double their profits.

When discussing the American foreign policy, it's important to keep an eye on the ball. It is not in the interest of the country as a whole to do everything one industry wants it to do, no matter how important that sector of the economy is.

Let's take on these ratfuckers directly.

back in the States

Blogging from the Casa, but the Senor and Senora are not at home, as they are with the Kinder in the great state of Maine.

Tired today because of the flight, and all the moving activity, and the fact that Brian Shelden and I ran hour-long runs at high noon today. Why high noon? Seems a bit silly, no? Well, space was at a premium in the luggage, and I put my #1 running shoes in "luggage going to France" and #2 pair of running shoes in "the bin".

I put "the bin" in quotes to honor this divergence in linguistic traditions. England has rubbish bins. The US has trash cans. We know what the word "bin" means, it's just that we don't use it that often. In contrast, some UK words are not even known in the US.

For example, "moggy". What is a moggy? Well, here's one:

and here's another:

In the former photo, we see Ginger relaxing in my bike helmet box, which is perfectly Ginger-sized.
In the latter photo, we see Buffy conversing with Mr and Mrs Slugworth, two garden-based visitors who had a habit of visiting my kitchen area and making a beeline (well, a slug-line really, which is much slower) to the cat food dish.

In any way, I've left Crown Court behind and Ginger and Buffy are now visiting Finsbury Park. In fact, they have a group at FaceBook dedicated to them. :) I'm crossing my fingers that they will behave well at Paul and Lucy's.

Friday cat blogging

Featuring a pair I saw in Ireland. Apparently cats in Ireland photosynthesize and grow in planters. Who knew?!

Buffy and Ginger's international fan club

They make an appearance at Fish & Chips! They are looking out the window at any humans passing by. This is what the girls do all day while I work. See for yourself!

and as for the cats...

They can stay in the flat through July. Just got word today.

the leaky ceiling and the cats

So, I get back to the UK on Thursday the 4th, and I'm horribly jet lagged. I nap an hour or two, unpack a bit, watch a bit of TV, and then try to get to sleep. At about 1:00 in the morning I start to hear a drip, drip from the kitchen.

I've noticed in the past that the kitchen ceiling tends to drip a bit from time to time. But this time it's really bad. After I put a pot under it to catch the water, I try to get back to sleep.

But the dripping is a bit too loud. After about 15 minutes, I get up and dump the water out - the pan has filled. Hmm...this doesn't bode well.

I look up at the ceiling and poke it a bit. Bad idea, now the water is literally streaming from the ceiling.

Have I mentioned that it wasn't raining and my flat is on the ground floor, with another flat upstairs? So it's a bit unusual to see water flooding into the kitchen.

At about 2 a.m., I think of my options and decide to call the landlord. In my mind, this qualifies as an emergency. He's annoyed but he agrees to come over. But first he has me wake up the guy upstairs to see if he (Steve) can see what the issue is.

So I wake Steve, who talks to the landlord, and assures him that there's no flooding upstairs. Steve then dashes upstairs and the dripping mysteriously starts slowing down.

I'm thinking Steve knows what is causing the dripping, but I cannot say for sure since I didn't go upstairs myself.

By the time the landlord shows up, the dripping which had been a stream fifteen minutes earlier, is now petering out. On the whole, something like 2-3 gallons came out of the gap between the wallpaper and whatever else is going on there.

In any case, the net effect of the landlord visit is that he notices the odor and the cat litter all over the place. He doesn't like it.

Yesterday evening I get notice that he wants his flat back in two months. *sigh*
I've never been evicted before.

Anyway, I left a message on his machine and we've pushed his resistance back to the level of I can stay until July, when this job is up, but the cats have to go. At this point I can kind of see his point - the flat was reeking of urine all week. The cat sitter who had been visiting didn't really do a great job keeping the odor down, and since it's the winter, I haven't had the windows open much for ventilation like I did in the summer.

So now I'm faced with the choice of finding a cat-friendly flat for 5 months (I think that would be impossible), convincing the landlord that the cats should be allowed to stay (I'm not optimistic) or finding a home for them from March to July.

Ain't life great!

The most curious thing about all of this is that I finally got a refill for my anti-depressants yesterday, so all I could think as I was going to sleep was "You know, I should feel much worse than I did 24 hours ago, but I feel much better." Chemical control of moods is a very strange thing. (BTW, SSRIs are not euphoric, like anti-depression medication used to be. They just mop up the crappy feelings. And they take a while.)

At some point I'll do a longer post about depression.