Almost Three Weeks Out from Surgery

Surgery was three weeks ago tomorrow morning.  It seems like yesterday, or maybe like three years ago.  It's hard to know.  Yesterday, the real yesterday, Ed walked over to the local clinic and our nurse practitioner, Virginia, removed the staples that cross his abdomen (always referred to in the hospital as 'war wounds'...what's that about?  Metaphors are so strangely used in the medical setting.).  He is still taking a daily heparin shot (it's a special kind of concentrated heparin that he injects once a day, as opposed to the three times a day that he got in the hospital, and its purpose is to prevent/dissolve blood clots.  Because it's concentrated instead of not concentrated, it's under a new and improved patent which means that it costs $1,000 for a month's supply.  Ordinary, 3 times a day heparin, probably costs fifty cents each time, which would be about $45 per month.  Were you wondering about where all those health care dollars go?  Wonder no more.  We are just now beginning to get mail announcing the costs of the various parts of the Seattle exercise.  $60,000 for starters.)

Anyway, back to Ed.  He's stronger, eating ever more easily, etc., but he still tires quickly.  So, I'm just writing to say that he's getting better.  We went for an hour plus walk in the woods this afternoon and we were not creeping along, just walking as I would on any walk in the woods, although slower some than he would normally walk.  But it's going to take awhile for him to get back to where he was in terms of energy.  He's working on his photographs (he was taking pictures both before and after the surgery in Seattle), and submitting complaints about billing to the insurance companies, a constant activity if you have a lot of medical billing.  Not enough to be sick, you have to have the instincts and skills of an accountant to stay current on your mail.    Tomorrow, he's planning to fertilize some bushes that are in need of help.

And he's trying to get the local roofing guy to return his phone calls.  It is possible that the local roofing guy is also employed by Anthem Blue Cross, I suppose.  His behaviors show similar patterns.