Stepping out slowly (some medical details, not really anything gory)

Ended up spending one overnight at the hospital - probably for the best, since I wasn't really up and active until well into the evening. The stay was fantastic, as these things go - very friendly, cheerful, competent nurses and doctors who explained everything to me as we went along. Even the food was good, which I could hardly believe. (Bemo can confirm this, as I didn't have a huge appetite and he ended up scarfing down a lot of my leftovers.)

So I got home yesterday afternoon, put up signal flags to friends and family that I was ok, and then took my pills and went back to sleep. Today I'm trying to get myself up and around a little more. The fact that the doctor didn't require me to wear a collar (they even measured me for one during the pre-op stuff) was a big surprise, so I'm being very careful with my neck and how I crane my head. I almost wish I had a soft collar, just as a...well, a reminder, I guess. But I'm doing ok so far.

The least of the pains is the actual incision site, which does indeed look like something I obtained in a ship-to-ship battle with pirates. It's glued together, which means I can shower without having to wear a garbage bag over it. Next worst are my shoulders and neck, which feel like I've obtained a bad case of whiplash. And every so often, I get a muscle spasm from them that makes me yelp. But most uncomfortable is actually a sore throat, which comes from the fact that they had to move my esophagus and trachia over to get to my neck. I'm relying on a lot of ice water to soothe it, and I'm also happy that my appetite isn't very big at the moment.

So, on the whole, I'll be shuffling around the apartment for a little longer, healing up. I'll have to have a few more checkup appointments and some follow-up x-rays, but other than that it's all done but the bill paying.