"Do Nothing"

"Do nothing" is what I heard today at my appointment with my doctor's medical assistant. She said that includes, "no driving". Darn! I really wanted to start driving. But, they insist that I do not start driving again until it has been a full two days that I've been off my percoset prescription. But, "I drive better when I'm on Percoset". No, I did not say that, but I was taking it before my surgery and didn't have any problems. I took their advice and will not be taking any percoset for the next two days. I'm pretty much down to one a day anyway. So, it should be easy for me.

I did have the staples removed from my left hip suture today. I did not know what to expect. I thought for sure that removing staples from the human body would a painful experience. Darn, I can't believe that I did not take a picture of the staples. Actually, I did not even really look at the suture myself. The thought of staples in my own flesh and muscle is not a site for me, so I realize now that I had pretty much ignored the visible appearance of the staples in my skin.

About an hour before my appointment Debi gave me some Lidocaine which is topical anesthetic cream to numb the area before they removed the staples. The medical assistant showed me the tweezer-looking tool that she was going to use before pulling them out. She said, "I've pulled out staples before, but never from a hip suture". I also recall Dr. Silver's Physician's Assistant saying after the surgery, "Dr. Silver did a bone graph from the hip and replaced the disc with it, that is a first for him". Gosh, you mean to tell me that I'm the first person they've tried this stuff on. Seems to surprise me a bit, but what can I do. I have to trust them. I did and still do.

"Is it going to hurt?" I said. "Should I hold on to something?" I said. The medical assistant said "yes, hold on to something if that will be......okay, got the first one". That quick! I said, "you did?!?" with surprisement. But, "I didn't feel anything, nothing at all". Great. There was going to be no pain in removing the staples.....got myself all worked up for nothing. She suggested that the lidocaine may be working really well. She was surprised that I did not feel anything. I guess I had about 8 staples to pull out and they came out quick.

After the staples were removed I did get a little queezy and had to sit down. But, I got back to normal and she put steri-strips on the suture that will come off themselves. I was free to leave, but without driving privileges that I had hope for. Just wanted to be able to drive to the grocery and back, that is about it.

After the appointment, John (who gave me a ride to the appointment, he's from Canada, retired here during the winter months with his wife, he's also a cyclist) and I contemplated about whether or not I should get my car and drive back to Hendersonville. He said he would follow me back, but I told him I would be a while at home before I could leave. We both indecisively tossed the idea back forth and finally, I said, "no, lets just go back to Hendersonville. I'll be okay." John offered to give me a ride sometime during the week when I felt it would be okay for me to drive. "I'll call you tomorrow and we'll shoot for Wednesday", I said. He was okay with that and said, "Maybe Tuesday I think it may be raining and I won't be able to ride anyway". Sounds good.

I had a number of things that I wanted to pick up from home. These are things that would keep me productively busy for the week. So, maybe I'll pick them up in a few days.

-Frank