I had to be at the hospital at 5:30 am to get prepped for my surgeon's (who's become a personal friend) first surgery of the day. He told me if all goes well, he'll just make it an "out-patient" type thing ... says he knows Lynn can give me as good or better care than any nurse ... but if there is even a HINT of a problem, I was to return to the hospital ER immediately. I chose the out-patient route as I'm REALLY tired of hospital rooms!

The day started out as my usual prep routine ... flirting with the nurses. After the first 5 mins, I had 'em in stitches (no pun intended). Then after an hour or so, things settled down a bit and the anesthetist said he was going to induce a little something to help me "relax". That's the last thing I remember until I woke up in Recovery!

Of course, as soon as I could flap my jaws, I started messin' with the recovery room nurse and before I knew it, two of the nurses came up from the surgery floor on their lunch break to check on me. (I love those gals)

Things went really well and the doc gave the ok to release me under Lynn's care. I told the nurse I was starving and couldn't wait to hit the Thai Restaurant down the street, but she advised me against it after such a short time coming out of anesthesia. 'Course, we went anyway and I ordered one of the spiciest/hottest things on the menu. Actually, the options were, "mild, medium, hot, very hot or Thai Style" ... of course I went for Thai Style ... and with no ill affects I might add (thank goodness). Note: It did NOT go well at all under the same circumstances after a colonoscopy a few years back! THAT was NOT pleasant. But that was pizza ... and there's no way in Hell I'm gonna waste a nice THAI meal like that!

Now, a couple months ago, I was told I was gonna have to go into rehab to break my addiction to pain pills (Morphine and Percocet). I told 'em to stuff their rehab where the sun don't shine ... I ain't no wimp and I ain't hooked. They explained how I may not be, but my BODY is and they'd have to wean me off the things (which I was already doing myself anydamnway) and get me on something else for the pain (non-narcotic I assume). I went straight home and threw every pill I had away! (since then I found out they would have been worth a small fortune on the streets ... like to the tune of about $10,800 frigging $$$$!!!!) No wonder the (street) drug trade is so lucrative! Anyway, no real loss on my part 'cause I ain't into that anyway, but it's kind of mind boggling!

Heck, I haven't taken more than a few Advil for the past couple months ... and very few of those actually. So, I check out of the hospital, they hand Lynn my box of goodies ... tape & bandages, saline, antibiotic salve and ... you guessed it, a pill bottle containing 120 Percocet! Hmmm, with a street value of $30 each ... that comes out to .... naaaa, I'll hang onto 'em for a while in case the pain REALLY kicks in, but so far, the hospital meds have worn off and I'm in no more pain than I normally experience on a daily basis. Don't get me wrong, they did a lot of cutting and it HURTS ... I think I've just lived with it so long, I'm used to it.

So I'm fine, the surgery went well and I'm sitting at home instead of lying in some hospital bed. If I don't feel any worse than this tomorrow, I may even hit a few estate sales in the morning! From past personal experience though, it seems the SECOND day after any sort of "injury" is the worst, so Sunday "may" be a rough one. I'll have to wait and see.

Thanks for the well-wishes dufes (here, phone, text & e-mail) ... it's really appreciated.