Daily Update, July 2, 2024

    On Tuesday, the secretary from the nursing company came and took me to a complex across the street from the hospital, then went to park her car next door. I went inside, looked at the directory, and didn't see surgery anywhere. So I called the number surgery had called me from last week. They said I had the wrong building, and it go to the one on the right. I found the correct building. Then I looked around just finishing walking form parking her car in the lot next door. {Smile}

   We went up together, and I filled out forms as well as I could She offered to have me dictate, but that was harder than writing it down myself. then they called me in, and I saw the Resident who's shadowing the surgeon first. He examined me, then the surgeon came in. He's the same surgeon who operated on my boil when I was in the hospital at the beginning of the pandemic (for a truly gross boil, not covid). They started explaining things. Apparently, the mesh is holding; that's not what's failing. The thing I feel near the surface is a knot from the old surgery that can be cut off if necessary. The problem is that my abdominal muscles have separated and are pulling apart. The surgery to fix that is too big for me be a candidate for it. However, there are other ways to help my condition, including weight loss and an "abdominal binder," which is a kind of corset that's medically approved for certain conditions, including mine. I'm to work on both. {sigh}

   After that, we went back to the car, which is pretty far away if you go around a bunch of construction. She took me home, and we filled in Mom's and my main nurse. {Smile}

   I ate dinner with Mom and read to her before that. She was resting when I went in today, but responded when I spoke to her a few times, and opened her eyes to look at the pictures, especially the ones of babies. I started my reading with scripture and thoughts about it first. Next, I continued her niece's long family Christmas letter from 2022. After that, I continued _Picture Book: Babies_, which has facts about babies along with pictures of them. Then I read two stories from _365 Animal Stories and Rhymes_. I ended with the 2nd of July's story, "The Lazy Weasels," from _366 Stories for Bedtime_. {Smile}

   I did my arm resistance exercises and my arm swinging exercises between reading to Mom and eating dinner. Then I did six and a half minutes of salsa dancing after starting to write this and make notes in it after playing City of Heroes: Homecoming this evening. That's twice as much as last night. Then I did seven and a half of my fourteen walking exercises after I cleaned myself up. That's slightly over twice as much as last night, too. {SMILE}

   Over and after breakfast I played Cross Stitch World and read web fiction. After the trip to the surgery consultation, I played more Cross Stitch World, and read comics and web fiction while I thought a lot about what was said in the surgery consult. It's truly a lot of process. I don't think I'm done with that yet. I finally got around to writing up Monday's daily update so I could hop into City of Heroes: Homecoming with a clear conscience. I'm afraid this required a nudge from Pierogies reminding me that he and Kitten were waiting to try again with the mission that stumped us the day before. It was better at a slightly lower difficulty, even when Kitten fell asleep. Still, it was a big map, as pierogies pointed out when he got tired, and decided to leave before we were done. He wants to try again another day. Then I did some paperwork and talked with Dennis when he said hi. I'm afraid it was too close to time to read to Mom to start something new. {smile}

   After dinner, I hopped back into City of Heroes: Homecoming. I hoped to find Dennis, but he wasn't there. Instead, I teamed with Azurette, and chatted with Pierogies. After a couple of missions, Azurette left. Then I talked with Ulty and my new friend while doing paperwork and soloing. while that was going on, Divi said hi, and we chatted, too. Then Dennis came on, and we teamed up for a few missions. He helped me finish a story arc before leaving again. I also said goodnight to Nox, having missed talking again. Then I did some paperwork and began writing this. Next, I did my salsa dancing. then I clean myself up. After that, I did a majority of my walking exercises. Then I played Cross Stitch World and made notes in this to write from the next day. {Smile}