Let me shoot you straight for a second. The truth is that the recovery, rehab, and work-balance after a major operation is a real bear. But I genuinely have a lot to be grateful for, so I thought I’d list them here.
1. I am so grateful for the care provided my Mayo Clinic, and more specifically, Dr. Jaroszewski and her team for the incredible work. I’ve never experienced anything like it. There’s a reason that Mayo has the reputation it does, and it’s earned every ounce of it. If you need some serious help, you can do no better.
2. Even though I can’t experience it right NOW due to crippling pain, I’m incredibly grateful for my new titanium chest which will prevent my sternum and ribcage from collapsing onto my heart and lung. For a brief moment, immediately after surgery, before the inflammation kicked and while the HARD pain meds were still working, I was able to take a deep breath. And it was like I had never taken a breath before. It actually brought a tear to me eye. It’s very difficult to explain to someone who hasn’t been living their whole life with a depressed heart/lung but all I can say is that it was an amazing feeling, praise Jesus and I can’t wait to train/recover back to it.
3. I’m super grateful to have had this done before twin Crowders are on their way (mid-August!) this is an exciting new chapter. And finally,
4. I miss all of you. Doing the show every morning feels like talking with family, and I miss talking with you. So even though the doctors say it’s ambitious, I can’t WAIT to sit in that chair on August 2nd and be your new and improved host/voice/comedian/brother/however you think of me. I’ve got a long and rough road ahead, but I’m genuinely happy and grateful for its reason, and I accept its necessity.
Oh! Also, Tiger Balm works great on back pain, but horribly on testicles. So, keep that in mind. See you soon!
Poster Comment:
When I got my sternum broken, it was the most painful thing you can imagine. I miss his shows in the morning. Sanity is becoming a rare commodity.
Tiger Balm? I wonder how many tigers you have to squeeze to get a gallon of that stuff? Don't tell AOC.
#1: Esso To: All (#0)
I am currently a “before” picture. This picture was taken within 48 hours of my pectus surgery. I gained 12lbs of fluid in one night and another few packed on over a couple of days. For the first time in my adult life, I weighed 250lbs. You can see that some flesh has been moved around, and it’s all just unsightly. Why am I posting this? Because as of right now, there is no “after" picture. It doesn’t exist. And considering that I can’t walk the stairs without getting winded right now, that “after” picture probably won’t exist for a solid six months. Now is this setback due to serious, invasive surgery? Sure. But here’s the thing, I don’t feel good about how I look. And sure, I can chalk it up to surgery, to injuries, to the genetic defects which LED to the surgery. But if I want to feel better about myself, no one else can do it for me. Just as surely as I couldn’t perform this complicated surgery, my brilliant surgeon can’t MAKE me fit again. Only I can. It may not be fair. It may not be fun, it simply is. I hate it when people post “before/after” side by sides with lighting tricks or some supplement sponsorship where they strategically pick the before/after pictures AFTER the fact. I’m looking down what’s going to be a pretty long, tough road (though not nearly as hard as others). But this is me today. There is no “after” picture. In 6 months, there will be. Hold me to it.
Esso posted on 2021-07-11 15:53:00 Reply Private Reply