Tuesday, August 14, 2012

'Just lie quietly'

Katie and I were supposed to go to New York Thursday to see Shakespeare in the Park again – or rather Sondheim in the Park since the play is Sondheim's "Into the Woods" – but in a display of common sense that I haven't shown lately, I decided I just wasn't up to it.

My collarbone feels better and so does my knee, but it is still swollen and is obviously not ready for going up and down subway stairs and traipsing through the park. The thing that bothers me most now is my neck, specifically the hole in my neck where the squamous cell cancer was removed last week. It doesn't hurt as much if I look straight ahead, but you can't do that all day.

I called the nurse today to say it still hurts A LOT, and she said that is normal for the location it is in. Whenever you chew, talk or move, the area comes into play. I told her that oxycodone is the only pain reliever I can take and that I hesitate to use it (yesterday I didn't take any), and she said what I already knew, that you have to stay ahead of the pain. So I need to stop fighting it and take the pill.

I am working on a couple of stories, two of which require travel, so I have to figure out how I will time the pill to avoid taking it around the times I need to drive.

My physical therapist said to get in some walking, do some home exercises and even do light weights at the gym, so I need to figure that in too.

When Diane and I were little and we called from our bedroom that we couldn't sleep, our father would often call back, "Just lie quietly." So that's what I have to do now at least some of the time – lie quietly on the couch – even though it is against my nature.


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