jakorte's blog

I’m one of those people they write warnings labels for..

This is for sure the earliest early edition of MidWeek Encouragement ever sent. That’s because I won’t be available for more than a few days on either side of this coming Wednesday. In fact, tomorrow late morning I will be having surgery, again. This time it’s for an innocently gained hernia of rather large size.

I managed that by exercising, untraditionally. It seemed to me that I wasn’t getting the same core workout on the elliptical that I did on the treadmill. I know that’s counter-intuitive, but it’s true. My treadmill style included hip-hop moves, boxing, and high marching all while moving. The elliptical pretty much only allows you to do… an elliptical motion. The only way I could think of to jazz-it up was to… well… assume a downhill ski position while pedaling and working my upper arms. That was a work-out I felt the next day, and for a few days afterward. Nothing horrific, just some general soreness.

At first, I though the little bulge was an indicator of weight gain. However, as it grew I became increasingly concerned. Within a few weeks nothing more than a slight horizontal slash remained, and my belly was pretty much button-less. So, off I went to the doctor explaining that it didn’t hurt; it just felt uncomfortable. Sometimes it was hot, sometimes cold. It got bigger and smaller, and until all the poking and prodding and pressing, it hadn’t been the slightest bit painful. After that, it was.

The theory is that I may have had abdominal weakness after they had so much trouble getting my gallbladder out. The hernia’s been living happily above my belly-button since October. An MRI and few visits to other doctors raised some interesting conflicting opinions about what may or may not be going on in there. By the time I finally saw a surgeon, it was estimated that the parting of my abdominal muscles have left 12 x 7 cm gap, and the hernia itself was to quote, “the size of a cantaloupe.” Please don’t panic: in my opinion it would be a very small cantaloupe. Seriously, I wouldn’t buy one this size; not enough bang for my buck.

So, there you have it: a short synapsis of a four month odyssey which won’t come to a complete end after surgery. Repairing the hole is just the beginning. I have no idea what the time-line is for recovery. I was told to expect to be admitted following surgery, and that I would probably remain in the hospital 2-3 nights. There are driving restrictions and weight restrictions and, of course, exercise restrictions. The most important of which would be to only use the equipment in the way it was intended. Sigh.