The Importance of Trying Times

/ Chel Owens

Last week, I had surgery. It was elective, so I’m not dying or anything. I just thought I ought to finally tell someone besides my immediate family. Also, ’twas the prompt for the first Weekly Terrible Poetry Contest I’m hosting (be sure to enter; you’ve got a day or so).

Because of this surgery, I haven’t been feeling up to snuff. That fact sounds a bit obvious, but was not part of my pre-surgery planning. I had the house clean, meals set up, rides arranged, babysitting for the day, and a prescription filled for heavy-duty Ibuprofen. In terms of what my recovery would be like, I think I thought I would just veg and write for NaNoWriMo afterwards.

Unfortunately, I haven’t found very comfortable positions to write from. Between the lingering tailbone recovery and the fact that the surgery was done near my midsection, I haven’t been able to wedge a typing machine in a sustainable place long enough to attempt much longer than a short story.

I have also been very tired.

-Not that surgery and recovery are completely alien to me. I’ve had an appendectomy and three C-Sections. Like pregnancy, however, I figured I survived operations in the past and was likely to handle another one just fine.

Then I get up and try walking.

By the by, if you’re considering an abdominal area incision, I’ve some quick recommendations:

  1. First, have people and/or devices around to retrieve things that keep obeying gravity.
  2. Purchase a heating pad for your back. Walking around like Igor for a day or so will really cramp up your muscles.
  3. Get a belly strap. I’ve used this amazing device after my C-Sections, and I rush-ordered one from Amazon last week after I could sit up long enough to do so.
  4. Surround yourself with pillows.
  5. Do not cough.
  6. Do not laugh.
  7. For the love of all that is or isn’t holy, DO NOT SNEEZE.
  8. Have a surface nearby that can hold your water, pain medicine, food plate, socks, stretchy pants, strap, ice pack, cell phone, etc.
    Turns out, I really need a wider nightstand.
  9. Accept any offers of help! We have so many leftovers from dinners brought in, but now I don’t have to worry about lunches, either.
  10. I can’t think of anything else, but the list looked too short with nine items.

I’d like to say I’ve at least devoted my hours of recovery to introspection or philosophizing in preparation for writing, but that isn’t true, either. The last few days I’ve actually gotten a few armor set upgrades for Link in “Breath of the Wild.” Dragon hunting is a great time-killer and now I’m pretty much an expert on where they spawn.

I’ve not had the memory or focus capacity to create. Sorry.

So, let’s end this apologetic blog post by giving a short Week In Review. I know it’s Wednesday, but unconventional is my thing.

Wednesday, November 7: Track Memory, my submission to a contest that I should have waited till the 16th to post. Sorry, Charli.
Thursday, November 8: Skinwalkers, XLI.
Friday, November 9: On the Brink, a poem I wrote just before going under the knife and scheduled ahead, thinking, What if I die and this posts the next day and everyone is like, Whaaa-?
I also announced my intent to have a weekly contest.
Saturday, November 10: Official Weekly Terrible Poetry Contest start. YAY!
Sunday, November 11: The Apple Pie from the Same Tree, my real-life experience written for Carrot Ranch’s blog prompt.
Monday, November 12: Wilhelmina Winters, Seventy-Two.
Tuesday, November 13: Inspirational quote by Neil Gaiman.
And, my little contribution posted over at The Bipolar Writer Mental Health Blog.
Today, November 14: This post. 🙂

Happy Wednesday or Whatever Day You Read This. May you have more mobility than I!

29 thoughts on “The Importance of Trying Times”

  1. Let me add (apart from the list you gave for which I offer full sympathy): the inability to raise an arm high enough to pour water into the coffee machine, and the inability to bend down low enough after a shower to dry the feet. But take one thing from this, Chelsea: there is light at the end!!!

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  2. Here’s to your speedy recovery, Chelsea. 🙂
    I felt I’ve been neglecting the blogging community this week on account of all-of-a-sudden legal obligations when buying a house. 🤪 Hoping we’ll all be back to normal soon.

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  4. Awww I’m sorry – I’m so behind on reading blogs that I was unaware of you going in for surgery, but then again you just said that you’ve not told anyone besides your immediate family so I’m being a bit durr really! I do hope you’re on the mend really quickly … take it easy, milk it for all it’s worth and watch all the trashy films you can get your hands on! Big hugs. Katie xx

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