Today is Thursday, March 11, 2010 and it is 16 days since my surgery. I cannot believe how good I feel. There are a few minor negatives. The incisions in both the chest and the arm seem to make unilateral decisions once on a while to either itch or mildly be sore. These are transient in nature and are more nuisance than substance. The sternum will mildly throb or ache, especially first thing in the morning or in the evening, and I am not above or beneath popping a couple of Tylenol for that. It does hurt to cough, laugh, or sneeze. I do have a slightly annoying latent cough that seems to be new (new as I did not have it prior to the surgery). As for the laughing, well, at least the saying “it only hurts when I laugh” has meaning. The best advice with respect to sneezing: “don’t”. One thing that seems to work for me is to rub the roof of your mouth just about the gum line beneath your nose. That seems to stop the sneeze. It is important, to make sure that whether you cough, laugh, or sneeze that you either hold your chest, or better yet, use your pillow or teddy to make sure that you displace nothing in your still fragile sternum.

I do have to be careful, very careful, of how I move or lift or open. The magic number is 10 pounds, just over 4.5 kilograms: If I pull, push, lift, drag, catch, or anything I can mess things up and I have to be continually cognizant of that.

The final nuisance factor is the fatigue or reduced energy. The bad news here is that I am a little frustrated that I tire out easily. But the good news is that I can take a nap at the drop of a hat and am just following doctor’s orders.

I have been waking up at 6:30 or 6:45 in the morning. Today I was proud of myself for making coffee and breakfast for my wife and me. That is followed by a bit of sitting down and then I get to go for walk number one of the day. I think today I am allowed to do two 15 minutes strolls and the one I did in the morning was on the topside of a still frozen meadow. No doubt beneath the crusty snow all kinds of things are happening: The DNA of plants for the billionth generation in a row is getting the perennial grasses to wake up, seeds are starting to divide cells, voles are putting on sunglasses to protect against the increasing light that comes with melting snow, and the chipmunks were hitting the torpor snooze alarm. But my wife, the beagle, and I were taking advantage of the hard surface just to get in my delicious morning stroll.

We went home too quickly (but my wife is a diligent guardian angel) and I took a short rest followed by my daily stretches and breathing under the supervision of my wife (who at this point becomes a bit of a drill sergeant guardian angel).

My wife went off to work and I read and surfed and napped and listened to the iPod and dillied and daddled. I took a shower which is a bit of an exercise that I will describe in a separate post.

I am proud to say that I made my first dinner. Whole wheat pasta with olive oil, mushrooms, lemon rind, lemon juice, a bit of parmesan cheese, and some leftovers from part of some East Side Mario seafood pasta. My wife and I thought it tasty, but the beagle went insane over it.

My wife is cleaning up the kitchen (hey! I am supposed to rest) and making a cake for a friend’s 35th birthday. We are going over for a bit of a party tonight.

Day 16 and I am still counting blessings! Time for the second walk of the day.