day......yikes....251

 I have a new prostate!

    Yes, that is my new prostate!  Emily and John found it on Amazon and bought it for me.

    I don't think mine was smiling, and I am not sure what this one is doing.....but I know it is not going back into my belly!

    I will say this, if you want rest, do not go into a hospital.  My first night I had a check at 10, meds at 12, another check at 2 and blood drawn at 4 before pain meds again at 6.  Then they asked me how I slept!

    I ended up in an ICU bed because the Intermediate Care Unit was full.  During the 4 plus hour surgery, my BP fell to something like 80/40 and my pulse rate was in the 30s.  They felt that was a little low.

    In recovery, two nurses hovered over me. They were both wearing Chicago Bears face masks.  Beth said, "How can we get his blood pressure up?"  I answered, "Show me a replay of Monday night's game."  They laughed.

    Now, I don't have any recollection of that conversation except the other nurse, Colleen, came up to see me in ICU the next morning.  She said they were all still laughing and wanted to check on me.

    If they only knew.

    After 1 night in ICU, I was moved to a general floor room.  It was much better.      The night nurse was super .....actually named Emily....and one of her tasks was to get me up and walking, since I had now been on my back for most of 28 hours.

    Our first trip down the hall I walked like Frankenstein and she had to help me with balance.  We walked for about 5 minutes and I was tired.  We went back to my room and she said call me later and we will walk again.

    At 11 I called her and sure enough, she came and we walked and talked up and down the hallways....and she did not have to hold me.

    The worst part of the experience is I have a catheter.  

    Not to share TMI, but there have been an awful lot of young ladies who got a look at this farty old man's junk over the past three days.

    To their credit, none of them laughed, one asked me for my phone number, and two student nurses decided to pursue other careers.

    I am home, obviously.  I am tired.  I am sore.  I am nervous about having a bag, but am handling it much better today.

    Emily was awesome, coming to pick me up Thursday only to wait for several hours before the decision was made not to send me home.  

    Unfortunately, she said that losing my prostate may affect my testosterone level, which could make me a little more emotional.

    More?  Holy crap, you won't believe the number of times I have cried reading the Facebook comments, texts, e-mails, and answering telephone calls. 

    You guys are fantastic...and I really don't know why I deserve it.  But I know I am so thankful for all of you.  

    Damn, I am crying again

    Stay safe.  Stay home.  Wear a mask.

Peace and Love