Monthly Archives: July 2020

Six Months!

Ray Whiting -- Posted on by  

(oops… forgot to finish this yesterday)
Today (July 21) marks six months since my surgery. It’s been a challenging time, but I’ve made it this far, so I can probably keep going, eh?

First, a coronavirus update.

Last week we had 42,000 cases and 439 deaths. Houston/Harris County continues to be a hot-spot. And I continue to be leery about going anywhere for any reason.

I’ve not been taking pictures of all the scar progress, but here is my earliest picture

And here is this morning’s picture of the 6-month scar:

Grateful that the scar is quickly fading, although I’m a little freaked out that my navel has shifted about an inch to the right. I was not expecting that. I’m guessing that is because of scar tissue forming underneath in all those various layers of muscle and fat and so forth. I supposed a shifted navel isn’t the worst that could happen.

I am definitely glad that my glucose and blood pressure numbers are fairly normal these days, or as they say in medical terms “within normal range”. There’s really no such thing as ‘normal’, because every body is different and we all have our own normal. But my numbers are within a range of what is considered healthy.

I’ve not been walking like I had wanted to — both joint pain and heat have been disincentives to getting out and walking/exercising regularly. But I am generally more able to get around the house and do what needs doing, and that’s what counts. And with the current pandemic looming overhead, I’m in no rush to get out and about anyway.

Feeling unwell.

Ray Whiting -- Posted on by  

It’s been a few weeks. Sorry about that. I’ve been mostly getting back to near-normal, so there’s been nothing in particular to report.

I did want to update the COVID-19 numbers since the last post:

Horrible. About 18000 new cases just since my previous post.

And the Texas GOP was hoping to bring 6,000 people to their convention here in Houston at the George R. Brown Convention Center downtown. Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner finally cancelled it, said they can’t do it here. The local health officials called it a “clear and present danger” — not just to the convention goers, but all the people having to work the convention center, plus all the hotel workers, restaurant workers, taxi/Uber/Lyft drivers, and everyone else who might come into contact with the convention goers. Plus when those attending the convention carry the virus back home to their own families and communities. It’s insane to think they could have an in-person convention.

Oh, and the funny thing — while they expected people to attend the convention in person, all of the planned speakers were reported to be giving video-taped speeches, not speaking in person. Why? Well, because of the pandemic, of course. What the actual fuck??? The speakers can’t attend in person but they want all the delegates from around the state to show up in person?

Feeling Better

Well, I failed to actually post this yesterday. Sorry. I’m feeling better today, so that’s a good thing.

Each day I do feel a little stronger and more able. My body still has weird shit going on sometimes, but I guess this is part of the recovery process.

It is beastly hot here, and just about everywhere else. Good thing about this weather is that my laundry loads are quite small. And with a renewed ‘stay home’ order (or at least masks required everywhere in public now, isolation, and strong suggestion to stay home if you can) I have no reason to get dressed. So, yaayyyyy for that, I guess.

I screwed up a custom dye job over the weekend, so I’m going to re-do that today. And then I have some orders to pack and ship tomorrow. And then I get to begin a new collection of Blog Reader Specials for the weekend, maybe slip in another of the custom dye jobs as well. We’ll see.

But for now, I guess I’ll post this up and get into the day’s tasks.