Surgery recovery, Day 4

I'm doing well. The pain in my throat is easily managed with meds you can buy in any gift shop, and we came home from the big city the day after the surgery.

This is my second kick at having throat surgery in the last six months, and again, my impression is that the hangover effects of the anesthesia are the worst part of the experience. I can still only handle being out of bed (or a comfy chair) for about five hours at a time. When I'm up I can happily be up and about -- we have been going for our normal walks -- but I tire quickly instead of being energized by being outside. The Caffeinated Wonk is indulging my slower pace without complaint. I think he's a keeper.

I am amused at others' abilities to carry on one-sided conversations with me. I gesture at my throat, they surmise I have laryngitis, and then they continue to talk at me quite happily. My mom went on for what seemed like half an hour but what the Caffeinated Wonk says was a much shorter amount of time: from my side of the FaceTime window it felt very much like a movie scene with the police tracing a call and urging the speaker to keep the connection open. There is not a whole lot to gesture after indicating that I am recovering well. I have a little sign at the office that seemed to make things go more quickly last time, and I plan to use it again when I get back to work. 

My mom managed to talk to the Caffeinated Wonk for the first time a few hours after the surgery; he assured her that I was out of bed and even doing some shopping. This was clearly an exciting moment for her: "He is REAL!" I am not sure what to make of this other than that she apparently thought it was possible that I'd invented a relationship. Personally, I would have invented slightly different details if I'd gone that way, but life doesn't always present itself with perfect details.