7-17-09 morning update

BP 120/69 Pulse 85
Weight 214.0 lbs

The incision continues to heal nicely. The breastbone under the incision feels fine unless I have to cough, hiccup or laugh. Last night we watched Most Extreme Elimination Challenge (XMC) and I thought I was going to die! I wanted to watch the show because it is frequent hilarious but I just couldn't stand it. Even squeezing my heart pillow tightly against my chest couldn't keep it from hurting.

Taking medications for pain:

Hydrocodone/APAP 5mg/325mg 1 tab every 4 hrs except when experiencing increased pain
Ibuprophen 200mg every 4-6 hrs

Last night I stayed up later than I should have but Gunga Din was on and it is one of my favorite movies. Isn't it strange how a movie you have on DVD comes on TV and you have to watch it. Anyway, I got to bed very late, actually so late it was early. I was sleeping very well when I had a weird dream of someone throwing little wet-naps at my face. I woke up to our chihuahua, Guero, licking my face. He wanted out and I guess I was the most likely target. Maybe he tried Veronica and failed to wake her. Anyway after about 4 hours of sleep, I was up to let the little dude go check on his girlfriend, the neighbor's dog. Because I had just been slathered with slobber, I figured it was necessary to wash the doggie drool off my face. Once I wash my face, there is little chance for going back to sleep for me.
Maybe I'll get to sleep early tonight.

I am looking forward to a few days of sub-100 degree heat. That will be a treat. Maybe I'll be able to go outside during the day without fear of a flash fire breaking out on my clothing. I hope the weather predictions are right this time. I despise the uber-heat. If I hear another person say, "But, it's a dry heat," I'm going to politely ask them to stand in the dry heat until their brain desiccates.

When the thermometer is rockin' 105, you should have the decency to admit it is hot. There is no sunny side to temperatures over 100. You don't hear ER staff saying, "Well at least it was just a .38 through your belly". No you don't. That staff is professional enough to panic when you come in with a bullet wound in your belly, just like the should. It's easy to get obsessed with the heat in the south when you hide from the weather indoors all day like people in Canada do during January. Except I can not put on more clothes to beat the hot weather. It also gets to a points where, if I take any more off, I'll be spending summer in an un-air conditioned cell in the Texas state penal system.

Let's face it, air conditioning has got to be man's greatest accomplishment. The automobile was awesome but a car without AC is a lousy place to be. The light bulb is terrific but, in a world without AC, why would you want to turn the light on and highlight the sweat stains on everyone's clothes? Modern surgical techniques are amazing but if a doctor got so sweaty that the scalpel slipped out and landed point down in a patient's heart, the doctor would have some serious 'splaining to do. The old "it was there when I got there" excuse doesn't really work for foreign objects inside someone's chest cavity. Television is great but I would rather sit in an empty air-conditioned room listening to Carol Channing singing Achey Breaky Heart A Capella repeatedly than watch the Oakland Raiders win the superbowl on a 92 inch HD flat screen TV if the AC was out. When I think back to my youth when I grew up on the Texas-Mexico border without air conditioning, I can only wonder why my mother was not prosecuted for child neglect. It probably stunted my development. I could have become the scientist who developed a cure for cancer, the astronaut who verified the existence of alien life, or better yet, the inventor of a solar-powered personal air conditioner that could keep you cool inside your clothes.