He's not shy about hanging out or working without a shirt. And there's no one out here to object. And it's bloody HOT again. Today he's going to load some stadium lights on my trailer so we can deliver them to a nearby farm that holds special events. He brought them to go in the shop - and he changed his mind about lighting, so we ended up with hanging, plug in LED shop lights. These will donated to a good cause.
Got his first shower last night so it was time for fresh bandages anyway. Back incision is small and almost completely healed up already. Bandaid is all it needs. Big bandaid.
Front incision about 4.5 inches long and a 4x4 gauze pad and waterproof seal handles that pretty well. The stitches are self dissolving and the sewing is a work of art. No leaks so far. So after the shower he goes shirtless to let everything completely air dry and air out.
I have a betadine salve and a colloidal silver wound spray (both antibacterial) to boost healing.
It's 24 hrs since the first level of dose - less than 1 thousandths of a milligram - was turned on, on the pump. I can tell he's moving easier and he's been able to do things that hurt just a week ago (surgery was last Friday). He's going for a walk and will disassemble and load and tie down the lights today. As long as he doesn't do a lot heavy lifting and working in awkward positions for another week - I think he'll be fine.
He's even noticing the difference between this surgeon's work and the previous "butcher"; and he was treated well by the med staff too. Hol has been hovering somewhat and going out of her way to help. She's a tad "over" helpful - but the two of them do get along way better than I feared. S has been working a lot - so she's been trying to find useful things to do around here.
Both of us have our peculiar habits or ways of doing things - but there's been plenty of "space" for each of us to be who we are. So while the anxiety over the surgery was high, we're just about right and cozy with each other. It will be a new experience for both of us - when he's more pain-free. It's really been EASY to be around him. It is going to require a firm counter to his tendency to overwork himself - but there is plenty to be done around here all the time and since he likes to work in the heat (and I can't) we can find a happy medium.
We took a drive yesterday looking for Ice Mountain - the only arboreal forest south of Canada - and maybe because the road was so challenging and it was new for both of us - we didn't find it. But he got to see another section of the county and walk around the grocery with me. Maybe over the weekend, I'll take him the other direction and show him the house I built with Ex #2. There's a farm market or two I want to check out in that area - local, grassfed meats and other produce. And I definitely want to take him to the valley where the little cabin is, I used to own, when he's more able to scramble over streams and rocks. He likes to hunt fossils and that seems to be "the land that time forgot". We also make that a "loop" drive and catch the ski area to the west and Mount Storm and some of western MD, on the way back.
