Thursday, December 31, 2009

Goodbye, 2009...and Good Riddance


Note: this post contains an excess of personal whining. Please feel free to skip reading it.
2009 was, for me, a year of pain. In fact, by far the most painful year of my life. On the first day of the year, my 50th birthday, I slipped on an icy hill and suffered a double compound fracture of my right humerus. Surgery, a metal plate, and eight days in the hospital are a lousy way to start a year, trust me.
On January 23rd, my Mother passed away. For those who never new my Mom, she was a character of almost mythological proportions. She called herself a "faded flower-child" but she was tougher than the average nail. Although she battled cancer for 16 years, she was still riding her Harley a few weeks before she died. The last thing she said to me was "I'm not old enough to have a child your age." Spending the last days by her bedside, I went through more emotional pain than I could have imagined.
And the plate in my shoulder/arm worked loose. So I got to have a second surgery, and gained a second plate. Also, a lump was discovered in my right lung. It was non-cancerous, but having it removed was another surgery, and caused another painful process.
Are you sensing a theme here? I spent my spring in extensive physical therapy, which is supposed to be good for you but feels like a violation of the Geneva Conventions, three times a week.
By June, I thought my shoulder had recovered enough to attempt a small river trip. It hadn't. I ended up with an inflamed labrum in my rotator cuff. Six more weeks of serious pain.
Just to insure that the year finished in pain, I developed an Inguinal Hernia (actually, two. But only one hurt prior to surgery). So earlier this month, I had Bi-Lateral Inguinal Hernia repair surgery. I'm rehabbing steadily, but it still hurts to move.
And I still need surgery on my right knee sometime in the future. I think I'll hold off as long as possible.
Throughout all of this I've had prescription pain medications available, but I don't like taking pain pills because I like pain medications way too much for my own good. I've gone through addiction in my past, and I refuse to go back. So I'm willing to live with a certain level of pain. It's the better alternative, even though the plates in my arm are an effective barometer.
I did have some good times in 2009. River trips in June, July, and October; multiple concerts by Widespread Panic, Stockholm Syndrome, Jerry Joseph and more; good friends (and I do have some of the greatest friends imaginable) and gaining a silly little bird (she thinks she's important). I shouldn't whine; my life is full, and mostly happy.
So I'm happy to say 'goodbye' to 2009, a year that had way too much pain.

4 comments:

urland said...

Here's to a better year. I'll see you tomorrow to buy you some ale. I hope the amateurs aren't too noisy in the alley tonight.

ellroon said...

Holy crap, Pygalgia! You have really been through the ringer!

Here's to making 2010 a much better year for you in every possible way!!

Anonymous said...

Understand the reluctance to cut the pain meds. Been there done that. Did a deal with a straight (no drugs) dealer that if she saw me sliding she would agree to stop the crash. She called me on it in three months, blunt, so what's wrong? Counted out my legitimate pills count put me on 3 or 4 days of snorting H and drinking distilled water for 5 days. Worked.

Yes, she owed me big time on a federal offense.

Strangely I have found quite a few of the nonusing dealers that will not sell me what I want. Maybe some prescription stuff that I have bottles for but not to push me toward the white lady.

Hang in there, if you start worrying about running out, you're hooked. Always have a legal script for anything. There are at least 2 doctor feel goods in Flagstaff.

I owe the town. There is going to be a fire in a pizzaria for insulting my wife. You simply don't do that shit. I'm hillbilly redneck, you do not safely insult my wife.

Jill said...

Crappy years are always followed by better ones, in my experience. In just one month in 2000, we got George Bush as president, both our cats died, my stepfather died, and my husband lost his job. The next year was better.

If you like Widespread Panic, you might want to give Railroad Earth a listen if they're ever in your town. Or you can download some shows from archive.org. Good stuff.