Off to the doctor to hopefully have my sutures removed.
You know what that means, don’t you?
I WILL BE ABLE TO SHOWER! Not just turning the shower on and sticking my head underneath it with my body outside. Not washing myself with a combination of soap and washcloth and a bucket like you wash a car, no more alcohol sponge baths, no more baby butt wipes.
An honest to goodness shower. I can not tell you how excited I am.
*** Update ***
Foiled!
Sutures were removed, but I have to wait 24 hours to shower so the holes fill in. :(
I am healing nicely, and they x-rayed my knee (which had swollen up the last couple of days from the fall) and it is stucturally fine, but I damaged my bursa sac (sp?). Ace bandages and ice and it should be fine.
Good day.
Woodbuster
Yes, John, it’s the little things in life. Hot showers. Naked mopping.
They make life so special.
Bob In Pacifica
My sister gets her cast off her foot today. In FLA. Big excitement down there too.
wvng
Tiny steps.
RedKitten
LOL — yep, my husband was the same way when he was able to shower after his knee surgery. I think he wound up using three-quarters of a bottle of body wash.
Enjoy your nice hot shower, John. Just make sure you have a non-slip mat.
bsr
Scrub it Cole!
geg6
Please make sure you have something in there to stop slippage. AND NO LILY IN THE SHOWER!
Plus, enjoy. You, Mr. Cole, deserve it.
GReynoldsCT00
You might want to have a cigarette handy after that first complete shower. I can’t imagine getting by the way you have. Good luck today!
scav
Good luck with getting the MD’s permission to unravel.
Senyordave
This is actually one of the leads on Yahoo, Joe Klein must have finally had it with the GOP.
Too much too hope for that David Gregory, John King or some of the other talking heads will call out the Republicans.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20100204/us_time/08599195899600
General Winfield Stuck
My guess is Tunch and Lily are equally excited. No mo stinky human.
Baby Butt Wipes? filed under too much information. ewww!
mellowjohn
looking forward to getting a cast off my left foot on 2/15. it’s been on since 12/10.
planning on washing my foot for about 3 hours!
Morbo
That takes me back. Given enough time I got pretty accustomed to showering with my left leg out the side. Needless to say that limb got pretty rank over the course of my recovery.
Nikki
What’s wrong with washing with a washcloth? Isn’t that what they are for?
daveNYC
I spent five days in the cabin at camp Muir. I know exactly what you’re talking about.
Face
Now get yerself a lady-friend to enjoy said shower with!
demo woman
@RedKitten: Just make sure you have a non-slip mat.
There’s quite a storm brewing in the south east and it’s expected to turn into a blizzard as it moves up north. The first thing that I thought of was John and Lily. Wonder how many other moms will post with just be careful damn it messages.
Punchy
My record for going showerless was 7 days. Bathroom being remodeled. Then I surpassed that to 8 days during a research trip where the boat had limited water supplies.
Amazing how greasy the noggin gets after 8 days sans soap.
jeffreyw
I was a young and foolish lad once (hard to imagine!) and this, along with a weak grip and gravity turned a joyous swing on a grape vine into a visit to the emergency room. When the doctor at the local catholic hospital removed the cast from my leg a few months later there was a nun/nurse there with a bowl of warm, soapy water and a sponge. Her gentle laving of my freed limb gave me a thrill that literally ran down my leg. I blame this experience for my later arousal by Gidget in her role as the Flying Nun.
Dork
Do their moms know what you were using their infants for?
Linda Featheringill
John:
Progress is a good thing.
But with all due respect to Face, the first shower is just about the shower. After that and during subsequent showers, maybe inviting a friend would be appropriate.
Enjoy.
Brick Oven Bill
Charging down the aisles:
Psychology book
: /
Sarah Palin book
: /
Economics book
: /
Turbo Tax
; /
Video game
: /
More Psychology books
: /
A Book on Mathematics
: )
Still more Psychology books
: /
Still more Video games
: /
Anal Love Beads:
: O
Enjoy your shower John, not having a shower sucks.
General Winfield Stuck
@Brick Oven Bill:
Cole is done with you BoBaloo.
JGabriel
General Winfield Stuck:
Actually, given their proclivity with scents, cats and dogs probably prefer their humans stinky.
.
HRA
OK I’ll join in with the Moms. Be careful and go slowly getting in and out of the tub.
Waiting for the hours to pass until I go in for oral surgery. :(
Citizen_X
Hooray, John! I’ve been there; this is no small thing.
And it is not the same as just going without a shower for a while. I’ve done that, too. Not being able to get one part of your body wet, with all the planning and contortions that that requires, is worse.
Comrade Mary
Oh yes, the first shower after surgery is so special. No mop! No bucket! No squeegee!
asiangrrlMN
Woot! Good luck, Cole. I’m not a mom, but please be careful as you shower. And, just for old time’s sake…
TUUUUUUUNCH!
Nicole
Congratulations, John and continued good healing to you. Please know, as you take that first shower, all your balloon-juice family will be right there with you in spirit.
Now that you have that creepy mental image in place, my work here is done.
twiffer
no more dousing yourself with gallons of patchouli, ya dirty hippie.
Tracy
Why not have Tunch clean you?
DougL (frmrly: Conservatively Liberal)
Great to hear it John! As far as missing showers, I have been under the knife too many times now and my docs have always given me an arm ‘bag’ and seal strap and/or a 3M adhesive film that you apply to bare skin and it seals your incision area.
I still have some of the 3M stuff on hand and it is excellent for a moisture barrier, plus it’s thin and very flexible just like skin. Peels off easily, which is really nice!
J.A.F. Rusty Shackleford
@Nikki:
Washcloths are gross. And what’s the point of them anyway? They’re bathing middlemen with no real value.
If I come across a washcloth I make sure to detail my ass crack with it.
Bill H
You don’t need to tell me. I was once in a cast that went from my toes all the way up to my ass, and wore that damned thing for 11 months. My first shower with it off was on crutches, but it was heaven and I still recall the joy.
chrome agnomen
and a nice new shower curtain installed in the throes of pain.
bob h
I don’t know what kind of insurance you have, but even if you have a good policy you can now look forward to about six months of receiving bills from every Tom, Dick, and Harry in the hospital, who has submitted an inflated (and sometimes fraudulent) bill to your insurers, who pay 2/3 or whatever, and you are stuck with the rest based on formulas that are incomprehensible.
They will continue to bleed you for every penney.
CaseyL
Cole Unbound! – and (still) Unwashed!
I broke my arm a few years back, falling off my horse. I landed on my side, then rolled over onto my back, in the rainy muddy paddock. My (braided) hair was caked with mud, and mud oozed through my clothes while I waited (45 minutes) for the ambulance to get there. I could go to a salon to get my hair washed and rebraided, but the rest of me had to make do with sponge-downs and adult-sized baby wipes until after surgery. I felt like I was covered in paddock grit for nearly 10 days.
So I feel your grime, John. You’re in for a treat when you are allowed to shower again: it will feel really, really good. Don’t forget the scrub-brush; you’ll have some serious exfoliating to do :)
PurpleGirl
Glad to hear you’re recovering well. Don’t know where you are in relation to the coming storm, but maybe you want to get some extra provisions today or tomorrow.
In the possibly TMI category: Did you have sutures or staples? When I had the hemi-laminectomy they used staples to close the wound. When they were removed 10 days later, the doctor asked me if I wanted them. I politely declined. I experienced the no-shower thing when I had surgery on my knee. They had covered my back wound with plastic and I could shower and I was also allowed to change that dressing. Maybe the difference was the staples?
Steeplejack (phone)
I’ll see your no showering and raise you no tooth-brushing for eight weeks with jaws wired shut. Amazing the flora and fauna that build up on the back of your teeth. Which no mouthwash in the world could touch. Brushing again was ecstasy.
Enjoy your shower.
L. Ron Obama
@Nicole:
The creepy image you have given me is this: http://gizmodo.com/assets/resources/2008/04/img2_mel.jpg
Elie
John, I thought that you had shoulder surgery too, right? (or did I get confused again). Maybe somone who has kept up better can briefly let me in on what you had done — me thinking it was shoulder all the time…
Sometimes for shoulders or other areas docs will use sub-q sutures and cover so you can shower right away. Other times staples. Varies with their preferrences and the nature of the surgery.
Glad for you that you can at last enjoy the wonder of something simple like a shower. Amazing how that influences your mood! Also that you are feeling better each day and that is also a mood improver. Keep up that healthy eating and drinking those good fluids…
joeyess
jesus christ, cole. next time you take that dog for a walk, if I were you, I’d suit up in full Steelers regalia, including shoulder-pads, kevlar vest, helmet, knee pads, thigh pads, tail pads and cleats……… etc.etc.
joeyess
For your first shower, you should book the swankiest hotel room with the largest 5-head shower you can find.
ronin122
What the hell is with the emoticon in the text? This leads me to conclude Tunch is the true author of this.
Annie
John, I was completely with you until you got to those “baby butt wipes.”
Admiral_Komack
TPM:
Obama Makes Birther Joke At Prayer Breakfast (VIDEO)
Ben Frumin | February 4, 2010, 9:31AM
At this morning’s national prayer breakfast in Washington D.C., President Obama made a birther joke.
Calling once again for a return to civility in politics, the president declared that civility is “not a sign of weakness” and that he’s “the first to confess I’m not always right.”
“Surely you can question my policies without questioning my faith,” the president said, pausing for a few seconds before adding, “or, for that matter, my citizenship.”
The crowd laughed and applauded.
Violet
Glad you are healing properly, even if you have to wait another day for a real shower. Sorry about the knee. That sucks too. Keep on keeping on.
licensed to kill time
You’re fixing the holes where the rain gets in?
Seriously, I am glad you are healing up and won’t have to shower in a bag anymore, ‘cuz that sucks. I have personal experience.
Ruckus
Showering after surgery off time is good (yes like many here been there done that) and I see that someone up thread has beaten my time but 6 weeks without a shower due to lack of water while on board ship is my record. That was in the Caribbean with GQ drills almost every day (ship shut up tight), docking at Gitmo most nights. My first shower at the end of that cruse was for 1 1/2 hr. And I only felt marginally clean. But at least I didn’t reek any more.
John, it sounds like you are getting along fine in the recovery phase, good luck for continued recovery.