Finding the Way: No pain, no gain

According to Wikipedia this saying "no pain, no gain" dates back to the second century, in a Hebrew text. Well, the Jews would know about pain wouldn't they? In modern times we associate that saying with working out. Gotta push the body to the level of pain in order to increase one's performance.

You might be asking--what does this have to do with me???

Well, I've had to make friends with pain theses last few days. The leg break was a piece of cake compared to the post-op pain I've endured the last 36 hours. The Spanish aren't into the heavy, opiate-based drugs like the US. We don't mess around--Vicodin,Percoset. I've existed on Ibuprofen and Paracetamol. In their favor, no antibiotics were prescribed.

The surgery went perfecto, according to my surgeon. And the anesthesiologist must have been channeling Gary Swanson--she was singing "we wish you a merry Xmas" throughout the whole surgery and pinched my cheek now and then to make sure I was still alert. There was about an hour gap from the time they wheeled me into OR and I woke up with no memory. In fact, when I woke up I thought it was all over. That's when the actual orthopedic work began. I was behind a drape, so couldn't see anything. At one point I asked the a-- to take a picture of my ankle, but I really couldn't make heads or tails of it. A few screws and a plate and I'll be good as new.

Four weeks in the half-cast--back of leg only. Stitches out in 2 weeks. No weight bearing for 6 weeks. I'm looking at a knee scooter or something that I can go longer distances with. I'm doing better with the crutches, but on a good day, seems too risky.

The hiking season is winding down here because of the heat in the hills and lack of shade. I'm on the coast, so get a bit of a breeze and ample shade. I can do without the flies, though. 💤