and for my next trick . . .

[realthog]

So tomorrow it's back to hospital (a different hospital, in fact, but when you're staring at the ceiling blearily they all look much the same) to have a bit more surgery done.

This time it's nothing so baroque or flamboyant as on my last excursion: merely a matter of having arterial stents ("kissing stents" is the rather charming technical term) emplaced in both legs via a puncture in my groin area; as a special bonus, they shave my groin for free!*

As far as I can understand, the experience should be roughly the same as for the angiogram I underwent a few months ago, and I ought to be back home by evening. I get the impression that for the next few days I may be of use for not much else but looking pitiful and occasionally drooling in an earnest manner -- two activities for which I have a pronounced talent. If I'm up to it, I'll do some research reading for Bogus Science; if the residual anaesthetic is still making my mind wander, I guess my reading matter will be . . . less demanding. To be honest, I have my fingers crossed I should be able to carry on work as usual: there's a lot to be done.

Recovery should be fast thereafter. My hope is to get across to Nottingham, UK, for Fantasycon in mid-September, where there's the possibility I can do something to assist my novel The Dragons of Manhattan, currently in severe danger of being "orphaned" owing to circumstances beyond its publisher's control (major illness, something that's of course far more important than the fate of any novel . . . yet I have to think about the novel too). If I do make it across, this'll necessarily be -- for reasons of both expense and time -- a down-and-dirty trip, just there and back, with none of the bopping around to see friends/rellies that's usually a major part of such ventures.

Of course, another lure of Fantasycon is that it'd be nice to be there in person for the British Fantasy Awards ceremony, just to witness first-hand my failing to pick up a BFA for the anthology New Writings in the Fantastic. I've managed to miss the vast majority of awards ceremonies in which I've had an interest, so . . .


* As they did preparatory to angiogramming me. My innocent fantasies of this act being performed by a Barbarella-style delight were shattered cruelly when the nurse in question appeared at my bedside, complete with his nautical swagger and his bulging, tat-adorned biceps. All that was missing was the can of spinach.
 

Comments

[nick-kaufmann.livejournal.com]

Wishing you a speeding recovery!

[realthog.livejournal.com]

Thanks! This time it's really not a major deal.

[ogre-san.livejournal.com]

Good luck with both the stents and the BFA!

[realthog.livejournal.com]

Many thanks! I just have to remember which is being implanted in my leg and which is being given away in Nottingham . . .

[sarcobatus.livejournal.com]

"All that was missing was the can of spinach."

Oh my . . . well, I guess there will be no pinching of this nurse's bum!

Best wishes tomorrow, P. I'll be thinking of you -- while my head is wired for sound, no less. That should make for interesting reading.

*hugs*

[realthog.livejournal.com]

"Oh my . . . well, I guess there will be no pinching of this nurse's bum!"

Oh, I dunno. With one of their massive doses of morphine inside me, who knows what . . .

[lonfiction.livejournal.com]

Watch out! Anesthesia + research can add up to some pretty strange interpretations! :)

[realthog.livejournal.com]

If things go hopelessly awry I can just mumble as I hand in the manuscript that Bogus Science is postmodernist, doncha know, all the rage, this kind of stuff . . .

[charlesatan.livejournal.com]

Good luck and take care!

[realthog.livejournal.com]

Many thanks, Charles!

[thalinoviel.livejournal.com]

Fingers crossed!

[realthog.livejournal.com]

Thanks, Poppet! Did I tell you, by the way, that we discovered at the weekend that you'd left behind with us that excellent digitoidal camera you bought in Manhattan? We'll get round to posting it soon, honest.

xx

[quietselkie.livejournal.com]

drooling in an earnest manner

Sorry, I got a huge chuckle from that, Veronica.

Take care and we'll see you on the flip side.

[realthog.livejournal.com]

"got a huge chuckle"

Always to be relied upon for her sympathy . . .

[pgtremblay.livejournal.com]

Best wishes and hang in there.

[realthog.livejournal.com]

I don't think I've got any choice but to hang in there -- they have burly ancillaries ready to stop patients making a bolt for the exits before the procedure starts.

[nballingrud.livejournal.com]

All right, just this once more, but after this you're going to have to stay out of hospitals for a while, mister.

[realthog.livejournal.com]

Except for the other stenting I have to have done in the not too distant future, this time for a renal artery.

[time-shark.livejournal.com]

Good luck, Paul, on all fronts.

[realthog.livejournal.com]

Many thanks, Mike! As stated, though, this is a mere bagatelle; I feel guilty for having even mentioned it.

[al-zorra.livejournal.com]

May all parts of this procedure go smoothly and painlessly, and the recovery time be swift.

I hope you will be able to attend Fantasycon.

Dang.

This is the nicest part of summer too.

Tu Amiga -- C.

[realthog.livejournal.com]

Many thanks, C: xx.

I am hoping very much to make it to Fantasycon, as you'll have guessed. When I spoke to the heart surgeon (as opposed to the stenting surgeon) a few weeks ago, he said there was absolutely no physical reason why I shouldn't be able to, even bearing in mind the stenting.

[ellen-datlow.livejournal.com]

Good luck on it and speedy recovery so you can take me yardsailing next week! ;-)

[realthog.livejournal.com]

Yardsailing?

Well, there's a heavy rainstorm going on right at the moment, but I'm not certain it's going to last that long . . .

[sartorias.livejournal.com]

Best wishes for swift procedure and swift recovery!

[realthog.livejournal.com]

Many thanks! But really this time it should be no big deal.

[lilithsaintcrow.livejournal.com]

The mental image of Popeye fiddling about your groin with a disposable, pink floral razor will haunt me for the rest of my years.

And not in a good way.

Here's hoping Barbarella will be on duty, and that the whole thing goes smoothly, and that the recovery goes well!

*hugs*

[realthog.livejournal.com]

"And not in a good way."

Is that because of Popeye or because of . . .?

Thanks for the hugs!

[fledgist.livejournal.com]

May you recover swiftly and thoroughly, and may all your pains be minor.

[realthog.livejournal.com]

Many thanks. But this will be not much more than a trip to the dentist, and significantly less painful.

[plattcave.livejournal.com]

Speedy recovery, my friend!

[realthog.livejournal.com]

Hope so, John!

[jmward14.livejournal.com]

Sending my best medical mojo and speedy recovery wishes. Big, healing hugs, Jean Marie

[realthog.livejournal.com]

"my best medical mojo"

Aaargh! I'm a goner!

Many thanks for the intent, anyway, JM. xx

[eglady.livejournal.com]

The real issue, you know, is when that groin hair starts to grow back in, and itch ...

Sending assurances your way for tomorrow, so nothing else needs shaving!

--M

[realthog.livejournal.com]

"The real issue, you know, is when that groin hair starts to grow back in, and itch ..."

I know, I know . . .

"Sending assurances your way for tomorrow"

Many thanks!