Post-op update post. (say 3 times fast)

It's amazing how well all is healing, pain isn't even a thing. Even though I would probably not pass airport security as I have 28 titanium staples in my, ahem, bum. The machine would go nuts!

I brought my wife to the airport yesterday, in my car which isn't exactly known to be comfortable, 200km trip, no problem at all.

I did ask the surgeon, and yes, healing from an operation like this is helped greatly by not drinking and not smoking. Another good reason to stay the course. (not that I would like to have more surgery, but you know what I mean. )

Day 1983.

That is really great Wide-O .

Uh oh, you're catching up!

Wide-O, good to hear you are on the mend.
As for me I am doing remarkably well from where I have been. It is either because I am busy, distracted and happier in general..... or that cutting back on the smokes in a huge contributing factor. Whatever the reason I hope it continues. I still have a very long way to go and had mostly given up hope but now I am optimistic that in time I can live a reasonably "normal" life.
To all my American friends, Happy Thanksgiving. Every day should be a day to give thanks and count our blessings, but some days are easier than others. I will be having my family here and I hope my legs cooperate and I am able to prepare a wonderful dinner to show my family how much I cherish them.

That is good to read SC.

I hope that you and your family enjoy your time together .

YAY! You can do it SC!

Merry Gobble Gobble to you too!

I see on the news this morning that David Cassidy of the Partridge family is near death from organ failure due to his struggles with alcoholism. I feel bad as I would for any alcoholic but he was one of my first childhood crushes. It serves as a constant reminder that this disease is a killer and will take us down if we let it.

There has been a steady flow of family and friends around and the fun is just beginning. I feel very loved and happy yet I am struggling with the drink. I guess my joy is an unfamiliar emotion and so I am craving a buzz. I drank because of loneliness, depression and anxiety and now I want to drink because of happiness? Go figure.

Take good care my friends.

Important: it's how our addiction works. For what it is worth, my most difficult moments in the first year were the happy moments. Less pain in PN, or having lost 30kg of bodyfat, or or... "Hey, that needs to be celebrated, right? Where's the whisk.... oh, damn!"

I've used the visual before: inside our brain there is a reptile part that is still active. We evolved, and added other brain parts that made us a bit smarter, or nicer, or able to play chess against a computer (but we still need a part that makes it easier to understand remote controls ). But the reptile brain is still there, still active, still needed for fight or flight. And it will use all its power to get you to drink again. It waits for weak moments, when your rational part of the brain is distracted with celebration, grief, pain. It is patient, very very patient.

But we can beat it. You are beating it. Just be aware it's there, don't feel guilty when it rears its ugly head, it's normal at first, just tell it to take a hike, that you have better things to do. In the end it will learn, and don't bother you anymore, or very seldom. That's when being sober becomes a lot easier.