Black Friday.
I don’t know long this will be; typing one-handed is an exercise in frustration. But here i am, giving it the old college try. Things have been challenging since the surgery; i am attached to a cooling machine which keeps the arm iced, which I then have to unplug and carry around if I want to get up and out of my chair. (It’s complicated, but if I detach the easy way I can’t hook myself back up to it one-handed, so Paul has to do it for me.) The most difficult thing has been the anxiety and depression, which I think is normal, given the situation. I’m having my first cup of coffee since Monday, since I had to fast for the surgery itself. Yesterday was hard, because it was the first “family” holiday since Mom died; I thought having the surgery this week would make the holiday easier.
I was incorrect. It did not. Retrospectively, it would have been hard to go; but it wasn’t any easier here and I probably should have spent it with Dad. Ah, well, neither the first nor the last time I’ll be a disappointment to Dad.
This morning is the best I’ve felt since the surgery. I feel like me this morning, and mot as tired. The dressing can come off today and I can shower, which is going to be amazing. Paul has a meeting this afternoon, so I am going to wait until he gets home from that to shower. That will definitely make me feel better, I am sure. I think my head is also clear enough this morning/today to read rather than try to watch television. Thank God, because I’m running out of things to watch. Yesterday I watched a Netflix series based on an award-winning novel that was so fucking terrible all I could think was I hope the book was beautifully written because this is so fucking problematic I can’t believe it won awards. We also started watching Shining Vale, a Courtney Cox show from Starz that is wild and crazy and over-the-top; it’s oddly fascinating but I think it’s quite odd in a David Lynch/horror way that is kind of fun.
I’m not sure how much I will be here until such time as I can use both hands to type; this has already taken a ridiculous amount of time already and I haven’t written much, have I? (I just tried to use the other hand and clearly not ready for that yet.) But writing this is, in a very small way, progress and a return to normalcy–at least a step that way–is a good thing, right?
Hope your holiday was awesome!

Take care of yourself! (And be gentle with yourself. I know. Impossible, but.)
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Glad to hear that you are on the mend. Take care of yourself.
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My partner David Swisher & I lived in New Orleans from 1973 to 1986 before moving to San Francisco. He was a volunteer for the NOAIDS Task force when the first office opened on Bourbon Street. I established the first HIV support group in the city, originally meeting at Tulane University Hospital. David died in May; we were together 51+ years. That’s about us…
What I wanted you to know is that as David began to physically decline, I read to him, often books set in New Orleans. We both took great pleasure in your mystery novel series. Thank you very much for that. …Richard Chaney
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Richard:
Thank you for sharing that with me. I went to work for NO/AIDS in 2005, and am still there–it’s called CrescentCare now–and I am so sorry for your loss. What a wonderful life you two shared.
Take care,
xogreg
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