xela | Progress

Had my stitches out yesterday. (Which left me wondering why isn't it routine to apply topical anesthetic before doing that?) I'm going to be in the sling at least another two or three weeks. Mobility still very limited: the doctor made a square with his hands — heart-height to hip-height, no further out from the body than parallel-forearms — and said "stay inside the box." Even a lot of that is pretty painful to stay in for any extended period. Typing with my keyboard on my desk is intolerable after a minute or two; I'm typing this with it in my lap, which has its own issues, but won't hurt enough to make me stop or another 10 minutes or so.

I start physical therapy next week; initially scheduled for four weeks. Now that I know how long this is going to drag on, I'm rethinking some things. Aside from "Damn, I wish I didn't have to move this summer," I'll spare you the long list of things I'd have done differently if I'd given this the thought it deserved ahead of time. I haven't shaved since the morning of the surgery, because I didn't want to chance shaving left-handed. But I can barely stand it anymore: the humidity today is already enough to make a full beard uncomfortable; another month of this would drive me batty. So I'm going to get a barber shave* — and after that, break out the electric razor for the duration. I've also decided, after talking to the doctor yesterday, to start taking oxycodone during the day. (I've only been taking it after work, but the doctor's view was that the pain + fatigue is probably dragging my productivity down more than the drug would. So far, that seems right: I'm definitely a tad fuzzy — but not, I'm pretty sure, as fuzzy as I've been every other day that I've come to work since the surgery. Also, the seven hours since I arrived this morning is the longest by a fair margin that I've been at work without having to take a nap since the surgery.)

* Does anyone know of a barber that offers shaves (beard and head) somewhere in the N. Cambridge / W. Somerville / E. Arlington nexus? I normally go to Fast Phil's, but I've never seen a razor in use there.