Earwig

It has been three weeks since my surgery, and I'm delighted to report that I am healing beautifully. The pain has waned considerably during the past few days. The "I don't want to move because it feels like my stomach is being ripped apart" pain has morphed into a manageable soreness. I have no doubt that I wouldn't be feeling this strong if I had not precisely followed the doctor's directives.

During the waking hours I still wear the abdomen binding which provides comforting compression. I am still utilizing the heating pad whenever I am sitting, although right now it is probably more out of habit than necessity. I've avoided bending over and I haven't picked up anything heavier than Timmy since the surgery. So far, the only little mishap I have experienced has happened in the middle of the night.

I have been sleeping on the pull-out sofa in the living room. This was decided for two reasons:  I don't trust Scott to not kick or roll on me when he is sleeping and also because the head of the mattress can be elevated so that I can stay at the recommended angle. The bed isn't the most comfortable, but it is doable for short periods of time. While I can adapt to the springs sticking in my back, I don't think I'll ever truly get used to the noises that come from our living room in the middle of the night.

Charlie Cat is extremely active, hunting and stalking all kinds of creatures that he sees through our living room windows. I was woken with a startle when I heard him bounce off the window pane. He had apparently been hunting and leaped from the kitchen table directly into the window, breaking the silence of the night by landing on the floor with a loud splat. I have concluded that I have a high-instinct, low-intellect feline.

After I finally calmed down and fell asleep after the hunting mishap,  I was awoken by an itching under my nose. I instinctively rubbed my nose with my hand, discovering something unnervingly wiggly. I sat up quickly, only to be reminded by pain that I should still move deliberately and slowly. My nose started to run, and then the sneezing started.

Sneezing after abdominal surgery is akin to torture. I alternated between sneezing because of the nostril itch and yelping because of the pain for several torturous minutes. By the time everything calmed down, the pain had sky rocketed.

Once I recovered from the pain, an entirely new ordeal began when I discovered the source. An earwig, one of those fuzzy multi-legged bugs, had crawled up my nose. Needless to say, sleep was elusive the rest of the night.  Every time I closed my eyes I conjured images of bugs and critters crawling all over me. I predict a visit from the exterminator in the near future, but thankfully the tummy pain caused by the commotion was short lived.