Monday, September 14, 2020 – POSTED: Wednesday, September 16, 2020
Today is three weeks since I got home from the hospital. I forgot to take acetaminophen prior to bed. I only had minor pain near a couple incisions, but nothing major. I am trying to go without acetaminophen today, since it is so hard on the liver.
I didn’t sleep as well last night. I got six and a half hours of sleep. Other than not getting enough sleep, I’m feeling good.
Work went well and I only kept up with calls and took care of the one thing I had schedules today. I’m hoping to knock off some other things off my list, as my backlog of tickets is growing again.
I’ve gone all day without pain meds. It’s nearly 7:00 PM as I write this. I walked about three miles after work, then ate supper.
I’m feeling almost back to normal. I just have point tenderness on and next to my incisions, but otherwise, I’m feeling really good.
Friday will be four weeks since surgery, and I should be okay to life more than twenty pounds. My granddaughter is really looking forward to me being able to pick her up and give her a big hug. I’m really looking forward to when I can do that again.
As good as I’m feeling, I’m hoping I’m up to mowing the yard. My plan is to do a small section and see how it goes. If it causes pain, I’ll stop, as I don’t want to injure myself.
Projects and Finances
I made calls to two more tree trimming businesses about my two trees. I’ve only heard from one of the two I contacted previously.
I need to call more roofers, as I’ve only heard from one of the two I’ve contacted and it was a sticker shocking quote. I’m hoping the adjuster notes hail damage, so I can afford it.
There’s a lot I want to get done before winter, but I need more quotes to know which is the better option. I don’t want to rack up a huge new debt and a possible long term monthly medical payment.
This year, my finances have been great. I had an OK bonus from work, that I put in savings. I put my COVID-19 payment in savings, and I got a nice tax refund and put it in savings. I’ve got more money in savings than I’ve had for this many consecutive months. I hope to avoid using it, but I’m afraid I’ll have to.
Had I know about COVID-19, and my cancer, I would not have bought a new to me truck. I’ve still managed to pay down my debts pretty fast and add a bit to savings, but the tree work and new roof will be a big change. The still up in the air hospital bill could wreck things. I hope the insurance company steps up and does what is truly right, and not just what keeps the most money in their pockets.
I’ve always stressed over finances. I grew up poor. I never went without food, clothing, or shelter, but we didn’t have a lot. My Dad was always spending tax refunds on new TVs and other things and then complaining about how badly in debt we were. I wanted to avoid that and was working to save and pay off my $7,800.00 in student loans when I got married. My now ex-wife loved to spend money like we had it. I’m still digging out of that hole, and next month will be ten years since our divorce was final.
I was so looking forward to having a few years with little or no debt. I can still do it, but I have to be frugal and do more cooking at home. I’m tired of being frugal. I’ve never had the money to live it up without using a credit card. It’s my biggest stresser after health. Oh, well, I just have to get out of debt so I can retire in fifteen or twenty years….
Men's Health in My Perspective 