Redux: Exorcism

Hopefully, this will be the last time I have to post anything at length about the Great Neck Misadventure of 2006-7 (tm)(c).

From it's inauspicious beginning when I tried to jump over the housing mechanism for a trash compactor, did a face plant, and gashed my ankle five ways from Friday, this injury has been the worst medical situation I've had to deal with. What started off as random stiffening of the neck and shoulders devolved into 24/7/365 pain. Mind numbing pain. And the visits to all the doctors, and PT, and tests, and no one really knowing anything or telling me the whole deal until I finally ended up at the surgeon who fixed this whole big mess.

This is week 5 of the recovery, and things are going superbly. Week 4 flat out bit my ass in terms of heinousness. I had bronchitis [diagnosed, and treated with antibiotics], had to get an x-ray, returned to work for the first time since the surgery and had my last visit with the Surgeon. The Surgeon had very good news for me. I'm right on track for the 1 month mark, and there are no complications to the surgery. He expects a full recovery and finds it unlikely that I'll ever have this type of injury again (at least in my neck, I assume.) I'll be able to start running again on April 1, and then heavy lifting on May 1. The only caveats he gave me were a) don't over do it, you're not a strong as you think you are, and b) you can expect to experience pain and stiffness in your neck and shoulders for a few more months while everything settles down.

However, the best thing about this week is that I've been off all the heavy duty pain-meds for a week now. The most potent thing that's been in my system has been Aleve. While I thoroughly enjoyed my Percocet Party for the last 9 months, I discovered something this week. The last 9 months I've been somewhat blah about things I liked to do. Not much excited me, and I was worried that I was getting clinically depressed. But now, I'm really digging the things that really make me happy. I'm excited to do things again. And I'm very happy that I'm getting back to the person I was before this whole mess started.