Johnnyborg’s Malleable Journey

[JohnnyBorg]

Are you still taking oxy everyday?

No, I stopped Oxy on around this past Sunday. I didn’t like the effect it was having on my heart rate (uncomfortably high heart rate after taking).

[duke_cicero]

Man, that is unlucky. But you made it. You even took the stairs! Not an easy feat given the circumstances. And yes, you have to see the humor in these things.

Your "jolts" are part of recovery. I had them, too. I also get more "jolts" in general than your average bear because I sweat a lot (I run warm) and lose electrolytes faster than most people, I suspect. Make sure you're getting enough salt in your diet. Maybe just pound a Gatorade Zero once a day or something. I'd be curious to know if those jolts lessen as a result. It's a known fact that tissue healing requires more electrolytes than you'd need under normal conditions. Lightly salt your food, and have some Gatorade along with your water.

Thanks Duke! Random question - did you find the tip of your penis was burning for awhile after surgery? I’m peeing fine, but on day 9 post op I’m STILL feeling burning for awhile after peeing on the very tip of my penis. It’s definitely not UTI, but really really annoying.

For context: I’m still very swollen too lol.

Yes, definitely. I think it was related to the catheterization. My urethra from base to tip was on fire for about a week and a half.

[JohnnyBorg]

Man, that is unlucky. But you made it. You even took the stairs! Not an easy feat given the circumstances. And yes, you have to see the humor in these things.

Your "jolts" are part of recovery. I had them, too. I also get more "jolts" in general than your average bear because I sweat a lot (I run warm) and lose electrolytes faster than most people, I suspect. Make sure you're getting enough salt in your diet. Maybe just pound a Gatorade Zero once a day or something. I'd be curious to know if those jolts lessen as a result. It's a known fact that tissue healing requires more electrolytes than you'd need under normal conditions. Lightly salt your food, and have some Gatorade along with your water.

Thanks Duke! Random question - did you find the tip of your penis was burning for awhile after surgery? I’m peeing fine, but on day 9 post op I’m STILL feeling burning for awhile after peeing on the very tip of my penis. It’s definitely not UTI, but really really annoying.

For context: I’m still very swollen too lol.

Yes, definitely. I think it was related to the catheterization. My urethra from base to tip was on fire for about a week and a half.

Man I’m glad I’m not alone there it suuuuuuuuuuuuuucks

[JohnnyBorg]

Day 9 post op - evening:

Big moment (for me): well I just had a really good moment that makes me really feel like I’m healing and that I’m on the right track. Today, I’ve had a lot of pain like usual. I’m still trying to figure out how to best mitigate and handle all this pain.

After work, I hopped on a phone call with a really good friend of mine. I was laying down and just trying to be as comfortable as possible. After about 20 minutes of the phone call, I suddenly realized that my pain was very, very minimal. It had taken a back seat. It was still there in all the same places - but it wasn’t the center of my attention the way it’s been for huge stretches of my day. And the severity was less overall.

I’m absolutely positive that my brain down regulated all the pain I’ve been dealing with, while I was distracted by the nice phone call. Aside from this being a great way to relax and get through pain in the short term, I feel like this is a GREAT sign in the big picture. If my body wasn’t slowly healing and handling the trauma of surgery, there’s no way i would’ve been able to almost FORGET the pain and tension I’ve been feeling just by being on a phone call.

Even though I can already feel some pain ramping back up (it always does right before bed for me), I’m anchoring to this tonight as a really good sign of what’s to come as I keep healing the next few weeks.

- Johnny

[duke_cicero]

Day 9 post op - evening:

Big moment (for me): well I just had a really good moment that makes me really feel like I’m healing and that I’m on the right track. Today, I’ve had a lot of pain like usual. I’m still trying to figure out how to best mitigate and handle all this pain.

After work, I hopped on a phone call with a really good friend of mine. I was laying down and just trying to be as comfortable as possible. After about 20 minutes of the phone call, I suddenly realized that my pain was very, very minimal. It had taken a back seat. It was still there in all the same places - but it wasn’t the center of my attention the way it’s been for huge stretches of my day. And the severity was less overall.

I’m absolutely positive that my brain down regulated all the pain I’ve been dealing with, while I was distracted by the nice phone call. Aside from this being a great way to relax and get through pain in the short term, I feel like this is a GREAT sign in the big picture. If my body wasn’t slowly healing and handling the trauma of surgery, there’s no way i would’ve been able to almost FORGET the pain and tension I’ve been feeling just by being on a phone call.

Even though I can already feel some pain ramping back up (it always does right before bed for me), I’m anchoring to this tonight as a really good sign of what’s to come as I keep healing the next few weeks.

- Johnny

This is huge progress! Can you listen to a podcast or watch a movie? Man, I had dozens of films queued up during my recovery. I think I saw more Criterion Collection films during recovery than I had during the rest of my life, lol