One Week Later

getting picked up an hour after surgery
taking the cast off on Tuesday
looks halfway normal

So here I am, Tuesday, July 16th, one week post surgery. I've been outside once, taken a couple of baths, watched more tv and surfed more internet and read more books than I ever care to in a 7 day stretch. Luckily my foot feels good. Real good actually. I haven't needed to take any pain meds the last two days, and when the doctor removed my cast on Tuesday, the swelling looked to be in control and the discoloration wasn't near what I thought it would be.

They're saying I'll be on crutches for ten weeks, which sucks. No way I'm going to let that fly. It would effectively mean I'm done doing anything for the Marines before I get out October 24th. Hard to take students on ruck runs when you're crutching around, and standing in front of a class teaching would be too difficult, not to mention pointless if I can't take them out to run drills on what I was teaching.

I guess we will just wait and see as things move along. I'm popping all the calcium, glucosamine, fish oil, and vitamin pills I can stomach, drinking the milk and protein, and thinking happy thoughts in an effort to change the outlook and timeline. Obviously I need to be healthy enough to hike the Inca Trail in November.

Randomness

• My little sister just bought a house, which puts the Wood sisters at 3 for 3 in home ownership, and the Wood boy (singular) 0 for 1. Oh well, congrats sis.
• I am having surgery in one week, next Friday, on my foot. It will be the seventh surgery I've had on the thing, but the first since 2001. Hopefully this one does the trick. The doctors are going to go in and remove the hideous bump that has formed (RIP hump foot) and permanently fuse the arch joint together with a screw and a staple. Fingers are crossed.
• Speaking of surgery, the Navy dr's did get one thing right when they granted me 30 days of convalescent leave. Now that's what I'm talking about. I'm going to spend my time growing a mullet and working on my libo beard. I guess maybe I'll get a few items knocked off my to-do list while I'm at it.
• If I see one more news special or article on Michael Jackson I'll flip out. As much as I love this country the vast majority of people in it make me sick on a regular basis... Dear America- please find something worthwhile to invest yourself into emotionally. Please read a book. Please do a better job raising and providing for your family. Please spend less time losing sleep over Jon and Kate + 8 and Michael's pedophelia.
• The Marines finally decided to do something drastic in Afghanistan. Instead of the hold on and act like a punching bag approach that my battalion used, the MEF over there now is war mongering on a whole new scale.
• This weekend marks my first 4th of July back in the States since 2006, which was the first summer I had in the South Bay. I usually look back on that 4th as one of the best weekends of my life, certainly one of the haziest and craziest anyway. Hopefully this one lives up to the billing.
• I'm currently trying to figure out what my travel plans are going to be when I get out in October. Right now I only have some tentative plans, Wisconsin and Iowa for a week in either September or October, a road trip across the country back to Iowa October 25th when I get out, all of November in South America, which will include a few weeks split between Rio, Sao Paolo and Argentina, and then a few weeks roughing it into the Amazon. Maybe Hawaii in December for the Badgers' game, and then something fun for Christmas and New Years. Then next year is ALL up for grabs, but it absolutely will include a lot of South East Asia, hopefully a little India/Africa action, and then a month or two roughing it out of a pack across Europe. Obviously the grandeur of these travels relies heavily on my ability to pick a couple of stock market winners in the next six months. Any suggestions?