Birthday and Surgery

Welp, it's summer. Time for my fourth annual hospital visit! Yes, that's correct, for the last four years, I have been to the hospital every summer for one reason or another.

Here's a brief run down of my past visits:

• In 2002, I had a "Viral Super Infection" in my throat, just behind my tonsils. That was gross. I spent three days in "the Hotel," Longmont United Hospital's new bed tower with IVs in both arms.
  
• In 2003, I had my tonsils removed. Finally. I had been getting strep throat and other assorted infections since I was little, and they finally decided to do something to prevent any further BS throat sicknesses. Relatively minor procedure. They actually use a "laser beam" (tee hee) to basically burn them out. Quick recovery, no overnight stay required.
  
• 2004 was a doozy. I tore my ACL in my right knee playing basketball on campus. But of course, the emergency room couldn't tell that. I had to wait over a week for an MRI to find that out. So, four weeks after that, I had surgery to repair my ACL with a chunk of my hamstring. By the time it was over I had no calf or quad or hamstring muscle left, and it's taken a full year to get that (mostly) back to normal.
  
• And this year, 2005, I turned 23 and got dropped off of my parents' insurance. So, three days before my birthday, I decided to have a two year old hernia fixed. That is a good time, let me tell ya! Not only do the three incisions the surgeon made hurt, but you pretty much can't use your abs for a while. So, if you sit down, don't plan on getting up on your own. And if you cough, make sure you physically hold your gut together with your hands and prepare for pain. But, I hear the surgery is a ton better than it was five or ten years ago. And now, less than a week later, I can get around on my own pretty good finally. The worst part, at this point, is that my left nut is swollen, sore, and starting to bruise. Not happy about that. But, I snuck in under the insurance deadline.
  

Well, that's my list of summer hospitalizations thus far. I'm gonna try to keep it that way for a while.

Oh yeah, and it was my birthday on Friday, the 24th. Would have been excellent if I hadn't just had surgery. I just sat around my parents' house (which really isn't all that bad) and downed Ibuprofin. This post was supposed to have happened then, but alas, no internet.

Enough for now!