Lighter by 45 staples

The staples on my two surgical sites came out yesterday, and thankfully the procedure by my nurse was mostly pain free. I had 15 staples on my abdomen and 30 down my right side. I'm very glad that aspect of the process is over.

But a new snag cropped up today and it has led me back to the food pump and a barium swallow test Sunday morning. Can't wait.

Seems the food I've been eating has either moved from my newly constituted stomach too slowly or not at all. The docs want to see where the holdup is, thus the barium test.

On a sad note, Dr. Grobler checked in yesterday, then checked out ... possibly for good. (I shot the accompanying photo in the Florida Hospital ICU, scooping the hospital's PR folks, who don't even have his photo on their Web site.) He's moving out West to be closer to his parents and has some tough jobs ahead in that regard. Dr. Grobler is one of the good guys, and it's a shame I met him under these circumstances and also so late in his tenure in Central Florida. He's the kind of guy you'd want to be friends with. So Doc, thanks again for helping save my life. It won't be forgotten.

Time still seems to drag on, so it has been nice to have had a few visitors over now that I'm out of ICU. Susan J, Sarah L, Sara F and Willow, thanks. It was nice. While in the ICU, my family was there often, and they helped me get through the days, like the one captured in the picture below shot on Christmas as the gang visited.