Dave’s post-surgery update

Dave’s surgery went well. The doctor removed inflamed tissue but told him the tendons were unaffected. Dave thinks the incision was longer than the doctor had originally expected, but he won’t know for sure until he’s allowed to unwrap the dressing on Sunday. His fingers and hand swelled up quite a bit but the swelling appears to be going down a little, as you can see in the pictures.

He slept a lot when I got him home after the surgery on Wednesday. Yesterday he watched a lot of movies. Dave doesn’t like taking prescription pain meds, but he did so willingly the past two days because he needed them, in addition to the higher than usual doses of Acetaminophen and Ibuprofen he was directed to take. He thinks he’s over the pain hurdle today, though. He woke up only once last night at 3am and took just Acetaminophen which did the trick. Today he’s been doing well on just the Acetaminophen and Ibuprofen (though still high doses). The hardest part for him now is going to be not using his hand until his follow up appointment on the 15th.

I’ve been tending to some boat sewing projects and shopping (online). To keep Dave distracted a bit, I’m reading him Harry Potter. He likes the movies but has never read the books. We’ll also pass some of his recovery time doing some trip planning. We still hope to make it to the Bahamas this season, but we can’t firm up any plans until after Dave’s follow-up appointment.

Once we return to the boat, we still need to have our solar-electric system reviewed by Derek, the only U.S. Ocean Volt rep. Our quick return to NH to quarantine prior to Dave’s surgery (see my last post if you don’t know what I’m talking about) meant we couldn’t hook up with him earlier as we had hoped. Then we need to give our systems an overnight test run, preferably off the Florida coast rather than in the very shallow and busy ICW. Then we’ll need a COVID test and a good weather window before we can jump across the Stream to Bahamas. We’ll see how and when this all comes together.

Stay safe and take care of each other!

Author: Indigo Lady

I am a retired educator married to a retired chemist/engineer/educator. We will be living aboard our solar electric catamaran for as long as possible. View all posts by Indigo Lady