The World According to Cb...

The World According to Cb...

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

R and R

My initial thought was to apologize for not updating this blog more (and how many times have we read that on other blogs?) but the reality is that I haven’t had much to say because I’m actually doing what I’m supposed to be: not much.  Now I know that by most folks standards that would not include a road trip to and from New Orleans this past weekend, but Kristi and Tim can vouch for the fact that I was a relatively good boy in the Big Easy, with lots of rest and recovery all the while still supporting our great LIVESTRONG friends at the Tour de Lis.

Rest and pain management have become my main missions since the surgery 10 days ago.  I have NO desire to ever have ab surgery again, so when the doc says do this (take Vicodin and rest) and don’t do that (anything else), that would be me.  I’m just now getting to a place where walking for exercise is finally a possibility, and that just blows my mind as 5 weeks ago I was in the gym / on the trail 5-6 days a week.  Thank God Kristi is a very healthy eater so despite essentially little-to-no exercise for me since we first met I’ve managed to maintain and possibly even lose a little weight during this process.

I’ve also become a fervent believer in naps, not that I was opposed to them before this experience, rather I simply didn’t have time or the need.  Now I’ve become King of the Car Nap, because it’s either grab a quick 30 in the HQ parking lot or pull a George Castanza desk nap, and I don’t think my colleagues would be very supportive of that…

So that’s the word, or lack thereof, from Camp Chris these days.  Hopefully I’ll have more to report in the coming days, but until then, ciao for now – ZZZZZzzzzzz….



Monday, April 04, 2011

Core Principles


I said it the last time I had a big ab operation back in 1996, and it’s been quite the reminder this past weekend: you never know how much you use your core muscles until someone – preferably a surgeon – cuts them open.  So keep that core fit, my friends, ‘cause here’s a list of things that come to mind that are either very difficult these days, all the way to damn near impossible:

Blowing my nose
Coughing
Laughing
Getting into / out of: cars, chairs, couches, bed
Sitting for any length of time
Going to the bathroom
Taking a shower
Walking up / down stairs
Walking
Any form of exercise other than walking is verboten!
Eating
Lifting.  Anything.
Reaching for something
Sleeping in any position other than on your back
Sleeping
Concentrating, due to lack of sleep

Zzzzzzzzzzzz… ciao for now – Cb…


PS - pretty horrified by doing a Google search for clip art here and typed in "stomach surgery"...



About Me

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Austin, TX, United States
A proud single dad, strong cancer survivor, and a guy who loves his bike, red wine, family and friends - the order is dependent on my mood...