Joshua P. Simon - The Accidental Author

As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, I had my third surgery related to Crohn’s disease on Friday, March 22nd. I’m happy to report that things couldn’t have gone much better than what they have thus far.

Below are the highlights.
- I was released from the hospital Tuesday night after a few liquid meals and one soft food meal. I was originally told to expect a one-week hospital stay. Getting out three days early is pretty awesome. Having real food again is even better. :)
- My surgeon removed the section of small intestine he needed to eliminate. It was really bad off and said he was surprised I lasted as long as I did in the condition it was in. The good news is that every other part of my small/large intestine looked great. This means that my current medication is doing its job and therefore doesn’t need to be changed/adjusted. On top of that, it also means that I might actually have a much longer break than I’ve had in the past between surgeries.
- Overall my pain post surgery has been pretty subdued and I’ve been moving and getting around much better than expected. Everyone in the hospital was pretty floored by that.
- The incision itself was made lower than previous surgeries, but it did not start as high as the last two incisions. I think this is actually helping my ability to move and hopefully will speed along the recovery process. So far, the incision is looking pretty good. Let’s hope that it stays that way and continues to heal as it should as that will determine the full length of my recovery.
- One a productivity note, I managed to do a lot of reading and outlining while in the hospital and now that I’m home I hope to get back on the writing wagon in a day or so after I catch up on a bit more outlining/reading/blogging. Yes, even post-surgery, I don’t make excuses for not having the time to get things done. :)
- The day after getting home, I weighed 190 lbs. on the dot. This is the lowest I’ve weighed since before my second surgery. Hopefully, with a healthy digestive track I’ll be able to get back to the 210-215 range once I can start lifting weights again.

I really want to thank everyone for their thoughts and prayers. They’ve been a huge help.

I also want to publicly say that my wife has once again proven that marrying her is one of the smartest decision I’ve ever made in my life. I would have been a fool to let her slip away, and I’d be an even bigger fool now to take her kindness and love for granted.

My mom was also a big help in watching the kids so Leah could spend more time with me in the hospital the first couple days when I needed her help the most. Also, friends and family who have offered help and/or have helped have been invaluable (Thanks, Debbie!).

I hope everyone knows how awesome they’ve been.