No Pain, No Gain
18/02/26 08:44
February 18, 2026 (Vol. 18 No. 7) - If you are among the few who consider yourself a regular reader of this blog, you may have noticed that I have been unusually quiet the past few weeks. Lord knows that Felon 47 and his Klown Kabinet have provided enough fodder for numerous blog posts. However, I have been largely silent on the Trump Daily Atrocities because I am recovering from hip replacement surgery. And believe me, it has not been easy. Today is the first day that I have felt comfortable enough to sit at a keyboard for more than a few minutes. This is not to say that I am not recovering well from the operation. It's quite the opposite. I am doing quite well, thank you. However, the post-surgery period has its challenges. I am still using a walker, although I can venture a few steps away from it as long there is something nearby to steady my balance, such as a counter or a piece of furniture. When I took my first post-operative steps in the early morning hours of February 6, my right leg felt like it was 100 pounds. After that short journey to the bathroom and back, I went back to bed. As anyone who has spent a night in the hospital knows, doctors and nurses operate in their own time zones. While eight hours is most widely accepted period for restful and restorative sleep, my experience has been that the hospital staff will wake you up every three hours to check your temperature, blood pressure and other vital statistics. The good news, though, was that I was allowed to go home later that day. That's been quite an adjustment, as I am sleeping in a living room recliner, need assistance dressing, and find going to the bathroom a major production. I am grateful that I have a compassionate and tolerant wife to help guide me through this adjustment. Still, I don't regret having the surgery. My arthritic hip had become intolerable. The surgery comes with a promise of a pain-free tomorrow. In other words, no pain, no gain. In writing this, I am sharing an experience. I am not looking for sympathy. However, I do ask one favor: Please don't join the dozens of the people who have told me "hip replacements are easier than knee replacements," That may be true. There's also a chance that a knee replacement or two may be in my future. But for now, let me wallow in my own pain without someone trying to minimize it. That doesn't help. That's it for now. Fear the Turtle.