Hi again. Today is my 3rd full day at home, and I was down to sleeping only 2 hours (instead of the 4-6 from Monday). I have to say I'm feeling better every day, enough so that I may attempt to walk Steve the Wonderdog tomorrow -- keeping in mind, of course, Maria's very excellent advice not to overdo things. He's a 90 pound Labrador, so Deb will back me up in the event he sees a rabbit that needs chasing...

My eating is still soft stuff - broth, juices, applesauce, ice cream shakes and the like. I tried some Cream of Rice hot cereal yesterday morning but the little granules felt like they were getting stuck everywhere around the wound and it presented higher-than-normal swallowing pain so I gave up on that. As a consequence I've lost about 5 pounds since the surgery last Friday.

The oxycodone continues to keep the overall pain level manageable, but I am running low and face the choice of whether or not to ask the Doc for more on my follow-up visit this Friday. I have been taking 5mg (down from 10 in the hospital) every 4 hours. I think I *might* be able to get by without it, but worry. What do you guys who've been through this kind of surgery think?