Recovery Fun

No, it’s not fun, at least the recovery part, but I’ve been ably assisted by friends and family over the past few days. I’ve ventured out into the public despite feeling like a watered-down Elephant Man with the huge bandages I’ve been sporting since Monday. I’ve come to loath these damned things, but I understand their need, especially after peeking underneath to see the delving sites the surgeon left behind, pretty gross, especially the one on top of the skull. I’ve also been called out by my Favorite Panamanian for being a grouch. She believes it’s because my daily dose of boogie boarding has ceased with our return. I assured it was more about the constant dull pain of the two surgical sites, despite the best efforts of the modern chemistry to quell. I’ve resolved to be in a better mood and it helps that the pain is finally dampening a bit. I got a full night’s sleep last night for the first time since Sunday.

Outside Restaurant with Great Aunt Yesterday
Note the Jury Rigged Bandaging

We’ve kind of reversed roles in the house. I’m under strict orders from the surgeon to attempt no physical labor, including exercise, for the next couple weeks. I made the mistake of telling my Favorite Panamanian about that edict which she is enforcing in her usual strident fashion. She, on the other hand, was personally offended last Friday when she felt gassed after only one dance and realized she had let herself get out of shape (although that’s very hard to tell). She’s thrown herself into an exercise regimen this week while I sit slothfully in the Man Cave ardently willing these incisions to heal. This afternoon I head north for my first thunder run to Keene which should help the healing process (at least mental aspects) as I get to hang with my hometown friends again. That’s something I truly missed during my tropical sojourn. We’ve been to the movie theater twice over the past two days as I try to re-acquire that routine. So much fun to hear English spoken movies again. The best day was yesterday since it involved lunch and the movie with Great Aunt who journeyed up from Rhode Island to join us and provide some medical advice on parking lot bandaging. I’ll get to my travails with these bandages later. She met us at the restaurant where we had a great time catching up with her adventures over the past few months before we hit the cinema. We’ve got a McShawn’s night scheduled for her house on Saturday night which will be additional fun.

The Mafioso Upgrades

Now to those bandages. On Monday, the surgical nurses said I had to keep the bandages on for the entire week, keeping them dry and in place. The dry part is fairly easy although it does call for some acrobatic showering. They emphasized that the ear bandage was most important since that’s where the skin graft went in and there’s a bandage actually stitched onto the ear (I know, gross!). Luckily that outer bandage has stayed in place although the ear has a tendency to itch, really strongly. The other two bandaged sites, in front of the ear and on top of the head have been problematic. The front of the ear one, where they took the skin from for the graft, fell off Tuesday night and yesterday when the AAA guy showed up to start my car (dead battery) I hadn’t realized the top of the head one had fallen off while I changing my shirt. This gave me the first aforementioned look at that site and it made me a little queasy, the surgeon really went to town up there. I’m guessing north of 30 stiches are involved, surrounded by my Friar Tuck haircut.

I made my amateur efforts to replace the bandages which did not meet my wife’s approval. We bought a bunch of bandaging material at CVS on our way to meet Great Aunt which led to her using her medical experience to try and jury-rig a replacement in the restaurant parking lot. I did get some stares when we entered the restaurant. Later, back home, the Neighborhood Mafioso heard about my wound coverage issues and hurried down the street to assist. She brought with her some industrial strength medical tape. She cleaned and effectively bandaged both troublesome sites. Both held overnight which was the acid test. I am so grateful for her assistance, a true friend. Thankfully she’s blessed with a strong stomach and years of working in a hospital herself for dealing with that scalp incision. It’s the stuff of nightmares.

FBR and Her Mom, Off to Work Together!

Today is bring your daughter to work day and the FBR accompanied my daughter to her corporate job office. She was very excited telling us about that and you can see from the picture that she was more than ready. I can’t wait to get a report tonight. We’ve also had updates from Panama thanks to our upstairs neighbors. They sent us a video showing them stepping off the repaired elevator in excited fashion. It was broken for our entire four month stay which made grocery days so much fun They also experienced yet another earthquake Tuesday night, 5.3 on the scale, so noticeable, but not as violent as the one we experienced last year and the elevator still worked afterwards!

The first movie was saw this week was Monkey Man, a big disappointment. This is getting marketed as India’s answer to John Wick. Nope. Dev Patel is always great but this just didn’t work for me. Patel plays his usual Indian, downtrodden everyman, seeking revenge against the murderers of his mother. There are some very pointed attacks on India’s political system (glad we’re not the only ones with demagogical issues). The action scenes are every bit as bloody and well done as anything Wickian but the movie grinds to a halt between these. We spend a lot of time watching Patel contemplate his navel between fights. I’m still trying to figure out what the fights in the ring were all about. Finally, any movie that criminally underuses Sharlto Copley is fatally flawed. Didn’t like this very much, even though I am probably the guy this was aimed at.

We had much better luck yesterday with The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare. I’m a huge fan of Guy Ritchie films and he really delivers here. It’s loosely (very loosely) based on a real WW2 commando raid, Operation Postmaster. They really nailed the casting with Superman, Reacher, and the very hot gal from Ambulance leading. There was plenty of the understated British humor I love in Ritchie films. The action was expertly woven into the plot as the commandos have to fight both the Germans and the British high command who wants to surrender to Germany (remember, highly fictionalized). I loved this movie.

In my A-Z watch, I’ll be alternating between newly acquired movies for the library, including some upgrades for which I only had DVD versions before upgrading the 4K, and the alphabetic sequence. Two fell since I last posted, both keepers, Animal House (upgrade), holds up so well, even after all these years, and The Hunt for Red October, Connery was such a star and Alec Baldwin was a great Jack Ryan.

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RECURRING CHARACTERS:                                     

ABFA – Amazing Best Family Athlete - my daughter in law; BR3 – Blog Reader #3 – granddaughter #3; BRS - Blog Reader the Sequel - second granddaughter; Cantankerous Friend – friend since grade school who likes to argue about everything, poses as radical leftist to attract women; CRC - Connecticut Riverboat Captain – another close friend from high school, renowned sailor of the big river; Curbside Girls – close friends of my daughter acquired during him her single days in Brooklyn; Deckzilla – our backyard deck which grew to monstrous dimensions once my wife got involved in planning; Favorite Panamanian - the wife (of course); FBR - First Blog Reader - first granddaughter; First Friday – celebrations to mark the First Friday of the Week; Great Aunt - my elder sister; Keene Friends 1 & 2 – friends since high school from my home town of Keene, NH; Kindergarten Friend – friend since kindergarten whom I reunited with after many years; Maine and Virginia Musqueteras – two close friends of my wife – her US sisters, my wife is the 3^rd Musquetera (musketeer); Namesake Nephew – son of Great Aunt and Soxfather named after me; Neighborhood Mafioso - wife's close friend and Panamanian mafia member; PanaGals – female relatives /friends of my wife from Panama; Panamanian/Latin Mafia – inevitable group of Latino friends my wife accumulates wherever we have lived & their spouses; PCR - Pittsburgh College Roommate – high school friend, also a “Minor Celebrity” in Pittsburgh; PCR+1 - Pittsburgh College Roommate’s wife; Riggins - also known as the Grandpuppy, son's dog; Seis Amigos - two couples from our condo complex and my wife and I; Soxfather – my brother in law; Tia Loca – wife’s younger sister; Wingman – my son in law; Wingmom – Wingman’s mom, of course

Head Case

For the very first time since my return last week, I find myself yearning to be back in Panama. Why, you might ask. For the very simple reason that my dermatologist would then be thousands of miles away. Back in December I was diagnosed with two more sites, right ear and top of head, that required Mohs surgery to remove skin cancer. I believe this would be the seventh time I’ve had the procedure, so big deal. I was scheduled for two separate sessions, separated by a couple weeks. Feeling kind of froggy yesterday when I got into the surgical room, I asked if they could do both sites that day. I think it was the right decision as it shortened the recovery time from a month to two weeks.

My New Look

I’d sailed through the former procedures with hardly any pain. That was about to change. I’m guessing it was due to the location, turns out there’s a lot of nerve endings on the top of the head, who knew? I’m usually pretty good with pain but yesterday provided an acid test. Part of the procedure involves using a cauterizing iron to stop bleeding. Every time they went to use it for the site on my scalp, I could feel it and it kept getting worse. A nurse finally noticed my winces and asked me in a surprising tone if I was feeling anything. That led to more numbing medication shots which also kind of hurt. I had the same doctor as I had for the last four iterations so I had a lot of confidence in him. He was assisted by a resident in training who was also very good. It was interesting because I got to listen as they discussed what was happening. Usually, I’m just laying there while the skin gets pulled, prodded, cut and stitched. Mohs surgery involves cutting out, mapping the cancer detected, and then checking the fringe of the cut to see if they got it all. For the last three times I was lucky enough to get everything on the first cut. That changed yesterday. The ear required two cuts and the scalp (the one that really hurt) took four cuts. This thing had been growing for a while apparently. Yikes! The whole thing took about four hours as there is a lot of waiting as the latest extraction is tested.

Earlier in the Day During one of the Waiting Periods, Yecch!

The stitching up at the end was the “funfest” part of the day. They had to do a skin graft on the one inside the ear, taking skin form in front of the ear. While I couldn’t see anything, it led to some very interesting sound effects. Before they closed everything up the nurse asked if I wanted to see pictures of the excavations they had created. I made the mistake in prior sessions of saying yes to that question. Some things are best left unseen, it cuts down on subsequent nightmares. Then we got to the pesky top of the head site. That was a very big hole and the surgeon warned me I would feel a lot of pulling (I guess this qualifies as an unofficial facelift). Those damnable nerve ends came into play again which led to additional numbing shots. Fun. The nurse asked me if I had ever been a redhead. She responded to my confused look by saying red heads tend to metabolize the numbing medication faster. I guess I’m a latent red head.  I started cursing my younger self for not wearing sun block years ago when the Army sent me to all those sunny places.

FBR and Wingman

FBR's Team

Hanging with her Best Bud

My Favorite Panamanian picked me up and marveled at the extensive bandages I sported. I have to keep them dry and in place for a week, so that’ll be fun. They had to “Friar Tuck” the top of my head, shaving a large circle around the top, to get the bandage to stick so I’ll have a very punk rock kind of look when the bandages come off (Wingman will approve). It’s not as if I’ve majored in attractive hair styles during my adult life (Thank you Army once again). I was home less than fifteen minutes when I banged the top of my head reaching for something in the Man Cave. The numbing medication had definitely worn off at that point. I just passed it of as another of my frequent accidents until my Favorite Panamanian gave me a panicked look, claiming blood was seeping from the bandage. I assured her the new injury was to the side of the surgery site; she shook her head in disbelief at my ineptitude.The final indignity was trying to fall asleep last night. I was understandably tired but I had to figure out a position for my head on the pillow that wouldn’t mess with the surgery sites. Easier said then done, especially for that cursed scalp site. Every time I though I had it set, I could feel the tug on those top of the head stiches. I eventually decamped for the guest room to continue my adjustments since I didn’t want to mess with my Favorite Panamanian’s sleep. I finally found the right arrangement around 3am. A long day. Kids, use sun block.

Bounce House Time

The Neighborhood Gang

She had a Long Day Also

I received the accompanying pictures from the FBR chronicling her weekend adventures. She’s very excited about her approaching baseball season and, as always, hanging out with her friends. She’s growing up so fast. My Favorite Panamanian and I are trying to figure out a way to schedule a trip to New Jersey in the next couple weeks. That’ll be the best possible medicine I could get for this aching head. I’ve restarted my A-Z watch, picking up where I left off in December. I’ve also acquired a stack of new movies (Amazon gift cards don’tcha know) that’ll be inserted into the lineup as well. Two fell yesterday, both keepers. The Heiress, a classic gifted by my daughter, amazing movie, Olivia de Havilland, playing against type as a spinster; and The Hunt, about as different a movie as could be but still so sneakily funny, Betty Gilpin stars as one of my favorite movie characters of all time.

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RECURRING CHARACTERS:                                     

ABFA – Amazing Best Family Athlete - my daughter in law; BR3 – Blog Reader #3 – granddaughter #3; BRS - Blog Reader the Sequel - second granddaughter; Cantankerous Friend – friend since grade school who likes to argue about everything, poses as radical leftist to attract women; CRC - Connecticut Riverboat Captain – another close friend from high school, renowned sailor of the big river; Curbside Girls – close friends of my daughter acquired during him her single days in Brooklyn; Deckzilla – our backyard deck which grew to monstrous dimensions once my wife got involved in planning; Favorite Panamanian - the wife (of course); FBR - First Blog Reader - first granddaughter; First Friday – celebrations to mark the First Friday of the Week; Great Aunt - my elder sister; Keene Friends 1 & 2 – friends since high school from my home town of Keene, NH; Kindergarten Friend – friend since kindergarten whom I reunited with after many years; Maine and Virginia Musqueteras – two close friends of my wife – her US sisters, my wife is the 3^rd Musquetera (musketeer); Namesake Nephew – son of Great Aunt and Soxfather named after me; Neighborhood Mafioso - wife's close friend and Panamanian mafia member; PanaGals – female relatives /friends of my wife from Panama; Panamanian/Latin Mafia – inevitable group of Latino friends my wife accumulates wherever we have lived & their spouses; PCR - Pittsburgh College Roommate – high school friend, also a “Minor Celebrity” in Pittsburgh; PCR+1 - Pittsburgh College Roommate’s wife; Riggins - also known as the Grandpuppy, son's dog; Seis Amigos - two couples from our condo complex and my wife and I; Soxfather – my brother in law; Tia Loca – wife’s younger sister; Wingman – my son in law; Wingmom – Wingman’s mom, of course

Returns Weekend

I’m still adjusting to having to wear long pants, shoes, and socks again. It’s a process. I finally finished unpacking early Saturday morning. For my Favorite Panamanian, well, it’s yet another process. We’re hoping by early this week her unpacking will finish. Family and friends have made our return to the States everything we could have hoped for. On our way to the grocery store on Friday we stopped off at the Neighborhood Mafioso’s house to report our return. She wasn’t home but her husband promised to pass our news on. We were on our third aisle in the supermarket when she called and a couple moments later, we were invited to join them and another couple friends for a night of dancing at the Auburn Legion Post.

Fun Friday Night Group

With my Dance Partner

I was a little concerned the injured foot would limit my mobility when it came to dancing. My Favorite Panamanian opined that it would keep me from bouncing around too much which she has tried to curb opposite me on dance floors for nearly a half century. It was too much fun hanging with these good friends again. It certainly softened the blow of leaving the great friends we have in Panama behind. That recovery was further embellished Saturday when we drove up to New Hampshire to link up with my son and his family. Getting there was a little educational as I found myself driving in an environment where most traffic laws are respected (I haven’t been to Rhode Island yet). This is in direct contrast to where I’ve been driving for the last four months. In Panama, it is survival of the fittest where every stop sign is treated as a pick-up game of chicken to see who will actually slow down, God forbid actually stop. 

Obligatory Gifts from Abuela Upon Arrival

BR3 Demonstrating Gymnastics Progress

Having the BRS and BR3 charging across the driveway to deliver granddaughter hugs completed the feeling of being home again. I just wished the FBR and her parental units weren’t so far away. I made a rookie tactical error with mother day gifting. My Favorite Panamanian is a recognized master of the shopping art and there we were, in her tax-free shopping heaven. My error, telling her to go shopping and pick out whatever she wanted for Mother’s Day gifts. The ABFA and BRS accompanied her. My son and I were left at home to frolic (okay, that was mostly BR3) in the backyard, prepping for an evening bonfire. I received a call from my Favorite Panamanian where she apologized for the damage she was doing. She revealed that, much like her cousin the FBR, the BRS had inherited her abuela’s shopping genes and was a huge help in the acquisition phase. When my wife told me how much she was spending, my son overheard and was laughing his head off at my predicament. His laughter came to a screeching halt when he received a text from the ABFA who had overheard my wife’s end of the conversation and admitted she was outdoing her mother-in-law.

Neighbor's Flowering Trees Begged for Photos

They returned for an excellent steak dinner followed by the aforementioned back yard fire. The BRS inherited something from me as well, she is the family fire bug as she got my pyromaniacal genes. She assumed control of the s’more’s construction, ably assisted by her fellow chocaholic, the ABFA. The sun was still up as we circled the fire, trying (unsuccessfully) to stay away from the smoke emitted. The granddaughters headed up to bed while my son and I descended into his massive home theater to watch the Bruins playoff game while my wife and the ABFA set up to watch a concert movie by Travis Kelce’s girlfriend. I think we won that tradeoff.

S'More's Boss

BR3 Ready

Son and his Fam

BR3 Giving her Abuela Pointers

Those Trees Again

Mother, Son, Daughter

ABFA and BRS

This morning’s wakeup featured the requisite hojaldras where the BRS once again asserted her dominance as the family hojaldra queen. Somehow, and I still trying to figure out how she did it, my Favorite Panamanian convinced everyone to join her for Sunday mass. The ladies looked thoroughly fetching in their Sunday garb. BR3 came up to me to show me her dress and told me, “I know. I look very cute in this.” The granddaughters handled the service with aplomb and we decided to celebrate with lunch at the nearby 110 Grill.  My son had declared the ladies were restricted to one rest room visit. This was needed as the last time we were there, the ABFA spent more time escorting them to the lady’s room than at the table. The BRS took on the role of advocate protesting her dad’s ruling to no avail. They both snuck in an extra visit, the ABFA is a softy. It was a very fun weekend with this bunch and, once again, cementing the feelings of being home.

Ladies in Front of the ABFA's Daffodils

Riggins Keeping on Eye on his Charges

Sunday Lunch

BR3 Celebrating Bike Day at School on Friday

With her Mom

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RECURRING CHARACTERS:                                     

ABFA – Amazing Best Family Athlete - my daughter in law; BR3 – Blog Reader #3 – granddaughter #3; BRS - Blog Reader the Sequel - second granddaughter; Cantankerous Friend – friend since grade school who likes to argue about everything, poses as radical leftist to attract women; CRC - Connecticut Riverboat Captain – another close friend from high school, renowned sailor of the big river; Curbside Girls – close friends of my daughter acquired during him her single days in Brooklyn; Deckzilla – our backyard deck which grew to monstrous dimensions once my wife got involved in planning; Favorite Panamanian - the wife (of course); FBR - First Blog Reader - first granddaughter; First Friday – celebrations to mark the First Friday of the Week; Great Aunt - my elder sister; Keene Friends 1 & 2 – friends since high school from my home town of Keene, NH; Kindergarten Friend – friend since kindergarten whom I reunited with after many years; Maine and Virginia Musqueteras – two close friends of my wife – her US sisters, my wife is the 3^rd Musquetera (musketeer); Namesake Nephew – son of Great Aunt and Soxfather named after me; Neighborhood Mafioso - wife's close friend and Panamanian mafia member; PanaGals – female relatives /friends of my wife from Panama; Panamanian/Latin Mafia – inevitable group of Latino friends my wife accumulates wherever we have lived & their spouses; PCR - Pittsburgh College Roommate – high school friend, also a “Minor Celebrity” in Pittsburgh; PCR+1 - Pittsburgh College Roommate’s wife; Riggins - also known as the Grandpuppy, son's dog; Seis Amigos - two couples from our condo complex and my wife and I; Soxfather – my brother in law; Tia Loca – wife’s younger sister; Wingman – my son in law; Wingmom – Wingman’s mom, of course

Curious Redeployment

I’ll get to the curious part when I write about our arrival in Boston. I guess that’s called burying the lead but, what can I say, I was never a journalist. We have successfully returned to our Worcester home which is decidedly less tropical than our home in Las Lajas, but that’s the way it’s supposed to be. We still haven’t completely unpacked because that’s going to take some time and energy, which currently is better spent in catching up on everything that needs to be done in the house, like renewing the car registration which expired in February (Whoops). Luckily that can be handled on line. I got the flag pole back up to signal our return to the neighborhood. I’ve made it through the stack of junk mail and bills (is that redundant?) and we now have to hit the grocery store, so we can, eat.

El Fogon Farewell Dinner

Closing up the condo was poignantly sad. I say poignant because it really has become a second home to us and preparing it to weather the eight months of our absence in its tropical environs was a two day job (4 if you’re my Favorite Panamanian). She finally pronounced us ready to leave after our last sunset ceremony with the Upstairs Neighbors and the final of a seemingly endless laundry loads finished up in the dryer and was packed into plastic bins. I snapped this picture of the condo as we left and it looked sad, abandoned, and nothing like the home my Favorite Panamanian has created over the years. We left earlier than expected because a threatened road closure that turned out to be just a negotiating tactic. It turned out for the good because it gave my wife added time with her mom. We ended the day with a family dinner at El Fogon saying goodbye to my friend/waiter Everardo.

Sad Condo

Last Sunset Ceremony

Last Las Lajas Sunset

My brother-in-law gave us a ride to the airport Thursday morning which was a huge help and rescued me from one last drive through David’s demented traffic patterns. Our flights on Copa were typically awesome with only a short layover in Panama City between flights. During our approach to Panama City I snapped these photos showing some of my old haunting grounds from my mis-spent lieutenancy in the early 1980s. I got pictures of Fort Kobbe/Howard Air Force Base, the Amador Causeway and adjacent Canal, and finally Panama City which is so much bigger and more developed than back in the day. I also snapped a picture of a beautiful coral reef in the middle of the Caribbean as we flew over and the southern coast of Cuba.

Kobbe/Howard in the Distance
Ships Waiting to Enter the Canal in Foreground

Amador Causeway and Panama Canal

Panama City

The Caribbean Reef

Southern Coast of Cuba

The flight got interesting as we approached Boston. We heard a loud bang from almost directly underneath us when we were about forty minutes out of Boston. It remains a mystery because there was no announcement from the cockpit as to what it was. They probably didn’t know either, thank God from aviation redundancies. The mysteries continued upon arriving in Boston where we were treated to an amazing sunset that harkened back to Las Lajas. The mystery involved the plane driving past the international terminal and ending up in a far corner of the airfield. They wheeled up an old-style staircase for us to disembark. I kidded the stewardess that they hadn’t been paying their rent at the terminal but she nervously said it was security related and pointed at a nearby law enforcement dude. Still a mystery though as we boarded a bus back to the terminal and the seemingly endless immigration line (felt like I was back in Disney world with the switchback line). That long wait though meant our luggage was waiting when we finally emerged and we linked up with our slightly grumpy van driver. We arrived home around ten PM and found the house in great shape, nearly buried under the mountain of aforementioned junk mail. A hasty making of the bed ended the day for the my Favorite Panamanian while I descended to the Man Cave to insure all the electronics worked. They did, although the cable system gave me a few startling moments (I guess it resented its lack of use in 2024). So, we’re home, sort of. We’ll truly be home when we see the kids, grandkids, family, and friends which is what makes this our home.

Sunset in Boston

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RECURRING CHARACTERS:                                     

ABFA – Amazing Best Family Athlete - my daughter in law; BR3 – Blog Reader #3 – granddaughter #3; BRS - Blog Reader the Sequel - second granddaughter; Cantankerous Friend – friend since grade school who likes to argue about everything, poses as radical leftist to attract women; CRC - Connecticut Riverboat Captain – another close friend from high school, renowned sailor of the big river; Curbside Girls – close friends of my daughter acquired during him her single days in Brooklyn; Deckzilla – our backyard deck which grew to monstrous dimensions once my wife got involved in planning; Favorite Panamanian - the wife (of course); FBR - First Blog Reader - first granddaughter; First Friday – celebrations to mark the First Friday of the Week; Great Aunt - my elder sister; Keene Friends 1 & 2 – friends since high school from my home town of Keene, NH; Kindergarten Friend – friend since kindergarten whom I reunited with after many years; Maine and Virginia Musqueteras – two close friends of my wife – her US sisters, my wife is the 3^rd Musquetera (musketeer); Namesake Nephew – son of Great Aunt and Soxfather named after me; Neighborhood Mafioso - wife's close friend and Panamanian mafia member; PanaGals – female relatives /friends of my wife from Panama; Panamanian/Latin Mafia – inevitable group of Latino friends my wife accumulates wherever we have lived & their spouses; PCR - Pittsburgh College Roommate – high school friend, also a “Minor Celebrity” in Pittsburgh; PCR+1 - Pittsburgh College Roommate’s wife; Riggins - also known as the Grandpuppy, son's dog; Seis Amigos - two couples from our condo complex and my wife and I; Soxfather – my brother in law; Tia Loca – wife’s younger sister; Wingman – my son in law; Wingmom – Wingman’s mom, of course