My own PERSONAL pre-surgery prep

So the last few days I have been getting myself ready for the surgery and hospital stay (60% are just overnight - or even less in some cases, but my doc says overnight minimum -, 20% are 1 more day, 20% are 3 to 7 days), in my own personal way.

A couple things:

1. I'm going to be stuck in a hospital room for at least overnight, and possibly up to 7 days.
   
   
2. That hospital room is 75 miles from my home, and my wife will be staying with friends in Spokane overnight.
   
   
3. I'm going to be woogy for at least a week, until my medications start balancing out (having your thyroid removed is a MAJOR impact to your endocrine system).
   
   
4. I am DESPERATELY going to need to keep myself entertained during this time period.
   
   
5. I am likely to be fatigued enough that I'll lose focus and fall asleep a lot during that entire time period.
   
6. I won't be able to eat solid food for 3 to 7 days after the surgery (from midnight before the surgery... or about 90 minutes after I write this), and will have to go easy on my throat for at least a week afterwards, including nothing that's going to give me reflux (light on garlic, very little tomato, light on dairy and milk, avoiding onions even harder etc...)
   
7. I have not been able to take my normal anti inflammatory medications, or any NSAIDs,  or my hormones, or my diuretics (NSAIDs can cause blood thinning and reduce clotting. My diuretics can cause blood thickening, potassium deficiency, other vitamin and mineral deficiencies, and cause accelerated clotting.) As a result, in the last three weeks, I have gained as much as 60 lbs, and am fluctuating as much as 24lbs in a single day; and my joints have swollen up to foodlike proportions (knees like grapefruits, knuckles like walnuts etc...)
   
8. Also, I can't start taking them again until my throat recovers, and my stitches come out (they're giant horse pills, as well as effecting my healing, clotting etc...), so at least a week.

I have a cunning plan...

The first thing I've been doing, is eating everything I REALLY like the last two weeks. Pizza, hot wings, hot chili, hot dogs, meat sauce, bacon double cheeseburgers, dessert every night etc...

I figure if I've gained 60lbs anyway, and I can't eat them for a couple weeks... What the hell, eat whatever I want.

Second thing is, we've been laying in good tasting soft foods that I like, sufficient for next week or two. I'm going to be drinking a lot of tea, beef and chicken broth, eating beef and barley, and chicken and rice soup, mashed potatoes and gravy, some beef stew, some mild chili... Lots of ice cream...

I know... It's going to be SUCH a hardship.

Phase II... the entertainment portion... should be fairly simple... I have completely loaded my phone, tablet, and laptop with ebooks and audio books; and am packing some physical books in reserve, for those "battery emergencies".

The hospital has free wifi in room, which should help as well.

On the ebook front, I have loaded my readers with all 40 "Spenser" novels, and the 10 Jesse Stone novels, and the 21 "Travis McGee" novels, and the entire Monster Hunter series in Audiobook (at least all the ones available as such); and I'm powering through them at high speed.

In fact, since thursday afternoon, I've read the first three Jesse Stone books, then  switched over to Spenser and have read the first 14 of those (up through "Crimson Joy"). I think I'll finish Spenser before switching back to Jesse Stone, and then on to Travis McGee.

I've read all of them before, so if I lose focus and nod off, I can easily pick back up (the good thing about ebooks too. they automatically keep your place).

I am completely ready to stay in bed for a week.

Wish me luck... and pray for Mels sanity.