No heavy lifting required

Just an update on the hernia surgery: All is progressing well. The scar is a bit unsightly - mainly because the belly hair hasn't fully grown back.

The best news (OK, maybe not the best) is that I'm under a "no-heavy-lifting" rule from the doctor for four weeks after the surgery. In the doc's opinion, "heavy lifting" consists of 20 lbs. I've got another week to milk this, so trash duty, litter pan duty, carried tired and whiney 3-year-old duty, etc. falls to my wife.

It could be worse. My wife works in the health field and she assessed a patient (in his 70s or 80s) who had the same surgery I did. One problem: His incisions didn't take (or he didn't follow doctor's orders) and he ended up with a nasty infection.

I'm hoping to avoid all that, although I may bust a gut when the post-insurance bill arrives.