Ok - here is a note to everyone that has a surgery and you undergo full anesthesia with tube.   For at least 24 hours, do not mow, do not take a shovel and dig up asian jasmine and transfer it from around the tree in the front yard to an area in the back yard, do not weed wack and do not exert yourself 4 hours after the surgery.

I did all of that yesterday.   Then, this morning, I woke up with chest pain, lung pain, very stiff neck and wondered why.  I didn't do anything more yesterday than I usually do...  except... oh yeah - I had surgery and had an anesthesiologist put me to sleep for over an hour while they had me laying back with my neck hanging off a table removing a mass from my vocal cord.

The pain in my lungs kept getting worse to the point that just breathing was causing a level 7 pain, and when I moved, the level jumped - so tonight I asked Angie to take me to the ER and she did.    The cop in the ER knows my oldest son as he brings prisoners to the hospital from time to time (Nick is a deputy at the Smith County Jail).  Angie and I used to go to church with the ER doctor and his wife (Ernie and Jarvie Stroup) and I have alot of respect and admiration for him.  He's a good man.    The manager of the ER went to school with my middle son, his wife and my youngest son and he used to work with all 3.    So - yes - we did receive excellent care at the Mother Frances Hospital tonight.

OK - the diagnosis is Pleurisy:

Pleurisy is inflammation of the linings around the lungs (the pleura). There are two layers of pleura: one covering the lung (termed the visceral pleura) and the other covering the inner wall of the chest (the parietal pleura). These two layers are lubricated by pleural fluid.

Pleurisy is frequently associated with the accumulation of extra fluid in the space between the two layers of pleura. This fluid is referred to as a pleural effusion. Pleurisy is also referred to as pleuritis.

The pain fibers of the lung are located in the pleura. When this tissue becomes inflamed, it results in a sharp pain in the chest that is worse with breathing in, aka pleurisy. Other symptoms of pleurisy can include cough, chest tenderness, and shortness of breath.

Steroids were administered after EKG, chest x-ray and a good examination - with me answering questions with a white erase board and Angie filling in her comments.    Once Angie ratted me out on what I did yesterday, it made perfect sense to the doctor what caused my Pleurisy.

Apparently, when the nurse tells you after surgery to not drive or operate heavy machinery for 24 hours, that is supposed to include a lawn mower, shovel, wheelbarrow and weedwacker as "heavy machinery"  

So - I'm better tonight - breathing more normal without the pain and I'll have to listen to Angie fuss at me for awhile about this one - but I think I deserve it.   She also started quoting me from the Bible too.  I think she mentioned Exodus Chapter 23, vs 12 when she told me to mind the doctor as “thou shalt rest thine ass on the morrow” or something like that, so I’m not allowed to do anything for the next few days.

At least we got to see a friend we haven't seen in a long long time....