Surgical Update and Elderblogging
Monday, 02 April 2007
First, thank you for your get well wishes regarding my skin cancer surgery on Thursday last week. I was (and am) grateful to all of you each time I crawled out of bed to reconnect with the world for an hour or so. Oliver the cat was not as sympathetic, expressing most vocally his displeasure that I was not available for playtime during the past three days.
If one must have surgery, this is the way to do it. I have not used the heavy-duty pain pills the surgeon prescribed, nor even Tylenol. I’ve had hangnails that hurt worse than this.
What I was not prepared for was the fatigue, particularly since the surgery was done with a local anesthetic. I slept so much that time got confused and all day Saturday, I thought it was Sunday. The upside is that it feels like I gained a day in my life.
I will ask the surgeon when I see him later this week, but I suspect the fatigue is related to age, that our bodies in the upper decades of life are not as efficient at recovery as when we were younger. At any age, however, it is important to rest after being cut open. The body does not know the difference between a tidy scalpel wound and a messy stabbing from a mugger. It knows only that it has a lot of repair work to do.
In my case, the “fuzzies” have now lifted from my brain, I am among the conscious again and except for favoring the two surgical sites until they are healed, life has returned to normal.
”Elderbloggers”
I was pleased to run across a story from 12 March in the Spokane Spokesman-Review that uses “elderbloggers” in the headline and throughout the story. The word did not exist until one of the BlogHer founders, Elisa Camahort, coined it (and I immediately adopted it) for panel I appeared on at the 2006 SXSW conference in Austin and since then, I have suggested the word (well, maybe tried to browbeat) every reporter who has interviewed me into using it.
Sometimes I succeed and sometimes I don’t, but the unnamed Spokesman-Review writer didn’t contact me which means the word is gaining ground outside our corner of the blogosphere.
Check out the story. 107-year-old Australian blogger, Olive Riley, is mentioned as are Millie Garfield of My Mom’s Blog and me, among others.
Good to know that you are feeling better! I've been having regular colonoscopies WITH anesthesia since I was forty. In those days, I went on Monday and went back to work on Tuesday and no problem
The last time I went at the beginning of the winter, it took me almost a week to feel like my old self...
So I guess age has a lot to do with powers of recovery...
Posted by: claude | Monday, 02 April 2007 at 04:40 AM
At an Adobe Users Group meeting last week, it was announced that I was the new leader of the accessibility area for the group. After the meeting a man asked for my card so he could contact me later because he worked with lots of "elders" (yes, he used that word) on some web sites. I don't know if you can take credit for the use of the word, buy it seems reasonable to me,
Posted by: Virginia | Monday, 02 April 2007 at 06:44 AM
Sorry you weren't well...hadn't visited for a while...great to know you're recovering...keep well!You keep us going, you know!
Posted by: Veenu | Monday, 02 April 2007 at 06:45 AM
Elderblogger. Blech.
Posted by: GoingLikeSixty | Monday, 02 April 2007 at 07:40 AM
It's great that you haven't need painkillers. Anesthesia always takes a lot out of us, though.
Posted by: kenju | Monday, 02 April 2007 at 09:00 AM
glad you're feeling better today and gave yourself a chance to recoup. since 60-plus, every time i expend much energy--travel, hours in museum--have to slow down the next day.
Posted by: naomi dagen bloom | Monday, 02 April 2007 at 09:26 AM
There are plenty of synonyms for older that aren't offensive but I don't think "elder" is one of them or do you just like it because elder is kind of catchy because it ends in "er" like blogger. Websters defines the adjective "elder" as "archaic : of or relating to a more advanced time of life." Call me a "boomerblogger" or even a "Seniorblogger" if labels are necessary but please, not an "elderblogger". I'll leave that for the 100 + crowd.
Posted by: Brian | Monday, 02 April 2007 at 01:47 PM
Glad you're feeling better. You mentioned "Life of Riley". I just love her "blob". lol She tells a great story.
Posted by: Betty | Monday, 02 April 2007 at 01:57 PM
Glad you continue to be on the mend. I'm inclined to think your reaction of fatigue is not necessarily age-related though I think it could be a small factor. I think it has more to do with the type of anesthetic, possibly amt. administered, how long they had to keep you were under it, maybe where it had to be administered to be effective for the surgical areas, and the simple but complex differences in how we each react as individuals.
Let's not be too quick to ascribe everything to our age, because I, too, have had a number of colonoscopies with anesthesia and experience no fatiguing side effects, or even the slight post memory effects some reportedly have. Been having this procedure regularly since my sixties and into my seventies now. (The worst part is the prep.) My husband's experience when he was in his seventies with the same procedure was quite different for various physical and medical reasons as was the administration dosage and type of anesthetic he received.
I think it's great that the term "elderblogger" is being adopted. Am glad to see it showing up in print. I, personally, am repelled by "senior" which sounds like high school or college to me.
I do find a need for ongoing clarification of "elder" with others, especially the younger 50+ group, since too many people know only the definition of the word "elder" as referring to the oldest of the old. Since for generations and in many cultures the term "elder" means something quite different, as you've previously written about here, a lot of education continues to be needed for the term to be more widely accepted.
Maybe, those who write the dictionary definitions need to be reminded to re-examine the limited manner in which they define the word. People look it up, as I just did in several Webster's dictionaries I have, and can appreciate why some don't want to be called "elder" or "elderblogger."
Posted by: Joared | Monday, 02 April 2007 at 04:19 PM
Ronni,
I just caught up - I am glad you are resting, and I wish you a good recovery.
Posted by: Laura | Monday, 02 April 2007 at 08:53 PM
So glad you're recovering. I noticed Ollie was Oliver which tells me how amused you were with him. lol I'm always groggy and tired after any kind of surgery and feel like 40 miles of bad road. I think it's your body asking, what the hell happened?
I like the term Elderblogger. Even more, I like being an Elderblogger. It works for me!!!
Posted by: Kay Dennison | Wednesday, 04 April 2007 at 03:20 PM
Just got back from a week-long road trip, so am just now writing to say I'm glad you're doing better. Everyone is quite different on how they recover from any particular procedure. But glad you're on the mend!
And yes, those of us who have cats (I have one) understand who was put on earth to serve whom.
Posted by: Cindy | Thursday, 05 April 2007 at 07:35 PM
Silver Tsunami... Chrysler exec coined that term for boomers.
I love it!
Posted by: Going Like Sixty | Sunday, 08 April 2007 at 12:37 PM