But to be fair, the info I got on release from the hospital said 4–6 weeks for full recovery and in most ways that matter, I am now fully recovered.
What remains is the area of my chest where the surgery was done is still a bit sensitive to touch/sensation. The incisions are healing, though I’m closer now to fully healed/seeing what kind of cool scars I’ll end up with. I am mostly sleeping normally again, though I tend to keep the bedding off due to the aforementioned sensitivity.
I bought groceries today and didn’t calculate in my head how much everything weighed to make sure I wasn’t over the 10 pound (4.5 kg) limit.
I have 199 intensity minutes this week, all from my usual brisk walking pace. That’s nice.
I’m pretty much back to normal. I’m not always thinking about the surgery or its after-effects. I look forward to my first run (soon).
The daily reports may continue, or they may not. On the one hand, it keeps me posting. On the other, there’s little to report now, and maybe I could start posting more about other things as my mind turns to just living my life more or less normally again.
I don’t know why my bathtub has suddenly become a spider hotspot, but it has. The two cellar spiders are at opposite ends, which is probably a good thing, since they eat other spiders. Or maybe it’s a bad thing, because eventually all corners of the tub will be occupied by cellar spiders protecting its territory.
There are worse problems to have, I suppose.
Cellar spider #2. Hopefully not second in a series.
I had the appointment with the surgeon today. I journeyed to the hospital via SkyTrain, initially unaware that there was a World Cup game happening that afternoon downtown between Canada and Qatar. I say initially unaware because every station from Sapperton to Stadium was filled with people bedecked in red Canadian jerseys. Some people also had miniature Canadian flags, Canadian hats, capes and pretty much any kind of clothing or object you could wear and put a Canadian flag onto. I picked up on the fact that there just might be a game happening.
This didn’t actually impact my trip in any way, it was just interesting and a little weird to observe.
The security theatre downtown was impressive, especially when viewed from above on the SkyTrain. You’d never guess it was just a soccer (football) game.
Anyway, I arrived over an hour early and chose to have lunch at the Wendy’s that has stood at the corner of Cambie and Broadway since time immemorial. Seriously, I’ve lived here since 1986 and I don’t remember it ever not being there.
I ordered the Classic Chicken Combo. The chicken burger was hot, so either freshly cooked or freshly nuked. It was also juicy, so I’m guessing the former. I still had that issue I always have with their chicken burgers where the mayo and tomato combine to provide a slippery exit ramp for the patty and it starts squipping out of the bun. I finished the chicken, but not the bun. Gotta watch those carbs.
This Wendy’s also had one of those universal drink fountains where they give you a cup and then you select which of the thousand beverages you want, and you can mix them if that’s your thing. The last time I encountered such a device I gave up and asked for a drink at the counter because I could not figure it out. I don’t know if the machines have changed, or I have changed, but this time I:
Pressed the button for Coke Zero
Placed the cup on the circle
Pressed the button that said Press to Fill (or something like that)
And I got my Coke Zero and that was that.
After lunch, I finally made my way to the hospital building and upon arrival, the office assistant gave me a form and told me to go down to the third floor for an X-ray, which I did. I then returned and a short time later met with the surgeon. He grumbled about the IT system because he did not have the X-ray yet, though he should have. He said he would phone with the results when he eventually got them, good or bad, though he said he did not expect any issues.
He looked at my healing incisions and declared them fine. He gave his blessing to lift more than 10 pounds and to go running or otherwise resume normal activities.
Then he told me, in a sort of understated way, that I had cancer.
Had being the operative word.
Having read the pathology report, he gave me the findings:
The tumour (for it is now known as such) was 100% successfully removed and showed no signs of growth or spreading.
It was thymoma, a type of cancerous tumour that is “less aggressive”, initially shows no symptoms and is rare enough that only about 400 (the equivalent of maybe 45 Canadians) Americans get diagnosed with it every year.
I will have a CT scan (with no dye, yay) next May to make sure no new shenanigans are at play in my chest, as there is a non-zero chance of recurrence, though it is in the low percentage range.
The relevant quote from the Wikipedia article linked above is this:
One-third to one-half of all persons with thymoma have no symptoms at all, and the mass is identified on a chest X-ray or CT/CAT scan performed for an unrelated problem.
It turns out I was quite lucky to have a kidney infection that resulted in a CT scan back in January 2025. Thank you, malfunctioning kidney! (The kidney is better now.)
It would be very nice indeed if I had no more health issues for the rest of the year. Or ever again. I’ll even keep the seasonal allergies if needed.
For some reason I felt off yesterday. I was tired, maybe it was nothing more than that.
But then I slept surprisingly well. When I pull a shirt over my head today (to take it off, not because I have some “pulling shirts over my head” kink) I no longer do it slowly because the fabric feels weird going over my surgery zone. I can sneeze, and it only flares for a moment, and not much at that.
I can turn and stretch, and I don’t immediately get reminded I had surgery.
I’m healing. I am impatient, and I just want to be better, as I said yesterday, but I think there is an actual end in sight now.
Hopefully, the surgeon won’t tell me otherwise when I meet him in two days.
Here is a very nimble cat. I will be this cat soon.
Where: Campbell Valley Regional Park (Langley), Tlahutum Regional Park (Coquitlam) Weather: Sunny, 26-32°C
This was my second time birding since surgery and I may have been a bit overly ambitious on setting out an extravagantly long route around Campbell Valley as the temperature eventually climbed to 32C.
Campbell Valley Regional Park
Quaint old buildings near the South Valley entrace.
We parked at the South Valley entrance, where the car seats would get set to “broiling” while we wandered the many trails of the park. We eventually began questing for a water fountain and settled for a bathroom sink by an old red barn.
Our first visit here was in March 2023 and did not yield too many birds. This time there was a lot of activity and a surprisingly large variety of birds–but many proved elusive, either appearing fleetingly, or only taunting us from somewhere in the dense foliage.
One of the reasons I suggested Campbell Valley on this day was the forecast–I remembered it had a lot of shade. And the shade is maxed out in the summer. It was quite nice to stroll under the relative cool of the canopy, but the sections where it opened up were Africa Hot and I regretted not having a camera bag large enough to hold a big ol’ water bottle.
We also saw the Historic Langley Speedway, which is now just a curious paved oval in the middle of the forest.
Toward the end I was further regretting the long, elaborate route I’d suggested. Then we got to the Shaggy Mane Trail and encountered about a dozen horse (with riders) split into a few groups. Most of the rest of the way out from here was navigating around horse poop–big fresh piles of tapestry (I had opined earlier about the tapestry of nature)–and passing a disturbingly large number of EMERGENCY CALL 911 signs because apparently horses or horse riders apparently have lots of accidents or something.
In an ironic twist, we came across a flooded part and had to navigate across on a plank, while simultaneously parched and desperate for water.
By the end we had managed a few decent shots, more than a few foiled attempts and a desire to return either in the spring or fall, when there are fewer places for the birds to hide and temperatures will be cooler.
Still, a welcome trip back, if a wee bit more than was perhaps sensible given conditions.
Tlahutum Regional Park
Coquitlam River.
We went hunting for a bunting here, but the hunt was unsuccessful. I shot more kitsch than birds in the community garden, but it was 32C by now, so the sensible birds were hiding in the shade. Nic managed a shot of an American Goldfinch. Had it stayed put for another second, I would have gotten a shot, too, but it finched right off just as I lifted my camera. I had better luck with some House Finches in a tree.
We opted to not venture to the big pond, but did see a single scruffy Wood Duck in one of the increasingly swampy waterways.
A few high clouds blotted out some of the sun, which provided a little relief in the late going.
In all, not a bad day of birding at all, even if it was silly hot and the birds were largely (and wisely) absent.
The Shots
Shot with a Canon EOS R7 with 18-150 mm kit lens and 100-400 mm telephoto. Some scenery captured on a Samsung Galaxy S26. The light and shadows were especially harsh. And my camera may have started melting.
A fly. We actually don't see many flies. But they really liked this leaf.
Anna's Hummingbird, up high.
Willow Flycatcher. I had to adjust some dials as the light was pretty bad here.
Fixed-wing bird, with contrails.
A Spotted Towhee, caught in the nanosecond before it started madly hopping around again.
Red-bellied Sapsucker. The shadows were harsh, I did what I could!
Song Sparrow with classic, "Whatchoo lookin' at?" pose.
Posing done, singing commences.
Song Sparrow singing.
One of a bunch of Cedar Waxwings in a tree at Campbell Valley Regional Park.
Community Garden kitsch at Tlahutum.
American Robin "panting" to beat the heat. It was 32C at this point.
Black-capped chickadee seeking shelter from the sun.
A House Finch pondering berries before digging in.
Today I went birding and the temperature rose from 26C in the morning to 32C in the afternoon. We ventured on a long loop around Campbell Valley Regional Park.
Good: A lot of the park is forested and provides nice shade.
Bad: all the other parts where the sun beats down on you mercilessly.
I felt by the end of the afternoon I had maybe miscalculated how ready I was for something so taxing. I’m OK as I type this, but tired and aware that I probably won’t sleep great again tonight.
And I also realize that unless something starts changing significantly in my rate of recovery, I may not sleep great for weeks to come. I don’t sleep terribly, but I never really feel rested. Somewhat surprisingly, I also never feel like I’m dragging through the day as a result. Why, I don’t know. But today was the closest I’ve come to wanting to just lay down in a nice shady spot and stay there for a while.
I did get a few nice bird shots, though (coming soon).
In the meantime, here are some of the trees that provided welcome shade:
Trees along the Deer Trail in Campbell Valley Regional Park. No deer were seen.
Specifically, last night I found I could sleep OK if I laid on my back, with the covers pulled away from my chest, like if I was an Egyptian mummy, except not ancient, mummified and in a sarcophagus. On my side was still uncomfortable. The covers on my chest were uncomfortable. But on my back, like a mummy, was OK.
While my energy and general wellness continue to improve, sleep has been, by far, the most vexing part of my recovery. I don’t know if this is typical, abnormal or somewhere in-between. I suspect it’s pretty normal. After 22 days it’s also now pretty annoying.
At least in a few more days I should be able to roll onto the side that got cut up without risk of opening anything up.
I make this sound kind of terrible, but it’s not, it’s just what it is. I think writing about it helps me to manage the bother. Also knowing the surgery may have staved off something much worse down the line helps, too!
In the meantime, I took a walk to Sapperton Landing today to get some exercise in. I’m up to 103 intensity minutes for the week, woo. Next week I could theoretically hit the minimum, 150.
The weather was quite nice. Here are a few shots I took on my Galaxy S26.
Looking east across the Fraser River, Port Mann Bridge in the background.A plaque-free stone, plus an old boat with baby boats on the river behind it.A fish mosaic embedded in the ground, by J. McConnell.Enjoy the view while also feeling important.
And an internet pal has informed me that in Portugal this means I have money coming my way. I kind of doubt that, but would welcome it!
The spider is hanging just above the soap tray. We’re leaving it be for now, since it’s not in the way or anything. I do wonder what sort of meals it gets from the tub, though.
Three weeks ago I would have been typing this from a hospital bed, pumped full of painkillers and oblivious of what was to come, existing in a weird daze, both aware and unaware, occasionally looking out the window to my left and noting the sky changing colour.
Today, 21 days later, I am feeling mostly normal.
Mostly.
The area of surgery is still sore, but every day now it feels…tighter. This is both good, because it means it’s healing, but also in a way bad because at certain points it’s made sleeping somewhat uncomfortable again.
The Big Stitch–the incision where the surgical instruments would have gone in–is starting to become noticeably less puffy, though it still feels weird. I could look up what it is I’m feeling (folded muscle, fat, etc.) on the internet, but those kinds of searches always seem to lead to a page saying IT’S PROBABLY BLACK DEATH. Plus, I see the surgeon in six days, I’ll just ask him then.
No cat again, instead this photo I took by the hospital lane way this afternoon:
