03/17/2026
Hello, everyone! I went back to work today after taking 3 weeks off after my hernia surgery. This is the longest stretch of days that I have ever taken off in a row since I started working as a pharmacist in the fall of 1997. And it definitely wasn't a vacation. I spent the 1st 4 days in a stupor and then stopped taking the pain pills because they made me feel like crap. The rest of the time, I was waiting on the swelling to come down. The less said about my swollen nether regions, the better...
Before my surgery, my surgeon told me that he "didn't like to brag, but I'll have the surgery done in 45 minutes". Well, 2 and 1/2 hours later I was slowly waking up in recovery, and they were telling me that my hernia was a little worse than they had thought and that they fixed the other ones that I didn't know about while they were in there too. I was fortunate to have a great surgeon and surgery team, can't say enough good things about how great they were. I had all these notions that I would get a lot of stuff done around the Swart Compound while I was home, but none of that panned out either. I did get to wear sweatpants for 3 weeks straight and I hated every second of that, I am NOT a fan of sweatpants.
I was actually glad(?) to head back to work today to break up the monotony of doing nothing. It was nice to hear from so many patients and customers who asked me how I was doing, how I was feeling, and, boy, we are sure are glad you're back, Mike, we missed you! That made me feel pretty good, it was nice to see them today too. My team at Valley Pharmacy did a very nice job of "minding the shop" while I was away and I'm so thankful for each and every one of them. Having a great crew of people working with you makes your work life so much better! Appreciate them covering me while I took the much needed time off to heal. I also appreciate all the help from my family and all the extra work they did around the homestead to help me out.
So, here's the moral of the story... If you have something wrong with you medically, just go get it fixed, don't mess around for 2 years until it gets worse. And, secondly, be appreciative of all the people in your life who are there to help you, wish you well, and offer good thoughts and prayers your way. Love you all, hope everyone has a great week!
1 Thessalonians 5:12–13: "Appreciate those who diligently work among you... hold them in the highest regard in love".
-Mike
