3. Fundoplication surgery. Remember, you can’t have fundoplication without the fun! Though it wasn’t much fun recovering, it was worth all the trouble.

I had fundoplication surgery in March after suffering for years from reflux and other issues. I had put up with it for far too long, not knowing exactly what could be done. My doctor put me on antacid medicine, which took care of the acid but left other aspects untreated. I really didn’t want to take a $5 pill each day for the rest of my life, so I looked for alternatives.
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I’m all scheduled for my laparoscopic nissen fundoplication Thursday morning. So what does that mean? My adventure begins Wednesday night when I eat a light meal for dinner. Then I shower using bacterial soap before going to bed. I wake up at 5 AM (providing I get to sleep in the first place), wash my abdomen with the soap again, and drive to Chapel Hill.

Once at the hospital, I go to pre-care and get checked in. Then it’s off to Ambulatory Care where they prep me for my surgery, including being interviewed by the anesthesiologist. My belongings go into a locker and I put on a hospital gown. I wave goodbye to Kelly as I’m wheeled into the operating room. We won’t see each other again for at least four hours.
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I’m scheduled to have my laparoscopic nissen fundoplication surgery next Thursday at UNC Hospitals (I was never good at fundoplication in math class). The surgery should fix my reflux issues once and for all, of which I’ve been dealing for almost ten years. No more drugs, yay!

I plan to take the following Friday off and be back to work (or at least working from home) after a weekend of rest. That’s why the laparoscopic part is so cool: tiny incisions make for a quick recovery.

Only drawback is I can’t eat steak for about a month. Your blog wants steak. 🙂

Having just discussed this in the office, it seems that some of my coworkers may have similar problems. It seems this stuff is much more common than I realized.

I’ve been itching to write something deep or inspiring, but the inspiration has been lacking. It’s the kind of feeling I get when I know there’s something important to be said and I just don’t know how to say it. Eventually, the words will organize themselves and I’ll have a great post. But that great post will have to wait. 🙂

I’ve got my fundoplication scheduled now. The big day is November 10th. I’m going to see the local expert in the surgery, Dr. Tim Farrell at UNC. He comes highly recommended.

Also, I should mention that an unnamed large local Linux company has recently courted me. This is a company I admired for so many years. I had given it at least a half-dozen resumes during its existance. Only my most recent one garnered any attention from them, and by that time it was too late. I am happily settled at my current job.

But that doesn’t mean I didn’t want to talk to them. After all, it is a company I greatly admired. So when I got a call to schedule a phone interview, it didn’t matter that they were three months too late in responding to me – I would talk to them.

The phone interview went well, but not spectacularly. Weeks later, I got an invitation to visit them in person. I felt I wowed them when I got there except for one thing: when they asked me why I would leave my current job, I had no answer.

Truth is, I didn’t want to work for them. Originally, I only followed up with it to help pitch my friend for the position. When I didn’t get an opportunity for that, I used it instead as good interviewing practice. My resume also attracted attention among the hundreds which arrive every day. No small feat.

Yeah, this company had lost some of its luster in my eyes. I wondered (and still do) if it has a soul. The impression I got from my visit is that it does not, and that’s sad. I wonder if folks there are just punching a timeclock – if the so-called “revolution” is dead.

So the end of the story is that I’m staying put, and that’s just fine with me. I have a great job working with great people, at a company that is going to go places. It’s the most fun I’ve had in years. It’s as close to perfect as I’ve experienced.

Damn! I don’t even have a witty or deep closing statement for this post. How about “and they lived happily ever after.”