Post surgery update #2 + Feathered Hearts teaser · 4:23pm Sep 10th, 2021
They say time flies when you’re having fun. But fun is not what describes this. 
I’m still in considerable pain, able to eat only when I take a combo of three painkillers--Hydrocodone (an opioid + Tylenol) plus a triple dose of ibuprofen; those are pretty much all the major types of painkiller medication except aspirin--at once and wait an hour. Even better, the surgery actually worsened my apnea to start, but that’s to be expected due to a badly swollen tongue. I’m told the swelling peaks at two days out then slowly subsides, so hopefully it gets better from here.
Still, nearly two days removed from surgery now--I went in to the operating room at noon on Wednesday, as scheduled--I’m at least at home convalescing again, after some final hospital snafus. To begin with, my discharge paperwork wasn’t complete after my overnight stay, so I had to wait ninety minutes while they got hold of somebody who could get the extra information they needed. Of course, my surgeon would be the obvious choice to talk to for that, but he was doing another surgery at that time, so I had to call his office and ask his staff if they could supply the info.
Though the wait was annoying for me, I felt most sorry for my ride. A good friend drove forty minutes to pick me up from the hospital, only to get there and find he had to wait for well over an hour and a half--in the parking lot, since continuing COVID restrictions mean they aren’t allowed inside--before they could finally wheel me out. The nurses were profusely apologetic to both him and me, and the least I can say about them is that they were very nice and attended me well. It’s hard to get rest when they come in every two hours to take your temperature or give you medication, though.
Oh, yes, and there was one final scene that would have made Fortrakt throw up. When they removed the IV stent from the vein in my hand, the insertion site started bleeding profusely, all over the floor and my shirt beside me. Understand, I’m not one to be bothered by blood or needles, but it was still a bit disconcerting as it took them a little time to get it under control. My right hand currently has a thick pad of gauze on the back of it secured by three layers of tape; I’m not removing it until it eventually just wears itself off. It also soaked my t-shirt in blood, meaning I couldn’t wear it, else I’d be getting blood all over my friend’s car seat. So I threw it in a plastic bag, and in place of a shirt, I just wore the hospital gown home. 
Not much of a souvenir, but at least it has stars and moons on it. Might make a good work smock if nothing else.
Did I mention it hurts to talk and is agony to swallow unless I’ve got all three painkillers in me? If you’ve ever had a severe case of strep throat, that’s basically what this feels like, and my appetite is very weak right now. Only got through about half my scrambled eggs and instant grits as I begin my soft food diet. Energy levels are low as well, but I can get out and walk a bit, at least. Just can’t drive if I have the opioid in me, since that’s a narcotic. I had to go off it long enough yesterday to drive myself to my post-op appointment, where they removed this odd drain held in place at the back of my tongue with a single stitch.
Well, if I haven’t grossed everyone out enough already, I also wanted to give an update on Feathered Hearts. I’m still waiting for word from the mods, and for that reason, I haven’t posted the new chapter yet. As for what I’m working on next--since my libido level and desire to do clopfics is pretty much zero right now after all this, Unleash the Magic will have to wait until I’m recovered. That being the case, I’ll continue forward into the next Feathered Heart chapter edit. The coming of the Cloven isn’t far off at this point, folks... 
But because I’m making you wait, here’s a teaser from the updated chapter:
A full week after their release, Gilda was happy to see that Chris, Tara and Marco were finally starting to seem more themselves.
Just like her at that stage, their appetites had improved and their energy was starting to return in earnest, even though they still tired a little too easily and didn’t wander much further than a trip to the market under escort—something that was only possible given the crisis with the Ibexian Ascendancy appeared to have ended.
Faced with imminent capture and possible execution for the attempt on the lives of the humans and their griffon escorts, their elusive Capricorn Adepts had indeed surrendered—but not to the Ravens or any other griffon authority. They had instead taken refuge in the Saddle Arabian embassy and were refusing to obey orders from their government, saying they would only give up the location of the items they’d stolen upon a signed guarantee of amnesty from Queen Molyneux herself and safe passage to the Ascendancy.
To that end, they’d revealed the location of a small cache of human gear, where the Council of Crows found Tara’s ‘backpack’, which contained her books and sketchpad as well as her magnification device. However, the more important items, including the portal devices and human weapons, remained hidden; the adepts had even gone so far as to forcibly wipe the memories of their contacts to make sure they wouldn’t be discovered.
Despite the attempt at extortion, the Queen openly stated she had no intention of acceding to their demands. Her latest posted proclamations declared that “the Gryphon Kingdom will not agree to anything under duress” and further insulted the Adepts by stating that “their dishonor is only exceeded by their cowardice.” Unable to enter the embassy to get them, she had ordered the Kingdom’s security forces to simply wait them out until they could get the less-than-happy Saddle Arabians to expel them.
It unquestionably put the latter in a bind, as unlike the Kingdom, Gilda knew that Saddle Arabia wanted good relations with the Ascendancy; a major trading partner who paid richly for their goods as well as passage to their ports on the Marabian Sea. But nor did they wish to antagonize the Kingdom, who kept the Harpie pirate clans in check who might otherwise harass their borders and raid their shipping.
“I don’t see any way out for them,” Tribune Narada had responded when Gilda asked that morning if the Ibexian Adepts could yet slip free of the trap. “Never mind the Council of Crows, Ravens and Paladins, but the entire populace of Arnau is after them. I’m having to deploy extra Auxilia around the Saddle Arabian embassy to keep the protests peaceful and angry griffons out.”
“They should be angry,” Gilda grated, gratified that griffons as a whole had taken the attack on the humans as an attack on all of them. “So why are the Saddle Arabians sheltering them?”
“Because they’re between a storm and a gale right now. They don’t want to upset either side, and are currently in some rather urgent talks with the Ascendancy, whose leadership continues to insist the Adepts are not obeying their orders. For whatever it’s worth, the Council of Crows thinks they’re telling the truth but doesn’t know why.”
“Then they should have no objection to the Saddle Arabians surrendering them,” Fortrakt pointed out with a sneer. He had come back from his two-day leave that morning somewhat distracted but in a very good mood, leaving Gilda guessing that his first-ever round with the Talon eagless he asked out weeks earlier had gone well.
“Unless they know the Adepts can spill information they don’t want revealed,” Narada pointed out dryly. “Information like past operations, who gave them the order to attack the humans and steal their gear, their contacts among the criminal underworld of Arnau… even if they’re not obeying orders, the Ascendancy has plenty of reason to keep them quiet and try to negotiate their return. For this reason, Ambassador Strenus remains in Saddle Arabia for now, but he hopes to return in two days’ time. Negotiations with the humans will restart then.”
“So where does that leave us?” Gilda asked. “With respect, it’s been over two weeks since the attack, and it looks like the odds of war are ebbing—pity,” she couldn’t help but add with a growl, flexing her talons against the floor. “Can we let their civilians out of house arrest, yet?” She wasn’t happy about having to keep them inside the Inn, doubly so since they were starting to go what she’d heard ponies refer to as stir-crazy as their energy and appetites returned.
“You may,” Narada said, presenting a signed and sealed order for them lifting the restriction. “But they are to be kept together and escorted at all times by both of you when outside the Inn, and you are to inform our outside forces of your intentions so they can be shadowed.”
“By whom? The Council of Crows?” Fortrakt asked grumpily. They had not seen the Senior Sparrow in days, for which Gilda was glad; she’d been told earlier by the Tribune that Talia Tarseus had been informed by no less than the Queen that if she wished to keep her post, she would not rest until the Ibexian assassins and their stolen human equipment were found.
“No. I am told by my contacts that after the failure of the Council of Crows to do their jobs, the Ravens will protect them now. If all goes well, you’ll never see them, but they’ll be watching and will intervene if necessary. Needless to say, do not inform the humans about this...”
The chapter posts as soon as the mods get back to me, one way or another. If, as I hope, they finally allow me to post these updated chapters to my story, then you’ll see seven new chapters appear (prologue, chapters 1-5, chapter 12) all at once. If not, then what I may do is post the original part of the chapter and then link to the google doc for the rest of it. We’ll just have to see.
With the pain medication, be careful of it causing constipation. Toss back some Dulcolax or a Miralax mixture, and try to stay ahead of it. Luckily it sounds like you're on a relatively light dose, so it shouldn't be too bad. Glad you made it out.
I'm glad to read that you're convalescing. When it comes to your stories you made it clear that you probably weren't going to focus on Unleash the Magic so soon after your surgery which is understandable.
well hope everything goes alright and you can relax
get well friend and take all the time you need,.
5580300
aww yes Miralax is your friend. been there,
Glad to hear your surgery is finished. You have my sympathies for the pain. Getting my left hand worked on soon for carpal tunnel syndrome. The right was done last year. I could not take the opioids I was given because they really screwed up my system. So I toughed it out till the stitches came out. Please take care of yourself! We will be here going Rah! Rah! Rah! for you! ( Yeah I'm a Yank...so telling you " stiff upper lip " is just wrong..I don't want you to hurt yourself...hehehe!) Get well!
See, this is a conspiracy from the Cowboy Consortium to get the population used to ass-less chaps.
5580300
Thankfully, that wasn’t an issue, only because I was eating very little for the first couple days, and now the pain has ebbed enough that I’ve halted the opioid dose and I’m just going with ibuprofen.
5580302
Thanks. Have to say, it is nice sleeping for nine or ten hours a night. I’ll get back to UtM as soon as I can. Libido always takes a back seat to pain and healing.
5580318
Now that I’m settled in, I got nearly 20 hours of sleep over the past two days. I think that’s pretty relaxing. Pain is still there, but tolerable now. And slowly ebbing.
5580325
Thanks. I didn’t need it as it turned out, or the anti-nausea medication they gave me, for which I’m grateful. Only bump in the road so far has been running a fever the night before last, but it broke by morning. I’m on a week’s worth of antibiotics to keep infections at bay.
5580365
Glad to hear your surgery is finished. You have my sympathies for the pain. Getting my left hand worked on soon for carpal tunnel syndrome. The right was done last year. I could not take the opioids I was given because they really screwed up my system. So I toughed it out till the stitches came out.
Ugh. I’m sorry. They enabled me to eat and sleep, so I would have been miserable indeed without mine.
I grew up on the Mason-Dixon line, so I kind of straddle the two cultures. I might tilt more southerner now because I enjoy things like grits and collard greens. Regardless, thanks for the well-wishes! I’ll try not to hurt myself any more than I already am.
5580763
good to hear that the surgery went well.
about the spoiler: did Gilda told the griffon intel about the enchantments on the rest of the equipment? because if they leave the humans out of town before the thing is resolved, things might go funky.
5580998
That's good news. Lucky!