WARNING: This post contains some ugly photos of me, so I advise running away as fast as possible!

Coming home alive from the hospital was my primary goal. With that achieved, I’m striving for my nose innards to heal properly and to get back to being a fully functional breather.

I was oozing blood, mostly from the left nostril. The doctor said that’s normal.

After the polyps were removed, the doctor had packed my nose with something absorbent to reduce the bleeding. On Monday, that material in the right nostril started falling out. My caregiver, Teri, contacted the doctor’s office, and was given guidance on how to remove the wayward material. I was a little nervous about it, but told her to proceed as instructed. So, Teri squirted some water up my nostril, grabbed the material with tweezers and began to pull.

OUCH! Oh shit. That hurt like a motherfucker. I guess the dried blood had congealed around the packing, and the removal felt like ripping a scab off a wound.

It was Hash Monday, but I knew I was in no condition to do the trail. But I decided that shouldn’t stop me from drinking some beers at the On-Home venue, Blue Butterfly. So, at 3 p.m. I headed out on my own 2K trek to get there.

I didn’t participate in the Hash Circle, choosing to remain outdoors, sipping my beer, and buying lady drinks for the hard-working waitresses. When the Hash ended, I walked up the highway to Sit-n-Bull and got some pecan pie to bring home with me.

I spent some time on the patio with Swan and then watched a couple of episodes of “Shameless” before hitting the hay. Enjoyed a decent night’s sleep without as much bleeding.

It may not look like it, but that was progress–a much-reduced blood flow.

So, I had an 8 a.m. appointment with the doctor who performed the surgery. We were both on time, and she was ready to remove the remainder of the nose packing. And it hurt every bit as much as it had when Teri started the process on Monday.

But my nose is empty now, and I can breathe easily through it again for the first time in months. My blood oxygen level, which had been in the low to mid-90s, is now at 97, and I can feel the difference. I haven’t even needed my nebulizer today.

I’m still not quite right, though. Still lacking energy, and my thinking is more fuzzy than usual. I read that can be one of the side effects of general anesthesia, especially in older people. Well, maybe ignorance will be bliss.

The doctor says I must take it easy for the next three days and refrain from eating or drinking anything hot. So, I’ll wait until Friday to start hiking again and continue to enjoy icy-cold San Miguel Zeros in the meantime.

After leaving the doctor’s office in San Marcelino, my driver took me to the immigration office in Olongapo, where I was granted permission to continue living in the Philippines for the next sixty days. Then I completed my weekly grocery shopping at Royal, and now I’m ready to get on with the rest of my life.

What will it be–the Arizona floating bar or Kokomo’s? Or maybe I should just drink on solid ground tonight. Decisions, decisions.

Facebook memories carried me back to the last time all my family was in the same place at the same time.

And here’s the funny: