A Personal Cannoli Story

June 26, 2024, at home

Today marks the second anniversary of what I am calling "The Almost Tragic Cannoli Incident." The following is my account on Facebook of what happened on that day two years ago today. I added more information within brackets for clarification.

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A Personal Cannoli Story

June 26, 2022 - When my wife and my mother visited me here at my physical rehabilitation facility this late morning into early afternoon, they brought me a cannolo to cheer me up, which it did. I will ration it using intermittent bites. I thank them both for visiting with me.

After they went home, when I adjusted my bed with the remote control, the box holding the cannolo fell to the floor behind my bed and beyond my reach. A woman who works here retrieved the box for me. The cannolo was unharmed.

Shortly after that, I sent a text message to my wife, telling her about the falling cannolo. She and my mom felt bad, so my wife purchased two more cannoli [from her and my mom] and left them at the front desk. A woman who works here delivered them to my room. I thank them so much. It was quite a nice surprise.

Why I Am In Rehab

Prior to arriving at my rehab facility on June 3, 2022, I was in the hospital since May 13, 2022, enduring and recovering from two (more) surgeries last month.

I had quadruple coronary artery bypass surgery on March 9, 2022, and two plastic reconstructive surgeries in and on my chest in May 2022. For my surgery on May 19, 2022, my plastic reconstructive surgeon removed metal sternal plates from within my chest due to [loose screws and] an infection. [My chest remained open for about one week with an electric wound vacuum attached.]

For my surgery on May 25, 2022, he [actually a different surgeon] cleaned out the remaining infection from within my chest, and he partially closed my chest by first clipping off the tips of my ribs and then by reattaching my chest muscle flaps to my body.

My surgeon used seven spaced-out sutures to close the eight-inch-long, vertical incision in my chest initiated by my open-heart surgery in March 2022 and made worse by my two subsequent surgeries in May 2022, leaving me with seven [actually eight] holes in my chest to heal. My sutures (and wound vacuum) were removed on June 20, 2022.

While my pain has been constant, I continue to heal quite well. However regaining my strength has been next to impossible.

Photo:
1. my cannolo and me
2. the cannolo box on the floor
3. two more cannoli [the other two cannoli]

[Since then, I had three more surgeries: two spinal surgeries in September 2023 and then in October 2023, and one right-ankle surgery in February 2024.]