7/7/21

Mike's Mets - The Comeback Trail

 


By Mike Steffanos

I've had a lot of free time to think these past few weeks. While the New York Mets have been on their team journey, I've been on one of my own. On Thursday, June 24, I spent quite a few hours in an operating room at UCONN Medical Center in Farmington, CT. I had two fairly major surgeries performed on me: one on my lower back and one on my neck. It was almost 12 hours from the time I closed my eyes under the anesthesia until the time I reopened them again back in my hospital room.

My hope at that point was that I would begin a process of healing that would continue in a fairly straight line until I healed my way back to my reasonably good health. That was quite similar to my hope for the Mets at the start of the season — not that there wouldn't be ups and downs, of course. There always are in a baseball season. But within that context, I really hoped to spend the year watching the Mets improve on all facets of their game as they transitioned from MLB laughingstock into a legit contender.

In neither case did my greatest hopes pan out. A huge rash of injuries mostly undid the Mets, while I stumbled into some personal setbacks of my own.

I was discharged from the hospital on June 26, only a couple of days following the surgeries. The severity of the work performed necessitated a strong combination of painkillers and muscle relaxers, and I had a negative reaction to them the first time around. I was back in the hospital last week and had to spend another three days there. But the new drug combo worked better, and I'm even able to get out for some short walks since my second discharge.

I had a goal from long before I needed these surgeries that I would be back in Citi Field in the month of July watching a Mets game in person. I've had to adjust that goal backward a bit, but my new plan is to make a live game in August. I've got some work ahead of me.

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6 comments:

Mack Ade said...

Welcome back Mike

John From Albany said...

Welcome back. Hope the new drugs continue to work well.

Tom Brennan said...

Don't push it, Mike. Time is a great healer. Even typing articles - watch out for discomfort from that. Slow and steady. You'll just have to wait until the next Olympics to compete in the dead lift event, I imagine. (I think that pun had dead lift). Get better quick.

Mike Steffanos said...

Thanks, guys. I actually liked the dead lift pun, Tom. I am going to work slowly back into writing. I'd like to be past taking the Oxycodone before I really throw myself back into writing 100%. Thinking and writing on that stuff is like trying to swim in a pool full of Jell-O.

Tom Brennan said...

I can imagine. That’s why I limit myself to Oxy Acne Medication. You never know when an article might break out.

Mike Steffanos said...

😀