Well, I'm back.

The surgery actually went as well as it could have gone. The surgeon said that there were "no surprises". Everyone I dealt with at Mass General was great, from the OR staff to the nurses. The only things I didn't like were the beds (too uncomfortable - how do people lay in those for days or weeks?) and the fact that they were pumping me full of IV fluid, making me go to the bathroom every 90 minutes. Oh, and the johnnies they make you wear. I think they design them to be one size fits nobody.

These are pretty minor quibbles, though. Overall, the staff at Mass General made my stay as comfortable as it could have been and I'm greatful to everyone there for the good care they took of me.

I'm now 4 days post-op and my main problem seems to be that I'm still pretty tired. I'm not sure if it's my body getting used to the thyroid pills or recovering after surgery or a combination of both, but I am feeling better every day, which is good.

I'm certainly in better shape than the Red Sox starting rotation, with Curt Schilling and David Wells both on the DL. Schilling claims he'll be back from a bone bruise on his surgically repaired right ankle in two weeks, but I've got my doubts. Boomer has a sprained foot, which will put him out for 4-6 weeks. Add Bronson Arroyo's 6 game suspension for hitting a Tampa Bay batter, and the Red Sox will be without 60% of their starting rotation for at least some period of time.

What is amazing is that the Sox didn't lose one start to injury last season. The top 5 starters (Schilling, Pedro, Wakefield, Lowe and Arroyo) started 157 out of 162 games last year, so it appears that the injury bug has finally caught up to them. Hopefully we can get it all out of the way early and everyone will be healthy by June.