ThomasOK's System

[Charlie1]

New Tony Levin interview if you’re feeling up to it Tom…
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=fRScUtBc6yU

[ThomasOK]

Hello everyone and thanks to Fredrik for letting people know I am OK as it hasn't been easy to get back up here. So the scoop is that Dr. Pruitt was able to do all three bypasses he wanted to do but wasn't sure he could do until he got in there. The operation went without a hitch and pretty much everyone at the hospital and since has been surprised at how fast I am recovering. A couple anecdotes to illustrate. On the morning after surgery an Anesthesiologist dropped by to check me and asked how I was doing. I told hime I felt pretty good. He replied "You look great! People don't look like this the day after surgery." When the surgeon stopped by a little later I told him about the encounter and he agreed with both comments. I received a call two days from a nurse in the office to check up on how things were going. She wanted to know if I was walking and said DR. Pruitt would like me to be up to a mile a day by the end of the month. I was able to inform her that I was already walking 1.25 miles a day as of the day before. They don't let me walk Lily but I can walk along with her. She has been being walked by a friend and one of my sisters alternatively and I go along which gets me to about 3/4 mile by itself. So I seem to be doing quite well in healing and haven't had any setbacks.

There is a home care organization who sent out a nurse twice this week and will send one out once a week from now on for a while to check that everything is OK. I will get the occasional video call as well and someone stays with me at night for the first two weeks just to make sure everything is OK, although it really seems hardly necessary. I measure my vitals twice a day and my blood pressure, breathing, temperature, etc, are all really good. I'll have a visit with the surgeon early October where the restrictions should be relaxed. As you can see I'm getting quite fine care.

I want to thank everyone for their kind words and positive energy, I'm sure it all helped. It will still take an estimated 8 weeks for full recovery and I'm not allowed to lift over 10 pounds or drive for 4 weeks, the main thing is to limit the use of my arms so I don't pull against the healing sternum. But those aren't huge limitations and the time will pass soon. I still need more than normal sleep but that is expected. On the other hand I get the luxury of being expected to wear loose, comfortable clothing and take afternoon naps!

With this all I don't know how often I will get up here but I wanted to give you an update and I'll try to pop up once in a while. To Charlie1, thanks, I watched that interview yesterday as it popped up on my phone. Mostly it was a great interview and I felt it gave people a good idea of who Tony Levin is: a great musician and a rally good human being. I have met him at concerts and he is very unassuming with fans. While I enjoyed all they covered it was what they didn't that bothered me a bit. As a King Crimson fan, the fact that only one clip was played and little was covered of his over 40 years in the band seemed to me a missed opportunity, echoed by how much of the comments section referred to KC. Somehow shortchanging his work with that pioneering group so you can spend a lot of time talking about what it was like to work on one album by an ex-Beatle didn't do it for me. I would also have loved hearing things like how he ended up playing with Luciano Pavarotti. Still a great, if less than comprehensive, interview. I would recommend it to anyone interested in the work of one of the world's great bassists.

[tokenbrit]

That all sounds really good - glad you're doing so well.

[TMV]

I´m happy you are recovering so well! Take it easy and enjoy music, and the 8 weeks will go by fast.

[Tendaberry]

Great to have you back, Thomas!

[lejonklou]

New Tony Levin interview if you’re feeling up to it Tom…
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=fRScUtBc6yU

Thank you Charlie!

I enjoyed this interview a lot. I can understand Thomas’s objections to the lack of focus on King Crimson, but for me the chosen focus was just right.

Wonderful to see you posting here again so soon, Thomas! I hope that your impressive recovery rate continues.

[John]

Thanks for the update Thomas, glad to hear you are doing well!

[Charlie1]

Glad to hear you are recovering well Tom!

[ThomasOK]

New Tony Levin interview if you’re feeling up to it Tom…
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=fRScUtBc6yU

Thank you Charlie!

I enjoyed this interview a lot. I can understand Thomas’s objections to the lack of focus on King Crimson, but for me the chosen focus was just right.

Wonderful to see you posting here again so soon, Thomas! I hope that your impressive recovery rate continues.

All is forgiven. I wasn't aware that he had also done an interview with Tony Levin, Adrian Belew, Steve Vai and Danny Carey, who are doing a tour called Beat featuring King Crimson music mostly from the three albums of the 80s when Belew and Levin were members of the group along with Robert Fripp and Bill Bruford. The interview was done before the one above, is great and obviously covers a lot on Tony Levin and King Crimson, hence the lightness of the subject in the later interview.

Great job on both.

Just a little update that I am continuing to progress well in healing and was allowed to start driving again yesterday - handy as I have a brand new car acquired 3 days before my surgery so it has just been sitting there. (It is a 2024 Tesla Model 3 Long Range RWD which replaces my 2019 Model 3 SR+ and is a better car in every way. A big move considering how good the last one was.) As of the end of this week I will be allowed to lift 20 pounds instead of the current 10, helpful as the 14 pound Boazu 2s are starting to arrive! So things are progressing and in another 4 weeks I should be pretty much back to normal and free of limitations.

[DelNaja]

Nice to hear your healing is going well, Thomas, thanks for the update.