Hydrocodone is a much more effective sleep-aid than my usual poison, diphenhydramine citrate. It wears off faster, so that when morning rolls around I can greet it with clear-headedness.

I’m not taking Lortab (hydrocodone + acetaminophen) for help sleeping, though. I’m taking it to manage pain. Waking up clear-headed has its drawbacks — first and foremost, EVERYTHING HURTS. My shoulder hurts, by back and neck are sore, and my stomach feels like I was barfing all day yesterday. Since one of the side-effects of Lortab is nausea, I expect it’s doing something unpleasant to my gut, and when I wake up my poor belly is hung over.

So… right now I’m on zero drugs. I am very, very aware of my shoulder. I am aware of my shoulder in the same way that you would be aware of an 800-lb silverback mountain gorilla sitting in front of your refrigerator with a salad fork, the last of the Cherry Garcia, and your copy of Harry Potter and The Spoiler Which Must Not Be Named, should you be so unlucky as to have a gorilla wander into your home and adopt that position.

I’m afraid I need to take another Lortab. How else am I going to get past the gorilla?

–Howard

So… I got some coloring done this morning. Tomorrow’s installment of Schlock Mercenary will be pretty. I think I mentioned, though, that I was starting to hurt, so I took some ibuprofen and had a nap.

Well, following the nap and some lunch, I got started coloring the first week of Book V (Title To Be Announced On July 23rd), and I got achy again three rows in. I called chalain and both he and chaliren came by at around 3:00pm to take me shopping. See, the Taylers needed a grocery trip, and I’m unfit to either a) watch children, or b) drive. So the Chalaineys and I went to Wal-Mart and Costco for a few essentials, and I got to play passenger.

Since reflexes, response times, and general alertness were no longer critical to my participation in the endeavor, I took 350mg of Carisoprodol (generic Soma, a muscle relaxant). It’s supposed to relax me (duh), and will also make me drowsy. With my arm back in the sling, though, I figured it would be good to go whole-hog and let it loosen up some.

Chalain tells me I behaved uncharacteristically at the store. I figured as much. All I remember about the trip is that it was very crowded and I had a hard time keeping track of my friends. Also, the three things on my shopping list (milk, eggs, cottage cheese) kept falling out of my brain, and I had to keep checking the list to put them back in.

Most of that has worn off now. I finished coloring the first week of Book V and took another Lortab. At one point I thought I might try to do some pencilling or inking today, but I’m going to give that a wide, drug-induced miss, and while away my evening with the new Harry Potter book and some pills instead.

Thanks for all the well-wishing. In spite of the fact that I needed to get back on the pharmaceutical bandwagon today, I’m pretty sure we’re out of the woods here. I will be able to draw everything that needs to be drawn, but it may be Tuesday or Wednesday before I can really get a running start at it.

–Howard

I had a very energetic, almost-drug-free morning. The only thing I took was some Diet Dr. Thunder (Walmart’s generic Dr. Pepper analog). I spent an hour, though, making breakfast for the family instead of cartooning because Sandra needed the extra sleep. Then I got the requisite painting, cropping, and resizing done, and our internet connection went down.

All this was done with very little pain in my shoulder, but I did end up with a dull ache in my arm, probably from wearing the ice-pack for two hours straight. I also got kind of loopy-drowsy… I’m not sure why. Maybe it was natural pain-response endorphins. Regardless, I decided that was my cue to quit, so I popped 400mg of ibuprofen and took a nap for an hour.

I woke up and came downstairs to pizza, courtesy of my sister Alyson. She learned about my shoulder from the website, just like everybody else, and figured we needed a meal brought in. Hey, it can’t hurt, right? I had two slices of pizza, a little more medicinal caffeine, and here I am in front of the computer again, complete with an internet connection.

I’m taking it easy, doc. Honest. This is what “easy” looks like.

–Howard

Mind over matter, everybody. Mind over matter…

Sunday’s strips are colored, but haven’t been “painted” yet. They need to be. I’m confident that I could spend all day tomorrow doing the work left-handed, but I’ve decided not to.

Tomorrow, I’m going to awaken refreshed, with my shoulder continuing to heal nicely, and I’m going to get some work done.

It’s not about getting the comic out on time for you people. I mean, it is, but if I were desperate, I’d send the files to someone else. No, this is about not being bored out of my skull all day. Convalescence is for people who can stand to watch television. So… I’ll paint the four-row Sunday, I’ll crop, webbify, and upload a week of strips, and then I’ll see how I feel. I’ll probably flood-fill the first week of Book V, script the third week of it, and then take some time off for lunch.

I will NOT be taking two Lortabs. I probably won’t take ONE of the stupid things. If I need painkillers, I’ll lead off with 400mg of ibuprofen, which should leave me plenty of nice, tasty pain to chew on. As a bonus, it’ll let me know if I’m doing anything stupid with my arm.

Yes, I’ll be careful. Yes, I know that if I overdo it, the shoulder will take forever to heal. If I feel any more of the wrong kind of pain, I’ll mouse left-handed or upload a flood-fill Sunday. But I will NOT spend the day bored and/or intoxicated, thankyouverymuch.

In other news, “Freudiana” will forever remind me of being on drugs. How fitting. It’s nice to have albums conjure up memories, and I certainly wouldn’t want to forget my days of substance abuse.

–Howard

(Note: I’m thankful for drugs. I’m concerned, however, that the side-effects of my 15mg dose of hydrocodone included symptoms that are listed in the “symptoms of overdose” column. I’m taking this crap one pill at a time now.)