Glad to hear you are on the mend. My husband, Harry is 61 also and in very good shape. His neo-bladder surgery was 10/1/07 at Stanford Medical Center in CA. His "8-10 day" projected hospital stay turned into a very long 28 days mainly due to bowel problems...them not wanting to work right, no real obstructions, luckily, just slow to come back with the pain meds he was taking slowing down the process. Also a urinary tract infection...but the bowels were the major hold up. Anyway, that is all behind us now. The "good thing" about the longer hospital stay was that Harry came home "tube free" with even the foley coming out before he was released. Much of his early surgery recovery came while he was still in the hospital. He is now eating regular food and is still taking a stool softener once a day now (was twice). He tired very easily at first after being home(ready for bed at 8pm at first) but as time has gone on (home 3 weeks now) he has gained strength and stamina. He still tires and rests but we are walking at least a mile everyday, sometimes we even take two walks. He is also able to go shopping and we've had dinner out with friends a few times. In time things do get better. The quote you said is something that we all need to remember. This Thanksgiving, when we are thinking of things we are thankful for, we are definitely thankful for the medical miracle of this surgery and being alive!!!
Margot