My Three Sons

The worst is over and I'm headlong into recovery. At least that is what the doctor told me yesterday as he clipped the stitched and pulled out the splints!

Okay, going into this surgery everyone told me it was no big deal... I would be up and about in no time, feelin fine.  I really thought this because typically I bounce back pretty quick, I rarely let anything slow me down!  This surgery has been different.

To give you a brief run down on the gist of it... here goes:

I went to the hospital on the 6th.  Naturally my blood pressure was a little high, I get a little edgy!  The intake nurse was kind enough to blow out two veins on my left arm and not able to start an IV (nearly two weeks later that arm is still black and blue... nice).  Then she proceeded to tell me that "this is day surgery so YOU need to wake up, don't curl up in a ball and pretend you are still asleep, WAKE UP and LEAVE!"  Nice bedside manner, right?!  Some waiting, then say adios to Daddio and taken to the holding pen.  This is where the anesthesia team gets ya goin!  Thankfully the nurses here where able to get the IV in on the first go!  Oh and they put this sweet patch behind my ear and for the first time in 32 years I did not immediately get sick upon waking up! YEAH!!

Enter drugs... sleepy... don't even remember them rolling the bed beyond the doors!

I remember waking up post-op, and looking toward the end of the bed to a nurse standing there doing paperwork.  In a very nice voice she tells to me to close my eyes and rest, that I was going to be in that spot for another 45-60 minutes and there was no need to wake up.  WHAT?  What a relief!  So I closed me eyes... from time to time they would flutter open, and I could make out the same nurse standing there... but I would close them again... who knows how long (well, Daddio does I guess), I was in a private room.  The oxygen mask had been taken off, but the blow up leg thingy-ies were still inflating and deflating (those were kind of weird but kind of massagy too).  I had a new nurse at this point and she brought me water and crackers... and Daddio!  Boy was I glad to see him...

Surprising, all of the nurses that I came in contact with post-op were not trying to shuffle me out of the door as I thought would happen based on the foreboding comments of the intake nurse.  Praise GOD!  They were kind, and gentle... and one in particular was so caring during that quite humbling experience of redressing before you leave!

The car ride home was pretty painful, we were in Daddio's little Mazda... I could feel every crack in the pavement as we drove home... thankfully I was still really sleepy and just closed me eyes and tried to sleep.

What does it feel like... like you've been punched in the face.  Since that day all the way to this day... that's what it feels like.  Pain meds help, but I could still feel it.  My eyes even hurt... it was just weird.  Unfortunately on top of all of it, I was having a reaction to the pain meds and the anti-biotic and had to take loads of benadryl  to keep the reactions manageable.  I slept a lot, which was nice.

Fast forward a week and half or so...

Yesterday I went in and had the splints removed... wow (not a real pleasant experience but no one cried or puked so I would say it was successful)... air going into both sides of my nose, strange!  I can't really smell yet.  Every now and again I pick up a little bit of a scent... but not everything is back up and functioning yet.  I'm not allowed to blow my nose for 6 weeks (but I can sniff, which is annoying)... there are still a bunch of dissolving stitches in there they don't want messed up.  I can't take a bath for another 3 weeks (showers only for some reason).  No lifting for 4 weeks, no stooping for another 2 weeks...  weird stuff like that.  I can finally get my contacts in without my eyes feeling weird, but my nose hurts too much to wear glasses yet.  Everything is itchy in there... my cheeks (well the sinus cavities) are still sort of numbish, as well as the roof of my mouth feeling a little strange and sore.  My front lip doesn't work very well, so straws are still my best friend for drinking... and yawning... oh good heavens, not a great idea!  So it would seem that I have another 4 weeks at least of things not feeling or working quite right, and I guess that is what has thrown me.  I really didn't expect more than a few days of not feeling great, and then being the healthy person I was before the last sinus infection started.

End rambling now :-)

Well, I've been sitting up for a while now, and am starting to feel a lot of unwanted throbbing... so back to recline I go!