Little Things That Should Go Away

1. My taste buds are temporarily screwed up. Everything tastes ‘numb’. It still does taste kind of like it should, with that numb overlay.

2. My ear pokes out and I look like a half-elf.

3. Still a bit woozy. I don’t feel good standing up for long periods of time even though this is day three and a half.

Tomorrow, I’m back to work. I hope to make it through the day without having to bow out early. But if I have to, so be it.

The Day After

Surgery went well and fine. No complications occurred. We got to the hospital and checked in. They soon directed us into a room where I was told to put on a hospital gown, complete with pants, socks and a hair net (although I’m not sure why they gave that to me, I’m sure it didn’t stay on long – they probably ended up using something else). My husband took some pre-surgery photos. And the nurses started coming in to ask me questions.

A nurse then proceeded to put an IV in my hand. It really scared me because the last time someone put an IV in my hand it felt like the needle was scratching against bone, it caused a lot of pain, but the nurse was nice and gave me local anesthetics before putting in the IV. We had a lot of fun with him talking about the old days of anthesia and talking about the scarf on his head – it had blood cells all over it, not real ones just pictures. After about a half an hour of waiting, I was taken to another room where they had me move onto another bed and they started adding monitors onto my body. I looked over and another nurse was adding something to my IV. I asked her if that was the stuff that knocked me out, and she said something like “oh yes” with a knowing look. That was the last thing I remembered.

The next thing I know, I was being woken up. My interpreter was in the room which was strange because she had not followed me into the other room earlier, well, it seemed like seconds ago. The nurse told me that I was “All Done!” I was literally shocked. I kept asking if it really was over. And they kept reassuring me. After I figured out my surroundings, I realized that my throat was dry and asked for water, they were only able to give me ice chips. I didn’t feel any pain at all then, but it did feel like an ear infection – to which the nurse hurried off to check with my doctor on that one. When they wheeled me into the recovery room, I was starting to feel some pain. My family came and my husband brought flowers and movies for me. I was given a pain killer by mouth, given my clothes back and was told I could go home. I felt pretty alert all day yesterday. I took several naps but I was surprised at how easy it was. No bandages, no nothing, just deep dissolveable stitches and glue.

Today was a little more painful. The blood has to drain somewhere so it has been draining down to my neck causing it to swell. I’ve also felt like I have a horrible cramp there too and can’t turn my neck. We talked to the doctor about this and he said it should go away today or tomorrow. The stiffness is getting better though – I can turn my head a little more than yesterday and this morning.

I am curious what it will feel like to touch it. I’m a little too scared to touch it yet. My husband lightly dragged his fingers over my head to see where the magnet is and showed me where he thinks it is.