Surgery

Tuesday was my surgery. After a quick meeting that I was useless at at school (can't function when I haven't eaten... in this case, my last meal was the night before at 9pm), I met my mom at my house in Dunwoody. She drove me to the office (it was an office building within St. Joseph's). We did more paperwork, after which they took me back and got me started. It was a room with a leather reclining chair. I put on the gown (open to the back, of course... why do they do that?!?!), the booties, and the hair thing. Wish I had gotten a picture. They started my IV. The woman admitted she hadn't seen my vein. Everyone was extremely friendly. They kept asking me to repeat everything, including what procedure I was having. The let my mom in to get my stuff, then they led me (butt hanging out, IV trailing behind) to the surgery room.

They introduced me to everyone in the room. They made me get on the table, which was challenging since I was trying to not have all the clothing fall off. The anesthisiologist (sp?) was nice, he was talking to me about Tech football. He said he was a Tech fan, and I asked why, and he said because he's always lived in Atlanta. I thought about Melissa and commented how most Georgians root for Georgia, and he confirmed that he was a Tech fan and a Florida fan which makes him anti-Georgia. He said he was going to give me drugs that would feel good and tucked my Iv arm in next to me.

And that's the last thing I remember. Next I was waking up in another room with a window looking out on all of metro Atlanta from up above. Except my eyes were really blurry, not only from the lacking of glasses/contacts but from some stuff they had put in there. The nurse said the doctor had explained it to me, didn't I remember? Nope, after lack of food and a bad night's sleep the night before, I slept like a baby. Best nap ever.

They waited for me to be more or less coherent. I could feel pressure in my face and noticed that I couldn't breathe out of my nose. I drank a gatorade, changed, they put me in the wheel chair and sent me on my way (not my first time in a wheel chair, though.)

It hasn't been too painful. Mostly it just feels like bad sinus days, where I get awful headaches and have huge pain in my face. I've been able to eat semi-normally, although nothing hot. Lots of chapstick and saline have helped to make it all more comfortable. I think everyone, including myself, is surprised by how normal I look considering my face is full of stuffing. I can function semi-normally, except I become exhausted and light-headed after about 45 minutes of being upright. Might be something to do with the lack of oxygen.

Tomorrow I return to the doctor to get the packing removed. This won't be a happy time. I'll be on a double dose of pain killers, but awake for it all. Yummy yummy.

I've enjoyed the time to slow down and rest, but know that I will pay for it for the rest of the week. My friends have been great about checking in and making me feel loved, and I can't say that I'm surprised about who has contacted me or left well-wishes in some way and who hasn't.

Mostly I'm looking forward to re-joining the land of the living. See you all on Wednesday!