I'm home! I'm home!
And I'm currently tied to my IV pole, eating, so I thought I'd entertain you a little further today.
HHAT (Haul Her Ass Transport) once again came through for me. The CEO couldn't come get me himself because he had a meeting but my best bud, JT, came to get my sorry butt. I haven't seen him in weeks! He's been traveling for work and doing shooting matches on the weekends. So, it was wonderful to once again lay eyes on him and give him a great big hug!
A week or so ago my primary doctor's office left a message on my machine asking me to call back. I sent a note to my fave doc in the world, through the patient portal, letting her know I can no longer speak. She talked to the girl who left the message but the girl couldn't remember why she had called. Thought things were set. Got home just now, two more messages from that office. Really? <sigh>
Meanwhile, I'll be seeing her, Dr. K, on October 1st anyway. Dr. Brendan said when I came in for surgery this time my thyroid count was at 14 which I guess is okay? But they took blood again last night and it's back up to 44 or something, which I guess is bad. They've upped my dose of thyroid medicine once again but it sounds like 200 mcg is a lot of this medicine to take and they don't understand why my thyroid is suddenly so under-active and out of control. They want me to see my PCP to see if she can sort me out. I hope it's not my birth control implant!!
Special note for JBB: I vomited last night! Shhhhh. Don't tell the nurses. It was not traumatic at all, just took me by surprise. My mouth suddenly flooded with Jevity and I leaned over and let it pour into the garbage can next to me. There was no dry heaving, no salivating as a warning, nothing. T'wasn't uncomfortable at all, although worrisome that it happened. Hasn't happened yet again today but I'm obviously going to be on the lookout because it's simply not healthy.
The boys were once again really leary of me when I got home. I think I smell really different to them after a hospital stay. I roughed up their fur, did bongo drums on their tummies, and gave them treats. All was well. The cats on the other hand were not happy to see me this time around. I think it's the trach tube. I sound a little like Darth Vader when I breathe now. As soon as I approached them, they both went hightailing it out of the room. Granted, this didn't last long. Ten minutes later Daisy was all over me when I was trying to give Freedom some love-loves. But I was really upset at first!
Okay, feed is done. I think I'm going to take a nap and then I need to pay my bills. I paid my electric bill out of the second paycheck last month instead of the first because hey, I always get their stupid bill two days after I'm done paying bills from the first paycheck. I figured I would just wait until I sat down to pay bills again before paying. Boy, was that a mistake. Within a week I received 2-3 nasty letters stating they were going to shut me off! What a bunch of crap. You'd think after being their customer for 16+ years they'd take a chill pill. I actually sent a text to Jamie on 9/11 just to verify that they got my payment in time and didn't really shut me off. He said all was well. No more messing with the electric company!
Friday, September 13, 2013
September 13
Allrighty, I'm sitting here, my bags are packed and I'm just waiting for them to process my discharge paperwork. All three docs saw me this morning, the second drain was pulled out, and I'm being released for the weekend. I'm back here on Monday though to see Dr. V. He wants to remove the bolster from my neck, remove the pressure bandage from my leg, and possibly change out my tube to something more comfortable for now.
They made me watch that damn video again. I actually stayed awake for the whole thing and it was just as useless as ever. And I noticed in the opening credits that it was actually filmed in 1983. On the bright side there was a trach video this time too that was VERY helpful. I asked to watch that one twice and I took notes the second time.
I'm trying to come up with ideas on how to make being a lary easier. I already mentioned that I'm buying a second mister for the main floor of the house and I'm going to somehow make it mobile. According to the trach video last night, it's good to keep your house at a 40-60% humidity level. So, I'm due for my free cleaning from Betlem Heating and Air, I have a service contract with them, and I plan on asking them if my furnace is capable of accepting one of those whole house humidifier things. Babydoll also has a friend in that business so he's going to check with him as well and do a little price shopping for me. Babydoll is also trying to hunt down an air purifier that he swears he has somewhere because filtering out some of the pet hair in my house certainly can't hurt anything. I'm kind of curious to know if a majority of larys move south so that they can live year round in warm, moist air. There has to be some stats on that. I should go Googling. Also in the trach video they showed a shower shield that's different than the one the hospital gave me. It's a slightly more rigid plastic that goes around your neck with a little beak that pokes out to accomodate the trach. The one the hospital gave me is simply a plastic bib that velcros around my neck. I'll be going shopping for the more rigid one.
I got the roommate from hell last night. Talk about white trash to the extreme! I thought I was on a surprise episode of Honey Boo Boo! Not that I've ever watched that show but based on the blurbs I've seen in commercials and bits I've read in magazines, I get the picture of what the show is about. Anyway, low education level, hasn't worked in years due to one disability after another, covered in tattoos, surprisingly a lesbian, talks at a level that any other human would consider shouting. She was on the phone until 10:30 at night. Babydoll and I could barely hear the TV over her conversations that she was having and let me tell you, they were doozies. I can pass along pretty much every intimate detail of this woman's life to you, if you so desire to hear it. Plus she's definitely addicted to narcotics. She was telling the nurse that she was just weaned off of them a week ago. I think she mis-spoke when she said she was weaned because every single hour she was wailing for either pain meds or Ativan. Not that I can hold that against her, they really are good drugs and hey, she was here because that had to schedule her for an emergency colon cancer surgery. But it was kind of ridiculous. No sooner would they give her the pain meds, half an hour later she'd be hitting her call bell asking why they hadn't brought her the meds yet. I'm looking forward to getting home simply so I can catch up on the sleep that I did NOT get last night because of her!
Michelle, the speech therapist, just stopped in to say 'hi'. She said she was out to dinner with the hubby last night and was talking about me. She said that she's used to dealing with the elderly but first me and now she has a 36 year old guy patient who was just diagnosed with tonsil cancer, she's noticing a trend shift in the median age of people with cancer and she's not liking it at all. She finds it upsetting and unfair. She said that she could totally see sitting at that restaurant with me and the tonsil guy, having normal convo, and sharing food, and she just got really bummed out about it. She's such a sweetie.
Okay, I can't think of any other updates of interest. I'm going to go play some games on my iPad and hope they're almost ready to release me. Chat at you tomorrow!
Thursday, September 12, 2013
September 12
Sorry about the radio silence, folks. What can I say. I haven't been feeling well either physically or emotionally. This is likely not going to be the usual upbeat, rambling Q blog. Be warned.
My biggest issue right now is the breathing thing. I had 5-6 people in my room at 8:00 last night because I had a clot from hell that I simply could not cough up. I finally got up part of it and had an okay night. Today it's been on again off again with the labored breathing. It's way worse when I lie down which means I'm not getting my naps in today like I normally do. Can you say cranky girl? Earlier today I suctioned myself until I made myself bleed. I kept hitting some sort of blockage part way down and it took some force to get past it. I squirted (4) saline bullets into my lungs trying to loosen it up, thinking it was the clot that's been bothering me. I finally called in my nurse, Casey, and had her suction me to see if she could feel it. She could so she called the respiratory team up to see me. Well, it turns out I was pushing the damn tube in way too far! I'm only supposed to go in ~5". So, now I know but I'm still back to being baffled as to why I'm having so much trouble breathing. I would go back to the whole breathing through a straw reason except it's intermittment. I'll hack up a clot and suddenly I'm breathing just fine for a few hours and life is wonderful. Then it gets labored again and no amount of coughing, or suctioning, or saline bullets seem to help. The one bright spot to all this is that I talked to Dr. V today and he thinks when I come into the office on Monday that we can switch me back out to the plain tube that I had in before this last surgery. Granted, I think that's still a temporary thing. I will eventually need an actual trach in order to be able to talk but talking and swallowing have been tabled for the next 4-6 weeks while everything heals up anyway. I'll be happy to go back to that plain tube. I was used to it and I could breathe!
Okay, so what else is going on. The drooling thing still sucks. Poor Dr. M puts a plastic stent in to help with the swallowing and it turns out to be a moot point because if I can't close my mouth, I can't even attempt to swallow!
The swelling in my face in general has finally gone down quite a bit. I look somewhat like myself. I'm really glad they didn't have to re-split my lip for this surgery but my neck is looking seriously awful. Granted there's a huge bolster currently holding the skin graft in place but from what I can see around the edges......horrible, just horrible. Actually, let me take a picture. I already warned you this was a gloomy blog, might as well gross you out as an added benefit. ;-P
Huh, that would seem to be beyond my ability. I took the picture with my iPhone, e-mailed it to myself, opened and saved it on the iPad, but the little picture icon on the blog doesn't offer "my pictures" as a place to choose pictures from. As amazing as today's technology can be, sometimes things aren't as straightforward as they really should be.
Okay, back to my grumping. They took one of my chest drains out today. The second one should be able to come out tomorrow. Last night they rewrapped my leg. They had it wrapped so tight the whole thing was swollen. It looks and feels much better today now that they loosened it. My IV broke down last night and I had to get a new one put in. No big surprise there. My dainty little veins can't support an IV for more than a day or two which SUCKS. I'm hoping I only have one more course of antibiotics to get through and that this new IV will last and then I will be done with the needles.
Hopefully done. Dr. O says I can go home tomorrow. Dr. M says I can likely go home tomorrow. Dr. V is talking about keeping me until Monday. I expressed my extreme displeasure over that. I think he got the message and I hope he springs me tomorrow.
I don't know that I have any funnies to share. Some other nurse answered my bell the other night because mine was on lunch. She walked in and saw my array of technology (wireless keyboard, iPad, iPhone, Boogie board and she exclaimed, oh, you're the one everybody has been talking about with all the cool toys!
The nightgowns that babydoll bought me for this stay have been a godsend. Not to mention they've received a ton of compliments. One of the guys on my ENT team saw me this morning and then was in again this afternoon with Dr. V. He jokingly commented that there was a wardrobe change since he was last in. I love when men notice crap like that. It makes me laugh!
Yesterday I had a student from St. John Fishers helping out my nurse. She and her instructor came in and the instructor started showing her all my war wounds and reviewing the type of care needed for everything. She then asked Maria (the student) to check my heartrate. Maria just stood there with all the color drained from her face and asked if she could have a minute outside the room. I couldn't tell if she was going to puke or pass out! Surprisingly, she was back an hour later and she was fabulous for the rest of the day! She was in my room a lot asking a billion questions off and on all day, she asked if she could watch me suction, she took me for a nice long walk...it was great! She asked if all her questions were bothering me. I told her not at all. The more she learns, the better she'll be! At one point I asked my nurse for some pain meds. She said it was too soon and I should wait an hour or two. I was really bummed. She said that she would call my doc and see if there was anything else they could get me but then she went to lunch. I think Maria got ticked and felt that I was being given the run around by my nurse. As soon as my nurse went to lunch Maria went and asked the backup nurse if I could have some pain meds without mentioning the fact that it might be too soon. The backup nurse came right in and gave me the drugs with no problem whatsoever. How awesome was that?!? Maria is going to make one hell of a nurse if you ask me. :-)
I asked one of the care coordinators to contact UPstate Medical Supply for me today because I had a bunch of qwuestions for them in regards to the stuff that they provide me. She got me a really great contact over there and all my questions are being taken care of. I'm going to purcahse a second misting unit for the main floor of my house. They're way too heavy for me to be carting it up and down the stairs every day and the nurses think that I have a clot from hell right now because I haven't been on the misting machine enough. For $350 it seems worth purchasing a second one to keep in the office so I can wear it while I Wii. :-) I asked if they come on wheels as well to make it even easier to move it around the house. My contact said no but she recommended checking the garden department at Walmart for a planter that comes on wheels. New missiion for babydoll. ;-)
Okay, that's all I have for you today. Babydoll is coming tonight so that I can kick his ass at some Gin. He talked me into signing up for some football pool with him this year. Scores came out last night. I picked better than he did last week! I'm on a roll baby!
My biggest issue right now is the breathing thing. I had 5-6 people in my room at 8:00 last night because I had a clot from hell that I simply could not cough up. I finally got up part of it and had an okay night. Today it's been on again off again with the labored breathing. It's way worse when I lie down which means I'm not getting my naps in today like I normally do. Can you say cranky girl? Earlier today I suctioned myself until I made myself bleed. I kept hitting some sort of blockage part way down and it took some force to get past it. I squirted (4) saline bullets into my lungs trying to loosen it up, thinking it was the clot that's been bothering me. I finally called in my nurse, Casey, and had her suction me to see if she could feel it. She could so she called the respiratory team up to see me. Well, it turns out I was pushing the damn tube in way too far! I'm only supposed to go in ~5". So, now I know but I'm still back to being baffled as to why I'm having so much trouble breathing. I would go back to the whole breathing through a straw reason except it's intermittment. I'll hack up a clot and suddenly I'm breathing just fine for a few hours and life is wonderful. Then it gets labored again and no amount of coughing, or suctioning, or saline bullets seem to help. The one bright spot to all this is that I talked to Dr. V today and he thinks when I come into the office on Monday that we can switch me back out to the plain tube that I had in before this last surgery. Granted, I think that's still a temporary thing. I will eventually need an actual trach in order to be able to talk but talking and swallowing have been tabled for the next 4-6 weeks while everything heals up anyway. I'll be happy to go back to that plain tube. I was used to it and I could breathe!
Okay, so what else is going on. The drooling thing still sucks. Poor Dr. M puts a plastic stent in to help with the swallowing and it turns out to be a moot point because if I can't close my mouth, I can't even attempt to swallow!
The swelling in my face in general has finally gone down quite a bit. I look somewhat like myself. I'm really glad they didn't have to re-split my lip for this surgery but my neck is looking seriously awful. Granted there's a huge bolster currently holding the skin graft in place but from what I can see around the edges......horrible, just horrible. Actually, let me take a picture. I already warned you this was a gloomy blog, might as well gross you out as an added benefit. ;-P
Huh, that would seem to be beyond my ability. I took the picture with my iPhone, e-mailed it to myself, opened and saved it on the iPad, but the little picture icon on the blog doesn't offer "my pictures" as a place to choose pictures from. As amazing as today's technology can be, sometimes things aren't as straightforward as they really should be.
Okay, back to my grumping. They took one of my chest drains out today. The second one should be able to come out tomorrow. Last night they rewrapped my leg. They had it wrapped so tight the whole thing was swollen. It looks and feels much better today now that they loosened it. My IV broke down last night and I had to get a new one put in. No big surprise there. My dainty little veins can't support an IV for more than a day or two which SUCKS. I'm hoping I only have one more course of antibiotics to get through and that this new IV will last and then I will be done with the needles.
Hopefully done. Dr. O says I can go home tomorrow. Dr. M says I can likely go home tomorrow. Dr. V is talking about keeping me until Monday. I expressed my extreme displeasure over that. I think he got the message and I hope he springs me tomorrow.
I don't know that I have any funnies to share. Some other nurse answered my bell the other night because mine was on lunch. She walked in and saw my array of technology (wireless keyboard, iPad, iPhone, Boogie board and she exclaimed, oh, you're the one everybody has been talking about with all the cool toys!
The nightgowns that babydoll bought me for this stay have been a godsend. Not to mention they've received a ton of compliments. One of the guys on my ENT team saw me this morning and then was in again this afternoon with Dr. V. He jokingly commented that there was a wardrobe change since he was last in. I love when men notice crap like that. It makes me laugh!
Yesterday I had a student from St. John Fishers helping out my nurse. She and her instructor came in and the instructor started showing her all my war wounds and reviewing the type of care needed for everything. She then asked Maria (the student) to check my heartrate. Maria just stood there with all the color drained from her face and asked if she could have a minute outside the room. I couldn't tell if she was going to puke or pass out! Surprisingly, she was back an hour later and she was fabulous for the rest of the day! She was in my room a lot asking a billion questions off and on all day, she asked if she could watch me suction, she took me for a nice long walk...it was great! She asked if all her questions were bothering me. I told her not at all. The more she learns, the better she'll be! At one point I asked my nurse for some pain meds. She said it was too soon and I should wait an hour or two. I was really bummed. She said that she would call my doc and see if there was anything else they could get me but then she went to lunch. I think Maria got ticked and felt that I was being given the run around by my nurse. As soon as my nurse went to lunch Maria went and asked the backup nurse if I could have some pain meds without mentioning the fact that it might be too soon. The backup nurse came right in and gave me the drugs with no problem whatsoever. How awesome was that?!? Maria is going to make one hell of a nurse if you ask me. :-)
I asked one of the care coordinators to contact UPstate Medical Supply for me today because I had a bunch of qwuestions for them in regards to the stuff that they provide me. She got me a really great contact over there and all my questions are being taken care of. I'm going to purcahse a second misting unit for the main floor of my house. They're way too heavy for me to be carting it up and down the stairs every day and the nurses think that I have a clot from hell right now because I haven't been on the misting machine enough. For $350 it seems worth purchasing a second one to keep in the office so I can wear it while I Wii. :-) I asked if they come on wheels as well to make it even easier to move it around the house. My contact said no but she recommended checking the garden department at Walmart for a planter that comes on wheels. New missiion for babydoll. ;-)
Okay, that's all I have for you today. Babydoll is coming tonight so that I can kick his ass at some Gin. He talked me into signing up for some football pool with him this year. Scores came out last night. I picked better than he did last week! I'm on a roll baby!
Tuesday, September 10, 2013
September 10 - Part II
So, maybe more painful but a faster recovery time it would seem. Dr. O and his resident crew were just here and I was standing over the garbage can clipping my nails. He said if I'm up and giving myself a manicure then I'm ready to go home. Unfotunately, we have to wait for the drains in my chest to stop emptying, then he can send me packing. He did authorize me to be taken off ALL of my hookups. Yay! I'm free, I'm free. It's so nice to be able to get up and go to the bathroom when I want rather than having to call for the nurse or technician to come unhook me from some stuff and drag the IV pole into the bathroom with me for the stuff they couldn't unhook.
Dr. V came in around lunch today. He had a shit fit about the bandage wrapped around my neck. He immediately snipped it off. I told him it was on there when I woke up from surgery. He said he didn't want ANY pressure on my neck cutting off blood flow. He changed his number today too. He said 50% of the old flap had died rather than the 30 - 40% that he had told me last night. He said he thinks everything went well and was talking about what a unique situation this was with some of the flap surviving and some not. He said the surgery lasted longer than expected and it was because it took a lot of time finding and cutting away the dead parts. I used to think that "unique" was a good word, that it was good to be unique. I've pretty much had it with that word at this point. I'm done being unique, I want to be a lemming!! I asked him about the inside of my cheek as well. I've learned that it's good to ask the same questions of the different docs because you tend to pick up more info that way. It turns out Dr. V used part of the inside of my cheek in the reconstruction he did. That's why it's so swollen way in the back of my mouth. He said it's likely going to take a good 3-4 weeks before I'm able to close my mouth all the way again. Ugh. Yet more flashbacks to last year. Remember how excited I was when I could finally grip a pillow in my teeth to put a pillow case on??
Schuyler is my nurse today. She was the cutie who was so worried about my hair right after the first surgery. I really like her. I coughed up some clots this afternoon and made a mess of my inner cannula (trach tube). I asked her to swap it out for a clean one. For the 30 seconds that the inner tube was out, I could breathe!! So, I guess my labored breathing IS because I'm sucking air through a straw now instead of a nice, big stoma. <sigh> Something else to adjust to.
Babydoll should be here within the next hour. His wife called in sick to work so I get to see him for more than an hour tonight. Woo hoo! Although he said he's exhausted so I'm not sure how long he's going to make it. I'll take him for however long I can get him though! I should go use a sucker sponge to mouthwash my teeth before he gets here......
Dr. V came in around lunch today. He had a shit fit about the bandage wrapped around my neck. He immediately snipped it off. I told him it was on there when I woke up from surgery. He said he didn't want ANY pressure on my neck cutting off blood flow. He changed his number today too. He said 50% of the old flap had died rather than the 30 - 40% that he had told me last night. He said he thinks everything went well and was talking about what a unique situation this was with some of the flap surviving and some not. He said the surgery lasted longer than expected and it was because it took a lot of time finding and cutting away the dead parts. I used to think that "unique" was a good word, that it was good to be unique. I've pretty much had it with that word at this point. I'm done being unique, I want to be a lemming!! I asked him about the inside of my cheek as well. I've learned that it's good to ask the same questions of the different docs because you tend to pick up more info that way. It turns out Dr. V used part of the inside of my cheek in the reconstruction he did. That's why it's so swollen way in the back of my mouth. He said it's likely going to take a good 3-4 weeks before I'm able to close my mouth all the way again. Ugh. Yet more flashbacks to last year. Remember how excited I was when I could finally grip a pillow in my teeth to put a pillow case on??
Schuyler is my nurse today. She was the cutie who was so worried about my hair right after the first surgery. I really like her. I coughed up some clots this afternoon and made a mess of my inner cannula (trach tube). I asked her to swap it out for a clean one. For the 30 seconds that the inner tube was out, I could breathe!! So, I guess my labored breathing IS because I'm sucking air through a straw now instead of a nice, big stoma. <sigh> Something else to adjust to.
Babydoll should be here within the next hour. His wife called in sick to work so I get to see him for more than an hour tonight. Woo hoo! Although he said he's exhausted so I'm not sure how long he's going to make it. I'll take him for however long I can get him though! I should go use a sucker sponge to mouthwash my teeth before he gets here......
September 10
Okay, this hurts WAY more than last time around. They just let me get up to pee though (was made to use a bedpan all night) and I look a hell of a lot better than I feel! Go figure.
Dr. V was in to see me last night. As babydoll mentioned, only 30-40% of the original flap had failed. Unfotunately it was the most important part. The part that had been used to restructure the wall of my throat. Dr. O and Dr. M were in to see me just a bit ago. They plan on kicking me out of here by Friday latest. They said everything went well and Dr. M still foresees me being able to eat and talk somewhere down the road.
So, let's take stock.....
My breathing feels very labored. They think it's a combination of two things. 1) I now have an actual trach tube. I simply had a wide open stoma before and didn't know it. The tube is much smaller to breath through than the stoma. 2) Dr. M says there's a lot of pressure being put on the trach from the shoulder thing. He said we can reassess before they release me. Maybe bump up the size of my trach tube.
I can't close my mouth all the way. On the bright side, this means my mouth is bone dry so no drooling is going on but it's really uncomfortable. My cheek is really swollen so when I try to close my mouth, I'm biting down on the inside of my cheek. Ouch! They gave me a bunch of sponge suckers so I tried using one of those to push my cheek out of the way but there is simply too much swelling to allow me to do that.
My entire neck is swathed in bandages and will continue to be for the next 10 days while they let the skin graft take. I think Dr. M said the outer bandages will need to be changed daily though, much like the wound care that babydoll has been performing for me.
My left shoulder/pec is what hurts the absolute most. I flinch with the lightest of touches over there. I had the nurse hang a big sign over the bed announcing to everyone not to touch that side of my body. I know babydoll said it wasn't quite what he pictured but I didn't have the nerve to check it out in the bathroom mirror while I was in there. Dr. M said they had originally planned on taking the right side but it tuns out that all the dead stuff was on the left. I thought they had taken from the left because it's my non-dominant side and that it would now be weaker. Dr. M said no, unless I do a lot of bench presses, I'm not going to notice any weakness on that side. I'm told there's a large bump on that side where they bent the muscle in half to reach my neck. Dr. M said it will slowly subside over the next 3-4 months and not be noticeable, he said especially since I'm so thin, it will blend better. It seems so funny to have everyone calling me petite, and tiny, and a small lady, and having such a thin frame. Ah, if only they had seen me a year and a half ago when chub girl tipped the scales at 184 pounds. :-)
Lastly is my right leg. It's currently wrapped in a light pressure bandage from just below my knee to the very top of my thigh, and man, it stings. Guess that's where the graft came from.
So, that's where things currently stand. I believe I'm ready for a nap now. The fact that i can freely take one makes me feel a little bad. I ended up keeping babydoll here with me until 1:00 a.m. He's going to be dragging at work today, my poor boo.
Type at you peeps later!
Dr. V was in to see me last night. As babydoll mentioned, only 30-40% of the original flap had failed. Unfotunately it was the most important part. The part that had been used to restructure the wall of my throat. Dr. O and Dr. M were in to see me just a bit ago. They plan on kicking me out of here by Friday latest. They said everything went well and Dr. M still foresees me being able to eat and talk somewhere down the road.
So, let's take stock.....
My breathing feels very labored. They think it's a combination of two things. 1) I now have an actual trach tube. I simply had a wide open stoma before and didn't know it. The tube is much smaller to breath through than the stoma. 2) Dr. M says there's a lot of pressure being put on the trach from the shoulder thing. He said we can reassess before they release me. Maybe bump up the size of my trach tube.
I can't close my mouth all the way. On the bright side, this means my mouth is bone dry so no drooling is going on but it's really uncomfortable. My cheek is really swollen so when I try to close my mouth, I'm biting down on the inside of my cheek. Ouch! They gave me a bunch of sponge suckers so I tried using one of those to push my cheek out of the way but there is simply too much swelling to allow me to do that.
My entire neck is swathed in bandages and will continue to be for the next 10 days while they let the skin graft take. I think Dr. M said the outer bandages will need to be changed daily though, much like the wound care that babydoll has been performing for me.
My left shoulder/pec is what hurts the absolute most. I flinch with the lightest of touches over there. I had the nurse hang a big sign over the bed announcing to everyone not to touch that side of my body. I know babydoll said it wasn't quite what he pictured but I didn't have the nerve to check it out in the bathroom mirror while I was in there. Dr. M said they had originally planned on taking the right side but it tuns out that all the dead stuff was on the left. I thought they had taken from the left because it's my non-dominant side and that it would now be weaker. Dr. M said no, unless I do a lot of bench presses, I'm not going to notice any weakness on that side. I'm told there's a large bump on that side where they bent the muscle in half to reach my neck. Dr. M said it will slowly subside over the next 3-4 months and not be noticeable, he said especially since I'm so thin, it will blend better. It seems so funny to have everyone calling me petite, and tiny, and a small lady, and having such a thin frame. Ah, if only they had seen me a year and a half ago when chub girl tipped the scales at 184 pounds. :-)
Lastly is my right leg. It's currently wrapped in a light pressure bandage from just below my knee to the very top of my thigh, and man, it stings. Guess that's where the graft came from.
So, that's where things currently stand. I believe I'm ready for a nap now. The fact that i can freely take one makes me feel a little bad. I ended up keeping babydoll here with me until 1:00 a.m. He's going to be dragging at work today, my poor boo.
Type at you peeps later!
Just got back from my visit......
Scott again.......they let me up to see her a little after 10:00. She was alert, smiling, and very sore. Now that I was able to see her, I got a better idea of what the doc tried to explain about the pec muscle. The scar is not as long as I thought it would be. It doesn't go all the way up to the shoulder as I had pictured it. They were able to manipulate the muscle into shape without cutting too far. This also explains why it hurts more this time around.
We had a good visit. Outside of the pain, she is in terrific spirits. The hospital staff are all very impressed. So am I, I'm just not surprised.
We had a good visit. Outside of the pain, she is in terrific spirits. The hospital staff are all very impressed. So am I, I'm just not surprised.
Monday, September 9, 2013
Out of surgery and doing well......
Scott here........... Doc V called me to say everything went well. She is out of surgery and waking up in some recovery unit. I'm not allowed to see her yet, but they will let me up at some point. Doc said that some 30%-40% of her flap was replaced. They used her pec muscle this time. The advantage being that it is much more dependable and sturdy. It's tougher to work with and shape, but very reliable. I'm not sure if that means a tougher adjustment for Q, or if it was just tougher for the surgeons or both? Im told a big advantage of the pec, is that they could move it without having to reconnect it to a new vein. it would remain connected to the original. Doing it in this manner will result in some sort of incision in the shoulder that will need to heal, but that it shouldn't be a problem.
In addition, they placed a stint in her throat. They did this to make it easier for her to move saliva where it is supposed to go. Doc said adding bulk to her petit throat made it very crowded. The stint will be in place 3 or 4 weeks and provide room for the saliva to flow. He said the crowded area contributed to the saliva problem she was having the first time.
Q was concerned going in, where were they gonna take skin to use as a graft for her neck? Doc V. Told me they took a small amount from her leg to accomplish this.
That's all I know for now. It could be an hour or more before they let me up to see her.
In addition, they placed a stint in her throat. They did this to make it easier for her to move saliva where it is supposed to go. Doc said adding bulk to her petit throat made it very crowded. The stint will be in place 3 or 4 weeks and provide room for the saliva to flow. He said the crowded area contributed to the saliva problem she was having the first time.
Q was concerned going in, where were they gonna take skin to use as a graft for her neck? Doc V. Told me they took a small amount from her leg to accomplish this.
That's all I know for now. It could be an hour or more before they let me up to see her.
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